Innholdsfortegnelse for 21 July 2025 i India Today

IT’S DIFFICULT AS IT IS TO ADJUDICATE between a ‘pure’ conservation approach and one sympathetic to human habitation in forest areas. In Madhya Pradesh, it was not made easier last week when politics entered the fray—with a relocated tiger, as it were, returning to stalk his old prey base. The first kill didn’t take long, as Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan led a delegation of tribals from Vidisha, his Lok Sabha constituency, protesting removal of encroachments on forest land and plans to create a new wildlife sanctuary. Chief minister Mohan Yadav had to bite the bullet and transfer a forest officer. THE WILD LIFE OF POLITICS How did conservation become the battleground? Put it down to contrasting politics. Chouhan did not create a single new sanctuary over his 16…

THE GREEN RICE PADDIES that dot NH-44 in Anantnag, on the southern edges of Kashmir, are counting their last days. It’s peak farming season, but Mohammad Shafi Malik’s 30-kanal farm in Jablipora, Bijbehara, has cracked and parched soil with shrivelled paddy saplings, depressing proof of the water crisis in this Himalayan region, one of the worst in its history. “The lands are without water for almost a month. This is the end of our paddy crop,” the 54-year-old tells india today, standing at a point on the highway where it doubles as an emergency air strip. A good year fetches Malik Rs 5 lakh from his near-90 quintals of rice. But that source of sustenance for his family—wife, three daughters and a son—is literally crumbling to dust. “This is our…

Just 10 days before the London Gatwick-bound Air India flight AI 171 crashed within seconds of takeoff in Ahmedabad on June 12, the airline had been busy staging its most high-profile media blitz since privatisation. On the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) annual general meeting in New Delhi from June 1-3, Air India’s MD and CEO Campbell Wilson, flanked by the company’s senior brass, met over 30 top aviation writers and editors from India and abroad. An upbeat Wilson spoke of how, three years after the Tata Group took over the beleaguered public sector airline, it had moved from a phase of stabilisation to one of sufficiency—finally having enough aircraft to fuel its ambitions. The next goal: sharpening operational efficiency. The makeover programme titled ‘Vihaan.AI’, which was…

Jun. 12, 2025; AI 171 (Ahmedabad-London) Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashes on takeoff, 241 on board killed, only 1 survivor ↘ High-powered, multi-agency committee given three months to probe into the crash and suggest reforms; DGCA directs examination of Air India’s entire Dreamliner fleet and audits of pilot training schedules …and the Close Calls Jun. 16, 2025; AI 315 (Hong Kong-Delhi) A Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner returns to Hong Kong after a suspected ‘technical issue’ mid-air ↘ Aircraft is taken out of service for inspection May 28, 2025; AI 347 (Singapore-Chennai) The aircraft aborts a landing at Chennai merely 200 feet above ground due to crosswinds and a steep descent. Later lands safely ↘ DGCA recommends simulator refresher training for pilots for approach handling Aug. 4, 2023, AI 131 (Mumbai-London) A Boeing…

Salt Lake in Kolkata was once known for its serene water bodies girdled by enticing walking trails and manicured gardens. Today, pockets of that tranquility remain, but much of its skyline, especially in Sector V and the nearby New Town, is dominated by towering glass-and-steel office complexes, tech parks and sleek corporate campuses that house global Information Technology (IT) giants, BPOs and fintech start-ups. It is now regarded as the digital pulse of Bengal’s capital city and is riding the crest of a remarkable IT wave that has earned it the sobriquet Silicon Valley of the East. While many of the IT firms had set up show in the previous decade, the zone is experiencing a second boom. In the past seven years, it has expanded to 1,500-odd IT firms…

When author Amborish Roychoudhury started writing Raj Khosla: The Authorized Biography, he discovered that people around him didn’t know much about Khosla’s contributions to Hindi cinema. Only when he posted some iconic songs from his films like C.I.D. (1956), Woh Kaun Thi (1964) and Dostana (1980) did they recognise his works. This is why this book, co-written by Khosla’s daughters, Anita Khosla and Uma Khosla Kapur, is important. In a career spanning over three decades, Khosla directed 26 films, many considered among Hindi cinema’s best. While he cut his teeth with stylish, suspenseful films, he also tackled noir thrillers, dacoit dramas, horror and romances. Born on May 31, 1925, in undivided Punjab, Khosla’s parents moved to Bombay when he was just three. While the book is sketchy about his early years,…

