The Big Squeeze

Turkmenistan’s “President for Life” Saparmurat Niyazov erected a 50-ft gold-plated statue of himself in the centre of the capital Ashgabat, eight years before he gave…

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SCHOLARSHIPS-POLITICAL COMPULSIONS

Two experts on Soviet studies, both lecturers in major universities, were in­ formed late last month by the University Grants Commission (UGC) that their appli­cations…

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LALDENGA’S WAR-DANCE

Events In Mizoram seem to be moving Inexorably towards a resumption of Insurgency The cease-fire agreement, which came into effect at midnight on July 31…

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NOT SELLING VOLUMES

It was a browser’s dream come true­ kilometres of books that took hold of the bibliophile’s heart-strings and did not stop tugging for hours. For…

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POLITICAL COMPLUSIONS

Two experts on Soviet studies, both lecturers in major universities, were informed late last month by the University Grants Commission (UGC) that their applications for…

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THE TAMIL TRAGEDY

The 35-km ride from Katunayake International Airport into Colombo in a slow Mitsubishi coach I driven by a nervous Sinhala I is enveloped in silence.…

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THE AFTERMATH

GANESHA’S temple had never seen so many supplicants, all with unanswerable prayers Colombo’s Tamils call it Pillaiyar Kovil, and its ornamented gateway on Galle Road…

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FUTURE TENSE

So let’s see: 2018 is supposed to be a good year for India. We have low inflation, the monsoon may be normal, manufacturing is finally…

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