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Valay Singh

Articles by Valay Singh

How an ancient Buddhist vihara became a multicultural centre of learning

Nalanda, a preeminent centre of Buddhist and Indian learning, was renowned for its integration of Buddhist and Indian educational systems

A view of the ruins of Nalanda in the ancient kingdom of Magadha, now Bihar. (Parwaz Khan /HT PHOTO)

Analysis

Published on Jun 23, 2024 09:00 AM IST

ByValay Singh

London to Calcutta on a hippie bus: Around (part of) the world in £85

In 1956, the first such bus set out from London with about two dozen passengers. The bus tour left London on April 15, 1957, and reached Calcutta on June 5.

In 1956, the first bus set out from London (Getty Images)

Analysis

Updated on Jun 20, 2024 05:53 PM IST

ByValay Singh

Amaravati: A brief history of city that Chandrababu Naidu wants to build again

The layered history of Amaravati, which lies on the right bank of the Krishna river, begins more than 2300 years ago around the 2nd century BC.

Depiction of the Amaravati Stupa (Gryffindor/Wikimedia Commons)

Analysis

Published on Jun 14, 2024 08:30 AM IST

ByValay Singh

How the turbulent history of Banaras was shaped by syncretism and dynasties

The city of Banaras, steeped in both political and cultural history, has played a pivotal role from the Mughal era to British colonial times.

Analysis

Published on Jun 02, 2024 09:30 AM IST

ByValay Singh | Edited by Anish Yande

Vivekananda Rock Memorial: A memorial at the centre of propaganda and politics

In an 1894 letter, Vivekananda recalled that he had “hit upon a plan” in Kanniyakumari in 1892, whereby sanyasins would be called upon to educate India’s needy.

Kanyakumari: View of the Vivekananda Rock Memorial, in Kanyakumari, Friday, May 31, 2024. (PTI Photo)
(PTI05_31_2024_000295B)(PTI)

Analysis

Published on Jun 01, 2024 02:51 AM IST

ByValay Singh

Awadh and its continuing journey as UP’s cultural and political heart

An account of Awadh’s history must include the community of indigenous communities like the Nishads, who live along the banks of the Sarayu and other rivers

Plate 3 from the third set of Thomas and William Daniell's 'Oriental Scenery.' The print shows the entrance gateway to the Lal Bagh at Faizabad, a pleasure garden established by Shuja' al-Daula. (British Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections/Wikimedia Commons)

Analysis

Published on May 21, 2024 08:30 AM IST

ByValay Singh

Kannauj: How this political battleground was shaped by syncretism of past kings

The storied past of Kannauj, once a seat of empires and now a focal point of modern UP politics, was shaped by King Harshavardhan and those who followed him

Coin of King Harsha of the Vardhana dynasty, circa 606–647 CE(CNG Coins/Wikimedia Commons)

Analysis

Published on May 15, 2024 09:12 PM IST

ByValay Singh

Heera Mandi: Once a place for the patrons of art, now just a market for sundries

Heera Mandi was founded as a grain market by Heera Singh Dogra, the son of Dhian Singh, who was Sikh emperor, Ranjit Singh’s prime minister.

The British first developed brothel houses in the Anarkali market in the city to cater to the needs of the British soldiers stationed there. The brothels then moved to the Lohari gate before ending up here. (komfortablynumb/INSTAGRAM)

Analysis

Published on May 12, 2024 09:00 AM IST

ByValay Singh

The Matua community find themselves at the crossroads of identity and politics

The rise of religious fundamentalism forced them out of Bangladesh while their low caste status impeded their full integration in Indian Bengal.

Nadia: People of Matua community demand cancellation of CAA and unconditional citizenship during Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's election campaign rally ahead of Lok Sabha polls, at Dhubuliya, in Nadia, Sunday, March 31, 2024. (PTI Photo) (PTI03_31_2024_000119B)(PTI)

Analysis

Updated on May 01, 2024 12:52 AM IST

ByValay Singh

HistoriCity | What explains the brouhaha over Rupala’s statements

Communities have used marriages to build political alliances and achieve upward mobility. This includes those in power at different times throughout history

Rajkot: Union Minister of State and BJP candidate Parshottam Rupala addresses a gathering as he arrives to file his nomination papers for Lok Sabha elections, in Rajkot, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (PTI Photo) (PTI04_16_2024_000107B)(PTI)

Analysis

Published on Apr 18, 2024 08:22 PM IST

ByValay Singh

When an 18th-century battle decides a 21st-century election in West Bengal

It is tragic that the colonial British tactic of divide and rule continues to haunt Indian politics as the communalisation of the Battle of Plassey shows

Clive meeting Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey. The battle was fought on the banks of River Hooghly (Wikimedia Commons)

Analysis

Updated on Apr 09, 2024 08:29 PM IST

ByValay Singh

HistoriCity | Mysore's logo is a new city's nod at its old, complex history

Beyond the tiger claw and the Mysore sandal soap, the city's history is filled with the symbols of good governance, wars and anti-colonial pride

