Blogs

On New Year’s Eve, more than 200,000 gig workers took to the streets across India to protest “10-minute delivery” promises, which the union labour ministry recently decried as responsible for unsafe and injurious driving practices. Major platforms subsequently rolled back explicit “10-minute” language from their apps and marketing, but the underlying competitive pressures remain unchanged….

Canadian PM Mark Carney’s widely acclaimed speech in Davos included this admission: “American hegemony in particular helped provide public goods, open sea lanes, a stable financial system, collective security…we largely avoided calling out the gaps between rhetoric and reality.” Even more starkly, he conceded that “we knew the story of the international rules-based order was…

For some time now, judges of the Supreme Court in their public speeches have spoken of a culture of fear amongst the district judiciary when it comes to granting bail. They have, however, been silent on the source of this fear. This code of silence has been shattered by the court in two recent judgments…

There is a silent assumption underpinning India’s infrastructure boom. That no matter how extreme the climate becomes, the financial system will somehow absorb the damage. Roads will be rebuilt. Ports repaired. Power plants restored. Losses will be spread, insured, or written off. Growth will continue. But that assumption is starting to crack. India is building…

When Rama ascended the throne of Ayodhya, he became more than a king—he became an ideal. Rama-Rajya came to symbolize a just, progressive, and compassionate welfare state, where the dignity of even the weakest citizen was safeguarded. As a ruler bound by duty, Rama placed the collective good above personal desire, never allowing power or…

I live far, far away, in a different world—inside my heart. I call it my room—it is snuggled among the snowy mountains. How bewitching it is to watch these peaks have a romantic rendezvous with the misty clouds above! My window looks out onto a jasmine tree. A majestic Phoenix bird perches on it. It…

By Stuti Malhotra A recent accidental drowning of an engineer in Noida shook many people: a young man, full of promise and plans, lost his life suddenly and unexpectedly. Such news arrests our routine thinking. It disrupts the illusion that life is predictable and that tomorrow is guaranteed. In a moment, a person who was…

Conformity, religiosity (minus god), tribalism Using his fortune of $200bn (2024 figures) Musk could build 1,000 Great Pyramids, writes Harvey Whitehouse in Inheritance: The Evolutionary Origins of the Modern World . Whitehouse is only prodding readers to question if ancient societies were more unequal than the modern world. The belief that democracy closed the gap between rich &…

Regional chicken dishes add a distinct layer of uniqueness to Indian cuisine by reflecting the geography, climate, and cultural rhythms of the places they come from. Each region cooks chicken through its own lens shaped by local produce, cooking fats, spice preferences, and even seasonal needs. Coastal areas often favour lighter gravies with aromatic leaves…

Throughout Islamic history, the spiritual pilgrimage to Mecca has been the cherished and lifelong goal for Muslims. The journey to Mecca has been called “the height of spiritual fulfilment, and the holy city’s transcendental geography a constant source for contemplation.” Khwaja Gharib Nawaz (1143–1236), the Sufi mystic whose teachings of love, compassion, and inclusivity transcended…