Innholdsfortegnelse for 7 July 2025 i India Today

JAMMU AND KASHMIR was amongst the first states and Union Territories to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, but had been immune from the furore against the policy’s three-language formula and the suspicion that it signified an ‘imposition of Hindi’. But it couldn’t stave off a political standoff over language for long—a recruitment notification for 75 Naib-Tehsildar posts on June 9, requiring a mandatory 50-mark Urdu test has spawned a controversy. A knowledge of Urdu is deemed essential for J&K revenue department jobs—it had been the only official language of Kashmir, and the region’s centuries-old revenue, land and administrative records are in Urdu. However, the change in J&K’s status from state to Union territory in 2019 also brought key changes to its domicile and land laws—in 2020, the official…

DONALD TRUMP HAS MADE QUITE A HABIT OF PULLING RABBITS OUT OF HIS HAT, especially while dealing with international conflicts. Just when the 12-day Israel-Iran war threatened to engulf the Middle East and along with it his own presidency, Trump bullied the two countries into agreeing to a seemingly impossible truce on June 24. It was reminiscent of the US president’s claims of having got India and Pakistan to call off their four-day war on May 10 just when a major escalation seemed imminent. The Indian government, though, continues to deny that Trump had any role to play, maintaining it was Pakistan that capitulated. So even though Trump has so far failed to keep his campaign promises of ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict within 24 hours of being sworn in or of…

VW DRIVES IN THE DEFINITIVE HOT HATCH Volkswagen has launched the Golf GTI, that comes here in its 8.5-gen avatar, at an ex-showroom price of Rs 53 lakh. This is the second GTI model to come to India, after the Polo GTI that was sold here in limited numbers. The initial import batch has 150 units, and all of these are already sold out. The Golf GTI is powered by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol that makes 265 bhp and 370Nm. Power is sent only to the front wheels, while the transmission is the DQ380I 7-speed DCT. This helps the GTI launch from nought to 100 kmph in just 5.9 seconds with a top speed of 250 kmph (electronically limited). The Golf carries a familiar VW aesthetic, with an illuminated logo…

A PLEASANT REVOLUTION IS TRANSFORMING HEALTHCARE IN INDIA. For a long time, home care was limited to end-of-life or palliative care, geriatric nursing and physiotherapy. All diagnostic, emergency and critical care functions happened in hospitals. Now, in a massive shift, the comfortable confines of a home are taking centre stage. They call it home healthcare or, simply, homecare. Today, complex clinical profiles can be managed at home, something deemed impossible a decade back. This includes looking after those in coma, stroke survivors and dementia patients. Other than the usual barrage of blood/urine tests, a wide range of diagnostic procedures like x-rays, ultrasounds, electrocardiograms (ECGs) and some biopsies can be done at home by trained professionals. Not just this, use of ventilators, dialysis units and setting up of e-ICUs (electronic intensive care…

This summer, while we are planning our luxe getaways, we’re also lining up our watch picks to tag along. While Omega takes us to the age of the Orient Express with its new Railmaster, Longines gets us thinking airplanes and time zones with its Zulu Spirit Time, and Tag Heuer invites us to a Formula 1 racetrack somewhere with its very ‘80s Solargraph. If you’re packing your bags to escape, or getting behind the controls of a plane, or a race car, here are some time-honoured companions. OMEGA Luxe trains getaways This season’s re-edit of an icon dating back to 1957, the Omega Railmaster stands for the halcyon days of train travel and the railway professionals it was designed for. Sure, we can draw a lot of aesthetic similarities with…

At the Dwarika’s hotel in Kathmandu hand carved windows stare down from the building façade, sculptures stand like sentries in the ever buzzing lobby and paubha paintings grace the bedrooms walls. The cherry on the cake is a 13th century door salvaged and restored from a monastery. With more than 3,000 works in its collection, art infuses every inch of this property. Spending a night here is akin to staying in a museum! “All the woodwork here was collected by my grandfather between 1950-1970. The idea is to keep the art and craftmanship alive as well as create an atmosphere and a sense of place. We want people to experience the culture and stories that exist in the Kathmandu Valley,” explains CEO, Rene Vijay Shrestha. Interestingly, a key element of…

