GANESH DEVY

Sep 21, 2023 | frontline.thehindu.com | Ravi Chellam |Prathyush Parasuraman |GANESH DEVY |C.P. Chandrasekhar

As I write this article, it is nearly a year since eight African cheetahs from Namibia landed in India and were released into quarantine enclosures at Kuno National Park (748 sq km), Madhya Pradesh, on September 17, 2022. The introduction of African cheetahs was heralded as a major conservation initiative, which set global records. For instance, it was announced with much fanfare that this was the first intercontinental movement of large cats.

Sep 21, 2023 | frontline.thehindu.com | GANESH DEVY |Prathyush Parasuraman |C.P. Chandrasekhar |Ismat Ara

There is no dearth of scholarly books on India. The sheer wealth of books on sociology, history, politics, ethnography, culture, religion, and philosophy in India can overwhelm any major library in the world. There is an equally amazing range of creative writing in Indian languages describing Indian people, their emotions, aspirations, experiences, perceptions, dreams, and disappointments.

Sep 21, 2023 | frontline.thehindu.com | C.P. Chandrasekhar |Prathyush Parasuraman |GANESH DEVY |Ismat Ara

Indian federalism is under severe strain. Announcements of measures which parties outside the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance see as attacks on federalism have increased in frequency. A recent example is the “One Nation, One Election” call for simultaneous elections to different levels of government, which has been identified as a “blatant attempt to undermine” the country’s federal structure. Centralisation is, of course, not just political.

Sep 21, 2023 | frontline.thehindu.com | Prathyush Parasuraman |GANESH DEVY |C.P. Chandrasekhar |Ismat Ara

Whipped out of the theatre screening Jawan, first day, first show, ears ringing, eyes bleary, heart sated, suffocated, and suspicious, a few thoughts were fighting for my attention—when did we become so okay with our films looking this ugly? Is heroism, that is, a spectator’s devotion to the hero, the end of cinema as an art form? Or what new, fragmented, pungent artifact is this that is now being secreted?

Jul 27, 2023 | frontline.thehindu.com | C.P. Chandrasekhar |Prathyush Parasuraman |GANESH DEVY |Sushanta Talukdar

At first look, the evidence is worrying. The value of the country’s goods exports in June dropped to an eight-month low of $33 billion, having fallen sharply by 22 per cent year on year. Moreover, the decline was not a one-off event. The June fall was the seventh monthly, year-on-year decline in nine months. That belies the government’s claim that the June 2023 growth figure was an outlier, one that resulted from a high base value, since June 2022 recorded a high figure of $42.3 billion.