Innholdsfortegnelse for September 30, 2024 i India Today

It is not every day that the Supreme Court, especially the bench of the Chief Justice of India, finds itself “disturbed” by a status report filed by an investigating agency. But the rape-and-murder case of a junior doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital (RG-KMCH) in Kolkata moved even CJI D.Y. Chandrachud into imagining the worst. While hearing the matter on September 17, he said: “What the CBI has revealed in the report is worse, really disturbing…we ourselves are concerned.” Chandrachud said the CBI is probing if the crime scene has been tampered with, whether evidence was destroyed, whether there was complicity of other people in the crime as well as financial irregularities at RGKMCH. The CJI said that the investigating agency must be given more time…

HOW DO MOSQUITOES SPREAD INFECTION? ↘Certain mosquitoes pick up disease pathogens when feeding on an infected host—an animal or a human being. The mosquito will only be infected if the pathogen survives its immune system. When this infected mosquito bites a human, it transmits the pathogen by releasing saliva ARE MOSQUITOES BECOMING SMARTER? ↘ Mosquitoes are a family of small flies consisting of 3,600 species, of which nearly 3,000 are not harmful to human health. The most dangerous are certain species of Anopheles, Aedes and Culex ↘ There is increasing research to show that mosquitoes are becoming resistant to several insecticides, and are also becoming smaller in size, enabling them to enter through the holes of bed nets. They now communicate to help one another find safer breeding grounds VECTOR-BORNE…

The printing press only became a reality in India in the 16th century, with the first one set up by colonial settlers in Goa. Five centuries on, printmaking in India has not only evolved but has also become a subject of scholarship and a medium of fine art. It’s now the focus of a group exhibition by Akar Prakar Gallery, Kolkata, titled Past in Perspective: Printmaking Practices in India, which is on display till September 28, 2024. “Printmaking in India started with the printing of books and dailies, [going on] to become a medium of political protest, since these could be easily multiplied and distributed without the authorities getting to know,” says Abhijit Lath, co-director, Akar Prakar. The gallery has a history of celebrating print cultures in different ways. “Our…

Early childhood years (0-8 years) are characterised by children actively learning through their environments, therefore their personal space or room plays an important role. Conceptual learning, learning by doing, learning through experiences, pretend play—all aspects of modern-day education are empowered by the spaces children spend so much of their time in, so make sure your child’s space encourages his imagination and sense of wonder. 1. Play with Colour Design and colour play an important part in the stimulation of a child’s mind. Use the walls that are available to you as a canvas to play with colours and themes with wallpapers, wall decals, canvas, or even paint. 2. Pay attention to Functionality Organisation helps kids learn practical life skills such as managing their own books and toys, storing them appropriately.…

For them, bigger is better, while louder isn’t lovelier. We are talking about husband-wife duo Hardesh and Monica Chawla, founders of Essentia Environments. For over 25 years, they have been creating large-scale spaces with a well-planned balance of furniture, furnishings, art and accessories that are as subtle as they are sophisticated. Their curation has always caught eyeballs. So, when their son, Hridik Chawla decided to take it to the next level, Essentia Home Experience Center in Gurgaon was born. Spread over 25,000 sq ft you will find over 1,000 products across 15 categories on display, including furniture, soft furnishings, fragrances, wardrobes and vanities. What stands out is the use of Indian materials and artisans. In fact, vanities crafted from Indian marbles or the leather-finish, marble headboard, can give any Italian…

After two years of frozen relations between India and China, there seems to be indications of a defrost. On September 13, when National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of a BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) meeting in St Petersburg, Russia, both sides agreed to expedite “complete disengagement” on the remaining friction points along the border, where Chinese and Indian armies have been engaged in a protracted stand-off since May 2020. On the same day, highlighting progress in India-China talks, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar acknowledged that “75 per cent” of the “disengagement problems” have been resolved. Some see the use of the term “complete disengagement” as significant in that the stage is being set for a resumption of high-level political dialogue between the…

“Delhi has only one chief minister and his name is Arvind Kejriwal,” announced the capital’s new CM, Atishi. These evocative words came a mere 48 hours after Kejriwal’s surprise announcement that he was resigning from the office he had held for nearly a decade—to popular acclaim initially, but ground down by attritional politics of late that saw him jailed on corruption charges. Nominated by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on September 17 as Kejriwal’s successor, what Atishi was suggesting is that hers was only a stopgap regency—that the icon was only in temporary eclipse. With this tactical ‘retreat offensive’, Kejriwal has declared Delhi’s election season open, way earlier than his detractors would have anticipated. Analysts call his resignation a “political weapon” that seeks to wrest back the moral high ground.…