Chef Himanshu Saini never played it safe, and in hindsight, we’re all luckier for it. Saini’s journey reads like the kind of plot that makes biopics irresistible. If anyone needed proof that cumin, cardamom, and creativity could build an empire, Trèsind Studio is your answer. With three Michelin stars under his belt at just 38, Chef Himanshu has done what only a select few chefs in the world can boast of. Legendary Chef Joan Roca dubs him “a chef with artistic flair at its finest.” One of India’s top chefs, Manish Mehrotra, lauds him for ‘eloquently reshaping Indian cuisine on the global gastronomic stage.’ And the most visionary Michelin star chef in Dubai, Vladimir Mukhin of Krasota, calls him “a bold visionary, redefining flavours and presentation with a progressive edge.”…

To gauge the Polo’s cult status in India—a market in which it was discontinued in 2022—snatch a quick look at Volkswagen India’s Instagram page and you will see scores of messages from disappointed enthusiasts asking for the car to be brought back to India, in a collective social media war cry, if you will. And while the car is not available in India anymore, it is an international ‘auto celebrity’ in its own right, thanks to its iconic cultural vibe. In June, the VW Polo turns 50 with a series of celebrations across the globe, conducted by heritage car enthusiasts as well as speed junkies. What started off, half a century ago, as a sort of modern follow-up to Volkswagen’s culturally significant Beetle, the Polo today has clocked over 20…

NET FDI INFLOWS ARE DOWN Gross FDI* ↑ $81bn (Rs 6.9 lakh cr.) Up 14% in FY25, from $71.3 billion (Rs 6 lakh cr.) in FY24 Net FDI# ↓ $0.4 bn (Rs 3,427 cr.) Down 96% in FY25, from $10 billion (Rs 85,690 cr.) in FY24 *Gross FDI is the total investment made by foreign entities directly into the productive assets of India # Net FDI is the difference between gross FDI inflows and outflows, including repatriation and outward FDI by domestic firms $29.1 bn (Rs 2.5 lakh cr.) Outbound FDI by Indian firms in FY25 Source: RBI; all dollar-rupee conversions are based on the exchange rates as of June 24 BEHIND THE NET FDI SLIDE High repatriation: MNCs take their investments back to their home country after earning returns through the automatic route…

IT’S NOT EXACTLY A WIDENING FRONTIER, more a tactical pivot to an old staging post. For, Odisha has long been an operational base of Left-Wing Extremism (LWE)—especially its poverty-ridden hinterland, which is part of easterncentral India’s tribal continuum. But mark the recent Maoist-related action in the state, and you can almost live-track the shifting map of the war against LWE. Take the latest one. In the early hours of June 13, the predawn gunshots that lit up the forests were in Malkangiri district—deep down south in the state and smack bang in the Eastern Ghats. Here, a special police team, acting on an intelligence input, accosted an armed Maoist unit near Sargiguda village, under Mathili police station. After a firefight, several insurgents managed to flee, but two senior operatives—Kesa Kawasi…

200 No. of missiles Israel used, besides hundreds of drones, many launched from within Iran 28 No. of Israelis killed, along with over 3,000 injured 2,000 Iran’s stockpile of ballistic missiles, according to intelligence estimates 950 No. of Iranians killed in Israeli air strikes, along with 5,000 wounded 550 Approximate number of missiles Iran fired, besides 1,000 drones ENRICHED URANIUM: THE CONCERN OVER IRAN ↘ Uranium is critical for nuclear power and weapons because it can sustain a chain reaction ↘ Natural uranium contains about 0.7 per cent of the Uraniun-235 (U-235) isotope—the component for nuclear fission. The remaining 99.3 per cent is Uranium-238 (U-238) ↘ For generating nuclear power, U-235 has to be enriched to a concentration of 3 to 5 per cent ↘ That is done through gaseous centrifuge separation where the…

