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- Politics
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Ramachandra Guha: Trump's attack on US universities are a tragedy for the entire world
Growing up in the India of the 1970s, I had ambivalent feelings towards America. I admired some of their writers (Ernest Hemingway was a particular favourite) and adored the music of Bob Dylan and Mississippi John Hurt. On the other hand, I was just about old enough to remember – and never forget – how Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger had so energetically supported Pakistan against India (and Bangladesh) in the war of 1971. In 1980 I moved to Calcutta, and my ambivalence turned to outright hostility. Under the influence of my Marxist teachers, I became actively anti-American. I expressed private and public disdain for their brashness, their gross commercialism, their imperialist (mis)adventures in Latin America and Southeast Asia. Left to myself I would never have entered the United States of America. However, in 1985, my wife, Sujata, a recent graduate of the National Institute of Design, got a scholarship to do a Masters at Yale University. I could not stand in her way – the Yale graphic design department was reckoned to be the best in the world – but had to find a way to join her. Fortunately, I had come to know the historian, Uma Dasgupta, who then held a senior position at the United States Educational Foundation for India. With Uma di 's advice and assistance, I applied for a visiting lecturership at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, which – to my surprise – actually came through. Sujata left for Yale in August 1985. In November of the same year, this confirmed anti-American found himself outside the US Consulate on Ho Chi Minh Sarani. The counter opened at 8.30 am – I was there at seven, partly out of anxiety, and partly because when I accompanied Sujata for her visa interview in Madras there was a long line outside the American Consulate there, curving right around Mount Road all the way to the Thousand Lights Mosque. But here there was just one person ahead of me in the queue. It struck me that the Tamils were not at all anti-American, and produced engineers in far greater numbers than the Bengalis. Besides, I was due to teach from the spring term, when fewer Indians sought to go West than in the autumn. I reached Yale on January 2, 1986, and spent the next year-and-a-half expanding my mind, teaching as well as learning from my students. In retrospect, I am very glad I went to America when I did. Since I had done a PhD already, I was sure of the ground on which I stood. Meeting young Indian historians who had studied in America, I was immediately struck by how driven by fashion their work was. In the wake of Edward Said's Orientalism, post-colonialism and Cultural Studies were all the rage. In the two disciplines I knew best, history and social anthropology, sustained empirical research was not encouraged any more. Rather than spend months in the field or in the archive, these acolytes of Edward Said preferred to take out texts by dead white males from the nearest library and scrutinise them for their departures from what then passed for 'radical politics'. SHALOM COLUMBIA: The Trump Admin, led by @USEDgov and the Task Force to Combat Antisemitism (@TheJusticeDept, @HHSGov, & @USGSA), has canceled ~$400M in federal grants to @Columbia over its failure to protect Jewish students from antisemitic harassment. — The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 7, 2025 The Indians of my generation who had come to America to study and teach had largely done so for personal advancement. But it was not so much for their opportunism that I shunned them; it was more that their intellectual concerns were not mine. The scholars I was attracted to worked on one or both of my subject fields – the environment and social protest – albeit in cultures and contexts other than my own. At Yale itself, I had long conversations with the environmental sociologist, William Burch, the environmental historian, William Cronon, and the ecological anthropologist, Timothy Weiskel. A senior Yale scholar whom I spoke with regularly was James Scott, who had just published what in my view remains the best of his many books, Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance. Outside Yale, I made contact with the comparativist, Michael Adas, at Rutgers, the sociologist, Louise Fortmann, at Berkeley, and the doyen of American environmental history, Donald Worster, then teaching at Brandeis. These scholars had worked on Africa, Southeast Asia and North America, using techniques and disciplines different from the ones to which I was accustomed. And, unlike established academics in Calcutta or Delhi, these American professors were refreshingly free of hierarchy. Though much older than myself, they were happy to be called by their first names, and happy to have their ideas critically assessed too. Meeting these scholars, and reading their works, expanded my intellectual horizons and enlarged my intellectual ambitions. Like them, I wanted to publish my PhD as a book, and get on to work on a second book, and then a third. Too many Indians I knew had written a fine first book and then rested on their laurels. On the other hand, Adas, Scott and Worster all had an impressive oeuvre, notable for its depth and its diversity. That was the model I wished to follow when I came back home. One reason Sujata and I enjoyed Yale so much is that we knew that when she graduated, we would go back to our homeland. The other Indians at Yale were all desperate to stay on – which meant that they were anxious to take the right courses to get the right job that might get them a work visa and in time a Green Card. Because we had no such anxieties, we could take full advantage of all that this great university had to offer. And we made some close American friends, with whom we are still in touch. TRUMP: 'Harvard wants to fight. They want to show how smart they are and they're getting their a** kicked.' — Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) May 28, 2025 In the four decades since we returned from New Haven, I have been back to the US many times. Most trips have been short – a week or two – but occasionally I have spent longer spells at universities on the East and West Coasts. I have the happiest memories of a semester spent at the University of California at Berkeley, where – at this great public university – the students were as intellectually sharp yet of far more diverse backgrounds than at Yale or Stanford. I was teaching a course on Mahatma Gandhi, and the interest shown in the man and his legacy by my Burmese, Jewish and