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Analysis

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G Venu: Notating 1,300 classical dance gestures, one mudra, one rasa at a time

Analysis

Updated on Jan 14, 2025 01:35 PM IST

Here’s why Sakuntalam, Venu’s Kutiyattam piece, is as central to contemporary India as it is to classical dance

ByDhamini Ratnam

Grand Strategy | India’s Afghan policy must avoid extremes

There is no shame in engaging the Taliban, however reprehensible the Taliban may be and however immoral that might look to some people.

Foreign secretary Vikram Misri meets Afghanistan acting foreign minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai on Wednesday. (Randhir Jaiswal - X/ANI)(HT_PRINT)

Analysis

Updated on Jan 13, 2025 08:25 PM IST

ByHappymon Jacob

Lohri: A mother and son ballad beyond machismo and peasant rebellion

Lohri is celebrated in Sindh, Rajasthan, Punjab-Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Delhi and has now spread to other areas as well.

Patna: Students and teachers dance as they celebrate Lohri and Makar Sankranti, at J.D. Women's College, in Patna, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (PTI Photo)(PTI01_13_2025_000252B)(PTI)

Analysis

Updated on Jan 13, 2025 04:48 PM IST

ByValay Singh

The year of the ‘sakhi’

Three films by Indian writer-directors travelled far and wide in 2024. They share one standout quality: Camaraderie among women as acts of resistance

Preeti Panigrahi and Kani Kusruti in a still from Girls Will Be Girls.

Analysis

Updated on Jan 01, 2025 08:56 PM IST

BySanjukta Sharma

Bobby Beauty Parlour: The finishing line of childhood

Two friends working in a claustrophobic beauty parlour on the hottest day of the year face a life-changing arrival, a departure, freedom, and fear

Analysis

Published on Jan 01, 2025 06:08 PM IST

BySanjukta Sharma

Geopolitical pressures trump Delhi’s minority concerns in the neighbourhood

India's neighbourhood policy has undergone a seismic shift, prioritising strategic alliances over the well-being of minorities linked to it.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake meet at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Monday. (Narendra Modi - X)

Analysis

Published on Dec 30, 2024 07:21 PM IST

ByHappymon Jacob

Interview: Sridhar Rajagopalan on fixing India’s education landscape

Sridhar Rajagopalan, Chief Learning Officer at Educational Initiatives and a veteran in India’s education sector reflects on the rise and fall of Byju’s

Analysis

Updated on Dec 30, 2024 03:26 PM IST

ByAnjuli Bhargava

Mahakumbh: Tracing the legacy of India’s grandest religious gathering

Mahakumbh stands not just as a celebration of faith but as a testament to the evolving traditions that define the Indian ethos.

Mahakumbh is scheduled to begin on January 13, 2025 (HT File)(HT_PRINT)

Analysis

Updated on Jan 13, 2025 08:18 AM IST

ByValay Singh

Ursula von der Leyen has a new doctrine for handling the hard right

The boss of the European Commission embarks on a second term

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, is pictured during a press conference after a board meeting of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Feb. 19, 2024. Ursula von der Leyen announced her intention to run for a second term as EU commission president. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)(AP)

Analysis

Published on Dec 14, 2024 08:00 AM IST

The Economist

What is screen time doing to children?

Demands grow to restrict young people’s access to phones and social media

Smartphones and social media have become a big part of childhood. (Pixabay)

Analysis

Published on Dec 13, 2024 08:00 AM IST

The Economist

Dreams of asteroid mining, orbital manufacturing and much more

Ideas for making money in orbit that seemed mad in the 1960s now look sane

(FILES) (FILES) This handout picture obtained by the Italian Space Agency�s LICIACube shows NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission just before its closest approach to the Dimorphos asteroid, on September 26, 2022.. (Photo by Handout / ASI/NASA / AFP) /(AFP)

Analysis

Published on Dec 09, 2024 08:00 AM IST

The Economist

Terms of Trade: 3 key takeaways from poll results in Maharashtra and Jharkhand

Welfare, freebies, doles, whatever one may choose to call it, is becoming an indispensable part of electoral strategy in most parts of India

Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde with deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar at an election rally. (Devendra Fadnavis-X/ File Photo)

India News

Updated on Nov 23, 2024 08:21 PM IST

ByRoshan Kishore

Why the Maharashtra election is not just about electing a new state government

In the Lok Sabha election, MVA won 30 seats while Mahayuti could win only 17. One went to a Congress rebel who won as an independent and later joined the MVA.

