Chief Justice of India Surya Kant’s obiter dicta in a case before him described some unemployed youngsters as “cockroaches”, some of whom go on to “become” (sic) the media, social media, RTI activists, and start “attacking the system”. — PTI Bharat Bhushan Notwithstanding the denial, it is important to note that metaphors that dehumanise any… Read More From The Bench To Barbs: ‘Cockroach’ Slur On Critics
A beautiful soul, forever with us Sun sets over Kaziranga Achintya (Monju) Barua, founder of Wild Grass resort Kaziranga; a devotee of wild life and natural conservation; known and loved by numberless people the world over passed away this morning, May 17. We had spoken over the phone at 7.50 am, he was coughing, and… Read More Achintya Barua (1953-2026)
For 15 years, over eight lakh students appeared for the higher secondary examination in West Bengal every year. In 2025, that number fell to 4.82 lakh. The children who paid the price were those who had no alternative. In Jangalmahal, private schools barely exist. When government schools stop functioning, children stop studying. http://www.reporters-collective.in Read the… Read More How a ‘Cash-For-Jobs Scam’ Emptied Out Public Schools In West Bengal
From 30th May – 4th June, 2026 in Chandigarh ~Applications are open~ Apply here. Last date to apply is 17th May, 2026. Context We live in an era of rapid technological progress. Building on the advancements in electronics and computing, just the last two decades have been marked by the emergence of buzz words like digital… Read More Summer School on Technology, Environment, and Society
John Boersma Tyranny and Revolution: Rousseau to Heidegger By Waller R. Newell; 2022 Waller Newell: Interview: The Characteristics of Tyranny Today’s political discourse is rife with the prognosis that liberalism is in trouble, evidenced by the rise of anti-liberal and post-liberal thought, each of which maintains that a politics based on material self-interest is incapable… Read More Tyranny and Revolution: Rousseau to Heidegger
Bharat Bhushan The sudden ceasefire after Operation Sindoor showed Narendra Modi that the support of the Hindutva base is not unconditional. It is predicated on giving no quarter to Pakistan. That is why he needs the blessing of the RSS to move forward with Pakistan Bharat Bhushan The call for keeping open the doors of dialogue… Read More Why Modi needs RSS cover for dialogue with Pakistan
For decades, many Chinese viewed the United States with a mix of admiration, envy and resentment. President Trump’s volatile second term shattered that image. Li Yuan When President Trump visited China in late 2017, Xi Jinping welcomed him with a grand display of Chinese history and culture: a four-hour private tour of the Forbidden City culminating in… Read More China Increasingly Views Trump’s America as an Empire in Decline
Environmentalists hail decline but warn weakened laws could reverse gains Tiago Rogero in Rio de Janeiro Brazil’s Atlantic forest, the country’s most threatened biome, last year recorded its lowest level of deforestation since monitoring began 40 years ago, a new report shows. The forest is Brazil’s most populous biome, and home to 80% of the population… Read More Brazil’s Atlantic forest records lowest deforestation in 40 years
Nothing can stop Germany’s moral panic over antisemitism It would be hard to surpass the absurd spectacle of a Jewish philosopher being blocked from speaking at a German Holocaust memorial because he intended to say that the lessons of “never again” should be applied universally. And yet such perverse distortions of Germany’s ‘memory culture’ have… Read More Bad memories
Photographers search for dark skies in the most remote landscapes to find places where the galaxy shines with extraordinary clarity. They share not only their breathtaking results but also their methods, trials and adventures Night at the Remarkables The galactic centre of the Milky Way, composed of billions of stars, gas and dust, rises above… Read More Look up: Milky Way photographer of the year 2026 – in pictures
After the truth-shower 