Interview with D.N. Jha, historian of ancient India and the author of ‘The Myth of the Holy Cow'. IN his career spanning more than 25 years, Dwijendra Narayan Jha, an eminent historian of ancient India, has dispelled many Hindutva myths. He has used ancient Indian literary and archaeological sources to show that much of the Hindutva propaganda is based on false premises. His book The Myth of the Holy Cow shows...

Often criticised for alleged judicial overreach, the Supreme Court on Thursday justified its order cancelling 122 licences for 2G-spectrum, saying it was duty-bound to strike down policies that violate constitutional principles or were contrary to public interest. An apex court bench said this was needed to “ensure that the institutional integrity is not compromised by those in whom the people have reposed trust and who have taken oath to discharge duties...

Like many board games that were developed in India, of which chess is perhaps the most important and famous, the game of “snakes and ladders” too emerged in this country a long time ago. With its balancing of snakes that pull you down and ladders that take you up, this game has been used again and again as a metaphor for life, telling us about our fortunes and misfortunes, and...

The new RTI rules framed and implemented by the Chhattisgarh government is a clear attempt and snatching a citizen’s fundamental right of access to information and strangulating the RTI Act. Citizens are requested to sent protest letters in large numbers The Right to Information Act (RTI) is being clipped by several state governments in an attempt to discourage/refuse rightful information to the citizens. Instead of furthering transparency, which is the primary...

Valley’s youth say peaceful political protests are the most effective means for achieving political aSPIRations. Estrangement from India is matched by the lack of interest in Pakistan In 2010 the Ministry of Home Affairs had commissioned a focussed survey on the priorities and aSPIRations of Kashmir’s new generation, which had spearheaded the long spell of unrest, and found that 54 per cent of them identified “Azadi” as their preferred “final status...