Analysis

Published on Apr 05, 2024 11:35 PM IST

ByValay Singh

A Banarsi landlord was exiled to St Helena 16 years before Napoleon's death

The year was 1764, and an angry landlord, Jagat Singh, incited insurrection with a deposed nawab in a bid to free Varanasi

Shah Alam II, Mughal Emperor of India, reviewing the East India Company's troops, painted 1781. An illustration from A Short History of the English People, by John Richard Green, illustrated edition, Volume IV, Macmillan and Co, London, New York, 1894.(Tilly Kettle/A Short History of the English People

Analysis

Published on Mar 23, 2024 09:31 PM IST

ByValay Singh

HistoriCity | The syncretic past of the Kamal Maula mosque-Bhojshala complex

Why is a 14th century mosque being called ‘Bhojshala’? Here’s what the ASI and other historical scholars say about Dhar

The Kamal Maula mosque in Dhar, which is also known as Bhojshala temple amongst Hindus(HT File Photo)

Analysis

Published on Mar 14, 2024 10:19 PM IST

ByValay Singh

Saurashtra, a city with an ancient past, is no stranger to opulence

Jamnagar, the site of the Ambani pre-wedding bash, has a long history going back over four millennia. But its more recent history is one of gems and cricket

Statue Of Jam Saheb Ranjitsinh at Lakhota lake, Jamnagar, after whom Jamnagar is named(Onedeepen/Wikimedia Commons)

Analysis

Updated on Mar 13, 2024 08:32 PM IST

ByValay Singh

HistoriCity | Learn more about Dwarka, whose sea bed the PM recently touched

Faith needs no evidence to sustain it, but as findings of a 1983 archaeology expedition show, probing Dwarka’s waters will be a fitting tribute to its history

PM Modi performs an underwater puja in the Arabian Sea at the site of the ancient submerged city of Lord Krishna's Dwarka.(ANI)

Opinion

Published on Feb 28, 2024 07:14 PM IST

ByValay Singh

Four tasks for Maharashtra's new DGP to improve the state of policing

Rashmi Shukla recently received a two-year extension to her tenure. Here are the big challenges that face the force

Mumbai, India - Jan. 9, 2024: IPS officer Rashmi Shukla of 1988 batch took over as the first female Director General of Police (DGP) of Maharashtra on Tuesday.. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

Opinion

Published on Feb 28, 2024 06:48 PM IST

ByValay Singh, Arshi Showkat

HistoriCity | Varanasi is a microcosm of Hindu India, it's also a city of reform

Kashi has captured the collective Hindu imagination as Shiva’s city. But to narrowly define this city in terms of orthodox Hinduism is a mistake

A Hindu priest performs evening prayers on the banks of the river Ganga at the Dashashwamedh Ghat, in Varanasi on February 10, 2024. (Photo by Niharika KULKARNI / AFP)(AFP)

Opinion

Published on Feb 19, 2024 09:42 PM IST

ByValay Singh

From confluence to conflict: When archaeological digs, history and faith collide

As the clamour for ASI surveys of mosques in Varanasi and Mathura grows, a look at the deeply layered history of that region in modern-day UP

An ancient Buddhist site in Sarnath near Varanasi, The first ASI excavation at Varanasi began at the older and nearby site of Sarnath in 1905.
(Yusuke Kawasaki/ Wikimedia Commons)

Opinion

Updated on Feb 07, 2024 11:28 PM IST

ByValay Singh

The SC asked states to plan prisons for next 50 years — here’s what is missing

Increasing the number of prisons is only half the work to address overcrowding. The other is to tackle the population of undertrials. These 4 charts show why

Nationally, the share of undertrials has always been more than 60% since 2009. Between 2009 and 2022, it grew from 66% in 2009 to 73% in 2022, touching 78% in 2021.(HT Photo)

Analysis

Published on Feb 04, 2024 05:01 PM IST

ByArshi Showkat, Nayanika Singhal, Valay Singh

Archaeology is more than about temples and mosques, it’s about how we once lived

Previous digs have also taught us that the region between Ganga and Yamuna has been populated for millennia. The ground beneath us is replete with history

Members of the Archaeological Survey of India's (ASI) team conduct a scientific survey at the Gyanvapi mosque complex, in Varanasi on August 8. (PTI/ FILE PHOTO)

Opinion

Published on Jan 29, 2024 07:04 PM IST

ByValay Singh

When police brutality becomes normalised

In a culture of impunity, a return to fundamentals is essential: what is torture, is it legal, and how does our society deal with it

Police violence, a slap, a kick, a punch in the stomach in the police station or on the street is hardly seen as an infraction of the law (HT PHOTO)

india news

Published on Oct 21, 2023 09:17 AM IST

ByMaja Daruwala, Valay Singh

What the Supreme Court data reveals

What information on caseload and pendency of the top court - seen in light of similar data from lower courts and high courts - shows about the judicial system

Supreme Court data is distributed across three dashboards, providing an overview of key statistics, and data on pending cases and on cases disposed of(ANI)

india news

Published on Sep 25, 2023 08:41 PM IST

ByValay Singh, Nayanika Singhal

How is India faring on justice delivery?