West Delhi businessman Vinod Mitra, 68, and his family had for generations been loyal patrons of their jeweller on Bank Street in Karol Bagh. “You didn’t just inherit the house; you inherited the jeweller too,” he says. Next-gen, however, is thinking otherwise. Mitra’s daughter-in-law Prerna looks beyond traditional, old-fashioned jewellery, one that she does not have to wear only at weddings, but also at work or social events. And fulfilling her desires are the big retail jewellery stores like Tanishq, Kalyan Jewellers, Reliance Jewels. And a brand new kid on the block—Indriya—launched by Novel Jewels, part of India’s top business conglomerate Aditya Birla Group, this July. Call it the new Gold Rush. India’s leading corporate houses are eyeing the burgeoning Rs 6.4 lakh crore jewellery market. ABG’s Indriya will be…

Shiva’s body is “like a glittering sapphire”, he is “knowledge, nectar, action”, the “Granter of Salvation”: these encomiums appear in three different Urdu poems. “Written by both Muslim and non-Muslim poets at a time when inclusion and pluralism were the norm rather than the exception, these need to be revived and reread not merely for their evocations of communal harmony and goodwill, but also because much of it is simply good poetry,” writes Rakhshanda Jalil, in her new compilation of essays, Love in the Time of Hate: In the Mirror of Urdu. While Urdu poetry might be commonly associated with Islamic culture, this chapter, among others, shows us just how wrong that assumption is. “I found myself on a self-appointed crusade to excavate how diverse the concerns of the Urdu…

A decade is a long wait. Ask NorthEast United FC. The best result for the football club, which has been a part of the Indian Super League (ISL) since the inaugural season in 2013-14, came in 2021 when they finished third on the league table and were eliminated in the semifinal of the playoff. All that changed in September this year when they clinched their first silverware after beating Mohun Bagan Super Giant on penalties to lift the Durand Cup. And just like that, they threw themselves in contention for the coveted ISL trophy when the 11th season got underway on September 13. “After the final, I congratulated the players and told them that they deserved a pat on the back. But that’s about it, we woke up the next day and…

Light, God’s eldest daughter, is a principal beauty in a building. We wanted to know if this maxim holds true for the modern Indian house-hold. So, with lights at Innovative Design Studio as our backdrop, India Today HOME conducted a live panel discussion with the country’s top architects and designers. The stage was set for an extraordinary deep dive into lighting’s transformative impact. Our all-star panel included Amit Aurora, principal architect, Group-DCA, Vineeta Singhania Sharma, principal architect, Confluence, Jaskaran Singh, principal architect Fab Studio, Asha Sairam, design principal, Studio Lotus, and Aryraman Jain, CEO of Innovative Design Group. The discussion revealed how lighting can dramatically transform a space, adding depth, drama, and a touch of elegance. The experts emphasised that lighting is not just a functional element, but a powerful…

As parents, we strive to give our little ones the best of everything—especially a cosy nursery or room where their tiny dreams come alive. However, there’s one place that is often overlooked, the bathroom. The land of tiny spills, slippery floors, and faucets that seems to be designed for giants. Setting up a bathroom for a baby isn’t just about cute towels and tiny tubs; it’s about creating a safe, hygienic space that grows with your child. Vibrant Solutions Brands like VitrA and Kohler have introduced bathroom collections with child-friendly fixtures. The VitrA Sento Kids Collection showcases some of its most popular products, including the Sento Kids washbasin and WC. These products combine vibrant hues with playful aesthetics, making them a hit with both children and parents alike. “Our top…

There’s rhythm in repose, both in the dance of clay in the hands of master artisans moulding it into beautiful crockery and in the delicate curves and intricate braids found in the equestrian art of harness making. What happens when they both come together? Stableware? The Tressage Equestres collection of fine porcelain by French luxury brand Hermès turns crockery into an artistic expression of craft and skill. Dipping into its historic association and celebration of all things equestrian, the range has 27 pieces, including 10 new hollowware designs, catering to cuisines from around the world. Designed by Virginie Jamin, an artist and designer from France, this is her first foray into tableware. The range celebrates fresh hues of lemon and mint and contrasts them with petrol blue and the natural…

