Wimbledon 2025 kicks off on June 30. Can Carlos Alcaraz make it three championship titles in a row? Or will Novak Djokovic manage to get his 25th Slam and equal Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon titles? Can world no. 1 Jannik Sinner stamp his authority on grass for the first time this year? How do the various contenders stack up in what seems to be a very open field in the women’s draw? Is there a real frontrunner between the likes of world no. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, French Open champ Coco G...
When we think of climate and global warming, what comes to mind is carbon emissions, and how to decarbonise the economy. Lately, another front in the fight against climate change getting more and more attention: the battle against Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs), also classified as non-carbon climate pollutants. These gases and chemicals — which include methane, black carbon, tropospheric ozone, hydrofluorocarbons -- have a much higher warming potential and shorter atmospheric lifetimes t...
After 12 days of exchanging intense strikes and counter-strikes, Israel and Iran have reportedly agreed to a ceasefire. The ceasefire was first announced by President Donald Trump on social media. The war was initiated by Israel with the tacit approval of the US, to achieve certain objectives. Were those objectives achieved? What prompted them to initiate the ceasefire? Why did Iran agree to the ceasefire? With Israel’s attacks on Gaza continuing, will this ceasefire last? Guest: Mehmet Ozturk, ...
With the blistering temperatures that most of India is suffering under, it should come as no surprise that May 2025 was the second-warmest month of May since records began. But what is of greater concern now, is how this heat is going to affect our future generations -- a new study has found that India recorded an average of six additional days of dangerously high temperatures for pregnant women every year over the last five years. What is this extreme heat doing the bodies of mothers to be? How...
India is now projected to become the world's fourth-largest economy, alongside positive news on extreme poverty reduction. This episode decodes these numbers with economist Dr. Partha Chatterjee, discussing the context, limitations of GDP as a metric, and India's standing on other development indicators like inequality and labor force participation. The conversation also explores the challenges ahead, including the need for higher growth, job creation, skill development, and achieving sustainable development.
On June 13, Israel launched an all-out war against Iran. It carried out what has been described as a ‘decapitation strike” – taking out much of the country’s military leadership, as well as top nuclear scientists. It also attacked the country’s nuclear facilities and air defences, and subsequently it’s economic infrastructure and oil installations as well. Iran responded with missile strikes of its own, targeting Tel Avi and Haifa among other sites and military targets. While more than 200 peopl...
India began its Crocodile Conservation programme in 1975, and this year marks 50 years of this initiative, one that has been more successful than most. India is home to three main kinds of crocodile species – the gharial, the salt water crocodile or salties, and the muggers. These species face increasing threats from habitat loss, poachers, pollution, riparian agriculture, artificial embankments, construction of barrages and dams, and illegal sand-mining. On the eve of World Crocodile Day, which...
The Central government recently proposed starting an integrated course – MBBS and Ayurveda medicine, at the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) in Puducherry. This proposed move has evoked a strong response from the Indian Medical Association who has said this unscientific mixing of various systems of medicine will benefit neither doctors, nor patients. This is not the first move to mix traditional and modern systems of medicine in India – other such meas...
Article 143 of the Constitution allows the President to seek the Supreme Court’s opinion on matters of law. This provision has been invoked by President Droupadi Murmu to raise 14 questions on a recent Supreme Court judgement. It concerns a case filed by the Tamil Nadu government against its Governor, who had withheld assent to 10 bills indefinitely. The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of the Tamil Nadu government, laying down a three-month timeline for Governors and the President to act on Bi...
Yet again, we are talking about a virus we would much rather forget – Covid-19 is in the news with over 4,300 cases and over deaths as of June 4. New sub-variants, descendent from the Omicron lineage first reported at the end of 2021, are believed to be driving the spike in cases. So far however, a majority of the cases have been mild, with very few requiring hospitalisation, according to the government. Is Covid-19 here to stay? Do we have any reason to be concerned about the new variants? Do w...
