Dengue epidemic in Bihar: Centre and State in denial mode

Bihar’s capital Patna seems to be afflicted with unending woes. First the heavy rainfall, then flooding, followed by the dengue outbreak but the worst is the government’s denial that there is an epidemic in the state even as several BJP legislators and health officials have tested positive for the disease.

Health

October 22, 2019

A Critique of Randomised Control Trials in Poverty Alleviation

Last week, Michael Kremer, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo received the Nobel for Economics for “their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty” and for addressing “smaller, more manageable questions,” rather than big ideas.

Economy

By Mona Mishra

October 22, 2019

Ranchi Review: Ruthless India Crush Proteas Pride

Ranchi: With 0-2 down, the Proteas came to Ranchi hoping for a turnaround and, of course, there were 40 World Test Championship points to play for. Unfortunately, a week later, Team South Africa is leaving the Jharkhand capital as a shattered unit.

Cricket, Sports

By Sandipan Banerjee

October 21, 2019

Nirmala Sitharaman: A clueless Finance Minister

If press statements had the power to lift an economy, Nirmala Sitharaman would have proved herself to be India’s best finance minister. Unfortunately, statements can conjure no such miracles and Sitharaman continues to be what she is: a minister who is completely clueless about the state of the economy.

Economy

By K Raveendran

October 21, 2019

Coffee Houses & The Art of Social Networking

The tale has been told time and again. An ordinary act turning into collective action of the masses and spreading rapidly through a large population on their Social Networks. But, contrary to popular millennial opinions, ‘Virality’, which is usually considered to be a modern-day digital çonstruct, a natural progression in…

Features, Society

By Salik Khan

October 21, 2019

CBI exonerates two Kerala orphanages; Media in the dock

After five years of investigation into how 579 children from underprivileged families in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar had landed up at the Palakkad Railway Junction, on their way to two major orphanages in Kozhikode and Malappuram, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has now found nothing illegal about it.…

Media, Society

By K A Shaji

October 19, 2019

The Telegraph editor, R Rajagopal: Cannot afford to stay neutral

“When was the last time you saw such a headline?” R Rajagopal, editor of The Telegraph, asked a hall full of college students last month. “Let us see how the headline works here: first the sledgehammer blow. Then the tug at the heartstrings.”

Features, Interview, Media

By Anuradha Sharma

October 19, 2019

Laal Kaptaan: Captures Ancient India Perfectly

Ever since the Bahubali series ran riot at the ticket counters, there’s been a rapid explosion in that genre with a lot of film-makers rushing to milk the so-called cash cow. When the promos of Laal Kaptaan were out, there was a deja vu. However, you can trust Saif Ali…

Movie Review, Movies

By Hariprasad Sadanandan

October 19, 2019

Meanwhile In Kerala

Visual Commentary

By Unnikrishna M Damodaran

October 19, 2019

The Kalan and the Kalchatty: Made for each other

Like any kalan-loving Malayali, I have a special utensil called kalchatty in my kitchen. A kalchatty is nothing but an eye-shaped vessel made of soapstone or literally a stone vessel (Kal/kallu stands for stone in Malayalam). I have carried my kalchatty with me wherever I go and have gifted a…

Food

By Mini Nair

October 19, 2019

Edakkad Battalion 06: The goody-two-shoes act is trite

Edakkad Battalion 06 is the story of Shafeeq Muhammad (Tovino Thomas), an army captain on furlough. He is the ‘Nanma Maram’ (a virtuous being) who has a positive influence on all those around him in his village. The captain has a project at hand—he wants to reform local youngsters who are…

Movie Review, Movies

By Tom Babu