Latest news with #ATaleofTwoCities
Economic Times
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Economic Times
Worrying cracks hiding behind MG Motor's own ‘house of Windsor'
'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times' – reads the opening line of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. The beginning of the famous 1859 novel perhaps best describes an automobile manufacturer in the country – Morris Garages India (now JSW MG Motor India). It is the best of times for the company, which has a vintage British lineage and a Chinese patronage through SAIC Motor Corporation, is smiling through the lanes of India's
Time of India
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Time of India
Worrying cracks hiding behind MG Motor's own ‘house of Windsor'
Worrying cracks hiding behind MG Motor's own 'house of Windsor' Synopsis India's most successful EV is powering JSW MG's rise. But internal fragilities and external challenges threaten the fairytale. By RAJIV GHOSH 8 Mins Read, Jun 16, 2025, 05:00 AM IST SHARE THIS NEWS Close Font Size Abc Small Small Abc Normal Normal Abc Large Close 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times' – reads the opening line of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. The beginning of the famous 1859 novel perhaps best describes an automobile manufacturer in the country – Morris Garages India (now JSW MG Motor India). It is the best of times for the company, which has a vintage British lineage and a Chinese patronage through SAIC Motor Corporation, is smiling through the lanes of India's
USA Today
29-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Arizona Cardinals DL Darius Robinson learned from a difficult 2024 season
Arizona Cardinals DL Darius Robinson learned from a difficult 2024 season Darius Robinson speaks after his tough rookie year about going in to his second NFL season "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way–in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." -Charles Dickens from A Tale of Two Cities Arizona Cardinals second-year defensive lineman Darius Robinson was almost Dickensian Wednesday when putting into words what his first season in the NFL was like. He said simply, 'Last year was like the hardest year of my life, but then it was the best year of my life in the same year. So I definitely felt the lowest, but I also felt the highest and I'm ready to get back to the highest point. And I know that it takes a lot of hard work. So I'm just super excited for this year.' The highs, of course, began in April when the Cardinals selected him in the first round of the draft with the 27th overall pick. It continued during offseason work and training camp, a time he described as 'hot.' However, it all came crashing down when he suffered a calf injury on Aug. 22 and continued through a difficult rehab process that included the death of his mom Valori in October. When he finally got on the field for the final six games of the season, that 'hot' feeling in camp was now 'just cool.' But he learned from it. 'At my lowest, I kept showing up each day, I kept fighting in the pursuit of my dreams,' Robinson said. 'And I realize, it can't get worse than that. So honestly, just keep putting one foot in front of another and just go. Just really enjoy this. It's a blessing being here.' Being here was preceded by some time in Michigan where he was able to reflect on the previous nine months. Asked about an offseason reset after what he went through last season, Robinson said, 'Yeah, it was a lot. Going back to Michigan, taking care of some family stuff, trying to get closure with everything with my mom. But also thinking about this season and just replaying; I only played six games but just constantly rethinking about those six games and thinking about what I need to do to make that next jump in my game. 'I feel like in training camp, it was hot. The table was hot, everybody, it was hot. And coming back, it was just cool. So I gotta find a way to; we're in Phoenix, I gotta get it hot again.' Head coach Jonathan Gannon was asked before the first OTA practice Wednesday what he expects from Robinson. 'I think all our guys, it's, let's see where they can go,' Gannon said. 'And him being one of them. He's worked extremely hard this offseason. He looks good. He's ready to go. He wants to get on the grass and play football. So I think that's all of our guys and you're never a finished product. You're either getting better, or you're getting worse, whatever that means. It's kind of cliche, but it's probably true. 'So our guys are just looking to maximize themselves and get better as football players.' As for Robinson making the oft-discussed jump from Year 1 to Year 2, Gannon emphatically said, 'He'll make that jump.' Robinson was just as emphatic in agreement, saying, 'I think this jump from Year 1 to Year 2 is gonna be huge. So I'm just excited to compete and just put it on tape.' A big man already, Robinson is noticeably stronger in the upper body just as second-year receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. is. Asked about the offseason work he put in, Robinson said, 'Just buying into it, realizing like every day I got 24 hours and what am I gonna do to make the most out of it? I feel like I got a lot to prove this year. So we just come in like seven or eight (in the morning) and leave at like 12 or 1. 'Me, Marvin, a bunch of the rookies, a bunch of guys in the building. So it's just grinding into it. And that's been fun all offseason, but we gotta keep going and just keep building our bodies, get strong, get fast, and get better. So I'm super excited.' Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
India Today
12-05-2025
- Science
- India Today