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has announced an ambitious plan to build a ‘sculpture art district’ in the heart of Lutyens’ Delhi, on the stretch between the Mandi House roundabout and Kasturba Gandhi Marg. The works of 15 distinguished Indian artists will be used, including Raghav Kaneria, Ved Nair, K.S. Radhakrish- nan, Arun Pandit, Biman Bihari Das, Rajendra Tikku et al. Sculptures in stone, steel and bronze, along with identifying plaques and lighting, will be placed adjacent to prominent landmarks, like the National School of Drama, along this route. The project was announced at a press conference on July 1. Its execution will be overseen by a committee headed by Harsh Vardhan Sharma, formerly the chairperson of the National Gallery of Modern Art’s advisory committee. “We wanted to highlight the works…

IN BENGALURU’S ELEC-TRONIC CITY, QNu Labs is refining its quantum key distribution technology—a cybersecurity breakthrough in the making. In Delhi, Vyome Biosciences is using AI to discover new treatments for skin diseases. From tactical drone startups like IdeaForge to space-tech firms such as Skyroot, deep tech ventures across India are pushing boundaries. What’s missing is institutional capital and trust for long-gestation research. India has historically always feared that last gorge which new technology must cross—the “valley of death”. It is only the State that can lead the horse across it. But past efforts have been timid. The Technology Development Board, established in the 1990s, was criticised for risk aversion. The Fund of Funds for Startups leaned towards low-tech B2C ventures. The Technology Acquisition and Development Fund, under Make in India,…

THE SOUTHWEST MONSOONS ROLLED IN EARLY THIS YEAR, covering the whole of India by June 29, nine days before target date. Good rains are crucial for the kharif season, but this year, it looks like we might have it in torrents. Aggregated reports suggest that over 52 districts in 19 states are severely affected by flooding, and it’s still only early July. The Indian Meteorological Department predicts 108 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA) for June-September—and the problem is its erratic trajectory. Rains came early all over the Northeast, wreaking destruction, and it soon began finding unusual company in the Northwest, Central, East and North. Flash floods in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the Narmada and Tapi overflowing in Gujarat, reservoirs breaking banks in West Bengal and, now, a…

IT WAS IN THE CRUEL SUMMER OF 2021, amidst the second wave of Covid-19, that the bulldozers arrived in Gorukhuti. Encroached land, they called it. By the time the dust settled on this corner of Assam’s Darrang district, hundreds of families—mostly Bangla-speaking Muslims of suspect citizenship—had lost their homes. On the cleared land was to be sown an ambitious promise: the Gorukhuti Bahumukhi Krishi Prakalpa (GBKP), a model project for indigenous farmers. Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma painted a vision of agricultural renaissance rising from the ruins of displacement. Three years later, that vision has curdled into scandal. One centrepiece of the project: Gir cows, famed for their milk production, would be imported from Gujarat to zip up Assam’s dairy sector. At least that was the plan. Today, after Rs…

JOBLESSNESS as an occupational hazard? Yes, and it can be fatal, pretty frequently it seems, for those who work the machines in Surat’s diamond industry these days. Last July, Sagar Makwana (21), a polisher, died by suicide after losing his job. Come September, thirtysomething Nikunj Tank went the same way, after a spell of deep depression. He left behind two children and a wife. May this year saw the death of Kapil Nimavat, 45, another jobless diamond worker with two schoolgoing children. The Diamond Workers’ Union of Gujarat (DWUG) cites over 100 deaths in the past three years—55 suicides in the past year alone. How did we get here? It’s a fullblown crisis in the diamond industry. Natural diamond sales saw a severe slump after 2022. Lab Grown Diamonds (LGDs)—70…

PUNCTUALITY Performance picks up across the board, but Air India still trails IndiGo and Akasa Average on-time performance of scheduled flights (%) CANCELLATIONS Air India improves; IndiGo’s higher cancellations reflect network strategy to maintain punctuality Average cancellation rate of scheduled flights (%) COMPLAINTS Air India sees fewer complaints in 2025; IndiGo and Akasa slip up but still fare better Average monthly complaints per 10,000 passengers Source: DGCA…

