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As the year 2025 comes to an end, we look into who dominated India’s art and design ecosystem. In the fashion scene, we cover craft-focused pieces that lean into native design and sustainability. We speak to experts from different fields to find out what habits to let go off in 2025 and what to adopt in 2026. On the food space, we ask chefs about the best meals that they had. We look into the cafe culture, auto trends, home interiors and real estate. We ask influential figures what books they read this year. We also look into books that…

Bangladesh has delivered a decisive electoral verdict. The two-thirds majority secured by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is not merely a change of government; it is a structural moment in the country’s post-Hasina transition. In effect, this election has operated less as a routine parliamentary exercise and more as a national referendum on instability, radical drift and governance uncertainty.After months of turbulence following Sheikh Hasina’s removal from power, the electorate has opted for consolidation over fragmentation. That choice matters. It restores a degree of political coherence at a time when Bangladesh risked sliding into prolonged flux.STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADOne…

West Indies’ players and team staff during a practice session on the eve of the team’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 match against Italy, at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: ANI West Indies versus Italy is this T20 World Cup’s late-winter daydream. Somewhere between fantasy and a still-sinking reality, the fixture will be played out on a sunny Thursday morning at the iconic Eden Gardens. The ground, which has hosted triumphs, collapses, and cricket that bent the spine of logic, now makes room for curiosity. A side rich with past meets a side rich with…

Visakhapatnam’s cultural and social calendar has long been shaped by speed. Quick meals, activity-overloaded weekends, fitness regimes built on burn and exhaustion and travel defined by checklists have been familiar patterns. Over the past year, however, a quieter shift has begun to register across the city. Increasingly, people are choosing experiences that ask for time, attention and presence. The appeal lies not in spectacle, but in participation. From intimate supper tables and unhurried walks in Nature to strength routines that privilege awareness over intensity, slow living is finding an attentive audience.This turn is not framed as resistance to modern life,…

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has won the elections in Bangladesh, but the real winners are the Islamists of Bangladesh.Even as Tarique Rahman, the leader of the BNP, steps up to become prime minister, he will know that unquestionably this is Jamaat-e-Islami’s moment, as the Islamists, long a fringe and street power in the riverine state, are now the most powerful opposition force, with more political and deep structural support than ever before.STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADThe Jamaat, who opposed Bangladesh’s independence movement in 1971 and committed serious war crimes to prevent the country from breaking away from Pakistan, has…

Positive vibes: Smaran has credited the dressing-room atmosphere for the team’s good run. | Photo Credit: R.V. MOORTHY R. Smaran has played for the Karnataka senior side for just over 16 months. But the highs he has accumulated in this short span belies the inexperience.In Karnataka’s victorious 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign, he scored 433 runs and came up with a match-winning century in the final against Vidarbha. In the ongoing Ranji Trophy, he has totalled 823 runs, highest for his State and third-best overall.“I am very happy with the achievement,” Smaran said on Tuesday, after scoring his fifth First…

Kayaking through the placid backwaters of Kochi, flanked on either side by mangroves, is  meditative. Jumping off a cliff at about 30 feet, makes one let go of fear. And few things would compare with the thrill of navigating through foamy rapids in an inflatable raft. Kerala has developed an appetite for water adventure activities, and it definitely saw an uptick in 2025. One can try anything from stand-up paddling to surfing, rafting, kayaking, sailing, rowing, scuba diving and skimboarding in Kerala, which has a geographical advantage with its abundant lakes, rivers and long coastline. Recreational water sports has caught up as…

Rumours have been circulating that Delhi and Beijing would like to settle their Line of Actual Control (LAC); it is easier said than done. First, there exist several ‘agreements’ between India and China mentioning the LAC without ever defining it or showing it on a map; what will happen to these agreements is an issue which will need to be decided upon.To settle the LAC also means to iron out different perceptions (on a map or on the ground) and see how to reconcile the differences.STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADFor example, in Ladakh, it is said that there are twelve…

Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan celebrates his century during the T20 World Cup cricket match between Namibia and Pakistan in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. | Photo Credit: AP Pakistan rode on Sahibzada Farhan’s scintillating, maiden hundred and their spinners’ excellent display to beat Namibia by a handsome margin of 102 runs and enter the Super Eights of the T20 World Cup Wednesday (February 18, 2026).Batting first, Pakistan posted a formidable 199 for three in their must-win game.Farhan, who needed just 20 deliveries to move from 50 to 100, ended on 100 not out off 58 balls, becoming only the…

The three-hour-long drive to Liwa from Abu Dhabi airport feels unhurried. As the skyline slips away, the road opens into long stretches of sand. The second edition of Liwa Festival, the annual festival that blends motorsports, heritage and entertainment in a desert setting, is about to kick off.. Here are five highlights of Liwa where the annual festival will be in full flow till January 3.Festive fervourLaunched on December 12, 2025, the festival organised by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, unfolds as a winter fixture shaped by movement, sound and shared attention. Set against the golden…