According to the third India Justice Report, budget allocation has steadily risen in the past decade. So have vacancies, pendency and caseloads

india news

Updated on Apr 10, 2023 02:41 PM IST

ByMaja Daruwala, Lakhwinder Kaur , Valay Singh

For better policing, focus on quality of personnel

Real improvements can come about easily if recruitment is timely and designed to induct diverse and carefully selected people into the force

While we wait for the political will and police leadership to reform policing and make the force fit to serve a diverse set of people in a democratic country, the focus must shift from increasing the numbers — one of the possible motivations behind the others category — to building capacity, transparency and accountability. (PTI)

opinion

Updated on Apr 04, 2023 07:57 PM IST

ByMaja Daruwala, Valay Singh

India needs not just more police, but better policing

Given the inequalities of representation both in terms of gender, religion and caste and the unsatisfactory ratios between constable and supervisory cadres, the enlargement may, in fact, have contributed to a dilution in process-oriented, law-upholding policing

Being a state subject, each state government defines its requirements (sanctioned strength). The sanctioned numbers vary from 6,553 in Sikkim to Uttar Pradesh’s 420,000-strong cohort. However, except Nagaland, not a single state has been able to reach targets; gaps range from around 7% (Uttarakhand) to 42% (Bihar). (Biplov Bhuyan/HT PHOTO)

opinion

Updated on Jul 26, 2022 06:29 PM IST

ByMaja Daruwala and Valay Singh

High vacancies, low budgets: What ails social justice delivery

The report reveals that high vacancies are related to a number of factors from scientific utilisation of resources to budget allocation to training capacities.

The special court of Central Bureau of Investigation stated that financial fraud is as grave as a murder or rape. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

india news

Updated on Feb 16, 2021 05:03 AM IST

ByValay Singh

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Valay Singh

Nalanda, a preeminent centre of Buddhist and Indian learning, was renowned for its integration of Buddhist and Indian educational systems

In 1956, the first such bus set out from London with about two dozen passengers. The bus tour left London on April 15, 1957, and reached Calcutta on June 5.

The layered history of Amaravati, which lies on the right bank of the Krishna river, begins more than 2300 years ago around the 2nd century BC.

The city of Banaras, steeped in both political and cultural history, has played a pivotal role from the Mughal era to British colonial times.

In an 1894 letter, Vivekananda recalled that he had “hit upon a plan” in Kanniyakumari in 1892, whereby sanyasins would be called upon to educate India’s needy.

An account of Awadh’s history must include the community of indigenous communities like the Nishads, who live along the banks of the Sarayu and other rivers

The storied past of Kannauj, once a seat of empires and now a focal point of modern UP politics, was shaped by King Harshavardhan and those who followed him

Heera Mandi was founded as a grain market by Heera Singh Dogra, the son of Dhian Singh, who was Sikh emperor, Ranjit Singh’s prime minister.

The rise of religious fundamentalism forced them out of Bangladesh while their low caste status impeded their full integration in Indian Bengal.

Communities have used marriages to build political alliances and achieve upward mobility. This includes those in power at different times throughout history

It is tragic that the colonial British tactic of divide and rule continues to haunt Indian politics as the communalisation of the Battle of Plassey shows

Beyond the tiger claw and the Mysore sandal soap, the city's history is filled with the symbols of good governance, wars and anti-colonial pride

The year was 1764, and an angry landlord, Jagat Singh, incited insurrection with a deposed nawab in a bid to free Varanasi

Why is a 14th century mosque being called ‘Bhojshala’? Here’s what the ASI and other historical scholars say about Dhar

Jamnagar, the site of the Ambani pre-wedding bash, has a long history going back over four millennia. But its more recent history is one of gems and cricket

Faith needs no evidence to sustain it, but as findings of a 1983 archaeology expedition show, probing Dwarka’s waters will be a fitting tribute to its history

Rashmi Shukla recently received a two-year extension to her tenure. Here are the big challenges that face the force

Kashi has captured the collective Hindu imagination as Shiva’s city. But to narrowly define this city in terms of orthodox Hinduism is a mistake

As the clamour for ASI surveys of mosques in Varanasi and Mathura grows, a look at the deeply layered history of that region in modern-day UP

Increasing the number of prisons is only half the work to address overcrowding. The other is to tackle the population of undertrials. These 4 charts show why

Previous digs have also taught us that the region between Ganga and Yamuna has been populated for millennia. The ground beneath us is replete with history

In a culture of impunity, a return to fundamentals is essential: what is torture, is it legal, and how does our society deal with it

What information on caseload and pendency of the top court - seen in light of similar data from lower courts and high courts - shows about the judicial system

According to the third India Justice Report, budget allocation has steadily risen in the past decade. So have vacancies, pendency and caseloads

Real improvements can come about easily if recruitment is timely and designed to induct diverse and carefully selected people into the force

Given the inequalities of representation both in terms of gender, religion and caste and the unsatisfactory ratios between constable and supervisory cadres, the enlargement may, in fact, have contributed to a dilution in process-oriented, law-upholding policing

The report reveals that high vacancies are related to a number of factors from scientific utilisation of resources to budget allocation to training capacities.

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