THE WEEK India Magazine - May 26, 2024

In this issue

In east India, the fight is between the BJP and regional parties. Leaders in Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand are far more vigilant this time as the BJP had scored some surprising results in the past.

India's Best Universities: How Jawaharlal Nehru University, conceived as a university like no other, became India’s best

Untold stories: How a Facebook group is conserving indigenous varieties of mangoes

@Leisure: Indie artistes, especially hip-hoppers, are driving the phenomenal growth of Malayalam music

What women want

The headline is the title of a turn-of-the-century Hollywood fantasy starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt. The film was a box-office hit, but its 2019 loose remake, What Men Want, flopped. Who wants to know what men want?

2 mins

THUNDER IN THE EAST

The BJP and regional parties are waging bitter battles in eastern India. The future of three longest-serving chief ministers of India is also at stake

9 mins

BJP NOW FORCED TO TALK ABOUT JOBS

Tejashwi Yadav had a short stint as deputy chief minister; Nitish Kumar changed course once again this January to return to the NDA, which dismantled the RJD-JD(U)left-Congress government.

4 mins

EXPECTING ONE FINAL FLIP FROM NITISH

IT IS NOW too late for Nitish Kumar. When I joined him in 2013, his popularity was at its peak. The BJP was a junior partner in Bihar then and he could have aimed for prime ministership. I was very close to him and that was why I opted to join his party.

2 mins

THIS IS THE SMOOTHEST ELECTION FOR NAVEEN PATNAIK

Naveen Patnaik has been an enigma in Indian politics, consistently winning elections with ease. His bid for a record sixth term is led by his trusted aide V.K. Pandian, who left his job as an IAS officer to enter politics. The 49-year-old is originally from Tamil Nadu, but has adopted Odisha as his karmabhoomi. He is fluent in Odia, a Jagannath devotee and is even called Odisha’s son-inlaw because he married an Odia IAS officer.

6 mins

A STAR IS BORN

Kalpana Soren makes an impressive political debut, but faces opposition from within the Soren family and from senior JMM leaders

5 mins

My confidence comes from my adivasi DNA

A heat wave is sweeping across the rocky terrain of Giridih, situated in the North Chotanagpur region of Jharkhand. The mango trees outside the guest house where Kalpana Soren is staying are laden with unripe fruit, their branches swaying and swooshing, and some small mangoes fall to the ground, wrested by the winds.

4 mins

Popular sentiment is in favour of the INDIA bloc

A member of the old guard in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Chief Minister Champai Soren has the difficult task of guiding the party and the coalition government in the state amid challenging circumstances.

3 mins

Hemant Soren cannot think beyond his family

Former Jharkhand chief minister and president of the state unit of the BJP, Babulal Marandi, exudes confidence that his party will once again dominate the Lok Sabha polls in the state.

2 mins

Divide and win

As the final phases of the general elections draw to a close, an increasingly panicky Prime Minister Narendra Modi has started upping the ante on the question of reservations for Muslims, once again attempting to rebuild his majority by forcing a Hindu-Muslim divide.

2 mins

CULTS OF PERSONALITY

It seems to be a Mamata vs Modi battle in Bengal, but the left-Congress team could have its say in some seats

6 mins

TRINAMOOL FORCING WOMEN IN SANDESHKHALI TO CHANGE THEIR STATEMENTS

Sukanta Majumdar is a busy man. He is leading the BJP’s charge in the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal, where the party has targeted 30 seats. Despite falling sick the previous night, Majumdar, a botany professor at the University of Gour Banga, carried on with his scheduled morning routine.

2 mins

BITTER HARVEST

BJP is at the receiving end of the Jat ire in Haryana; Congress is cashing in on it

4 mins

BJP LEADERS, TOO, HAVE HAD ENOUGH

Farmers’ protest has taken the centre stage in Haryana, which goes to the polls on May 25. Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is confident that the Congress, which has been out of power for 10 years, will regain its hold on the state. “People who voted for the BJP are disappointed today. It is clear that they want change,” he told THE WEEK.

2 mins

Angry, Young America

Campus protests against the Gaza war continue to linger as students demand a realignment of US ties with Israel

7 mins

THE MANGO HUNTERS

'Naadan Maavukal' started out as a Facebook group, but what it does offline has helped conserve many indigenous varieties of mangoes

8 mins

The other Sabyasachi

I am Sabyasachi Mukherjee, not to be confused with my namesake, the celebrated fashion couturier, declared the venerated director-general of Mumbai’s pride, George Wittet’s Indo-Saracenic jewel, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, formerly known as the Prince of Wales Museum.

2 mins

Mandela Effect and Liar's Dividend

The complex tapestry of AI's impact on society

6 mins

SERVING WITH DISTINCTION

Conceived as a university like no other, Jawaharlal Nehru University became India's best. Here is how

10+ mins

Employability issues are a narrative created by the corporate world

Prof Yogesh Singh is the 23rd vice chancellor of the century-old University of Delhi (DU). An engineer with a PhD in computer engineering, Singh has an impressive track record of teaching, innovation and research in the area of software engineering. He has more than 250 publications and his book, Software Testing, published by the Cambridge University Press, is well-received internationally. In an interview with THE WEEK, Singh talks about trends in higher education in India, the challenges faced by big universities, and how to make higher education more interesting. Asked about the perception that Indian graduates are “not employable”, he reacts strongly, and emphasises the difference between training and higher education. Edited excerpts:

4 mins

RAP BRINGS RAPTURE

How indie artistes, especially hip-hoppers, are driving the phenomenal rise of Malayalam music

6 mins

The great luxury slowdown

A year or so ago, if anyone had told me that Tommy Hilfiger would have stolen the show at New York’s Met Gala, I would have laughed. But it seems the end of giant luxury labels is upon us even before we expected it. The American ready-to-wear designer Tommy Hilfiger seems to have created the maximum media buzz at the 2024 Met Gala, according to several data analytics firms.

2 mins

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THE WEEK India Magazine Description:

THE WEEK is an Indian English-language news magazine published by The Malayala Manorama Co. Pvt. Ltd. It was founded in 1982 and is the largest circulated English news magazine in India.

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