Newsletters
@Evening: π Case Of The Kolkata Prof Cleared After 10 Years Paints Grim Picture Of Bengal
Karan Kamble
Jan 27, 2023, 08:54 PM | Updated 08:54 PM IST
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
1. What's π: The Catch-up π°
The list of national monuments needs to be radically rationalised, says EAC-PM report.
India tests its hypersonic technology demonstrator vehicle off the coast of Odisha.
Ayodhya railway station redevelopment along the lines of the under-construction Ram Mandir has entered its second phase.
Sindhi Hindus will only follow 'Sanatani' practices, a prominent Udasi Hindu saint has said.
Twelve more cheetahs are set to arrive in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park by mid-February.
2. π€ Tweet for thought: π― Relief after 10 years for Mamata cartoon forward!
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra had once spoken about the "danger of fascism rising in India." But this latest case β or rather, its conclusion β coming out of Bengal suggests that the boot is on the other foot.
Prof Ambikesh Mahapatra was cleared of charges 10 years after a criminal case was raised against him for forwarding a cartoon that featured the chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
A case was registered against Mahapatra in April 2012 at Purba Jadavpur police station in Kolkata.
The Jadavpur University professor was arrested on 14 April 2012 and later granted bail by a court.
A week ago, the additional sessions judge, tenth court, set aside an order of the chief judicial magistrate of the Alipore court (14 September 2021) that had rejected the professor's prayer for discharge from the case.
>> This is a victory for democracy. Those who are fighting for democracy will feel encouraged by this verdict. A criminal conspiracy was hatched against me by the police and the state government. β Prof Ambikesh Mahapatra
"(Moitra) is right. We should be worried. Very worried. Prof Ambikesh Mahapatra could be any one of us," Kanchan Gupta, Senior Adviser, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, said in a tweet.
3. π Word-watching: π¦ How India aced the Covid challenge
Braving A Viral Storm: India's Covid-19 Vaccine Story, written by Aashish Chandorkar and Suraj Sudhir, was out earlier this month.
The book is about India's successful efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, including the development and distribution of vaccines.
It has a foreword written by Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and an afterword by Adar Poonawalla of Serum Institute.
The authors, both Swarajya contributors as well, have used data to recount the story of Indiaβs fortitude and resolve to fight the pandemic.
Chandorkar is a counsellor at India's Permanent Mission to the WTO in Geneva. Sudhir works in the field of computer systems and machine learning in the San Francisco Bay Area in California.
Swarajya editorial director R Jagannathan has read and reviewed the book. His review was published on Swarajya today.
"In global comparisons, there is no country of the scale and size of India with a better vaccination spread. And the proof of the pudding lies in acknowledging where India stands today versus where China does," Jaggi writes.
Give both the review as well as the book a read, if you can. It's Jaggi-recommended.
π§ Swarajya audiobook: π£οΈ Bose, the overlooked and inconvenient nationalist
Author, researcher, and commentator Chandrachur Ghose talks about Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on a Swarajya audiobook.
Ghose is the author of Bose: The Untold Story of an Inconvenient Nationalist, published in February last year.
His activism is said to have led to the declassification of over 10,000 pages in 2010.
Ghose is the co-author of Conundrum: Subhas Bose's Life After Death, and has written for Swarajya in the past.
His latest book is "probably the first critical biography of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose till date," according to the publisher Penguin.
Why are we discussing Netaji now? Because 2022 was his 125th birth anniversary.
"As luck would have it, Netaji was born in 1897 and we got our independence in 1947, so... independence celebrations will always be linked with Netaji," Ghose says.
On our audiobook, you will find the author providing a brief timeline of the life of Netaji, the need for a Netaji research centre, the "love-hate relationship" between Bose and the Hindu Mahasabha, Netaji's "nation first" mission, and the difference between Gandhi and Bose, among other things.
4. π· Picture speaks: π A glimpse of Auschwitz on an important day
Pictured is Auschwitz, a symbol of the holocaust and crimes against humanity committed during the Second World War.
Auschwitz is the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp.
Auschwitz Memorial shared several pictures today β the 78th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz β as "a painful reminder of what ideologies of hatred may lead humanity to."
In 2005, the United Nations declared 27 January, the date of liberation of Auschwitz, as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Over 7,000 prisoners of Auschwitz, including some 700 children, were liberated on this day in 1945 by the Soviet Army soldiers.
"Today we all remember. We must remember," the Auschwitz Memorial said in a tweet.
Further reading: EVACUATION AND LIBERATION OF AUSCHWITZ
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
Introducing ElectionsHQ + 50 Ground Reports Project
The 2024 elections might seem easy to guess, but there are some important questions that shouldn't be missed.
Do freebies still sway voters? Do people prioritise infrastructure when voting? How will Punjab vote?
The answers to these questions provide great insights into where we, as a country, are headed in the years to come.
Swarajya is starting a project with an aim to do 50 solid ground stories and a smart commentary service on WhatsApp, a one-of-a-kind. We'd love your support during this election season.
Click below to contribute.