African-American students convinced me that it would be worth my while to spend the next decade (and more) researching and writing about Gandhi. I was myself entirely educated in India, and have spent the vast bulk of my life living and working in India. Yet, I owe an enormous debt to the scholars and students I have spent time with in America. And to the libraries and archives in that country too, which often contain priceless documents on the history of India unavailable in my homeland. I therefore feel a deep sense of anguish and anger at what Donald Trump is doing to wreck the American university system. Whether conducted out of ideology or personal spite, Trump's campaign is causing enormous damage to a country he leads and claims to love. It is true that in recent decades, the American higher education system has committed some self-goals. Of these, two stand out – the capitulation to identity politics, which has greatly inhibited free discussion and constructive debate on campuses; and the decision to do away with the retirement age, so that scholars in their eighties and nineties are still there to teach (smaller and smaller) classes, maintain large offices, and retain voting rights over future appointments. That said, most of the best universities in the world are still in the US. By educating and influencing scholars from all over the world, they have enormously enhanced the country's soft power. And, perhaps more pertinently, they have nourished an apparently unending stream of scientific creativity, which has played an incalculable role in making America the most economically and technologically advanced country in the world. Before I went to Yale in 1986, I had been for some time a critic of American foreign policy. In the years since, I have retained my strong scepticism of its government's intentions abroad. All through my life, the foreign policy of the US has been characterised by a mixture of arrogance and hypocrisy. Yet its universities are another matter altogether. They are an adornment to humanity, and motivated or ignorant attacks on them should be mourned by thinking people of all nationalities.
Hindustan Times
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Manipur bus row: Central officials locked up by protesters
Tensions escalated across Manipur on Tuesday as the student wing of the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), a Meitei civil body, intensified its agitation by locking several central government offices in the valley districts. Protesters targeted key establishments such as the Geological Survey of India and the District Election Office at Lamphelpat, Imphal West, as part of a growing backlash against the alleged removal of the word 'Manipur' from a state-run bus. The act, which occurred on May 20 when central security personnel reportedly stopped a Manipur State Transport (MST) bus ferrying journalists to the Shirui Lily Festival, Ukhrul and ordered the word 'Manipur' removed from its signage, has become a flashpoint for public outrage. Protesters were seen smearing mud on signboards bearing the Government of India's name, calling the act symbolic of the Centre's 'insensitive treatment' toward the state's identity. Women-led demonstrations erupted simultaneously in multiple districts, including Imphal East and West, with protestors carrying placards reading, 'Self-determination is our birthright.' Human chains were formed outside government offices while slogans condemned the state administration's 'disrespectful and insensitive' handling of the issue. Civil society groups including the All Manipur United Clubs' Organisation (AMUCO), Porei Lei Marol, All Manipur Women's Voluntary Association (AMAWOVA), Manipur Students' Federation (MSF), and Committee on Human Rights (COHR) coordinated the demonstrations. Protesters demanded a formal apology from the Governor and the resignation of the Chief Secretary and Security Advisor for what they called a 'failure of governance.' In a separate development, women's group Imagi Meira stormed the Manipur Legislative Assembly and the BJP state office in Imphal. Thokchom Sujata, the group's convenor, told reporters outside the BJP office that they had submitted an application to the Secretary of the Legislative Assembly seeking details of the annual budget allocation for MLAs. 'All MLAs, including the 10 Kuki-Zo legislators, are enjoying full benefits and salaries from the Assembly, even though the state is under suspended animation,' Sujata said. She alleged that authorities kept directing them back and forth between the Speaker and the secretary without providing the requested information. Criticising the government's inaction, Sujata said, 'If the 10 Kuki-Zo MLAs cannot come to Imphal, then the remaining 44 MLAs excluding the five from Congress should form a popular government.' Manipur has 60 assembly seats in which one seat (Tadubi Assembly constituency) has been remaining vacant after his untimely death. At present Manipur has 59 MLAs. She added, 'We came here to meet the BJP state president, but were denied a meeting with one excuse after another. We are not interested in their power games we want a functioning government that ends the ongoing crisis.' Meanwhile, former chief minister and Congress legislature party (CLP) leader O Ibobi Singh launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, saying they should be 'ashamed' of the security lapse that forced Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla to be airlifted to Raj Bhawan due to protests. Speaking at the 61st death anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru at the Manipur PCC office in Imphal on Tuesday, Ibobi called the situation a 'glaring failure of law and order.' He claimed that Governor Bhalla had to detour nearly six kilometres before being airlifted because he could not complete a seven-kilometre road journey from the airport due to demonstrations. Ibobi said if the Governor does not apologise publicly, he may consider filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) or a Right to Information (RTI) application for accountability. He also criticised the alleged role of the Mahar Regiment in the MST bus signage controversy, calling the removal of the word 'Manipur' from public transport vehicles a threat to the state's territorial integrity. 'This is not just a law and order issue. It reflects an erosion of democratic and constitutional values,' he said, reiterating that the Congress party would never compromise on the state's integrity. Ibobi further denied any talks with the BJP over government formation, stating that the Congress remains firm in its position and that responsibility lies with the BJP to prove its majority and approach the Raj Bhawan.
