Simon Kuper (Photo Courtesy: Joan Cortadellas) LAST SUNDAY, THE city of Oxford—often synony­mous with the University of Oxford since the campus is spread across the town of around 1,50,000 residents—was abuzz with the fanfare of the annual gradua­tion ceremony. Composed young men and women of all nationalities dressed in graduation gowns and hats posed proudly … Continue reading Simon Kuper’s new book uncovers the ‘Oxford flaws’. And why Brexit’s origins lie in the elite British institution

Sunetra Gupta, Epidemiologist, in Open conversation with Ullekh NP Theoretical epidemiologist and decorated Oxford academic Sunetra Gupta earned international fame in October 2020 after she co-authored the Great Barrington Declara­tion which disfavoured lockdowns as a means to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. She and her collaborators were attacked by people in academia as well as in governments. … Continue reading Lockdowns can lock down endemic infections. For a new pandemic, they have little effect, says Sunetra Gupta

(Illustration: Saurabh Singh) TRIDIP SUHRUD, INDIA’S FOREMOST GANDHI SCHOLAR, is provost at CEPT University, Ahmedabad. He says that the goal of his institution, one of India’s premier ones in several streams, especially architecture, is to make students “practice-worthy apprentices”. Each college or university that finds prominent mention in this issue shares such lofty targets, although … Continue reading Indian Higher Education: Opportunities and Challenges

Julian Assange (Illustration: Saurabh Singh) In the second half of the last decade, Nils Melzer, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, kept receiving requests from WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s lawyers to examine what they called were human rights violations. Melzer wasn’t a great admirer of the man whom he thought of as a narcissist, or a lost … Continue reading The persecution of Julian Assange is the criminalisation of investigative journalism

AISHWARYA PANDIT’S new book is a brave and scholarly attempt to unmask the impact of Partition on contemporary Indian politics in the first 40 years of India’s freedom. In the process, the author, a Cambridge alumnus, explores with a great degree of success various facets of the once-powerful Congress party, with a special focus on … Continue reading Book review: Tracing the evolution of Muslim politics in India

 Sergi Lanau Former International Monetary Fund economist Sergi Lanau in conversation with Ullekh NP Former International Monetary Fund (IMF) economist Sergi Lanau, who is now the deputy chief economist in the economic research department of the Institute of International Finance (IIF), has for long watched the situation in Sri Lanka closely. Which was why he … Continue reading India can be part of an IMF-led effort to fund Sri Lanka, says Sergi Lanau

John Pilger America wants to deter the truth-telling Assange has inspired the world over, says renowned author and documentary filmmaker John Pilger John Pilger, 82, is one of the world’s most iconic journalists. Having covered multiple wars from across the world from a young age, this London-based Australian is an unstoppable critic of imperialist foreign policies … Continue reading US wants to drop Julian Assange in a penal hellhole for life: John Pilger

Indian investors in cryptocurrencies are distraught about the ongoing market crash while influencers see it as par for the course (Illustration: Saurabh Singh) Santosh Kumar from Udaipur got hooked to the cryptocurrency craze some four years ago shortly after watching a YouTube “influencer” shower effusive “praise” on a phenomenon called decentralised finance, the epitome of which, … Continue reading Decoding the Crypto Bloodbath

Eknath Shinde (extreme right) with other rebel Shiv Sena MLAs at a resort in Guwahati on June 22, 2022 Luxury retreats continue to be a haven for both party honchos to herd their flock and rebels who want to break away Transporting fellow legislators to luxury destinations to ensure that they don’t fall for inducements … Continue reading Resorts and Indian Politics