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The last time the mountain ranges encircling Kashmir were meticulously mapped on foot was between 1822-23 by William Moorcroft, a British veterinarian working for the East India Company. Cut to 2025, Mahmood A Shah, a passionate trekker in his early fifties, has become the first local to measure the Great Himalayas and Lesser Himalayas by circumambulating the ranges on foot. His coffee table book, Valleys of Jammu & Kashmir, released in July this year is a peak-by-peak, pass-by-pass, meadow-by-meadow and lake-by-lake account of what is hidden up in the mysterious and imposing mountain ranges of Kashmir.“When I was a school-going…

India has had civilisational and commercial linkages with the League of Arab States (LAS) for centuries, and the region has been dubbed as India’s ‘extended neighbourhood’ in view of the convergence of interests on a wide range of issues and perspectives. In this context, India’s holding the second edition of the India-Arab Foreign Ministers meeting in Delhi on January 31, 2026, bears special significance.With just seven countries in the Arab League from its inception in 1945, LAS has grown to a group of 22 nations arising out of countries in the Gulf, West Asia, and North Africa and also undertaking…

Batteries have become deeply embedded in modern life. From laptops, mobile phones, wearable devices such as smartwatches and wireless earphones, to power tools, electric vehicles (EVs), and large-scale battery energy storage systems, batteries now underpin both personal convenience and critical infrastructure. A newer trend is also emerging, with batteries being integrated directly into household appliances, ranging from induction cooktops to refrigerators, alongside the rise of energy storage systems. These developments collectively point to a future saturated with batteries, making energy storage a foundational pillar of economic growth, energy security, and the clean energy transition.Dominant, not a perfect solutionAmong the various…

Shiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut said the “insult” of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee is not good for democracy. File | Photo Credit: PTI Shiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut on July 28 said the “insult” of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the NITI Aayog meeting held in New Delhi a day earlier was not good for democracy.“States have several issues, which need to be addressed and muting the microphone of a Chief Minister doesn’t suit democratic norms”, Mr. Raut said.Mamata Banerjee on July 27 walked out of a NITI Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra…

A close up picture of letters FDI . Foreign direct investment will boost up the economy. | Photo Credit: Chinmayi Shroff Net foreign direct investment remained negative for the fourth consecutive month in December 2025, coming in at -$1.6 billion, due to repatriation by foreign companies in India and outward investments by Indian companies exceeding the amount of direct investment entering the country, an analysis of the latest data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) shows.According to the RBI data, gross inflows of direct investment stood at a five-month high of $8.6 billion in December 2025, which was also…

India’s Abhishek Sharma during a practice session before an ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 cricket match between India and South Africa, at the Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad, on February 20, 2026. | Photo Credit: PTI India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel stressed that there had been no discussion about Abhishek Sharma’s wretched run in the T20 World Cup so far.Abhishek is yet to open his account in the tournament, and during Friday’s (February 20, 2026) training, the opener was seen spending considerable time with head coach Gautam Gambhir. The southpaw, who has been dismissed for a duck thrice, could…

World on wheels @ EmbarqSujal Patwardhan and Medha Joseph went on a self-drive expedition from India to Morocco a decade ago. The duo covered 23,000 kilometres across 15 countries in 57 days. They returned and started Embarq to organise similar road trips. Travellers on a trip by Embarq in Peru | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement “We were smitten by self-drive travel… the sheer pleasure of experiencing a place while driving through a country, the local culture that one encounters, the various things one experiences and how you discover yourself during this journey,” says Sujal, a former investment banking professional.Medha, a…

The new US Ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, a close confidant of President Donald Trump, arrived in Delhi this month, pledging to arrest and reverse the downslide in bilateral relations. On January 12, he said, “No country is as essential to the US as India.” Similarly, ahead of his expected trip to the US next week for critical minerals conference, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with Gor on Thursday, underscoring India’s continued engagement with the new envoy and signalling the importance New Delhi places on revitalising bilateral relations.STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADEarlier, on January 20, Gor said he would…

In settings where rapid, affordable diagnostics are unavailable, antibiotics often substitute for testing instead of complementing it. | Photo Credit: Volodymyr Hryshchenko/Unsplash Charles Darwin’s central insight wasn’t just that species evolve but that they can’t but adapt in the presence of selection pressures. In practical terms, organisms don’t choose to change: they respond to the environments in which they’re trying to live. This insight should trouble us when we consider antimicrobial resistance (AMR): because resistance isn’t an anomaly of the antibiotic era — it is a logical consequence.For many decades, we have governed antibiotics as static medical tools: prescribed to…

“The body of a 20-year-old woman was found in a thicket near Uran railway station in Navi Mumbai, after which a murder case was registered,” a police official said on July 28.“The body was found at 2.15 a.m. on July 27,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Vivek Pansare confirmed.“The victim, who worked in Belapur, had taken half-day leave on July 26 and the murder may have taken place between 3.30 p.m. and 4 p.m. that day,” the DCP said.”A case under Section 103 of Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) has been registered against unidentified person(s.) Three teams have been formed to…