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Annam Suresh My daughter surprised me on my birthday with a two-week holiday to see the Northern Lights, and a day with the Samis — the only indigenous people in Europe with a lifestyle that is alive, but fading. More...

Surinder S Kukal CROP diversification has been advocated in the food bowl of the country for the past two decades, but with little success. Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh have been dominant rice- and wheat-growing states/areas since the onset...

Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry Nasreen Mohamedi (1937-1990) had an aura of ephemerality around her. She loved the sea, the sand, the wind, the sun, the light, the shadows, the trees, the flora… Her drawings and canvases were not biomorphic; rather, her...

Malvika Kaul Anarkali Shyam, Champi Bai Shyam, Rajesh Shyam, Santosh Maravi and Sanjay Pancheshwar live in the remote village of Patangarh, and in villages spread in the Mandla forests of Madhya Pradesh. Along with several others, they create the ‘Gond...

Thailand 12 national marine parks shut Thailand has closed 12 of its national marine parks following the discovery of widespread coral bleaching blamed on global warming. Chidchanok Sukmongkol, deputy director-general of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, reported that...

Pushpesh Pant The high-altitude valley of Munsiyari nestles under the shadow of the majestic Panchachuli mountains. The five snow-capped peaks appear piercing the sky and cast a mesmerising spell on the onlookers. Legend has it that these are snow-crested remnants...

Aunindyo Chakravarty When India became Independent, there was a broad agreement that all the money available had to be invested in building power plants, roads, railways and ports. Along with that, we also needed to become self-sufficient in making industrial...

As managing fires proves to be a tough task in the state, experts call for proactive preparatory steps and traditional solutions

Nonika Singh Main raahan te nai turda, main turda haan taan raah bande… Indeed, Surjit Patar was that rare indomitable poet who forged new paths of poetic resonance and emblazoned them with luminosity of words, metaphors, idioms and imagery rooted...

Melbourne, May 11 A recent report from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention shows US fertility rates dropped 2 per cent in 2023. With the exception of a temporary increase in the fertility rate at the height of...

Minimum balance fee It is charged when the account holder fails to maintain the minimum balance in his or her account. The RBI permits banks to fix penal charges regarding non-maintenance of minimum balance in savings accounts. In case of...

Vijay C Roy The enhanced focus on embracing sustainability is having an impact on investment goals too. ESG or Environmental, Social and Governance mutual funds invest in companies that are committed to environmental conservation, social responsibility and corporate governance practices....

Vijay C Roy Chandigarh-based Jyoti Mehra (28), an HR executive, had been saving to buy gold on Akshaya Tritiya, an auspicious occasion to buy yellow metal and the second biggest gold-buying festival after Dhanteras. However, the high prices acted as...

Satbir Singh Kadian HARYANA is grappling with a water crisis. In 2021, the state’s total water demand was estimated at 34.96 billion cubic metres (BCM), while the total availability from all sources was 20.93 BCM. The shortfall was estimated at...

Sandeep Dikshit For centuries, the vast and rolling steppes of Kazakhstan have remained wrapped in an enigma. It had several towns on the Silk Route, but none became as well known and heavily visited as neighbouring Uzbekistan’s Samarkand, Bukhara...

Sarika Sharma Gauhar Jaan, celebrated as colonial India’s most renowned ‘tawaif’, had a mastery over several styles and languages, including French and English. This versatility and range have always inspired Sharmistha Chatterjee, the Bengali singer who recently wowed her...

Monica Arora It isn’t just another art show. Hosted by New Delhi-based Latitude 28 art gallery, ‘Come With Your Own Light’ is a curation of artist Komal Mistri’s unique experimentation of spending time in delivery rooms and maternity wards...

Shailaja Khanna An unusual, first-of-its-kind jugalbandi involved sarodist Amaan Ali Bangash and vocalist Kaushiki Chakraborty. Despite belonging to totally different musical lineages, they recently performed together in Kolkata. The duo’s apparent personal chemistry translated into an ease on stage,...

SingaporeTop spot in youth global indexSingapore came in first in a 2023 global survey of youth development, which measures the status of young people and their competence, capabilities and economic opportunities for full participation as active citizens. Singapore, the only...

Rahul Verma Now that the season celebrating the king of fruits is here, it’s time we gave some thought to a fruit that in some quarters is sadly known as the joker of fruits. But while I have no...

For much of the year, Mumbai-based Tony Xavier works as a chief learning officer with an edtech company but to pursue his passion for writing, he prefers going to a quiet writing retreat in the middle of an apple orchard...

Rajnish Wattas & Deepika Gandhi “Happiness, the aim of human existence on this earth, can be won by truth, self-discipline, integral knowledge, and a life of purity…” Written for Le Corbusier, these words by Parmeshwari Lal Varma, the iconic Chief...

P Venkata Krishnan Malaria is one of the major public health problems in India, with an estimated 33.8 lakh cases and 5,511 deaths in 2022. A potentially deadly condition, maximum cases are witnessed during the monsoon months of June to...

Vishal Sharma Mrs Bela T (47) had been having irregular episodes of bloody diarrhoea for 10 years and would often take antibiotics for it. Two years after the onset of symptoms, she was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, but stopped treatment...

Renu Sud Sinha Chandigarh-based Omisha Gupta (6) was over two years old when her parents finally realised that she was born with total hearing impairment. “She was such an active and responsive child that it never occurred to us,” says...