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Physical media has been up against decline for years, as manufacturers and retailers drop DVDs, Blu-rays, and video games on disc in favor of their digital alternatives, including streaming and downloaded copies of films, television programs, and games. The lure of the digital is real — instant to obtain, easy to store. No waiting. No cluttered shelves. And you can shop around from the comfort of your home, in your pajamas.

Whatever one might say about Jimmy Carter’s presidency, it was clear that the man himself meant for it to be transformational. From a subdued 1977 inauguration — Carter skipped the motorcade and black-tie balls in favor of business attire and an open-air stroll down Pennsylvania Avenue — to subsequent promises to restore American energy independence, reform welfare, and even transcend the “inordinate fear of communism” that had dominated US foreign policy since the 1940s, the thirty-ninth president put a lot on his plate.

Even at the risk of uttering a cliché, filmmaker Shyam Benegal was in a class of his own. A path-breaker, he took his audience to places where they had never been before. And this is no sweetener to enhance the reputation of a man who is no more.

History of the Communist Party of India in the last 100 years is a glorious saga of struggles and sacrifices for our country and its people. History of our freedom movement and our progress after independence are incomplete without the blood and sweat of communists all over the country. The foundation day of the CPI, 26th December 1925 is etched in the history of India as the day when dedicated communists from all over the country gathered in Kanpur to form the Communist Party of India and the event changed the course of our freedom struggle.

Rudyard Kipling famously writes, “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” This quote perfectly captures the book under review.

Jeremy Seabrook, who dedicated his life to writings which speak for the underprivileged and oppressed people everywhere, is no more. He breathed his last in a care home in London on November 30.. He was 86. His absence will be deeply felt by friends, admirers and countless readers in many parts of the world.

KOLKATA: A recall of having taken baby steps clutching the fingers of Mahatma Gandhi and then wedded to Marxism will either be a rollercoaster life story or one spent in ideological confusion. But brought up in Abhay Ashram, Sodpur in West Bengal which the prophet of non-violence considered to be his second home, veteran journalist and political activist Barun Dasgupta does not disappoint in his autobiography "Smiritir Sarani Beye”. He died in 2021 at the age of 86.

KOLKATA: Rajakaar is a pejorative term. This is used to describe pro-Pakistani collaborators during the war of independence of Bangladesh. Enraged by student protests, which at an advanced stage were joined by people from different walks of life, against the quota system reserving 56 per cent of government jobs for various groups, including highly controversially 30 per cent for descendants of the 1971 freedom fighters, Sheikh Hasina made the blatant blunder of calling the protesters rajakaars. This further inflamed the already angry students, except for the ones aligned with Bangladesh Chhatra League, an Awami League wing and in order to tame the protests, the government of the day used brute force leading to the death of close to 300 people.

Leading playwright and actor of Bengal, Manoj Mitra dominated the Bengali theatre scene for more than five decades making his distinctive mark as a writer, actor, teacher and director. He passed away at the age of 86 in Kolkata on November 10 morning following a brief illness. His demise was mourned by both the educated cultural community as also the common people of cities and villages since some of his plays like ‘Sajano Bagan’ and ‘Narak Gulzar’ were appreciated throughout the state covering all sections of the population.

When two individuals – a woman and a man – take the vow, they understandably do so in the hope of sharing common interests apart from remaining faithful to each other till death do them part. The global experience is that contrary to their original pledge to remain partners in all pursuits, as time passes by more and more couples in developed and developing countries are drifting apart leading to divorce. Mercifully, far more people get married every year than divorced. Who is not aware of the saying, which continues to gain in currency that half of all marriages in the US end in annulment. A bit of exaggeration there since only 43 per cent of first marriages will fail leading to dissolution. But when it comes to second and third marriages, dissolution rates are horrifyingly large at 60 per cent and 73 per cent, respectively.