In this issue

This issue covers the growing trends that point to India realigning its foreign policy back to 'non-alignment'

The Making Of A Hard State

By ratcheting up nationalistic sentiments to a fever pitch, the BJP is trying to reap political dividends.

10+ mins

The Business Of Encounters

The UP police claim that it has seized over ₹146 crore from ‘gangsters’ in the state in a matter of 11 months deserves closer scrutiny as allegations mount of arbitrariness in seizing properties

4 mins

Cases 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000: What Is Happening To Netanyahu

Everything you need to know about the cases against Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu

6 mins

India's Botched-up Id Project

The SC verdict in the ongoing case to ascertain the constitutional validity of Aadhaar will have far-reaching consequences

4 mins

A 'Softer' Islam, For A Moderate Modi

DESPITE BEING UNDERRATED and under editorialised by the Indian media, there is nothing that anyone can really take away from the importance of the event organised by the Indian Islamic and Cultural Centre (IICC) to provide a forum for the visiting King of Jordan, His Majesty, King Abdullah II, to expound his views on the moderate nature of Islam and the imperative to fight radical Islam.

3 mins

Net Neutrality and an Open Internet

In recent years, the campaign to maintain citizen's right to the Internet - and protect them from practices that would benefit only a few - has become firece and noisy.

5 mins

Referendum on Cash Ban

If early polling is anything to go by, then the assembly elections across five states could mean an all or nothing scenario for the BJP

5 mins

changing the demonetisation narrative like a chameleon changes colours

no matter what the spin around the note ban, it is clear the move was a politically expedient decision rather than a principled policy move.

9 mins

Come and See The Blood In The Streets

Incidents of violence targetting the minorities have become routine in the last 16 months. Prime Minister Modis government has done little to shun the belief that the culprits dont enjoy its patronage.

7 mins

The Gates of Memory: Two Hundred Years Of Silence

People take part in a ceremony at the monument "The Gates of Memory"near the village of Trostenets.

5 mins

Digital Taxi Aggregators: Driving Past Caste

Application-based cab aggregators have disrupted old business models. Hiring drivers was once the preserve of old taxi stands who relied on various forms of kinship such as regionalism and caste.

3 mins

The Countryside Is Burning

A lack of jobs and an abundant workforce have meant that the agrarian states of India have become tinderboxes waiting to catch fire.

10+ mins

How Big Is The Black Money Catch?

There are many questions which remain unanswered despite the announcement of a massive ₹65,000 crore being supposedly declared by tax evaders across the country.

5 mins

The Trump-Clinton Cliff Hanger

The US presidential elections of 2016 are going to be one of the most rivetting polls in recent memory.

4 mins

How Prepared is Delhi for Bird Flu?

The government administration seems to be dozing while cases of bird flu are popping up on the radar.

3 mins

US Elections: Sex, Lies and Presidential Debate

Democracy is the art of running the circus from the monkey’s cage. – HL Mencken

5 mins

50 Years of Haryana: A Dream Un-Fulfilled

Celebrating the existence of a state which has been around for 50 years begs the question. What exactly has that state achieved?

3 mins

Staring at Jobs Loss, and Driverless Cars

Every month, a million young Indians become ready to join the industrial workforce. Who can generate enough jobs?

5 mins

For Fear of Finding Something Worse

If Hillary Clinton does manage to get elected, it will be because enough voters can’t endure the idea or the reality of dictator Donald Trump.

8 mins

GST Will Not Change India

It would be foolish to deny the benefits of the landmark legislation for the business community and in terms of administrative streamlining, but more foolish still is the notion that it is going to radically change India’s growth story.

9 mins

Confessions Of a Digital Startup founder

Zubin Ray, founder of Chacar, writes about the digital startup environment.

5 mins

The Death of the iCAR

NO LESS THAN $6.7 TRILLION. The car industry will have a revenue potential of $6.7 trillion by 2030.That was the figure that got the honchos at Apple to consider the impossible. An Apple branded self-driving electric car was always going to be a distant dream. To Apple’s credit, it pursued that singular ambition aggressively. In 2014, it launched a project code-named Titan. Massive resources were deployed, engineers from the automotive industry were hired, design resources were diverted from the company’s incredible design team. Two years later that project lies dead at arrival.

3 mins

Inside The Zu-pta Web Of Corruption

A closer look into the Gupta family’s network in India may open a Pandora’s box

3 mins

An Agricultural Emergency

The Long March from Nashik to Mumbai not only presented a snapshot of the crisis that engulfs the agriculture sector but also proved yet again  the futility of farm loan waiver

4 mins

Riding On China, Maldives Challenges India

India’s failure to counter China’s enlargement in South Asia does not bode well for its neighbourhood policy

5 mins

The End Of Darkness Is Nigh

I’VE STARTED FEELING cheerful again.

3 mins

What Are You Going To Do, Mrs Graham?

IMAGINE THIS SCENE. There is a reporter sitting in the first class section of a plane, and he has a box of papers secured by a seat belt in the seat next to him, which he has bought an extra ticket for. 

4 mins

Indian Women Grow Their Own Future

Associations of women farmers who manage, and may own, family land and grow food rather than cash crops, are changing parts of India and earning new respect

7 mins

tata vs mistry: only tata sons allowed

the current war of words between ratan tata and cyrus mistry is the latest in a long line of pitched battles that the septuagenarian has fought to retain control of the tata group.

3 mins

knocking on death's door

a journey through a refugee camp in the west bank reveals the depth of suffering and alienation that the israeli occupation has created.

2 mins

Read all stories from Hardnews

Hardnews Magazine Description:

Eight years ago, Hardnews was conceived as a reaction to the dumbing down that was taking place in the mainstream media. Newspapers, magazines and television were celebrating trivia and giving precedence to lifestyle and fluff. It was (and continues to be) a phase of terrible political and social decline, with stunning mediocrity and celebrity success replacing aesthetic refinements, deeper intellectual pursuits and cultural high points. The big picture had become shallow and metro-centric. Hence the urge and need for hard news.

Hardnews had no pretensions to compete with what was called the “jute press” of the yore or the new money that is showing up in scores of TV channels or media outlets, since it does not have the funds to match their reach. Unmindful of its obvious limitations, it has, however, tried to give expression to old-fashioned public-spirited journalism that is angry, adversarial and irreverent. Search of truth is the lodestar for us, even if at times it is seen as unpopular and controversial.

Hardnews believes that tough, unsparing oversight of the government and other political and economic power centres is critical for the deepening of democracy. It believes fervently in giving ‘mainstream’ space and voice to those people who are shouted down, who constitute the silent scaffolding of the pluralist, secular Indian ethos at the vast margins.

Hardnews is entirely owned and run by media professionals and has no support of a corporate house or a political party. Central to its existence is the search to find ways and means to sustain an independent media in these difficult times.

Hardnews magazine and its new website are put together by media professionals who are conscious of smart design elements, responsible, original and quality writing. Many reckon it is one of the best-designed magazines in the country.

We have had a galaxy of eminent writers, including Indian, South Asian and western academics, policy-experts and seasoned journalists. In the coming days, we hope to network with a global network of veteran and new, old and young writers, journalists, thinkers, academics,artists and activists and others who are fighting injustice at different levels. It will explore new, in-depth intellectual limits, and push the threshold beyond the comfort zones of political, social and cultural conformity — stuff that no one wants to touch.

Hardnews is the South Asian partner of Le Monde Diplomatique, Paris and Newsline Magazine, Pakistan