Special Reports
MS Shanker Every Indian knows that Siachen is the world’s highest battlefield. Few realise that it has claimed more Indian soldiers through its unforgiving weather than through enemy fire. At temperatures plunging below -50°C and at altitudes where oxygen levels are nearly half of those at sea level, Siachen tests not just human endurance, but…
For generations, we were taught that Bharat was merely a land repeatedly invaded and populated by successive waves of migrants. Modern genetic science is steadily challenging that simplistic narrative. Increasingly, archaeology, genetics and anthropology are revealing something far more profound—India was not merely a transit point in human history but one of the most important…
Students are often described as the future of a nation, and rightly so. They are the builders of tomorrow’s Bharat. During our freedom struggle and in the decades that followed Independence, student participation in public life played an important role in shaping the nation’s democratic character. Times, however, have changed. While young people continue to…
By all conventional measures of success, Professor Ashoke Sen should have spent his life in the world’s most celebrated scientific institutions. He had studied at some of the finest centres of learning, worked at America’s premier physics laboratories, won one of the richest prizes in science worth $3 million—nearly three times the Nobel Prize money—and…
K.S. Nagarajan Bharat’s civilisational foundation rests on Sanatan Dharma—a way of life that evolved over millennia on the principles of Dharma, duty, virtue and social responsibility. At the heart of this philosophy was the concept of an interdependent society, where knowledge, governance, commerce and skilled occupations complemented one another for the collective welfare of society….
Raja Rao Pochiraju Indian archaeology may have just unearthed one of the most consequential clues in the long-running debate on the antiquity of metallurgy in the subcontinent. A newly analysed and directly dated weapon from the Ochre Coloured Pottery (OCP) Copper Hoard culture, dated to around 2000 BCE and reportedly containing nearly 30 per cent…
Indian cricket has often been projected as a global powerhouse. The success of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the depth of talent in domestic cricket, and India’s financial dominance in the sport have only strengthened that perception. But whenever India tours overseas, particularly England, Australia or South Africa, uncomfortable questions resurface. Are we truly a…
Vinay Rao A letter lands like any other government notice—until you read the questions. A majority of the affiliated cricket clubs of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) have reportedly received notices from the Income Tax Department’s Investigation Wing. The notices seek bank statements, including those from previous years. More significantly, they ask club secretaries to…
K S Nagarajan The increasing demand for energy and the continuous depletion of conventional energy resources have encouraged researchers and engineers to explore alternative methods of energy generation and utilization. Modern engineering focuses not only on producing energy efficiently but also on recovering and utilizing energy that would otherwise remain unexploited. Consequently, human-powered machines, energy-harvesting…
Navi Mumbai’s first international flight isn’t the real story. The new economic geography taking shape around it is. Airports possess an odd talent for misleading people. They appear to exist so that aircraft can land, passengers can depart and duty-free shops can persuade travellers that another bottle of perfume is somehow an investment. In reality,…
