Innholdsfortegnelse for 18 August 2025 i India Today

When the Indian cricket squad for England was announced in late May, expectations were low. Earlier that month, cricketing greats Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had hung up their boots within five days of each other. The selectors felt it was a good time to experiment. It would be a new-look team, an untested combination under debutant skipper Shubman Gill. Tall and willowy, he was already an icon of swashbuckling strokeplay. Now, at age 25, he was being tested as captain in a prestigious away series. It was baptism by fire for both him and the New Gen XI he was leading. In the batting line-up around him, K.L. Rahul had class and copybook poise, young Yashasvi Jaiswal was a model of southpaw elegance, and vice-captain Rishabh Pant could stir…

Nobel laureates and physicists Duncan Haldane and David Gross have just pointed out a huge mismatch: India has the talent, but is not benefitting because there’s not enough funds for scientific research. Speaking at the Quantum India Summit in Bengaluru on July 31, Gross, who chairs an advisory board at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences here, says India ’s lack of investment in R&D doesn’t bode well. India’s GDP is up, but its contribution to ‘investments to the future’, which will drive new technologies and industries, is low. In 2009, India’s R&D spend was 0.84 per cent of GDP; it fell to 0.64 per cent by 2021 and is estimated to be 0.7 per cent in 2025. This is much less than what the US (3.5 per cent) and…

LOVE JIHAD AND ‘rice bag’ conversions are an odd pair of slogans. The Church was party to coining the first charge against Muslims, but continues to find itself stalked by the second, as the recent arrest of two nuns in Chhattisgarh showed. The two sources of incrimination now get fused all over again as BJP-ruled Maharashtra and Goa—the latter one-quarter Christian—prepare to bring in anti-conversion laws. Their objective: to prevent change of faith induced via ‘fraudulent’ means. Given the general run of things, minority groups say they have reason to fear the law may be misused to vilify and target them, and warn against the ongoing ‘Hindutva creep’ into the realm of sanctified law. RISING TENSION It’s not come out of the blue. BJP leaders in Maharashtra—fisheries and ports minister…

In Uttar Pradesh, the smallest players always punch above their weight—and often land the meatier cuts. It’s a function of the high-value political real estate market they operate in. So why are the tiny NDA allies who make up the BJP’s retinue suddenly acting up? Well, panchayat elections are due next year and the crucial assembly polls follow in 2027. So, they can smell good meat, and piqued appetites have got them all restless. The Apna Dal(S) has begun airing its grievances in public. The Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD) party is threatening to walk out if its demand for SC status for fisherfolk is not met. The Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), which has made fickleness its calling card, has turned up the volume on increasing the…

What the world saw as a young, inexperienced side was deemed by coach Gautam Gambhir as a “gun team”. And in that squad, only Shubman Gill could have taken on the role of the tank gunner. Inhisfirst stint as captain and No.4 bat, Gill scored a century and followed it up with two stellar knocks of 269 and 161 in Edgbaston, setting India up for a comprehensive win. When he faltered at Lord’s, so did India. But it was the series-saving century in Old Trafford that demonstrated he could handle pressure and step up when it mattered most. With each passing match, Gill settled in, showing his ease at taking on dual responsibilities. “I have more clarity on the areas that we need to work on as a team and…

Ravindra Jadeja has long defied easy definition. Once caricatured for his flamboyance and nicknamed ‘Sir Jadeja’, he has transformed into one of Indian cricket’s most valuable assets. At 36, he has completed perhaps his most defining series as a batting all-rounder—compiling 516 runs at an average of 86.00—the highest among all batsmen. Batting mostly at No.6 or lower, he scored either a half-century or century in four matches. His unbeaten 107 in Manchester was a masterclass—with India staring down the barrel, Jadeja’s composure and craft salvaged a draw. Innings after innings, he shepherded the tail, absorbed pressure, offered lower-order muscle. With the ball, he claimed 7 wickets—modest returns by his standards—but his ability to hold up one end allowed India’s pace attack to operate in shorter, more incisive bursts. In…

“The most entertaining artist-iconoclast of contemporary Indian art.” Read any article or write-up on Pushpamala N. and chances are that you will come across this line to describe the photo and video performance artist, sculptor, writer and curator. In fact, her own website uses the line in her biography. Ask the artist about its origins and she says she doesn’t recall who said it first, but agrees with it enough to use it in her bio. “I use a lot of humour in my work and I want to be entertaining. My work is iconoclastic because I’m trying to deconstruct icons and critique the mainstream,” she says. Her exhibition Dressing Up: Push pamala N is currently on display at CHANEL Nexus Hall in Tokyo, marking her first major solo exhibition in…

