Blogs

Last week, 21 people died when a fire tore through a five-storey bed-and-breakfast in Hauz Rani, Malviya Nagar, Delhi. Thirteen were foreign nationals. Reports say the building had no fire NOC, a single entry and exit, sealed windows, a locked terrace, and a basement kitchen from which smoke and flames moved up the central staircase….

Politicians tend to get spooked when threats, real or imagined, emerge from an unexpected source. A social media phenomenon called the Cockroach Janta Party got the Modi govt worried enough to block its website, and related social media handles on Instagram and X. But its founder, one Abhijeet Dipke, seems unbowed. Perhaps because the NEET…

Dr Herbert Samuel Elworthy, who lived in Bandra in the 1890s, was a keen hunter. Living in what was then the margin of Bombay, he could easily go for shikaar. But there was one problem: It was hard to get a cold drink out in the field. Dry ice cooled, but even more usefully, it…

For the last many months, there has been a lot of conversation about how Indians lack civic sense. There is certainly no paucity of evidence, whether in instances of alleged misbehaviour abroad or in everyday life in India, which abounds with examples of this lack. Traffic rules are flouted frequently, littering seems to be second…

Animals demand linguistic justice At precisely 10am, under the unforgiving Mumbai sun at Azad Maidan, animals assembled in what authorities are calling the largest interspecies march since Noah invited several into his ark. Association Against Verbal Abuse of Animals (AAVAA) is what their collective’s called. There were loud slogans, occasional barks, brays, mews, roars, and…

Sport is no longer insulated from geopolitics, but every qualified athlete must get to compete  Organised sports play inside a theatre of politeness. Sportsmanship, it’s often called. Ritualised handshakes, lining up after a match, applauding opponents, accepting officials’ decisions, wearing uniforms, observing rules…these are all built around “the good life” idea. Of how human beings…

Sport is no longer insulated from geopolitics, but every qualified athlete must get to compete  Organised sports usually follow a kind of polite code. People call it sportsmanship. Players shake hands, line up after matches, clap for opponents, accept referees’ decisions, wear uniforms, and follow rules. These traditions are meant to show how people should…

The ancient name of Bhutan in the local Dzongkha language is Druk Yul, land of the thunder dragon. It is a land of spirituality, pristine natural beauty, and a remarkably well-preserved culture, often celebrated as the Kingdom of Happiness.   During the seventh century, the Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo is believed to have built temples in…

Since the inception of public examinations, answer scripts have travelled physically from exam centres to assessment centres where they have been checked under the supervision of a Center In-charge in accordance with well-established norms for supervision, moderation and quality control. The advancement in technology has modernised and transformed this conventional process of evaluation by converting…

For the last 35 years, we have given the opposite advice—and here is why. As you age, you naturally lose muscle and bone. The only effective therapy to counter this process is daily resistance exercise, such as weightlifting, hill and stair climbing, and active exercise classes (with bouncing and jumping). Bone and muscle respond to…