Author Tom Wolfe dead at 88
New York, May 16: Award winning writer and journalist Tom Wolfe, who is noted for works like "The Bonfire of the Vanities", "The Right Stuff" and "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" has passed away in the US. He was 88.
Wolfe who pioneered "new journalism" passed away in Manhattan on Monday, his agent confirmed the news to the New York Times on Tuesday. He had been hospitalised with an infection.
Wolfe, who began working as a journalist for the New York Herald Tribune in 1962, was a pioneer of "new journalism", which melded traditional reporting methods and literary fiction techniques.
Born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1930, Wolfe attended Washington and Lee for undergraduate and Yale for his Ph.D. before moving to New York in the 1960s, the New York Post reported.
Wolfe worked as a reporter at the Springfield Union in Massachusetts and as the Latin American correspondent for the Washington Post.
His first book "The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby" was a collection of essays originally published in Esquire magazine.
While the stories have no connecting theme, this is the first book that gave early examples of New Journalism.
Wolfe's other books include "The Pump House Gang", "Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers", "The Painted Word" and "Mauve Gloves & Madmen, Clutter & Vine" which includes his well-known essay about the "Me Decade."
His best-selling book "The Right Stuff" which is about rocket airplane experiments after World War II and the Project Mercury astronauts, won the American Book Award for nonfiction, the National Institute of Arts and Letters Harold Vursell Award for prose style, and the Columbia Journalism Award.
Wolfe's first novel "The Bonfire of the Vanities," was first serialised in Rolling Stone magazine and came out as a book three years later. It followed the greed, racism and social classes of New York City in the 1980s.
Wolfe is survived by his wife, Sheila, and two children, Alexandra and Tommy.
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Modi govt by changing name of MGNREGA exposed its 'hatred' towards Gandhi: Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said that the union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, attempting to change the name and structure of the MGNREGA, has itself exposed its "hatred" towards the poor and towards Mahatma Gandhi.
He also accused the Centre of "altering" the very structure of the scheme, by shifting nearly 40 per cent of the cost onto the state governments, and called Modi "anti federal".
Suggesting that the NDA government at the Centre start a "Ministry of Name Change", with the Prime Minister himself holding that portfolio, the CM warned of a statewide agitation against this name change move.
The Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025, that seeks to replace the existing rural employment law MGNREGA, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday amid strong objections by the opposition to the "removal" of Mahatma Gandhi's name from it.
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"The Union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which is attempting to change the name and structure of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA), has itself exposed its hatred towards the poor and towards Mahatma Gandhi," Siddaramaiah said in a statement.
Implemented by the UPA government 20 years ago, the MGNREGA scheme has played a crucial role in eradicating unemployment and poverty in rural areas, he said, adding that "this scheme, which guarantees the right to employment to every individual, has received praise from economists both in India and abroad."
Noting that MGNREGA was a genuine form of employment guarantee, the CM said the proposed new structure under the Modi government strips away that guarantee and places the assurance of work at the whims of political leaders.
"This will further deepen caste discrimination and social inequality," he claimed.
Highlighting that the NDA government has altered the very structure of MGNREGA, a scheme whose entire expenditure was earlier borne by the Central government, by shifting nearly 40 per cent of the cost onto the state governments, Siddaramaiah said this stands as clear evidence of the "anti-federal attitude" that Prime Minister Modi has followed ever since coming to power.
"This move will also increase the migration of poor people in search of work as the proposed form does not guarantee employment in their own location -- forcing families to travel long distances to survive," he said.
Naming this scheme after Mahatma Gandhi, who sowed the dream of Gram Swaraj, was a meaningful decision, the CM said, "While Prime Minister Narendra Modi indulges in praising Gandhi during his foreign tours, within the country he has consistently engaged in attempts to erase Gandhi's legacy from key national programmes. From a parivar that seeks to glorify Gandhi's assassin Godse, what different conduct can one really expect?"
"Narendra Modi is widely known for simply changing the names of landmark schemes launched by the UPA government rather than preserving or strengthening them. It would be more appropriate for this government to start a 'Ministry of Name Change,' with the Prime Minister himself holding that portfolio," he said.
More than 25 flagship programmes launched during earlier governments were merely renamed or repackaged by the present regime, the CM further said, listing out that the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan was rechristened as the Swachh Bharat Mission, while the Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account scheme was rebranded as the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, among others.
"These changes reflect a consistent pattern of altering names rather than fundamentally strengthening or expanding the original intent of these welfare initiatives," he added.
Stating that the Congress party and state government strongly condemn this "anti-people" decision of the Narendra Modi government, which has snatched food from the plates of the poor, insulted Bapu, and attempted to strangle state governments financially, Siddaramaiah warned about launching a statewide agitation against this move.
"The responsibility of preserving the MGNREGA scheme in its original form must also be taken up by the lakhs of beneficiaries of the scheme. They must hold the BJP leaders of the state accountable and exert pressure on them to raise their voices against this injustice, rising above party lines," he said.
