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The press has long been the guardian of democracy. Today, a fifth estate of millions — YouTube channels, Instagram reels and viral posts — has emerged, celebrated for democratizing information. But are they sometimes used as weapons of mass destruction? Reputations built over decades demolished with a political agenda and a click. This column examines…

With DMK facing the pressures of incumbency and TVK banking on star power, AIADMK under Edappadi K. Palaniswami positions itself as the organisational dark horse in a fragmented race. Tamil Nadu’s 2026 Assembly election is shaping up to be one of the most competitive contests the state has seen in decades. For much of the…

Do you think students have a social responsibility, a political responsibility, an economic responsibility, a cultural responsibility or an environmental responsibility?  If your answer is no, you possibly missed the purpose of education. Education is not just about earning a living.  It is the art of making people responsible towards themselves and the wider society….

Last year, Trump announced his reciprocal tariffs on April 2, not April 1, to ensure they weren’t taken for a joke. This year, he couldn’t care less. While he delivered his rambling 19-minute monologue on Wednesday evening – his time – the world spent all of yesterday parsing it, for clues to the likely trajectory…

I have observed that in rural areas and forest regions, children spend more time outdoors, amidst nature. They discover simple ways to play games. They create play areas by drawing lines and making shapes, on the ground. They use fruit-seeds as dice. They make balls from dry leaves, tree roots, and rags. Using bamboo, they…

William Shakespeare’s famous line from Romeo and Juliet, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose would smell as sweet,” has often been cited by people brushing off the importance of words. Many times, society uses this line to suggest that words only mean so much and shouldn’t be taken too seriously. But…

India’s richest civic body, BMC, has a woman boss. That is swag achievement, by far. Mumbai now has three women in the financial capital’s administrative leadership – municipal commissioner, mayor and BMC’s leader of opposition – a nod to working women everywhere. And yet, can the framework for equality be gilded by only the firsts?…

Francisco Castillo, Iowan and Trump voter, doesn’t want war. Isfahan resident Saman doesn’t want it either. He’s shocked and angry – war is worse than his worst nightmare. But what can they do if their govts are bent upon it? Times like these make you want to throw off the yoke of state and citizenship….

Maharashtra’s Ashok Kharat is the latest in the long, inglorious line of godless ‘godmen’. Having caused so much shok , he has fittingly come to grief himself. ‘Rigged’ out as an astrologer too, he claimed twice the heavenly access. Under cover of this, he allegedly raped, robbed, and killed, including ghoulish human sacrifice. There’s enough…

African responses to the US–Israel war with Iran have been far from uniform. Africa has not responded under a coordinated leadership of the African Union or any regional bloc. Based on geography and their individual ties with Israel, Iran, the USA, and the Gulf countries, African countries are taking divergent stances. There is no ideological…