Rich with information, perspective and detail, Uprooted is an intimate opus focusing on the Van Gujars: semi-nomadic Muslim buffalo herders of Uttarakhand’s forested foothills. It is narrated through their voices, and evokes their struggle for land and forest rights. The artist touches all aspects of the issue: its colonial background, the nature of the forest department, the law on forest rights, the marginalisation of pastoral communities, the gender perspective, the ecological context…. Noorjahan builds her home with dried leaves, dead branches and earth; it has spaces for small birds to nest. A girl lops branches atop a tree, explaining, “We leave each tree for two years… so it grows back fully.” An activist bemoans the planting of harmful invasive tree species by the forest department. Meanwhile, ‘junglaat’ (the forest department)…

Q. Where were you when you got news of the National Award? I was in a narration with Tahira Kashyap Khurrana and, initially, I couldn’t believe it. It took a long time for it to sink in that Kathal won Best Hindi Feature. It’s a huge honour. Very often, it feels like that in our fast-paced world, there is no space for storytelling that takes its time to unfold. Kathal is all about thehraav [pause]. Q. What do you remember about Yashowardhan Mishra pitching this film to you? I love the way Yas-howardhan works. Kathal wasn’t written in an airconditioned home in Mumbai—and it shows. He belongs to a village in Chhattisgarh and spent months doing research on the ground. When he narrated it to me, it was almost like…

THE HILLS HAVE AGAIN ERUPTED IN FURY. On August 5, torrential rain over the high-altitude Uttarkashi district in Uttarakhand triggered landslides and flash floods, swelling the Kheer Ganga, which then hurtled down its course, freighted with a mass of debris made of boulders, vegetation and mud loosened from surrounding mountains. This cascading, frothing wall of sludge slammed into Dharali village around 1.50 pm, engulfing houses, hotels and vehicles, smothering many souls. Further downstream, Harsil, then Sukki, stood in its destructive path. Over 100 people were missing at last count, including 10 Indian army soldiers from their camp in Harsil. However, scores were saved by rescue operations mounted by personnel of the army, the state disaster response force, the administration and the police. Still, urgently required relief work is impeded by…

STABILITY FOR THE GOV-ERNMENT may be a foregone conclusion in Madhya Pradesh, where the ruling BJP holds 164 out of 230 seats in the assembly, but the same cannot be said about stability of bureaucratic tenures. Even in the chief minister’s secretariat, where the occupants are usually handpicked by the CM himself. A total of 19 IAS officers have been shifted in and out of the CM secretariat in as many months of the Mohan Yadav regime, both at the top and middle levels of the organisation. That unprecedented tenurial instability in an all-powerful department prompts the question: is the CM unable to find a team he trusts? Or does he defer to other people’s decisions? It’s a fast-paced chronology that may still leave you clueless after a close perusal.…

Yashasvi Jaiswal plays cricket with fearless exuberance. A prodigy forged on the unforgiving maidans of Mumbai, in England, he faced his first true test against quality seam bowling with the Dukes ball—and emerged with distinction. He amassed 411 runs at an average of 41.10, with two centuries and two half-centuries. His 101 at Leeds came after weathering a hostile opening burst. His second, a measured, second innings 118 at The Oval during the series decider, showcased his growing maturity. It was a spring-loaded innings of grit. Occasionally undone by early swing, he never retreated into a shell. The touch of rawness in his technique is counter-balanced by natural timing and an electric sense of purpose. A luminous career awaits him.…

Kananur Lokesh Rahul embodies the understated grace of India’s batting tradition. His supple wrists and acute judgement outside off stump allow him to adapt across formats and batting positions. In the fierce cauldron of the Test series against England, Rahul reaffirmed his class with 532 runs at an average of 53.20—including two masterful centuries and two crucial half-centuries. He was India’s batting metronome—measured in defence, precise in strokeplay. Moreover, it was the manner in which he absorbed pressure and built partnerships that defined his contribution. Rahul’s ability to read conditions and guide younger players is a hallmark of his maturity. Also, compared to his modest career average of 35.41, Rahul is clearly in a higher orbit now, vis-a-vis consistency and impact. He was one of only two players in…