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has unveiled the party’s latest outpost, PDA Bhawan, a sleek office-cum-residence on the Azamgarh-Faizabad highway. Set in a two-acre plot in Anwar Ganj, the two-storey complex is named after the SP’s new social alliance formula of Pichhda, Dalit, Alpasankhyak (Backward, Dalit, Minority), and will be the party’s Purvanchal “nerve centre” ahead of the 2027 UP election. At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Akhilesh couldn’t resist a jab at his saffron rivals. “I’ve seen the BJP’s party offices, but ours is far better,” he said, smiling. In the run-up to 2027, bricks or brickbats, all is fair. HOW COOL IS YOUR KHADI? NEW DRESS CODE Once the sartorial soul of the Congress party, khadi is now passe in Kerala. The younger leaders, inspired by Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo…

WHEN SIBLING FEUD TURNS TO bonding, it’s not often that it portends climate change—of the political sort. But such a horizon opened up when, after two decades, the estranged Thackeray cousins—Uddhav and Raj—shared a stage to mount an assault on the BJP-led government in Maharashtra. Lending extra resonance to the moment was the theme they chose for the rapprochement: the nowscrapped move to introduce Hindi from Class I. Nothing could gel better with their shared Shiv Sena gene of nativist pride. What lies ahead is an intriguing phase, with crucial civic polls—including to India’s richest municipal body, Mumbai’s Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation—not too far. The original notes of dissent to Hindi had come from academicians and civil society groups. But it was the spectre of a Thackeray reunion that spooked the…

1932: Founded as Tata Airlines by J.R.D. Tata, nationalised in 1953 2007: Indian Airlines merged into Air India to create a single state-owned carrier 2014: Tatas re-enter aviation through a joint venture with Malaysia’s AirAsia Berhad 2015: Vistara, the joint venture between Tatas and Singapore Airlines, starts operations 2021-22: The Tata Group buys Air India, along with low-cost Air India Express 2022: The Tatas take full control of AirAsia India, rename it AIX Connect, ahead of merger with Air India Express in October 2024 2024: Vistara merges with Air India in November. Tatas own 74.9 per cent in the merged entity, Singapore Airlines holds the rest…

Eight-thirty am on July 6 should have been a drowsy Sunday morning, the hour when rural Bihar typically stirs to the hum of kettles and the rustle of early chores. Yet, at Baldeva High School in Danapur, nestled in rural Patna district, the atmosphere inside the large conference room was brisk, animated and alert. Some 50 voters, and an equal number waiting outside, overwhelmingly women from modest rural backgrounds, stood in line clutching their Aadhaar cards and, in many cases, their husbands’ voter IDs, their expressions a mix of confusion and cautious hope. Seated at a round table, five Booth Level Officers (BLOs), each flanked by at least one assistant, methodically pored over forms, scanning documents and crossverifying entries against the electoral rolls. Two supervisors hovered nearby, observing the quiet…

THERE WAS A TIME WHEN MUSLIM LEADERS in Uttar Pradesh were not just bystanders in its political theatre. They were an important part of the discourse, shaping coalitions, influencing agendas, and giving voice to nearly a fifth of the state’s population. No longer so. The spotlight has shifted, the applause has faded. And what remains is a ringing silence. Muslim political representation in UP has entered its most diminished phase in decades. In a state where the community makes up more than 19 per cent of the population, its representation in the current assembly is just 31 seats, or 7.7 per cent of the 403-member House (see Nowhere to Go). This is a far cry from 2012, when 69 Muslim candidates were elected, marking the highest-ever representation since Independence. The…

In the past couple of years, IBTI-DA–Ek Mehfil, founded by Tanvi Singh Bhatia and Anubhav Bhatia, has become synonymous with baithaks featuring renowned artists from across India delving into art, poetry and music. Now, they are unveiling their first-ever experimental electronic baithak, titled SURRENDER/Atmasamarpan, in Mumbai. This bold confluence of Hindustani classical music and contemporary Indian electronica features the acclaimed duo Tech Panda and Kenzani. Known for creating a genre that spans diverse sounds and decades, the duo will shine a spotlight on the traditions of the Delhi gharana for the performance. The Delhi-based producers, who have numerous recordbusting hits like ‘Dilbar’, ‘Khoyo’ and ‘Indian Monsoon’ to their name, are looking forward to the show. “Our performance at the Royal Opera House can be described as one where futuristic vibes…