AS ASSAM GEARS UP FOR ASSEMBLY ELECTION EARLY NEXT YEAR, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has already set a combative tone for the campaign. In recent months, his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has launched an aggressive, and legally contentious, drive to identify and deport “illegal Bangladeshis”. This move has involved reviving decades-old laws, sidelining the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and stirring a combustible mix of security, identity and religion in the state’s political discourse. Partly prompted by judicial developments but largely driven by electoral calculations, the Sarma government has intensified efforts to deport individuals suspected of being illegal immigrants, particularly those of Bangladeshi origin. What marks this phase as particularly significant is a new legal interpretation: even those included in the NRC, the Supreme Court-monitored citizenship register, are…

VinFast, part of the Vietnamese conglomerate Vin-Group, will be launching two electric SUVs in India later this month. The VF6 and VF7 will be made in India at its new state-of-the-art plant in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu. We were in Vietnam to experience the two cars engineered for the Indian market at the company’s sprawling mother plant in Haiphong, northern Vietnam. Here is what we think of the VF7, the larger and more premium of the two. Unlike its smaller sibling, the VF7 has a much sharper design with more angles and a bit more flair, with a very pronounced sporty roof that slopes back a lot, resulting in a minimal glasshouse on a very chunky body. The front V signature is more upright and similar to the design at the…

Recently, we got a chance to sample the newest member of Hero MotoCorp’s Xtreme family, which is supposed to compete in the 250cc segment. It’s called the Xtreme 250R and is completely new from the ground up. If I had to use one word to describe the 250R’s design language, it would have to be aggressive. Another word would be aspirational. Overall, though, Hero must be commended for the design adopted not just for the 250R, but the whole Xtreme lineup. The 250R is based on a trellis frame and features a 5050 weight distribution between the front and rear. Then there’s the 249 cc, single cylinder, liquid cooled, four-valve, DOHC motor derived from the Karizma XMR 210 cc motor. However, Hero has completely reworked the internals and made several…

In a startling sequence in actor-director Renuka Shahane’s animated short film Loop Line, a homemaker makes pakoras out of her brain and serves them to her husband and his friends while they drink and chatter noisily. No, this is not a horror film. Loop Line is the sort of poignant feminist cinema Shahane has honed over her last two features, Rita (2009) and Tribhanga (2021). Loop Line follows a woman compelled to be voiceless at home, while her indifferent and brutish husband stays blind to her. Titled in Marathi as Dhawpatti, it was screened at the New York Indian Film Festival on June 21. “The protagonist keeps slipping into her fantasy world, and I initially wanted these portions to be animation while reality could be live action,” says Shahane. “But…

There are many things that The Diamond-Encrusted Rat Trap does not do. It does not tell a comprehensive story of Mumbai. It does not pretend to capture the soul of the city, or even to understand its moods and mysteries. This slim and occasionally eccentric volume—made up of a collection of Adil Jussawalla’s prose pieces about Bombay-Mumbai—does something else altogether. It records the fleeting moments that add both beauty and horror to our city. In it, we encounter a city that “smells of the powder on the carrom board” and reverberates with the “sledgehammers of demolition crews”. Where life often involves moving through a “box within box above box out of box inside box”. “The pieces gathered here do not attempt to understand Mumbai-Bombay…,” writes Jerry Pinto in his Introduction.…

Discover legendary routes along which traders once traversed in the east, landscapes that vary from the lush green countryside to the stark vastness of the Saudi desert and pristine rainforests of Malaysia, from the comfort of your gilded luxe cabins aboard new luxury trains that revive the golden days of slow travel with a new layer of opulence. While some are already on track, others will launch in the coming months. Get set to turn back the clock. Dream of the Desert, Saudi Arabia If crisscrossing lush green countryside is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a train journey, then board the Middle East’s first five star luxury train to uncover a dramatically different landscape – the mystique of endless stretches of brown and red…