THE FRONTRUNNERS Dharmendra Pradhan, 56 Union Minister of Education His ABVP background, ability to push BJP’s OBC outreach and rapport with Sarkaryavah Dattatreya Hosabale make him the most ideologically aligned and politically agile candidate Bhupender Yadav, 56 Union Minister of Environment Organisation man, lawyer by training who rose through the ranks of the Sangh’s Adhivakta Parishad. Played a crucial role in both the Rajasthan and Maharashtra assembly elections. Was a contender in 2019 too Manohar Lal Khattar, 71 Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs A lifelong pracharak, the former chief minister of Haryana ticks many an ideological box. He is close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Sangh pracharaks like Arun Kumar Khanna. Age, though, may not be on his side THE DARK HORSES Shivraj Singh Chouhan,…

To mark the centenary of Ram Kumar—one of India’s most celebrated modernists—the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP), Bengaluru, is presenting Shape of a Thought: Letters from Ram Kumar, on view till October 26, 2025. This exhibition pairs Kumar’s contemplative abstract canvases with personal letters, inviting visitors to pause, reflect and experience his work beyond traditional interpretation. Curated by Arnika Ahldag, director, curation & exhibition, and Priya Chauhan, associate curator, the exhibition explores Kumar’s identity as painter and writer. Rather than treating abstraction as a problem to solve, the exhibition encourages viewers to dwell in the space between image and text—where feelings, ideas, and memories intersect. “Ram Kumar was not only a painter but also a deeply expressive writer. He stayed in close touch with friends through letters: vivid, introspective pieces…

In Benyamin’s novel The Second Book of Prophets (a re-imagining of the lives of Jesus Christ and his followers), there’s a scene where Jesus is struggling to overcome a moment of self-doubt. The Jews think of him as a saviour foretold. But Jesus himself doesn’t believe that true freedom (religious or political) can be achieved without a transformation of society, in a way that protects the poor masses. There is a sense that Benyamin is focusing on the parts of Christ’s journey that are applicable to modern socio-political contexts “For a man burdened with agony and suffering, there’s no liberation,” he thinks. The scene signals the central conceit of the book—writing the character of Jesus Christ as a young, angst-fuelled revolutionary who wants social reform not as a means to power…

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THE BIJU JANATA DAL (BJD), which lorded over Odisha for over two decades, finds itself in a bind. Looming in front of it are two near-existential choices: whether to support or move a no-confidence motion against the BJP-led state government, and which side to back in the upcoming vice-presidential election. Both decisions could inflect the BJD’s political destiny. Its old stance of equidistance from both the Congress and the BJP had value and strategic sense in the past. Would it be wise to tread the same line now? Or would it be the deepest folly, exposing it to allegations of opportunism or, worse, irrelevance? The immediate pressure comes from the Congress, led by new state president Bhakta Charan Das, who has aggressively taken on both the BJD and the BJP…

The destiny’s child of the India-England Test series, Siraj was the protagonist of some of its key moments—the brazen brush against Ben Duckett after dismissing him at Lord’s; his crestfallen state after the ball rolled back to dislodge the bails on day five of the same game, giving England a 2-1 lead; the botched catch of Harry Brook on the boundary on day four of the fifth Test that nearly handed England the match. It seemed fate was playing a cruel game with the 31-year-old Hyderabadi. But ‘BELIEVE’ is not just a screenshot on his phone, it’s part of his DNA. Siraj never stopped believing in himself. With Bumrah sitting out two Tests, Siraj had to lead India’s pace attack. He stepped up—1,122 balls to be precise—and has 23 wickets…

Be it pioneering a scientific break-through, winning an Olympic gold, running a government or transforming a business idea into a successful venture, there is no limit to what women can accomplish. To celebrate this ‘she power’, the India Today Woman Summit 2025, held recently in Delhi, brought together some outstanding women from diverse fields. Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta set the tone early in her session, ‘She’s the Boss: Governing the Capital of the World’s Largest Democracy’, putting across the message that ‘courage and decision-making have no gender’. Legal luminary Pallavi S. Shroff made a powerful case for equity, saying that it isn’t about being pampered but about being trusted with tough decisions. Senior IAS officers Mugdha Sinha and Anju Sharma spoke of the hidden tax on women in bureaucracy and…