Columns

Earth has a new species

KIRAN KARNIK

In the 4.5-billion-year history of Earth, humans (homo sapiens) are relatively new, appearing only some 300,000 years ago. Evolving over millennia, through various predecessor species, the process has so far been biological and slow. Through this period, various species have been dominant, with those higher up the food chain generally

Small rivers, big warning

VENKATESH DUTTA

Over the past weeks, we surveyed six tributaries of the Gomti river — Mala, Kathina, Bhainsi, Sarayan, Sai and Behta — across Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur and Hardoi districts. These lesser-known alluvial streams are sustained by groundwater and rainfall. We first surveyed these rivers 15 years ago in March

Iran and its king

SHYAM BHATIA

On a London high street lined with Persian grocery stores and kebab shops, Iranian exile politics has found an unlikely stage. A restaurant window advertises a 20 percent discount to anyone who walks in and says a phrase long taboo in the Islamic Republic: Javid Shah, long live the Shah.

Tomorrow belongs to me

SANJAYA BARU

Blame it on Xi Jinping. In 2012 he urged his people to look to a great future and called it the ‘China Dream’. A decade later Narendra Modi promised a bright future for India with his Amrit Kaal and Viksit Bharat slogans. Donald Trump said he would ‘Make America Great

Feudals in fashion

SANJAYA BARU

The Indian Express and the Taj hotels recently sent out invitations for an evening with Radhikarajae Gaekwad, described as the ‘Maharani of Baroda’. The Hyderabad Literary Festival saw the launch of a coffee table book on the ‘Nizam of Hyderabad’. The media routinely informs us that the Dassehra festival in Mysuru is

MAGA is not MIGA

SANJAYA BARU

Indian prime minister once said that MAGA (Make America Great Again) can also help MIGA or Make India Great Again. The end of a quarter-century-old India-US ‘strategic and global partnership’ has just been announced. Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi, the deputy secretary of state of the United

India’s antibiotic obsession

CHANDRA BHUSHAN

Ihave travelled extensively over the past three decades and never once fallen sick outside India — until my visit to Brazil last month for COP30. A simple viral infection ended up becoming a mirror, revealing how differently India and Brazil approach antibiotic use, and why this difference matters. In India,

Invest in small towns

KIRAN KARNIK

I may lose a battle but I will never lose a minute, said Napoleon Bonaparte. Nowhere should his aphorism resonate more than in developing countries like India, where every moment lost counts for a great deal because we have so far to go to reach the goals of development: not

Britain’s disdain for scrutiny

SHYAM BHATIA

Two nations at the ends of Asia — India and Greece — are now bound by a common quest: to reclaim the soul of their civilizations. Both are demanding the return of treasures taken in the age of empire and still displayed in London’s marble halls. The Chola bronzes, the

Politics of futurism

SANJAYA BARU

In the excitement generated in urban India by the election of Zohran Mamdani as the mayor of New York, few have asked where the mayors in India are. Many cities do have mayors but few know of them given their limited powers. Most in the nation’s capital would know that