I’ve taken a little detour! I used to thrive as a big-city girl, but recently I’ve discovered an extraordinary exhilaration in the wild corners of our planet. In each of these places, I’m reminded of the wise words of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who famously said, “Believe me, for I know, you will find something far greater in the woods than in books. Stones and trees will teach you that which you cannot learn from the masters.” Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia Cairns, a city in tropical North Queensland, is a laid-back gateway city to the Great Barrier Reef—the world’s most extensive coral reef system, stretching over 2000 kilometres. To visit the reef, I temporarily bid adieu to enticing Cairns with its thriving botanical gardens and lively markets and embark…

Lucerne is like that song in your head that pops up unexpectedly and the riff goes on loop; you may not be able to recall the lyrics but the melody remains a haunting memory. No wonder, the poet Ludwig Rellstab called Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’ an ode to the shimmering reflections on Lake Lucerne (in pic), likening the first movement to a boat floating on its languid waters. From rock summits that soar into clouds offering views only birds are privy to and a storied lake that snakes around the town like a spool of memory, to an old town lovingly preserved like a parchment of history, the symphony of beauty and bounty is delightful. However, no story about Lucerne can be concluded without extolling its taste treasures: Bespoke chocolate boutiques…

Whispers in the Congress corridors suggest that Telangana CM A. Revanth Reddy may be out of favour with the party’s de facto boss Rahul Gandhi. The chatter grew louder on June 19—Rahul’s birthday—when Reddy, despite being in Delhi, failed to secure a courtesy meeting. Meanwhile, colleagues from Telangana, Nagarkurnool MP Mallu Ravi and ex-Union minister Pallam Raju, were clicked wishing Rahul in person. Interestingly, Reddy had met Rahul in Delhi on June 10 (to discuss a Cabinet expansion), as did Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and his deputy D.K. Shivakumar. Photos of the Kannada partymen were seen on social media, but Reddy’s meeting? Not a frame in sight. NAME, PLACE, ANIMAL, THING WILD INSPIRATION Cricket, wildlife and royalty, they are still a match made in…well, Madhya Pradesh. Nearly every team in the…

ON JUNE 20, as Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan shared the stage at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Siwan, Nitish, according to Chirag’s brother-in-law and party MP Arun Bharti, enquired whether Chirag was contesting the upcoming assembly election. “Chirag,” says Bharti, “replied that should the LJP so decide, he’d seek the CM’s blessings.” The exchange may appear cordial, but it reflects the unease simmering within the ruling NDA coalition. For, Chirag is no longer concealing his ambition: to establish himself as the natural heir to the NDA leadership, especially in a post-Nitish set-up. A few days earlier, in Arrah, the 43-year-old leader had proclaimed to rapturous applause, “We will contest from every seat in Bihar…I am leaving it to you…

ON JUNE 22, MADURAI PLAYED HOST TO A grand gathering of Lord Murugan’s devotees—the Muruga Bhakthargal Maanadu. Organised by the Hindu Munnani, a right-wing outfit closely aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the event featured devotional music, ornate replicas of Murugan’s six sacred abodes, or Arupadai Veedu, along with a steady undercurrent of political messaging. Though billed as a spiritual congregation, few missed the ideological subtext. The BJP, which has long struggled to find resonance in Tamil Nadu, has in recent years attempted to recast the Tamil deity Murugan as a cultural and religious symbol aligned with its Hindutva politics. The Madurai event was the most elaborate iteration of that strategy yet. In 2020, the BJP had launched the Vel Yatra—a religious procession named after Murugan’s divine spear. Led…

Meet the Mahindra XEV 9e: an electric SUV that blends size, style and smarts. Measuring 4,789 mm in length and 1,907 mm in width, it stands tall at 1,694 mm. The front end is dominated by the large LED light panel, an excellent visual. The grille is absent but the section gets a grille-like detail, which looks cool. Under the bonnet resides a large frunk which can gobble up 150 litres. In profile, the XEV 9e sure looks massive. The 20-inch wheels look great and fill up the wheel wells with ease. The sweeping roof line is also a cool element. This was first seen many years back when Mahindra showcased a coupe SUV concept based on the XUV 500. The door handles at the back have also been repositioned…

