When science defied Hitler and Stalin

Persecuted botanists, seed bank & siege of Leningrad How political ideology and violence can lay waste to scientific achievement, and the resilience and resolve of scientists committed to their mission despite persecution, war and starvation,...

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Ethical veganism extends beyond diet

By Sumit Paul Animals are my friends…and I don’t eat my friends,” said George B Shaw. Every year on Nov 1, World Vegan Day is commemorated. For those new to veganism, it serves as an...

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Ghouls & demons as metaphysical metaphors

By Narayani Ganesh Each year, in many cultures across the world, ancestors are propitiated and ceremonies performed to welcome them on their earthly visit as spirits. Pitr Paksh, Shraadh, Samain, Halloween, Bhoot Chaturdashi are some...

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Port-Ability

Maritime growth and governance are finally being addressed seriously and with commitment. It’s a long voyage ahead As the Maritime Leaders Conclave comes to a close, the future of India’s ports ecosystem looks promising, thanks...

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Musked ‘Facts’

Elon Musk says his new project, Grokipedia, is all about truth. But that raises a big question: can we really trust AI to know what’s true and what’s not? A long time ago — about...

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Back To Business

That stability seems to be returning to Tatas’ top level is good news for the conglomerate and for the country. This is an opportunity for Noel Tata to create his own legacy By numbers, Tata...

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‘Aura’ story, horror story

The curated path to online applause Not knowing the ABC of GenZ, I learnt about ‘aura farming’ only from this week’s STOI. It explained that your clothes, quotes, company you keep and vice versa, dance...

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Musked ‘Facts’

Musk says truth is the foundation of his Grokipedia. But how can we trust AI to know what’s true & what’s not In Western thought, Aristotle’s correspondence theory is the gold standard definition of truth...

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Hello, Hello

Right now, GOI should help Vi. But it must exit the telco soon. And it should disband BSNL, sell its assets India’s third largest telco, Vodafone Idea (Vi), is so deep in debt that pressing...

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SIR, Please Note

Good that EC’s 12-state roll revision incorporates lessons learnt in Bihar. But the commission needs to do more As EC launched the special intensive revision of voter rolls for 12 more states, it also expressed...

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What Indore tells us

That visiting cricketers were molested speaks to how India treats the issue of women’s safety MP cops are advertising their quick arrest of the man accused of molesting two Australian women cricketers. The team was...

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Sacred shores of Gujarat – Dwarka, Nageshwar, Beyt Dwarka & Somnath

This Diwali, we decided to celebrate not with lights alone, but with the radiance of divine blessings, embarking on a sacred pilgrimage across the spiritual heart of Gujarat. Our journey began by train to Ahmedabad,...

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What Lindsey Vonn is teaching older athletes

When the world’s best downhill ski racer retires—in part due to severe knee arthritis—it makes everyone who follows skiing a little sad. Here is how that sadness has turned to ecstasy.   Vonn won 43...

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Where data ends, daring begins!

With Siri, Alexa, Gemini, and the likes as virtual assistants,  taking commands to  perform tasks, often subjected to reprimands too if they dare  fall short of expectations , apologetic,  obedient and loyal  — these are...

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Wary of unpredictable US, SE nations look to India as steady partner

Once again, it is the season for the clustered diplomatic marathon, with ASEAN and East Asia Summits kicking off in Kuala Lumpur (KL) from Sunday. As southeast Asia struggles to manage great-power competition, and cope...

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AI can’t get common sense…

Artificial intelligence entrepreneur and neuroscience researcher Max Bennett has a fascinating thesis in A Brief History of Intelligence: Why The Evolution Of The Brain Holds The Key To The Future Of AI – understanding how biological intelligence evolved can...

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Water Namah: Revere natural resources

By Narayani Ganesh Waternamah,a collection of articles on water edited by Bachi Karkaria, pays tribute to 300 years of Mumbai’s Bhikha Behram Well, which has yielded pure, sweet water to the city’s residents. Waternamah is...

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India–Africa partnership in indigenous knowledge system and climate resilience

When we speak of climate change, we often turn to satellites, technology, global frameworks, and new innovations. Yet, there exists a vast reservoir of wisdom that has quietly helped communities survive and adapt for centuries,...

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Death Of The Donkey

Its drastically cut population shows we are inhumanly unthankful for millennia of service If it was happening to humans, you would call it genocide. The latest available census data for Madhya Pradesh shows that it’s...

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India’s love affair with rice

Rice holds a unique place in India, not just as a staple but as a symbol of life and abundance. In the Rig Veda, it is mentioned as vrihi, revered and often offered to the...

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Different Old Story

India’s growing numbers of elderly need a supply of rules-bound professional caregivers. That’s not happening   The import of a Bombay HC verdict, in a case on proper care arrangement for an elderly person, will resonate...