Time of India
27-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Suta forays into new categories; doubles production
The homegrown D2C fashion brand Suta , which started its journey as a saree brand in 2016, is foraying into new categories like menswear , kidswear , and jewellery , and penetrating deeper into womenswear by offering dresses, co-ord sets, and lehengas, Sujata and Taniya Biswas, co-founders of Suta, told ETRetail. Apart from this, the brand is planning to invest Rs 50 lakh to expand its manufacturing unit further. "Earlier, we used to do small capsule collections of various categories, and they used to sell out. So, we thought of building it here," they said. "Over the next 2 months, we are planning to double manufacturing at our Jharkhand unit, which we have recently expanded from 5,000 units per month to 7,000 units per month. From here, we plan to take it to 12,000 units per month," they further added. The brand, which offers 5,000 SKUs, is also scouting for places to open another manufacturing unit. Currently, sarees contribute to 50 per cent of our revenue, 30 per cent comes from blouses, and the remaining 20 per cent is contributed by the new categories. The digital-first brand is also eyeing to expand its offline presence from 16 stores to 26 stores by the end of this financial year. "So far, all our stores are located on high streets; however, going ahead, we plan to open our stores at malls," they asserted. The brand, which runs 2 company-owned and company-operated stores, and for the rest, follows the FOCO model, plans to penetrate deeper into cities where it already has a presence. Currently, an average store of the brand spans across 1,000 - 1,200 and it plans to open stores spanning across 600-700 in the malls. At present, 50 per cent of the revenue comes from its D2C channel, 15 per cent from e-commerce, and the remaining 35 per cent is contributed by the offline channel. "We are hoping offline to start contributing 40-45 per cent by the end of this fiscal year," they stated. The brand, which closed the last fiscal at Rs 75 crore, is planning to close this fiscal with Rs 110 crore. "Currently, we are clocking single-digit EBITDA and plan to end this fiscal with double-digit EBITDA," they concluded.