Mega Chinese fishing fleet seen from space: Every dot is a fishing boat
A striking image captured from the International Space Station (ISS) has brought global attention to the sheer scale of China's distant-water fishing by A. Pettit, whose father astronaut Don Pettit took the photograph during his recent ISS mission, the image shows hundreds of bright dots scattered across the dark ocean-each one a fishing boat trawling the seabed, not a city spectacle is so vast and luminous that it is visible from space, underscoring the magnitude of China's maritime I saw this with my own eyes, one thought that came to mind was the famous opening line from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens: It is the best of times for fishing, it is the worst of times for fish Chun (@satofishi) May 12, 2025 Reacting to the image, Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa shared a video of the fleet from his own mission, reflecting on the scene with a quote from Charles Dickens: 'It is the best of times for fishing, it is the worst of times for fish'The haunting view highlights not just the technological prowess of modern fishing, but also the immense pressure it places on marine distant-water fishing fleet is the largest in the world, with an estimated 2,700 ships operating across oceans far from and radio-frequency tracking have revealed that many of these vessels operate in tightly packed formations, often switching off their tracking systems to evade detection and skirt international 'going dark' tactic has been linked to illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, raising alarms among environmentalists and neighboring frame from this video over the South China Sea!Fishing fleets are very distinct from orbit. A. Pettit (@PettitFrontier) May 12, 2025In regions like the South China Sea and near the Galpagos Islands, such fleets have been accused of depleting fish stocks, damaging sensitive marine habitats, and undermining local experts also warn that these fleets, operating under civilian guise, may serve dual roles in intelligence gathering and asserting China's territorial images from space make clear, the scale of industrial fishing-and the challenges it poses to ocean health and maritime security-has never been more visible.
Indian Express
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….' What the Dickens does it mean?
On April 30, 1859, All the Year Round, a London-based literary journal edited by Charles Dickens, published the opening installment of a new serialised story, A Tale of Two Cities. Its first sentence – paradoxical and poetic – would go on to become one of the most iconic opening lines in the world. The line, which was first published 166 years ago, might as well have been written yesterday with the way it continues to capture the zeitgeist. In a handful of lines, Dickens captures the irrefutable truth that progress and regression, and peace and violence often walk hand in hand. The novel, which juxtaposes the two European cultural capitals: London and Paris, contrasts 'a time of chaos, conflicts, and despair' with 'happiness and hope'. For some, a revolution of any sort, political or technological, can be a 'spring of hope,' for others, it could be the 'winter of despair.' Dickens insists that these realities can, and do, coexist. Why was it both the best and worst of times? Though A Tale of Two Cities is set during the French Revolution (1787-1799), Dickens was writing as much about his own Victorian England as 18th-century France. He writes of the late 18th century, when political oppression in France gave way to revolutionary violence. In Dickens' own Victorian England—riddled with inequality, industrial unrest, and fears of upheaval—he found echoes of the same tensions that had been the precursor to the French Revolution. The Industrial Revolution in England (1760–1840) had brought about sweeping changes—technological advances paired with immense social and economic suffering. In both movements, the wealthy elite lived in comfort, while laborers toiled in inhumane conditions, working long hours for minimal pay in crowded, unsanitary environments. In both centuries, Dickens saw a society defined by the paradox he lays down in the opening lines of the novel—prosperity shadowed by poverty, innovation accompanied by inequality. 'It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness… It was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity…,' Dickens wrote, capturing the turbulence of the era and his own ambivalence about progress, revolution, and humanity itself. Dickens vividly describes how the French Revolution transformed from righteous rebellion into a Reign of Terror. While the overthrow of the aristocracy is portrayed with sympathy, the bloodlust of the revolutionary mobs—embodied in characters like Madame Defarge—exposes the darker side of humanity. Dickens' opening lines capture the complexity of an age where guillotines shadowed the lofty ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity. Why does the opening continue to resonate? In 2025, we live in a world of extremes: rapid technological advancement beside global inequality; astonishing wealth beside homelessness; political polarisation amid calls for unity; a pacifist society in an age of war. In many ways, it is again the best and worst of times. We, too, live in an age that feels both enlightened and misled, compassionate yet cruel. Those timeless words – 'it was the best of times, it was the worst of times' – could well be a mirror held up to every age, including our own. ('Drawing a Line' is a limited, eight-week series exploring the stories behind literature's most iconic opening lines. Each column offers interpretation, not definitive analysis—because great lines, like great books, invite many readings.)