HYUNDAI TO LAUNCH 26 NEW MODELS IN INDIA BY FY30 Hyundai Motor India has announced that it will launch 26 new models in the country by FY30, comprising 20 internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and six electric vehicles (EVs). In addition to ICE and EV models, the South Korean automaker will also introduce hybrid vehicles to cater to theevolving needs of Indian consumers and support cleaner mobility solutions. In FY25, Hyundai sold 598,666 vehicles in India, with SUVs accounting for 68.5 per cent of total sales—410,200 units—highlighting the segment’s continued importance in the company’s growth strategy for the Indian market. MARUTI SUZUKI ADDS SIX AIRBAGS AS STANDARD ON ALL ARENA MODELS In a move to boost occupant safety, Maruti Suzuki has standardised six airbags across all its Arena models, including…

The Union government has reiterated its commitment to strengthen the system of cooperatives, which have their roots in India’s past. For this, a massive expansion in the distribution and reach of cooperative societies covering all panchayats is on the anvil. The move will allow these primary credit societies to go beyond their legacy mandate of providing short-term agriculture loans to finance multifarious activities, like cooking gas distribution and taxi service. These were among the slew of announcements made at the maiden india today ‘Sahkar se Samriddhi’ summit in Mumbai on June 20. The event was attended by Amit Shah, Union home minister and minister of cooperation; Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union minister of agriculture and farmers’ welfare and minister of rural development; and Devendra Fadnavis, chief minister, Maharashtra, among other dignitaries.…

As an architect, Sohrabji K. Bhedwar left his signature on India’s most prominent urbanscape by designing art deco marvels across Mumbai. From the iconic Eros Cinema facing Churchgate railway station, and landmark residential buildings like Queen’s Court and Green Fields to the Indo-Saracenic marvel of the Syndicate Bank building in Fort, Bhedwar was a master of the arches and turrets that have come to define one of the most influential design movements of the century. But Bhedwar was also a man of art. He was a connoisseur, scholar and a collector of art, especially of South Indian and Nepali bronzes that have been extensively written about by cultural icon Karl Khandalavala in his essay ‘Masterpieces in South Indian and Nepalese Bronzes in the Collection of Mr. S.K. Bhedwar of Bombay’…

Traveling is great, but let’s be real: lost bags, dead batteries, and raucous air travel aren’t. Thankfully, technology’s got our back—saving us from the woes of wandering. Here’s a stellar lineup of gear that’ll keep your journeys smooth, stylish, and delightfully stress-free. Tech is your travel buddy you didn’t know you needed. Apple Watch Ultra 2 The Apple Watch Ultra 2 isn’t just a smartwatch; it’s the ultimate survival tool for adventurous souls. From precise GPS navigation to cellular freedom, it’s designed for those who hike mountains or swim seas. Rugged yet sophisticated, it even tracks your heartbeat—so you’ll know when views, not exertion, take your breath away. Price ₹1,04,900 Sony Alpha 7M4K Your smartphone takes good snaps, but Sony Alpha 7M4K captures memories like art. Its superior full-frame sensor,…

TEAL AND SILVER FLUTES OF EL ALTO COCKTAILS GLIDING THROUGH THE CROWD, SHIMMERING LIGHTS, GLOWING WRISTBANDS, AND KARAN AUJLA BELTING OUT WAVY AND TAUBA TAUBA—MUMBAI’S PARTY SCENE HIT A NEW HIGH WITH A NIGHT AWASH IN TINSEL TOWN GLAMOUR. At the heart of the celebration were two icons—Patrón and Karan Aujla—coming together to launch Patrón El Alto, a super-premium tequila crafted in the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico. Tradition, craftsmanship, and contemporary cool came alive at Bastian on Top, the swanky roof-top lounge that hosted this magnificent launch. Aujla, dapper in black, brought his magnetism and electric energy to the stage. His performance was a spectacle—Wavy, On Top 2, and the mega-hit Tauba Tauba had the crowd dancing nonstop. Sleek bars lined with Patrón Silver, Reposado, and Añejo—its classic variants—set the…