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Karnataka skipper Devdutt Padikkal en route his double hundred. | Photo Credit: R.V. MOORTHY Uttarakhand’s mesmerising run in the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy experienced a sobering reality check as Karnataka buried it under a mountain of runs on day two of the semifinal at the Ekana Cricket Stadium here on Monday.From an overnight 355 for two, the eight-time champion finished on a mammoth 689 for six, with skipper Devdutt Padikkal smashing his maiden First Class double century (232, 330b, 29×4, 3×6) and R. Smaran his fifth ton (121 batting, 191b, 11×4).Karun Nair would be gutted for not capitalising on the great…

CS Chandrasekaran (67), Venkata Subra Maniam Raju (65), and Krishnan Venkatesan (65), three friends from Chennai, are just back from an expedition to the Arctic. In July this year, they embarked on a luxury cruise (Swan Hellenic), sailing through the remote Svalbard archipelago, North of mainland Norway to the breathtaking vistas of the Arctic region. Swaddled in layers of warm clothing and gliding through icy fjords, taking in jaw-dropping views of snow-dusted peaks, it was a journey that inspired awe. “The beauty and the silence were sublime — a reminder of how small we are in Nature’s grand design,” says…

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”, said Marcellus in Hamlet. It indicated the collapse of Denmark’s social and moral order. Sounds familiar?But first, Silence of the Lambs.“A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.”When Hannibal Lecter uttered the line that has since gained cinematic immortality, the audience would have broken into a cold sweat and felt a chill trickling down their spines. Thankfully, you are unlikely to encounter the cannibalistic serial killer, who lacked any shred of remorse or guilt for his action, beyond the pages…

Venkatesan Vijayaraghavan, COO, Virtusa, is in a conversation with John Xavier, Tech Editor, The Hindu, at a session on ‘Managing the post Anthropic Plug-in Era’ at The Hindu Tech Summit 2026 on Friday (February 13, 2026).   | Photo Credit: M. SRINATH Large enterprises have to unravel business processes to make them AI-first and to rewire business processes in terms of AI-ready, Virtusa COO  Venkatesan Vijayaraghavan said on Friday (February 13, 2026) at The Hindu Tech Summit 2026.In a conversation with John Xavier, Tech Editor, The Hindu, on the topic, ‘Managing the post Anthropic Plug-in Era’, he said, “I am assuring you all. We are definitely…

Eight people died in rain-related incidents in Rajasthan on Monday (August 12, 2024), taking the death toll in the last two days to 22, as the spell of heavy rainfall is likely to continue in the eastern part for the next four to five days, officials said.Heavy rainfall in the last two days has created a flood-like situation in Karauli and Hindaun where it caused severe waterlogging in low-lying areas. Overflowing dams and rivers have paralysed normal life.Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma conducted a field visit in various parts of the city on Monday evening following incessant rains.He visited Jawahar Circle,…

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks in Lok Sabha during the Budget Session, in New Delhi February 11, 2026. | Photo Credit: ANI Former Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma on Thursday (February 12, 2026) accused Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of “deliberately misleading” Parliament on the agreements reached at the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting in Bali in December 2013.In a statement, Mr. Sharma said the Minister’s claim that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had “sold out” India’s right to food security at the Bali meeting was “false, incorrect and contrary to facts on record…

Making hay while the sun shines: Padikkal pointed out that it is important to cash in when the pitch is batting-friendly. | Photo Credit: R.V. MOORTHY Devdutt Padikkal cannot put a foot wrong. On his captaincy debut a fortnight ago, he scored a match-winning, fourth-innings century (120 n.o., 85b, 6×4, 5×6) versus Punjab to ensure Ranji Trophy knock-outs qualification for Karnataka.On day two of the semifinal against Uttarakhand, he came up with an impressive double-century (232, 330b, 29×4, 3×6), his first in First Class cricket. “It’s the most runs I’ve scored in a Ranji game, but there have been a…

Palat…Palat…Palat! If you get this — you have officially watched DDLJ an unhealthy number of times. (Like the rest of us). Thirty years on, iconic Saanen bridge in Switzerland still pulls tourists in droves, earning the nickname Palat Bridge.Bollywood tourism maybe a micro trend in the realm of film tourism but it has seen a steady rise in demand over the years. With location hunters scouring the world for new, exciting destinations, the footfall for this brand of tourism now spans Croatia (Fan), Greece (Chalte Chalte, Bang Bang!), Turkey (Ek Tha Tiger, Dil Dhadakne Do), the US (Kabhi Alvida Na…

The second meeting of the Foreign Ministers of India and Arab countries (IAFMM) was held in New Delhi on January 31, 2026. Co-chaired by India and the UAE, the summit brought together representatives from all 22 Arab League nations and served as a critical strategic and diplomatic milestone for both regions.It may be noted that the first meeting of Indian and Arab foreign ministers had been hosted by Bahrain in 2016. Against this background, the second meeting, held in New Delhi after a ten-year hiatus, holds both strategic and symbolic importance as it revitalises high-level institutional engagement between the two…

A file photo of the image of the Sun captured by Aditya-L1 during May solar storm. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT Observations and measurements made by India’s maiden solar mission, Aditya-L1, have helped to decode the unusual dawn-time geomagnetic disturbances during strong solar storms.Geomagnetic storms are large disturbances in Earth’s magnetic field caused by changes in the solar wind- a continuous flow of charged particles released from the Sun.“When sudden increases or decreases in solar wind pressure strike Earth’s magnetic shield (the magnetosphere), those can trigger sharp changes in the magnetic field,” the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.During the…