Solapur: Mahavikas Aghadi supporters during a public meeting ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections, in Solapur, Maharashtra, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (PTI Photo) (PTI11_18_2024_000155B)(PTI)

Analysis

Published on Nov 18, 2024 07:44 PM IST

ByShailesh Gaikwad

As tourist preferences change, Goa sees a boom in small hotels, homestays, villa

Changing traveller preferences with a clear trend towards independent, experiential holidays has forced Goa’s hotel industry to adapt

Calangute (Goa): Tourists at a sea beach during 'tourism season', in north Goa's Calangute, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (PTI Photo)(PTI)

Analysis

Published on Nov 17, 2024 08:15 AM IST

ByGerard de Souza

Assam by-polls outcome a test for three political bigwigs

In the 2021 assembly polls, the Dholai and Behali seats were won by the BJP while AGP and UPPL won the Bongaigaon and Sidli seats. Samaguri was won by Congress.

Nagaon, Nov 13 (ANI): Voters stand in queue to cast their vote for the Assam by-elections, at Samaguri polling station in Nagaon on Wednesday. (ANI Photo)
(Pitamber Newar )

Analysis

Published on Nov 16, 2024 08:00 AM IST

ByUtpal Parashar

HistoriCity | Jharkhand: A hinterland full of rich history

Jharkhand, India’s mineral heartland, holds another less visible wealth: its deep-rooted tribal history.

Ranchi, Nov 12 (ANI): A tribal woman performs the 'Puja' of security personnel as he departs for election duty on the eve of the first phase of the Jharkhand Assembly elections, in Ranchi on Tuesday. (ANI Photo)
(Somnath Sen)

Analysis

Published on Nov 13, 2024 08:00 AM IST

ByValay Singh

What a second Trump term means for America and the Himalayas

Trump’s election victory makes Nepalis wary given their experience of his presidential term

President elect Donald Trump gestures during a campaign event at Dorton Arena, in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S. November 4, 2024. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake/File Photo(REUTERS)

Analysis

Published on Nov 10, 2024 07:00 AM IST

ByAkhilesh Upadhyay

Internally displaced persons express homesickness amid violence in Manipur

Eighteen months after violence erupted in Manipur, many internally displaced persons continue to struggle with psychological and economic toll of displacement

Internally displaced persons (IDPs), who are living in relief camps, react during a protest rally demanding their resettlement in their native places, in Imphal, Manipur, India, August 1, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer(REUTERS)

Analysis

Published on Nov 07, 2024 08:00 AM IST

ByThomas Ngangom

Mysterious deaths of elephants in a forest reserve need a thorough probe

Poisoning is not a common way of killing elephants in India. Since 2019-2020 and until 2023-34, only 13 elephants have died due to poisoning.

The death of 10 elephants in Madhya Pradesh’s Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) because of high consumption of toxins from a local millet crop has raised two major concerns about wildlife conservationists, if the investigation so far, can be believed. (Representational image)

Analysis

Published on Nov 06, 2024 08:00 AM IST

ByChetan Chauhan

Deaths in Kandhamal due to mango kernel bring back focus on tribal deprivation

BJD was bruised by similar charges in 2001 when 24 tribals in Rayagada district died after eating a gruel of mango kernel and a curry of wild mushroom

The mango kernel has again come under focus in Odisha after two women in the backward Kandhamal district died in a span of 12 hours last week while six others are in hospital after their meal of mango kernel gruel and fermented rice turned out to be poisonous. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

Analysis

Published on Nov 05, 2024 05:01 PM IST

ByDebabrata Mohanty

How Gujarat villages take the dangerous flight of illegal migration

Some villagers HT spoke to shared that those taking the illegal route are often unskilled, with limited education and financial resources.