UPI
26-05-2025
- General
- UPI
Container ship capsizes off India's coast, threatening oil spill
1 of 2 | MSC ELSA 3 capsized Sunday about 38 nautical miles southwest off Kochi. Photo courtesy of Indian Coast Guard/ Facebook May 26 (UPI) -- A Liberian-flagged container ship that capsized off India's southwestern coast is at risk of causing an oil spill, officials said, as they rush to prevent an environmental catastrophe. The vessel, MSC ELSA 3, began to list to one side about 38 nautical miles southwest of Kochi on Saturday and sank Sunday, with 643 containers onboard, the Indian Coast Guard said in a statement. Of the 73 containers missing, 13 contained hazardous material, including calcium carbide, which releases a gas that is highly flammable when it comes into contact with water. It also had 84.44 metric tonnes of diesel fuel and 367.1 metric tonnes of furnace oil. @IndiaCoastGuard #MRCC, #Mumbai received a Distress Alert regarding Liberia-flagged container vessel MSC ELSA 3 developing 26° list approx 38 nautical miles southwest of #Kochi. Vessel departed #Vizhinjam Port on 23 May 25, bound for #Kochi with ETA 24 May 25. #ICG is actively... Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) May 24, 2025 The chief minister's office said in a statement that an alert had been issued to the state of Kerala's coastal regions, warning that an oil slick could impact the entire coastline. "As the oil slick can reach anywhere along the Kerala coast, an alert has been sounded across the coastal belt," the statement said, Indian Express reported. "The containers are drifting in the sea at a speed of 3 kph. Besides the oil in the fallen containers, marine fuel used in the ship has also leaked." The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority is warning the public to not touch any materials that have washed ashore and could be from the ship. "Make sure to stay at least 200 meters away," it said in a Facebook post on Monday. "Do not gather in groups near the area. Do not obstruct authorities while they are removing materials. Stay at a safe distance." The ship capsized rapidly Sunday morning due to flooding in one of the holds, the Indian Coast Guard said. Twenty-one crew members were rescued by the Coast Guard and three by the Navy. The Indian Coast Guard said it has activated a pollution response preparedness protocol and is working with state authorities to address potential spills. All 24 crew members ex Liberian-flagged container Vessel MSC ELSA 3 rescued safely, 21 by @IndiaCoastGuard & 03 by @indiannavy Ship Sujata after vessel sank off #Kochi this morning. Vessel was carrying 640 containers, including 13 containing hazardous cargo and 12 with calcium... Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) May 25, 2025
Indian Express
26-05-2025
- General
- Indian Express
Containers of capsized ship drift to Kerala coast: What we know about the oil spill risk, and preparedness to contain it
Containers from a Liberian-flagged cargo ship, that capsized off the Kerala coast Sunday triggering a oil spill alert in the area, have now begun washing up ashore. The situation is being closely monitored. Even as no spill has been reported so far, people have been asked to stay away from any object that drift to the shore. MSC ELSA 3, the Liberian-flagged vessel, en route to Kochi Port from Vizhinjam near Thiruvananthapuram, started tilting due to the rough sea conditions, 38 nautical miles off the coast of Kochi on Saturday. By next day morning, multiple containers fell into the water and began to sink. According to Indian Coast Guard (ICG), the vessel capsized rapidly in the early hours of Sunday 'due to flooding in one of the holds', and was at a risk of spilling oil. 'All 24 crew members of Liberian-flagged container vessel MSC ELSA 3 were rescued safely, 21 by Indian Coast Guard and 3 by Indian Navy ship, Sujata, after the vessel sank off Kochi this morning,' the Coast Guard said in a post on X on Sunday. The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority has issued an alert to the public to keep at least 200 metres away from objects that may drift towards the coast. The state government has sounded an alert along the coast, mainly in central and southern Kerala, where the containers from the sunken ship were likely to reach in heavy wind and currents. Besides, there has been an alert against the oil slick from ship, which could reach anywhere along the Kerala coast, the government said. The Coast Guard has said the sunken ship was carrying 640 containers, including 13 containing 'hazardous cargo' and 12 with calcium carbide. Additionally, the ship had 84.44 metric tonnes of diesel and 367.1 metric tonnes of furnace oil in its tanks. However, the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information and Services (INCOIS) has warned that if spillage does occur, at least two coastal districts in southern Kerala could face contamination within 36 to 48 hours. If the oil spill, the areas that are at potential risk of contamination are Alappuzha, Ambalapuzha, Arattupuzha and Karunagappally. 'These coastal zones are at risk of contamination and should be given prompt attention to minimise potential environmental impact,' said INCOIS. INCOIS said it is closely monitoring the situation and remains in coordination with relevant authorities, providing vital ocean forecast information and advisory services to support ongoing search, rescue, and environmental response operations. Soon after the tilting of the cargo ship was reported, INCOIS activated its Search and Rescue Aid Tool (SARAT) to assist in locating containers or drifting objects, it said. Additionally, 'oil spill trajectory advisory' simulations were run to forecast the potential spread and movement of any oil discharge, aiding mitigation and cleanup planning, it said. The Coast Guard said it has activated comprehensive pollution response preparedness and is coordinating closely with the state administration to address all possible scenarios. The Coast Guard ship, Saksham, is engaged in oil spill response. A Coast Guard Dornier aircraft is also being launched in 'PR configuration for mitigating oil spill'. In the context of an oil spill response, 'PR configuration' typically refers to the use of the 'co-polarisation ratio' (PR) method to assess the oil-water mixture ratio in a spill — crucial for effective emergency treatment and cleanup efforts. The state government has asked the Factories and Boilers Department to make ready two Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) each in southern and central Kerala districts, and one each in the northern districts. Besides, in the event of oil slick reaching the shore, the state pollution control board was directed to make ready two RRTs each in the southern and central coastal districts and one each in the northern districts.
