ON QUILA ROAD in the Bir area of Beed in central Maharashtra, a number of star-and- crescent flags on electricity poles flutter in the morning wind as burkha-clad women walk past, chaperoning their children to school, and men, mostly wearing skull caps, ride motorbikes, slowing down every few moments to give strangers hostile stares. There are … Continue reading This District in Maharashtra Is Being Buffeted By a New Wave of Islamist Radicalisation
gujarat
What’s Going Wrong with Prashant Kishor?
He used to wear tight jeans and T-shirts until last year, when he traded it for the typical neta get-up of spotless white kurta pyjama. Then, as now, he has had an air of self-importance about him. For a United Nations health official who befriended then Chief Minister Narendra Modi ahead of Gujarat’s 2012 Assembly … Continue reading What’s Going Wrong with Prashant Kishor?
NITI Aayog: Still a Work in Progress
When he took over as vice-chairman of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog a year ago, Arvind Panagariya had been abroad for nearly four decades, writing academic papers and teaching Economics. The Columbia University professor had earned himself a name at home as a columnist much earlier, and in the run-up to the … Continue reading NITI Aayog: Still a Work in Progress
How Emigrants from Madhapar in Gujarat Made It One of Asia’s Richest Towns
When he is in Madhapar—and he is here every October without fail—what Laalji Patel loves most are those lazy mornings he spends at the vathan, a windy open space lined with neem trees and populated by cool- headed, friendly cows. Here he plays cards with friends, who he has known since primary school, until it … Continue reading How Emigrants from Madhapar in Gujarat Made It One of Asia’s Richest Towns
Ullekh NP 