The former IMF chief economist and Harvard professor talks to Open about the US debt ceiling crisis and the likely fallout Kenneth Rogoff, Professor of Economics and Maurits C Boas Chair of International Economics at Harvard University Globally acclaimed economist Kenneth Rogoff, who recently said that India will outdo its emerging-markets peers, warns that the political crisis … Continue reading Uncertainty in debt ceiling talks undermines confidence in US institutions: Ken Rogoff

THE NERVE-WRACKING parleys to settle the tussle for the new chief minister of Karnata­ka were a cliff-hanger right up to the final whis­tle when Congress announced Siddaramaiah’s name for the much-coveted post, five frenzied days after the election results were announced on May 13. Amidst the euphoria of a landslide victory, intrigue, suspense, tough posturing, … Continue reading How the leadership brawl between Karnataka’s two tallest Congress leaders ended in Siddaramaiah’s favour

In the newly opened Abrahamic Family House, an interfaith facility in the UAE capital, Open discovers the role of love in geopolitics The ceiling of the Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue at the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi, UAE (Photos: Ullekh NP) A UGANDAN CABBIE IN Dubai suggests that the Abrahamic Family House is the newest … Continue reading From a Synagogue In Abu Dhabi

Pervez Hoodbhoy on the political crisis in his country following Imran Khan’s arrest Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan being taken away by security personnel, Islamabad, May 9, 2023 (Source: PTI/Twitter) Pakistan-based nuclear physicist, peace activist, author and political commentator Pervez Hoodbhoy feels that former prime minister Imran Khan’s arrest is the final outcome of the Pakistan Army’s … Continue reading ‘Never before has the Pak army been held in such low public esteem – not even after 1971’

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar celebrates ‘Bihar Police Day 2023’ in Patna ON APRIL 24, BIHAR CHIEF MINISTER Nitish Kumar flew down to Howrah to meet with his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee. As if possessed by a state of thrall to an imagined world, the Janata Dal (United), or JD(U), leader got straight into the … Continue reading Misplaced Mission: It will take more than Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s enthusiasm to ensure opposition unity

SOUTH ASIA HISTORIAN Neeti Nair’s new book, Hurt Sentiments: Secularism and Belonging in South Asia (Harvard University Press; 352 pages; ₹699), explores secularism in the region and its vicissitudes, drawing on archival material and oral histories in the way few people have attempted before. She delves into the now-dominant victimhood narrative among the proponents of Hindutva politics. … Continue reading ‘The RSS has been successful in weaving a narrative of Hindu victimhood in India. This is the product of decades of invest­ment in a certain kind of education in shakhas’

Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar (Photo: Reuters) FOR A POLYGLOT WHO SPEAKS MULTIPLE Indian, European, and Oriental languages, S Jaishankar fulfils most theoretical benchmarks for a cosmopoli­tan figure. It is a foregone conclusion that these attri­butes would make him, in practice, a terrific conversationalist. And, of course, he is, as the world has begun … Continue reading S Jaishankar excels as Modi’s negotiator-in-chief on foreign shores and charms crowds with his repartees

THOSE WHO REMEMBER the periodic table from school know that mercury is denoted as Hg. The element has a few unique properties as a heavy metal and stays liquid at ‘standard temperature and pressure’. The title Heavy Metal, therefore, is fitting, and the story that Ameer Shahul tells, an outcome of rigorous investigative journalism, is about … Continue reading An investigation into the mercury poisoning of Kodaikanal

They want a sanitised Bapu, says Tushar Gandhi, author of Let’s Kill Gandhi! A Chronicle of His Last Days, The Conspiracy, Murder Investigation and Trial The deletion of some sentences referring to Gandhi’s assassination in Class 12 history textbooks by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has shocked many historians, but not Tushar … Continue reading Not shocked by changes in school textbooks on Gandhi murder, says great grandson

Riyas Komu, curatorial director, Sea: A Boiling Vessel Clad in resplendent medieval dresses, the residents of Fort Kochi who feature in KR Sunil’s stunning photographs resemble the dandies of the Congo. The setting too is similar in parts—stagnant pools of water, dilapidated buildings. In the Congo, they wear the most expensive of modern clothes, imitating the … Continue reading Riyas Komu brings together history, geography and migrations in a multidisciplinary show