Author: Tirthankar Mitra
Unearthing vital, suppressed records surrounding the legislative inception of the state, the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (MAKAIAS) hosted a high-profile seminar titled “West Bengal: Revisiting its Past” on Saturday, June 20, 2026. Commemorating Paschimbanga Diwas—the historic day nearly eight decades ago when Bengal’s lawmakers voted to sever ties with the expanding map of East Pakistan—distinguished academics, researchers, and political leaders gathered to correct decades of distorted historical narratives. Delivering a compelling video address, West Bengal Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose, a veteran chartered accountant, meticulously detailed how the state’s creation was explicitly designed to dismantle a deep-seated conspiracy aimed at dragging the entire landmass into a theocratic state. Bose positioned Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee as the singular, far-sighted leading light who unified ideologically polarized legislators in 1947 to secure a safe homeland for Hindu Bengalis. Echoing these structural concerns, MAKAIAS Director Dr. Sarup Prasad Ghosh slammed past administrations for intentionally imposing historical amnesia on refugees, while issuing an urgent, data-driven warning regarding a sharp drop in native Bengali speakers and an active “demographic invasion” fueled by systemic illegal immigration from Bangladesh.
Vaibhav Suryabanshi’s altercation with Sri Lanka A players after India’s Super Over defeat on Monday raises questions. The tri-series in Dambulla was supposed to be another step in the rise of the teenage prodigy.
Geneva is a cool place. The mercury hardly shoot up while agitations are conspicuous by their absence.
Economists have been waiting for US economy to stumble for much of the past year. They had reasons for this foreboding.
Stand tall, be a pineapple. Pineapple, the state fruit of Tripura seems to be on the verge of living up to the old adage as the state gears up for Tripura Global Pineapple Festival at New Delhi this month
The golden era of realistic Dravidian visual storytelling lost its anchor on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, as legendary filmmaker Bharathiraja passed away in Chennai at the age of 84 following age-related illnesses. Affectionately revered as “Iyakkunar Imayam” (The Pinnacle among Directors), his passing triggered a widespread wave of grief across the country, with the Tamil film industry halting all shooting activities to honor his staggering structural legacy. Before his groundbreaking 1977 directorial debut with 16 Vayathinile, Tamil cinema’s visual grammar was tightly bound within the synthetic confines of Chennai studios and city-centric storylines. Bharathiraja radically broke this mold by training his lens directly on the red soil, dried river beds, and social vulnerabilities of rural Tamil Nadu, uncovering raw cinematic beauty while subtly dissecting how caste, deprivation, and systemic inequality shaped human relationships. A master talent-spotter who defiantly launched the iconic careers of stars like Radhika, Revathi, and Karthik, his filmography is studded with sweeping classics like Kizhakke Pogum Rail, Sigappu Rojakkal, and Mudhal Mariyadhai. Crucially, his deep, lifelong creative partnership with music maestro Ilaiyaraaja—forged during early communist youth rallies—permanently re-engineered the sonic landscape of South India, leaving behind an immortal folk-tradition soundtrack that continues to captivate generation after generation.
In the 2000s, a debate over banning veil raged in France. But Marjan Satrapi refused to be drawn in polarised media environment.
India seems to be heading for a structural crisis in agricultural succession. The average Indian farmer is ageing while the younger rural populace is migrating towards the cities.
Carving out a niche in the world of Hindi playback music when the Mangeshkar sisters were reigning supreme was indeed a tall order for any female playback singer. After all, Hindi playback songs is almost that of recognised voices.
The foundational architecture of Europe’s agricultural trade faced a catastrophic market collapse on Sunday, May 31, 2026, as a massive, unprecedented surplus of five million metric tonnes of French fry potatoes left regional supply chains completely paralyzed. In Belgium—the world’s absolute epicenter for frozen frites exports—spot prices for premium processing potatoes plunged to an absolute valuation of zero euros per tonne, marking a devastating downward spiral from the historic peak of 600 euros ($690) commanded just three years ago. The structural devastation stems from a brutal convergence of a bumper European harvest, aggressive protective import tariffs enacted by U.S. President Donald Trump, and severe market-share poaching by low-cost Asian competitors. Compounding the supply glut, the ongoing war in Iran and the subsequent military blockade of the Strait of Hormuz have trapped crucial fertilizer ingredients within the Persian Gulf, triggering a severe domestic energy and cultivation cost spike. With critical Middle Eastern export pipelines completely severed, soaring local restaurant inflation across Europe, and U.S. frozen shipments plummeting by 8 percent, desperate producers have resorted to mass urban giveaways—a grim economic reality that German locals have officially dubbed the “Kartoffel-Flut” (Potato Flood).