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After a maiden solo trek, a letter to its procreators Dear Aayee and Baba, you will be shocked and delighted to know that I am alive and in a safe haven (hopefully). I have decided to abandon my peripatetic adventure and to settle in Simlipal National Park (Orissa). There were favourable places along the way…

Ministers’ beliefs lay waste to the goals of school education UP’s education minister finds two English nursery rhymes unfit for consumption. He thinks ‘Johny Johny’ teaches fibbing, and ‘Rain, rain, go away’ selfishness. So, he wants these knocked off the KG menu. They’re against Indian values, he says. Once upon a time, there was a…

Save forex on fuel and gold, but also push through reforms to accelerate growth PM’s appeal to curb fuel use through public transport, and shun gold buying for a year, is timely. Hormuz Strait has been closed for almost 75 days now, roughly 20% of world’s fuel supply has been cut off, and global fuel…

First, Andes strain found on cruise ship is deadly, but occupants, including two Indians, are in quarantine. Second, Hantavirus strains found in Asia aren’t big killers. Third, India’s disease surveillance is reliable After the pandemic’s horrors, the world reacts, fearfully, to any news of respiratory virus outbreak, anywhere. Recent outbreak of a Hantavirus infection, in…

By Jug Suraiya If you were told that in a cycle of endless recurrence you’d live out your life exactly as it is in every aspect and every event, every pain and every joy, over and over again for all eternity, would the prospect fill you with elation or despair? This was the challenge that…

Less than a decade ago, prolonged blackouts were among the defining features of life in Uttar Pradesh. Frequent power cuts affected not only villages, but also major cities and industrial centres such as Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Noida and Ghaziabad. Industries relied heavily on diesel generators, farmers struggled with erratic electricity for irrigation, and unreliable supply…

A few weeks ago, a friend called me at 01:40 AM. Not texted. Called. For a brief second, my body prepared itself for bad news. Adulthood has conditioned most of us to believe that late-night calls only arrive carrying catastrophe. Someone in the hospital. Someone stranded. Someone dead. But nothing had happened. She had just…

“It’s time for change!” Kamala announced decisively. I looked up with alarm from the couch, where I was browsing the morning newspaper. I wondered if she was talking about recumbent husbands or incumbent politicians. She was blissfully uncaring of both, and was referring to the curtains that looked slightly worse for wear. “And while we…

The 2026 conflict between the United States/Israel and Iran has, by early May 2026, degenerated into a high-stakes, asymmetric war of attrition. While US and Israeli airstrikes have inflicted significant infrastructural damage, including to Iran’s military and nuclear sites, they have failed to achieve the declared, ambitious objectives of regime change, total destruction of Iranian…

Imagine a huge stage in an auditorium with an audience of five hundred people. The performer arrives, performs to his best abilities. As he ends his performance, the audience reaction is mixed. Some clap wholeheartedly, some join hands without much energy, while some just smile in appreciation without any applause. Now, let me take you…