At a time when Russia and Ukraine have been exchanging peace proposals, seemingly in a bid to start direct peace talks, Ukraine has carried out an unprecedented drone attack deep inside Russian territory. Ukrainian officials have claimed to have destroyed at least 40 Russian warplanes, including strategic bombers, and say they have imposed losses on Russia worth $7 billion dollars. This attack comes when Ukraine and Russia have just agreed on a prisoner swap deal. But there has been little progr...
India is a union of states — a structure enshrined in the Constitution that gives States a central role in legislating critical areas like health, agriculture, and public order. But how well are India’s State Assemblies functioning? A new report by PRS Legislative Research that examines how 31 State Assemblies performed in 2024 has found that States passed over 500 Bills, yet most Assemblies met for just 20 days and spent around 100 hours in session. Many laws were cleared on the very day they w...
It’s been a month since Canada’s federal elections. Canadians have voted in a Liberal government, although a minority one, for the fourth straight time. They have reposed their faith in Mark Carney, a former central banker who had no prior political experience and hadn’t held political office until the start of this year. Everyone seems to agree that the Trump factor played a big role in the electoral outcome. What are the challenges facing the new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney? With the l...
Manipur has been under President’s rule since February 13, 2025. But this week, a group of 10 MLAs met the Governor and informed him that they would like to form a “popular government” with the support of a total of 44 MLAs. The Manipur Assembly has a strength of 60. At the same time, the state is again in turmoil over an incident in Gwaltabi village where security forces allegedly asked for the state’s name on a bus to be covered up. Angry protesters locked up central government offices, includ...
The Central Board of Secondary Education, or CBSE, recently mandated the establishment of sugar boards at all its schools. These boards will tell children how much sugar there is in common snacks that they eat versus what the recommended sugar intake is. The move also aims to make school canteens healthier so that the food children have access to on a daily basis is healthy and low in sugar. Why was this move necessary? Reports estimate that by 2030, one of every ten obese children the world ove...
Earlier this month, reports surfaced alleging that Indian authorities had transported dozens of Rohingya refugees to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and subsequently abandoned them in international waters, in an attempt to deport them to Myanmar. However, on May 16, a Supreme Court Bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh declined to pass any interim order to halt the purported deportation. The Court also cast doubt on the credibility of the evidence submitted before it. Meanwh...
The French Open, the only Grand Slam played on clay, kicks off this Sunday in Paris. This is a historic French Open also because it’s the first one to be held after the retirement of Rafael Nadal, the undisputed GOAT on Clay. On the men’s side, there is tremendous anticipation over the growing rivalry between world No 1 Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Another exciting narrative revolves around Novak Djokovic, who would be looking for one last hurrah in the form of a 25th Grand Slam before hang...
There has been a lot of excitement around the India-U.K. trade deal — PM Narendra Modi termed the deal a "historic milestone" while announcing that both countries "successfully concluded an ambitious and mutually beneficial Free Trade Agreement", and U.K. PM Keir Starmer recently called it a fantastic deal. India enjoys a trade surplus with the U.K., the deal could help India maintain its competitive edge. Under the deal, India will cut tariffs on 90% of British goods, with 85% becoming duty-fre...
Trade-related tensions between India and Bangladesh have been rising. In a seemingly retaliatory move, India has restricted the import of certain goods from Bangladesh to just two sea ports – Kolkata and Nhava Sheva. It has blocked 11 traditional land ports in the North East. This move has caused concern among both Bangladeshi and Indian traders as goods-laden trucks have been stuck at the various land ports. Bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh last fiscal was $10.56 billion. India impo...
After a nearly four-year delay, the Central government finally released a whole lot of reports about India’s births, deaths and health indicators for the year 2021. Two of these key reports, released by the Registrar General of India, were the number of deaths registered, and the medical certification of the causes of deaths. What did these reports find? In 2021, the year of the brutal and devastating Delta strain of Covid-19, India recorded 21 lakh more deaths than it did in 2020. As of May 19 ...