Dingucha village is divided into two parts: the old settlement, where the families who haven’t left live, and the newer section, largely home to relatives of those who have emigrated—many through perilous, unauthorised routes.(Maulik Pathak)

Analysis

Published on Nov 05, 2024 08:00 AM IST

ByMaulik Pathak

King who defied the British: Uncovering the tale of Pazhassi raja’s rebellion

Leading one of the bloodiest battles against the British, he mobilised a local rebellion, using guerilla warfare and ambushes to push back Company forces

Pazhassi Raja (named after his birthplace- the village of Pazhassi) is barely remembered outside Wayanad, where a museum and his burial site remain the only reminders of the epic Kattayathu wars.(Wikimedia Commons)

Analysis

Published on Nov 05, 2024 08:00 AM IST

ByValay Singh

Eye on 2026 polls, TMC, BJP set out to recover lost ground in festive season

The Trinamool Congress bagged 29 Lok Sabha seats this year while the BJP lost substantial ground, sliding from its record score of 18 in 2019 to only 12.

Kolkata: People shop for Diwali, in Kolkata, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra)(PTI10_29_2024_000183A)(PTI)

Analysis

Published on Nov 03, 2024 12:16 PM IST

ByTanmay Chatterjee

Multiple threats to several protected forests in Assam; cases pending in NGT

As development projects grow around Assam’s wildlife reserves, threats to habitats for species like hoolock gibbons and one-horned rhinos are on the rise

A female Hoolock Gibbon. (Pragyan Sharma/WCS India)

Analysis

Published on Oct 27, 2024 08:00 AM IST

ByUtpal Parashar

Terms of Trade | We need a new development economics

Development economics needs to find ways to align the politically and economically prudent rather than divorcing with economic questions or trivialising them.

FILE PHOTO: An employee prepares to move a heavy bar of steel inside the ArcVac ForgeCast factory, in Hooghly district, in the eastern state of West Bengal, India, April 26, 2024. REUTERS/Sahiba Chawdhary/File Photo (REUTERS)

Analysis

Published on Oct 25, 2024 04:56 PM IST

ByRoshan Kishore

US elections: Predictions and politics

On a visit to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, we uncover an ancient item of divination that was used to predict the future of powerful rulers

A quirky tourist attraction in D.C — the Barbie Pond — predicts a clean sweep for Harris.(Courtesy: Barbie Pond on Avenue Q )

Analysis

Published on Oct 24, 2024 08:00 AM IST

ByKiran Mehta

India-Canada ties will remain frozen for the remainder of PM Trudeau’s term

Canada, in recent times, has consumed as much, if not more, bandwidth in India than Pakistan, and the situation is far from showing any improvement

India and Canada are unlikely to have high commissioners appointed for however long the embattled Trudeau government remains in power. (AP)(HT_PRINT)

Analysis

Published on Oct 22, 2024 08:00 AM IST

ByAnirudh Bhattacharyya

Ecostani | Indian monsoon getting longer, hotter and less predictable

The IPCC has warned of intensification of rainfall by more than 20% and exponential surges in heat waves and cyclone events in the Indian sub-continent.

Two men who were riding a two-wheeler take shelter outside a closed shop during a heavy rain in Kochi, southern Kerala state, India. (AP Photo/ R S Iyer)

Analysis

Published on Oct 21, 2024 07:55 PM IST

ByChetan Chauhan

In UP’s Bahraich, Ghazi Miyan and Suhel Deo duel over narratives

Hindus too seek boons and blessings at Ghazi Miyan’s grave in Bahraich, apparently unbothered by the myth

The present shrine of Ghazi Miyan is built over the grave that was dug at the same spot where he died from an arrow wound. (Faranjuned/Wikimedia Commons)

Analysis

Published on Oct 17, 2024 07:12 PM IST

ByValay Singh

New finance goal should be $1 trillion annually, says top climate expert

The economic losses from extreme weather events in India are staggering, with a significant portion of these losses being uninsured.

