Weekend reads

  1. In the Indian Express, Tavleen Singh talks about how Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s quest for a modern and prosperous India contradicts his silence on attacks against Muslims. 
  2. It has been 50 years since the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam defeated the Congress and assumed power in Tamil Nadu in 1967. Half a century later, what is the relevance of the Dravidian movement? Has it remained true to its roots? Gopalkrishna Gandhi has this  to say in The Hindu. 
  3. The Cassini spacecraft, launched in 1997, has been studying Saturn for over 15 years. In September, its mission will end when it plunges into the ringed mammoth’s atmosphere. Dilip D’Souza in the Mint details how Cassini changed our view of Saturn through the photos it sent back. 
  4. In the Fountain Ink, Rakesh Ankit narrates the story of Solomon Abromovich Trone and his role as an advisor to Jawaharlal Nehru, which seems to have had significant effects on a newly independent India. 
  5. In the Business Standard, TN Ninan wonders if India is inviting global isolation by keeping itself away from projects like the China-driven “One Belt One Road”.
  6. In the context of the ongoing French elections, Lauren Collins in the New Yorker has this on Emmanuel Macron’s family and marriage and how it has  played a key part in the campaign. 
  7. Jared Spears in the Jacobin writes on the Spanish anarchist revolution of the 1930s and George Orwell’s account of this historic phase in modern European history. 
  8. As America tries to repeal Obamacare, Maureen Down explains in the New York Times on why Donald Trump is an hazard to public health. 
  9. It has been 100 years since the Russian revolution of 1917. What is its relevance in today’s world? China Mievelle in the Guardian writes on the event that changed the world forever.  
  10. Dhrubo Jyoti in the Hindustan Times on how the marginalised in the society are more prone to getting death penalties.