A lesson from the LPG crisis: Now more than ever, India needs a shift to electric cooking

Clean cooking began as a public health priority, but it has increasingly become a question of fiscal resilience and energy security. LPG has delivered substantial welfare gains, yet it carries significant recurring costs

Inside the fall of India’s ‘Maoist capital’: How policing, politics and a secret letter ended a 45-year insurgency

The letter said, '... due to increased police camps, it is becoming difficult to reach people. It is becoming difficult for people to also help the party. In such circumstances, we urge the party to think of an alternative strategy. We think we should dump our arms for some time to renew the fight after some time'

We are in the age of the monetised funeral

Television eroded whatever shared understanding remained that death demanded some dignity. Social media has finished the job in its hunt for virality

We need a ‘heat code of conduct’ to protect voters and election officials

Assembly elections are set to be held in four Indian states and one union territory this year. These elections will span 824 constituencies, with approximately 174 million eligible voters participating in this democratic process

An Oracle for India’s digital technology policy: 30,000 layoffs are a warning India can’t ignoreSign In to read

As Big Tech sacrifices thousands of workers to fund an AI arms race, India’s "demographic dividend" is hitting a wall of obsolete policy and stagnant domestic demand

Best of Both Sides: Round one to China, without firing a shot

Every dollar spent flattening Iran is a dollar not spent contesting China in the Pacific

Some smart(phone) lessons for industrial policySubscriber Only

These should guide the redesign of PLIs in sectors such as textiles, telecom products, and others, while driving job creation by supercharging la- bour-intensive industries like garments, footwear, and toys

Look at the artist, not the artist

One of the biggest reasons Banksy, and a lot of graffiti artists remain anonymous is that, as a format, graffiti is anti-state and illegal in most countries

Best of Both Sides: After war, Tehran may emerge strongerSubscriber Only

A ceasefire requires mutual compromise. Any US ground assault shall face IRGC defiance

Birthright Citizenship: After tariffs, Trump could be in for another setback from the Supreme Court he shaped

The right flows from the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868 in the aftermath of the Civil War

Reading between Trump’s lines: He will dial up pressure – and wants a way outSubscriber Only

Who holds Hormuz becomes key; US-Iran chasm deep but current positions may be seen as opening bids

Trump’s speech suggests US victory. But every pathway out of Iran War leads to failure

Once immediacy recedes and analytical distance takes hold, wars are rarely evaluated by operational brilliance alone. They are measured by the durability of political outcomes

Apple at 50: The iPhone’s long shadow on consumer technology

Apple is now at a point where it needs to decide whether it wants to continue selling the iPhone for the next 50 years or pivot to something else

The endless digital afterlife of abuse

When sexual violence goes viral, the internet becomes a permanent crime scene where the victim’s trauma is reperformed for a voyeuristic public

A not-so-distant energy crisis in the Indo-Pacific

Japan has already started tapping its strategic oil reserves. South Korea has increased nuclear plant utilisation above 80 per cent and scrapped seasonal caps on coal power

India has an LPG crisis. But why are women in villages suffering more?

Urban households can book a refill after 25 days, while rural households can do so after 45 days. There is little justification for this discriminatory rationing

Artemis II could pave the way for research from the Moon

Large telescopes on the Moon can be much more sensitive than those on Earth because the Moon lacks an atmosphere. The radio-quiet zone on the Moon could enable deep radio astronomy observations that could answer many questions about the history of the Universe

Uniform Civil Code may leave Muslim women worse offSubscriber Only

A truly effective UCC would be one that incorporates the best pro-women provisions from all personal laws

Shashi Tharoor writes: Kerala must show how an ageing population can thriveSubscriber Only

By fostering a ‘silver economy’ that incentivises private investment in elder-care technology and infrastructure, Kerala can ensure that its ageing population remains a vibrant, contributing social segment.

In Good Faith: A statue of Shri Swaminarayan, and a message for the ages

Religious icons offer clarity in a chaotic world and lessons in social history, pluralism and personal growth

Indians give to save each other from free fall

They know that if they don’t large sections of the population would simply disappear from society

Two verdicts on live-in relationships, one grey area

Protecting marriage is important, but it must be understood that the legal recognition of live-in relationships emerged from the need to protect women from exploitation and abuse

We are sleepwalking into a catastrophe in West AsiaSubscriber Only

The silence is alarming. When the most consequential supply-chain disruption in half a century produces this little diplomatic urgency, it tells you something about how badly the international system has atrophied

In Bengal, TMC and BJP’s vote-bank politics undermine genuine engagement with minority concerns

Both the BJP and TMC have indulged in religious polarisation politics. The BJP consolidates the Hindu electorate using Islamophobia, and the TMC uses Muslims as a 'captive vote bank' by using the fear of the BJP

We proved that an inclusive movie screening is possible. With CBFC’s new rules, it can be made sustainable

Entertainment — cinema, sport, music, cultural participation — sits at the bottom of an unspoken hierarchy of disability rights, as though joy were a luxury to be pursued after the serious business of inclusion is complete