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Let the soldiers fight the real war

Our soldiers face the enemy at dawn, in snow that cracks bones and in deserts that burn flesh. They patrol minefields, scale ridges, and carry their dead on their shoulders. They defend India with blood,...

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Thirsty data

India’s growing its role in data centre market, but it must augment water availability first Monday’s outage at Amazon Web Services is a reminder of the cloud’s earthly nature. You can ‘dematerialise’ your songs, movies,...

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Decoding Diwali: Unveiling the symbolism and significance

Diwali comes every year with new hopes and expectations. As Diwali, the festival of lights is round the corner, people across the country are eagerly waiting and have started their pre-Diwali preparations with greater enthusiasm....

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A festival is the feast for senses

By Sumit Paul Once a disciple asked Jalaluddin Rumi, ‘Why are you lighting lamps? This is practised by infidels.” The mystic cried and told him: “Because of benighted souls like you, i light lamps.” Light...

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Burning Question

A woman had her face burnt by a drink set on fire in a pub, which was fined just ₹1L. That’s a problem A Bengaluru pub was sued in consumer court by a 28-year-old woman...

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Injection Party

Big divide this Diwali will be between those who are still interested in food, and those who aren’t Forget the Fendi, the cape lehenga, the 7-star spa session. Forget also all the stuff Indians have...

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Festival Of Families

Family doesn’t only mean sharing genes or marital status. The definition is expanding joyfully The heady high of any festival is invariably tinged with a sense of minor dread as we prep to spend longer...

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Mystical Egypt – Where time, spirit, and legends converge (Part 3)

Our cruise sailed from Aswan in the late afternoon, reaching the Temple of Edfu just before sunset. It is one of the best-preserved shrines in Egypt and the largest temple built entirely of sandstone, dedicated...

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Why does the cow lose and the dog wins? The urban-bias hypothesis

It is becoming increasingly apparent that urban societies have a growing affection for dogs, while simultaneously developing a disdain for cows. But what accounts for this phenomenon? This trend can be explained by what Michael...

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DDLJ at 30: Why modern Simrans are giving up on Raj

Thirty years of ‘Diwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’, the film that invited a subset of urbane women to ‘come fall in love’. My qualifications to trace its journey involve being an accidental chronicler of the economics...

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Decoding the magic of ANNs

I have come across various ways of defining Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs). Many of them miss a fundamental characteristic of theirs. An ANN is a machine learning model. Like all machine learning models, an ANN...

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Bhoot Chaturdashi: Lamps, greens, and shakti

By Amitava Basu Observed in Bengali households the night before fervent blaze of Kali Puja, Bhoot Chaturdashi has an unmatched gravitas. Often misunderstood as merely a night of ghosts, it is in truth a sacred...

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Beyond the Border: Understanding the renewed Pakistan-Afghanistan conflict

Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan are on the boil following a major military escalation involving cross-border airstrikes and heavy clashes leading to casualties on both sides and the closure of key border crossings. Pakistan has...

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Death By…?

SC is right. India should have a debate on what can replace hanging when it comes to capital punishment  Supreme Court’s lament about govt not willing to modernise the delivery of death sentence – it...

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Doon doesn’t need a Rs 6k cr elevated corridor; it needs better traffic management, efficient public transport

Uttarakhand appears to be ignoring lessons from cities around the world as it considers the proposed 26-km, Rs 6,200-crore Rispana-Bindal Elevated Corridor (RBEC). Experts warn that the project, planned over Dehradun’s twin rivers, the Rispana...

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Not Gold, But Shining

Silver’s sterling run is not just as a hedge but because it’s used in tech products  Imagine going to the bank to buy a silver bar, only to be told they’re all sold out. This...

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Can’t Tech It Easy

Google’s India AI hub is great news. Governing AI to India’s advantage is another matter  Not all infra is equal. Google’s Visakhapatnam AI hub, to be built with $15bn over the next five years and...

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Buffer Against Buffering

Patchy connections let down India’s internet cover. Making govt payouts dependent fully on e-KYC warrants a rethink Adoption of tech has made governance smoother and more efficient. But direct cash transfers aren’t the magic bullet...

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Friendship between India and China: A new chapter in history

The shifting contours of the contemporary global order reveal intensifying rivalries, particularly between the United States and China. Heightened military encounters in the South China Sea and escalating trade tensions underscore the fragility of the...

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A quiet neighbourhood somewhere in Bangalore

When in Bengaluru, we live in a quiet-ish neighbourhood which is tucked into one of the older parts of the city, far from the horns-blaring, guns-blazing kind of noise that Bangalore cities are now infamous...

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When shoe fits, the foot is forgotten

By Osho Remember, this is one of the greatest mantras: …when the shoe fits, the foot is forgotten…when the belt fits, the belly is forgotten; and when the heart is right, ‘for’ and ‘against’ are...

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Autumn Of Work

Trends change. Quiet quitting gives way to job hugging. AI will wreak more change. Then what? HR trends have this in common with diet trends, that just when you learn one, another pushes it to...

