Author: Tirthankar Mitra
Known for his tight mysteries and satisfying emotional payoffs, Keigo Higashino, a Japanese crime fiction writer has passed away. A prolific writer who penned over 106 novels, he was 68.
Performances of Dick Parry, the brilliant saxophone player appears to have somewhat low key response for him. His sax lines were brilliantly crafted.
Availability of land to set up industries appears to be a stumbling block in the path of West Bengal’s first BJP-run state government. This is an issue two previous state governments have found to be insoluble.
West Bengal Public Safety and Control of Anti-Socials Bill has been passed and enacted into law It permits the state to detain individuals deemed to be a threat to public safety without trial..
One wonders whether poetry and food delivery gel . The doubt is deepened as the poet, Wang Jibing races into lanes and thoroughfares on his two-wheeler to deliver the food parcels while rhyme and reason are buzzing within his head and heart.
Spain’s victory at 2026 World Cup arguably marks a change in international football. It was an occasion when a crown last won in 2010 was recovered.
Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers, the greatest all-rounder the world of cricket has seen passed away at his Barbados home. He was 89 and just shy of 10 days of his 90th birthday.
Spain faces Argentina in the World Cup football final on Sunday. It will be their first meeting in FIFA World Cup since 1966
The highly anticipated arrival of exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasrin in Kolkata next month is shaping up to be far more than a routine literary homecoming. For the newly installed, first-ever BJP-run government in West Bengal led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, the event has morphed into a masterfully orchestrated, high-stakes political offensive. By rolled out the welcome mat for Nasrin to headline an anti-fundamentalism event at Rabindra Sadan on August 1, 2026, Adhikari intends to score decisive, long-term points over his two iconic predecessors. The saffron camp is systematically using the visit to indict the late Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s Left Front dispensation—which ignominiously forced Nasrin out of the state in 2007 after violent street rioting overwhelmed the Kolkata Police—while simultaneously exposing Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) for executing a quiet, two-decade-long exclusion of the author out of intense anxiety over minority blockades. Just two months into assuming the state’s highest office following a landslide election victory, Adhikari—often labeled “illiberal” by fractured opposition circles—is seizing this “sitter” of a cultural event to aggressively showcase a resolute, no-nonsense administration that strictly guarantees the rule of law under the party’s signature poll pledge: “Bhoi noi Bhorsa chai” (Not fear, but assurance).
Indian cinema’s golden musical era lost one of its most sublime voices as legendary playback singer S. Janaki, affectionately revered as the “Nightingale of South India,” passed away in Mysuru on Saturday, July 11, 2026, following age-related cardiac complications. She was 88. In a monumental career spanning more than six decades, Janaki defied shifting generational styles and technological transitions to record a staggering 48,000 songs in 17 languages, serving as the definitive emotional soundtrack for millions of listeners. Born in the village of Pallapatla in Andhra Pradesh, she grew up imitating the high-register intricacies of Lata Mangeshkar on her family radio before her raw soprano brilliance caught the attention of filmmaker B.R. Panthulu and composer T. Lingappa during a local theater intermission performance. Janaki made her formal recording debut with the Tamil feature Vidhiyin Vilayattu in 1957. Though a native Telugu speaker, she achieved legendary status across Malayalam, Tamil, and Kannada cinema by implementing a meticulous study of local dialects to perfect her linguistic diction. A recipient of four National Film Awards and dozens of state honors, her artistic journey was also punctuated by a fierce independent spirit, most notably in 2013 when she famously refused the Padma Bhushan civilian award on the principled ground that it had arrived far too late in her life. Janaki was laid to rest with full state honors, drawing profound condolences from across the country as the nation bid farewell to a vocalist who defined the very soul of South Indian playback history.