The spike in extreme weather events this year can be attributed to a combination of global climate dynamics and localised factors. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)(AP)

Analysis

Published on Oct 16, 2024 07:40 PM IST

ByJayashree Nandi

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News / Analysis

Analysis

Here’s why Sakuntalam, Venu’s Kutiyattam piece, is as central to contemporary India as it is to classical dance

There is no shame in engaging the Taliban, however reprehensible the Taliban may be and however immoral that might look to some people.

Lohri is celebrated in Sindh, Rajasthan, Punjab-Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Delhi and has now spread to other areas as well.

Three films by Indian writer-directors travelled far and wide in 2024. They share one standout quality: Camaraderie among women as acts of resistance

Two friends working in a claustrophobic beauty parlour on the hottest day of the year face a life-changing arrival, a departure, freedom, and fear

India's neighbourhood policy has undergone a seismic shift, prioritising strategic alliances over the well-being of minorities linked to it.

Sridhar Rajagopalan, Chief Learning Officer at Educational Initiatives and a veteran in India’s education sector reflects on the rise and fall of Byju’s

Mahakumbh stands not just as a celebration of faith but as a testament to the evolving traditions that define the Indian ethos.

The boss of the European Commission embarks on a second term

Demands grow to restrict young people’s access to phones and social media

Ideas for making money in orbit that seemed mad in the 1960s now look sane

Welfare, freebies, doles, whatever one may choose to call it, is becoming an indispensable part of electoral strategy in most parts of India

In the Lok Sabha election, MVA won 30 seats while Mahayuti could win only 17. One went to a Congress rebel who won as an independent and later joined the MVA.

Changing traveller preferences with a clear trend towards independent, experiential holidays has forced Goa’s hotel industry to adapt

In the 2021 assembly polls, the Dholai and Behali seats were won by the BJP while AGP and UPPL won the Bongaigaon and Sidli seats. Samaguri was won by Congress.

Jharkhand, India’s mineral heartland, holds another less visible wealth: its deep-rooted tribal history.

Trump’s election victory makes Nepalis wary given their experience of his presidential term

Eighteen months after violence erupted in Manipur, many internally displaced persons continue to struggle with psychological and economic toll of displacement

Poisoning is not a common way of killing elephants in India. Since 2019-2020 and until 2023-34, only 13 elephants have died due to poisoning.

BJD was bruised by similar charges in 2001 when 24 tribals in Rayagada district died after eating a gruel of mango kernel and a curry of wild mushroom

Some villagers HT spoke to shared that those taking the illegal route are often unskilled, with limited education and financial resources.

Leading one of the bloodiest battles against the British, he mobilised a local rebellion, using guerilla warfare and ambushes to push back Company forces

The Trinamool Congress bagged 29 Lok Sabha seats this year while the BJP lost substantial ground, sliding from its record score of 18 in 2019 to only 12.

As development projects grow around Assam’s wildlife reserves, threats to habitats for species like hoolock gibbons and one-horned rhinos are on the rise

Development economics needs to find ways to align the politically and economically prudent rather than divorcing with economic questions or trivialising them.

On a visit to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, we uncover an ancient item of divination that was used to predict the future of powerful rulers

Canada, in recent times, has consumed as much, if not more, bandwidth in India than Pakistan, and the situation is far from showing any improvement

The IPCC has warned of intensification of rainfall by more than 20% and exponential surges in heat waves and cyclone events in the Indian sub-continent.

Hindus too seek boons and blessings at Ghazi Miyan’s grave in Bahraich, apparently unbothered by the myth

The economic losses from extreme weather events in India are staggering, with a significant portion of these losses being uninsured.

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