How do monsoons really work? What makes them plentiful some years, but vanish completely in others, causing drought-like conditions? Climate scientists have been seeking answers to these questions for a long time. Now a research paper has come up with an intriguing explanatory concept: atmospheric memory. The study was conducted by two scientists -- Anja Katzenberger & Anders Levermann -- from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). Titled ‘Monsoon Hysteresis reveals Atmosph...
On May 7, India launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ in response to the Pahalgam terror attack of April 22 in which 26 civilians were killed. Over three days, India and Pakistan launched missiles and drones at each other. There was also an extended aerial warfare involving fighter jets of both the countries. And on May 10, around midday, a ceasefire was announced – not by India or Pakistan, but by President Donald Trump. On May 12, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an address to the nation, announced tha...
The petitions challenging the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, are set for hearing on May 15. They will be heard by a Bench led by the Chief Justice designate B.R. Gavai. Earlier, a three-judge Bench led by outgoing Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna had refused to put an interim stay on the amendments. But it did receive two assurances from the Union government: one, that no Waqf, including Waqf-by-user, shall be de-notified or suffer any character change until the next date of hearing; and secondly, no ap...
When it comes to food, most Indians cannot imagine a day without rice. Lunch is rice, and rice is lunch – and rice is also sometimes breakfast or dinner or just part of a number of other food items we consume. But how healthy is the rice we are eating? Scientists have known for a while now that a lot of rice contains some amount of arsenic. A new study that was published in The Lancet Planetary Health last month, however, had some newer, more worrying findings: it found that with rising carbon e...
The Union cabinet has announced that the next population Census will also include questions on caste. This is a sharp departure from the ruling BJP’s long-standing opposition to a caste census. How do we understand this U-turn? How would this caste census differ from the last one, conducted in 1931? Given the massive scale and logistics involved, what are the challenges involved, and how do we ensure the integrity of the exercise and the data collection process? Guest: Satish Deshpande, well-kno...
The world of science was rocked early last month when U.S. company Colossal Biosciences announced that it had resurrected the dire wolf—a species that went extinct more than 10,000 years ago. Three pups, named Remus, Romulus, and Khaleesi are now living on a 2,000-acre enclosure in a secret location. Videos of the wolf pups howling went viral across the internet, as did photographs of their snowy white fur. How did Colossal achieve this? Through genetic editing. After first extracting DNA from a...
According to Section 53 (2) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, if there is only candidate contesting an election, then she can be declared elected unopposed. Now a legal think tank, the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of this provision. It cites the 2013 order of the Supreme Court which held that the right to cast a negative vote by choosing ‘NOTA’ was protected under Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution. It ...
In a controversy that seems to have divided the art world in India, Mumbai-based poet-activist Aamir Aziz has accused well known artist Anita Dube of using his poem without his consent, and profiting from it without giving him credit or compensation. The poem in question is ‘Sab Yaad Rakha Jayega’, which became an anthem of the anti-CAA protests and later a global phenomenon after English rock musician Roger Waters read it out at an event in London. While Dube has admitted to an “ethical lapse” ...
Recently, a debate about appointing judges has gained momentum in light of cash allegedly being found in the house of a Delhi High Court judge. What began as a discussion about transparency in judicial appointments has widened into a broader conversation about the functioning of India’s justice system, which is already strained by millions of pending cases. But concerns run deeper than just courtrooms. A recent report, called the India Justice Report 2025, flags critical issues across four pilla...
For the first time since 2018, the United States and Iran are holding high level negotiations. What Iran wants is clear: an end to US sanctions, and resumption of economic engagement. But the US has been speaking in different voices, ranging from a maximalist position of complete dismantlement of the Iranian nuclear program, to a more moderate goal of capping the weaponistion of it. President Donald Trump has also given a two-month deadline to Iran to make a deal. If it doesn’t, he has threatene...