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In a state where caste is the constant, can PK be the variable?

Prashant Kishor, the backstage strategist of multiple winning campaigns across the country, is now in the spotlight himself. In Bihar’s bi-nodal political landscape — divided between the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Mahagathbandhan (MGB)...

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Andhra Pradesh’s war on digital dissent: When democracy turns on its own citizens

In July this year, the Andhra Pradesh High Court issued an unusually sharp warning to the state’s magistrates. In a circular that raised eyebrows across legal circles, it reminded judicial officers that police remand requests...

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Phantom police?

He doesn’t quite crash land but takes form all a sudden – a life-size apparition in uniform, if you find yourself in Seoul’s popular Jeo Dong Park. Don’t let him spook you – it’s only...

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Blueprint for lasting peace in Palestine

Recently, US President Donald Trump unveiled a detailed plan for Gaza. It called for an immediate ceasefire, hostage exchanges, and a staged Israeli withdrawal, while placing Gaza under temporary international supervision with promises of large-scale...

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Numbers game

The other day I was pleasantly surprised by receiving a mail on my mobile phone from the Vice Chairman and MD of my service provider. The mail assured me that the provider had strengthened safeguards...

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One must imagine Sisyphus happy

By Tapan Susheel Suicide, often a consequence of depression and despair, remains a major public mental health challenge. As per the latest WHO data, more than 7L people die by suicide every year across the...

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An old story retold: Builders’ asymmetry and buyers’ helplessness

Sunil Baghel’s Times of India article (October 8, 2025) rightly draws attention to the long-standing problem of asymmetric terms imposed by builders on homebuyers. I had written on this very issue years earlier in four articles, one of...

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Stranger Things

Everyone seems to be talking about new weight loss drugs — and many people in India are rushing to try them. It’s almost like when people first got hooked on chips, instant noodles, and colas....

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Noblesse Oblige?

Trump’s desperate for peace Nobel. He isn’t the first strange candidate who’s so keen on this prize US president Donald Trump really wants to win the Nobel Peace Prize — so much that he says...

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Redefining trust in an era of biometric finance

The success of the transition of digital payments to go biometric will hinge not only on the sophistication of the technology but also on the robustness of regulatory frameworks and the empowerment of ordinary citizens....

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If it’s small & it swings, It’s big

As Election Commission announces Bihar’s poll schedule – two phases (Nov 6 and 11), as opposed to three in 2020, after Chhath Puja – the stage is set for a landmark state election. The focus...

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To the Manner Horn

Buses, SUVs, two-wheelers, auto-rickshaws… Isn’t their car-natic recital glorious?  My heart leaps up when I am behind the wheel and let my ears feast on cars honking, buses blaring, two-wheelers tooting and auto-rickshaws caterwauling. With...

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Right & Wrong in Japan

Japan is famous for being safe, clean, and peaceful. Even when its politics were messy, people still enjoyed a good quality of life. But now, things may be changing. Sanae Takaichi, a 64-year-old politician, just...

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Mega dam on China’s Yarlung Tsangpo river: A tectonic gamble for South Asia

China is moving ahead with plans to construct the world’s largest hydropower dam on the lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet. Once complete, this dam is expected to generate nearly three times...

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Mystical Egypt – Where time, spirit, and legends converge (Part 1)

Two months before my husband died, we got leave for 10 days. He asked me, “Where would you like to go?” Without a moment’s thought, I blurted out, “Greece or Egypt!”—the two lands that had...

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For India, the lesson is: Don’t fret over the Pakistan puppet show

The White House meeting between US President Donald Trump, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and army chief Asim Munir has been hailed in Islamabad as a long-awaited rehabilitation. For Pakistan’s generals, it was rehabilitation after...

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I Know, You Know…

Commonly unknown facts about common knowledge The purpose of language is to coordinate human behaviour and this starts from the earliest moments in our life. When three-year-olds are taught the word ‘mouse’ they do not...

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How snack inc sneaks in the munchies

What will be govt’s response to ICMR-INDIAB survey on diabetes and heart health? Only a scientifically informed nutrition and food policy can correct Indians’ alarming dietary conditions. Yet, food policy in India has a troubling...

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Bihar polls: Niyat & networks

With the release of Bihar’s final electoral rolls, the stage is set for the final month of campaigning before multi-phased polls. This is an opportunity to understand how democracy actually works in India, varying according...

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Curb The Carbs

ICMR study shows how ruinous our diets are to our health. Policymakers, sit up  Listen carefully to what ICMR-India Diabetes study has to say – a cross-sectional population based survey weighted for region, age and...

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Vampire nations: A bloody tale

The air was buzzing with excitement. And why not? It was projected as bigger than the Twilight Saga franchise or Nosferatu. After several years, Vanar Bros were mounting a vampire movie, conceptualised and written by...

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