A typical day in most households could look like this. The non-stick pan is made ready in the kitchen to make a delicious morning dosai or paratha. Snacks for the day come out of plastic wrappings. The dishes in the kitchen sink are washed with dish soap. After a nice meal, the family members settle … Read more
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. AP/PTI(AP04_03_2025_000071A) | Photo Credit: Mark Schiefelbein U.S. President Donald Trump’s move on April 2, 2025, or “liberation day” as he calls it, — unveiling sweeping tariffs targeting countries around the … Read more
Summer is here, bringing with it memories of childhoods spent under the scorching sun, playing on the streets, splashing in neighborhood ponds or pools, and gathering around board games on lazy afternoons. For many in Bengaluru, summer once meant a trip to their grandparents’ village or native towns, the joy of climbing mango trees, licking … Read more
Plastic buckets with the itsy-bitsiest of cracks are being jettisoned without a second thought. If that comes across as a sweeping statement, it was meant as one. That statement is obviously not entirely truth-aligned, but when was the last time one expected 100 per cent veracity in a hyperbolic utterance? In the classic mould of … Read more
For representative purposes. | Photo Credit: Getty Images What is the meaning and origin of ‘play possum’? (Ajay Kumar, Bengaluru) ‘Possum’ consists of two syllables; the vowel in the first, sounds like the ‘o’ in ‘pot’, ‘not’ and ‘cot’, while the vowel in the second, is like the ‘a’ in ‘china’. The word is pronounced … Read more
In the ever-changing world of Internet technology, keeping users safe and verifying their identities is important. One of the most important security systems for this is CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart). It’s like a puzzle that is easy for us to solve but hard for machines. CAPTCHA was … Read more
A herd of spotted deer graze at the Kancha Gachibowli area. | Photo Credit: Raghu Ghanapuram The story so far: The students of the University of Hyderabad at Gachibowli have been protesting ever since the news of the auction of a 400-acre land parcel known as Kancha Gachibowli within campus premises broke. The battle has … Read more
Culture is what we learn from others and pass on to successive generations by practising it over and over. Scientists have found cultural traditions among humans as well as animals, the latter in the way they forage, socialise, use tools, care for themselves, and mate. Among these traditions, the characteristic patterns of behaviour that involve … Read more
Peak-hour woes: The signal is located at a crucial junction on the road connecting E.V.R. Periyar Salai with Nungambakkam. The traffic comes to a halt at the morning peak hours. | Photo Credit: Akhila Easwaran Commuters travelling through the traffic signal at the intersection of Harrington Road, Dr. Guruswamy Bridge and Mayor Ramanathan Salai at … Read more
Boost to Metro Rail: The plan proposes to expand the Chennai Metro Rail network, which now spans 54 kilometres. New corridors are planned to increase connectivity. | Photo Credit: M. Srinath The Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) recently released its Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP). According to the CUMTA’s study, transport problems, especially road congestion, … Read more