Growing nuclear arsenal of People’s Republic of China: Implications for India
While the Pentagon’s recent report (18 December) reiterated its earlier assessment that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was expanding its nuclear weapons rapidly and was likely to have at least...
View ArticleFrom resistance to reality, why India must embrace GM technology
I have never been to the USA, but one of the first things I’d like to do when I visit is try GM food. It might sound odd, but it stems from a long-standing curiosity...
View ArticleWhy car safety is important for kids (and everyone)
Car airbags might look soft and harmless, but they’re not toys. When a car crashes, airbags pop out at a speed faster than a plane taking off—about 320 kmph! For grown-ups, the impact can hurt...
View ArticleDeath by airbag
Advanced safety features in cars are no good without user awareness Car airbags seem like soft, fluffy cushions until you’ve been in a crash. Powered by an explosive, they expand at speeds touching...
View ArticleWhy movies and art matter (even the ones we don’t watch)
Imagine your favorite movie or show. Have you ever thought about what inspired it? Behind every hit movie or catchy song, there’s often a world of creative ideas that most of us don’t notice but...
View ArticleA taste for Xmas
The many flavours of a singular recipe embody the spirit of the season of goodwill to all I developed a savour for Christmas the first time I had a piece of the cake that bears...
View ArticleHigh & low
In films & other artforms, avant garde influences commercial creative outputs, makes them better Those who routinely, mournfully ask where the new Satyajit Ray is, or Bimal Roy or Kumar Shahani or...
View ArticleMirror and the sufi mystics
‘I am a mirror set before your eyes And all who come before my splendor see Themselves, their own unique reality… Though you have struggled, wandered, travelled far, It is yourselves you see and what...
View ArticleTwo decades after the Indian Ocean tsunami: reflecting on a global turning...
The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami was a watershed moment in disaster response and resilience, identifying vulnerabilities, catalysing global solidarity, and changing how the world prepares for natural...
View ArticleMood I: It’s a siege!
The traffic blares, the smog soars thick and high past your suffocated nose darting aggressively into the high-rises lined on one side of the road. You turn into a gate as if to flee, and...
View ArticleHow India punishes: Rethinking the use of criminal law
Despite claims of reform, India’s criminal laws still rely on arbitrary punishments, criminalising civil matters, and echoing colonial penal codes. Imagine this scenario: Ramu, a farmer from a small...
View ArticleAspiring for Independence
Scholars focusing on Pakistan have famously remarked that not unlike 19th Century Prussia “every country has an Army, but in Pakistan, the Army has a country.” Popular narrative also suggests that this...
View ArticleRisque management
Why criticise condom ads for being overloud about what’s hush-hush, when racy jokes are super popular Wrap it before you tap it; For those all nighters; Is raat ki subah nahin; Always have protection;...
View ArticleIcarus 2.0: The spacecraft that’s braver than Icarus
Have you ever wished you could fly super fast, like a superhero? Well, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is doing something even cooler—it’s zooming toward the Sun at mind-blowing speeds and surviving! Let’s...
View ArticleJingle hells
’Tis day after Christmas but let’s update Carol No.1 Traffic jam, traffic jam, Bumping all the way. Oh what a pain it is to go Just anywhere these days. Driving bumper-bumper,...
View ArticleTalking about condom ads and funny jokes
Have you ever seen a funny advertisement that makes you laugh, blush, or even think a little? Well, condom ads are often like that. They use clever jokes and catchy lines to grab attention, like...
View ArticleIcarus 2.0
Nasa’s Parker probe continues to tease the sun and come out alive Most humans can’t hit 20 kmph under their own steam. It’s a downside of having two legs and no wings. Usain Bolt, fastest...
View ArticleRoad to good jobs
The inadequacies of jobless growth have taken their toll on several domains. Apart from immediate economic and social pressures on the unemployed it has impacted finances of central and state govts. In...
View ArticleMidwife’s Tale: Katihar’s killers to protectors
Hard-hitting documentary ‘The Midwife’s Confession’ reveals why killing baby girls was rampant in 1990s Bihar and why, though far reduced, the practice refuses to die. Amitabh Parashar, 56, whose...
View ArticleIcarus 2.0
Most humans can’t hit 20 kmph under their own steam. It’s a downside of having two legs and no wings. Usain Bolt, fastest of all, could momentarily approach 45 kmph. But give us our levers...
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