The ruling BJP has an outsized majority in the Uttar Pradesh assembly, so why then is the state and, to a certain degree even New Delhi, waiting with bated breath for the byelections in 10 seats there? Well, the party’s dismal Lok Sabha results for one: its cave-in from 62 seats to 33 was like the hit to the solar plexus that nearly felled the whole body. The public spats that erupted within—between saffron stalk, root and sundry branches—have not ceased. As a consequence, Yogi Adityanath and his ‘bulldozer’ government look less than rock-solid for perhaps the first time. On the other hand, the opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) looks a lot more peppy after becoming the party with the most MPs from the state—37, with ally Congress snaffling six more.…

It is the season of plenty in Kashmir. Shimmering gold fields of paddy, ripe for harvest, interspersed with neat rows of saffron corms. Apple orchards laden with fruit, along the highway to Pulwama district, 50 km from Srinagar. A tapestry ringed by impassive grey Himalayan massifs and a sparkling blue sky with tufts of pristine white clouds floating by. It is not just Nature that is holding out hope and promise in the Valley. The wind of democratic and political change is currently sweeping across Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), where assembly polls are being held after a hiatus of 10 long years. The election for the 90 assembly seats—43 in Jammu and 47 in Kashmir—is being held in three phases from September 18 to October 1. The results will be…

A Rs 1,500 monthly stipend for women. Three free LPG refills per annum. Free pilgrimages for senior citizens. Free professional education for women from weaker sections. This is the basket of goodies that the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government has announced for the people. But the motive is not lost on anyone. After a drubbing in this year’s Lok Sabha election, where the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) won 31 out of the 48 parliamentary seats in the state, the ruling Mahayuti coalition is pulling out all the stops ahead of the assembly election due later this year. The government unveiled eight major welfare schemes this year, including in the budget in June, targeting women, the elderly and the youth (see Poll-time Bonanza). The centrepiece is the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana,…

As part of its ambitious green goals, India aims to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 45 per cent from the levels in 2005 and achieve 50 per cent of its electricity generation from non-fossil fuels by 2030 in its overall journey towards net-zero in the long run. Tracking progress and troubleshooting challenges were top stakeholders from the Union government—cabinet ministers Nitin Gadkari and Pralhad Joshi along with renewable energy secretary Bhupinder Bhalla—who joined forces with 20 energy CEOs and eight experts at the high-voltage India Today Energy Summit 2024 on September 6. Highlighting the delicate balance between traditional power sources and the surge of renewables, the summit participants also took note of crucial enablers like grid upgrades and regional connectivity. As the world’s third-largest oil consumer, India…

The Shridharani Gallery at Delhi’s Triveni Kala Sangam is currently hosting O.P. Sharma & the Fine Art of Photography, a selection of 150 vintage prints from the veteran photographer’s archives. The exhibition comes over 60 years after Sharma’s first solo show, which was also at Triveni. Sukanya Baskar has curated the show, on till October 3, in collaboration with Rahab Allana, curator/publisher at the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts. Sharma, acknowledged as a leading light of pictorialism in India, created striking portraits of some of the most influential figures of post-Independence India: Indira Gandhi, shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan, Hindi writer Agyeya, and so on. However, this exhibition also shines a light on Sharma’s more unconventional works, like a series of Ellora photographs involving formalist-yetplayful experiments with light and shadow. “They’re very different…

By the time Neha Tikam started the climb to Tanglang La, the highest point (5,328m) on the Manali-Leh highway, she knew things were going to get tricky on the rest of her ride. The rain lower down in Rumtse had made way for sleet and the temperature had dropped significantly as she pedalled uphill in the rarefied environment of Ladakh. Her aim was to set the fastest time by a female cyclist on the Manali-Leh stretch, a distance of 430 km with a total elevation gain of around 5,800 metres. When she rode past the finish point at 3.27 am on August 17, Tikam had endured extreme weather conditions and a landslide near Manali that had made the going rough. But she still managed to get the record after clocking…

If the core of architecture is storytelling, architects are perhaps the greatest storytellers. The design of the 3,000 sq ft apartment of celebrated couple Anita and Harsha Bhogle in Mumbai, by architects Jyothirmayi and Lalith Mitta, is a testament to this incredible art of storytelling. Co-heading their three-decade practice in Hyderabad, Lalith & Jyothi-Architects, the duo’s ability to design spaces unique in their conception and articulation pays a pivotal role here. Jyothi, who spearheaded the design, recalls her endless conversations and ideation sessions with the Bhogles, which led to a ‘shared reflective space’ from where the home was designed. The couple wanted an elegant, stylish, functional, liveable, and happy-looking space that was less on maintenance; a personal space flexible and conducive to embracing their numerous guests and family members. The…