Even as State after State is splurging on cash transfers for women, the most vulnerable among them, pregnant women, continue to be deprived of their legal right to maternity benefits. Worse, whatever little used to be paid to them seems to be shrinking. The main responsibility for this lies with the central government. Under the … Read more
‘The approach to passenger safety and convenience is at best tragically outdated’ | Photo Credit: ANI In the cacophony of religious fervour for a holy dip at the Kumbh, amidst bustling railway stations, jostling crowds, and ceaseless proclamations by Indian Railways about the number of train services and the passengers ferried to Prayagraj, lies an … Read more
MLAs Sanjay Saraogi, Jibesh Kumar, Sunil Kumar, Raju Kumar Singh, Krishna Kumar Mantu, Vijay Kumar Mandal, and Moti Lal Prasad during their swearing-in ceremony as Cabinet Ministers, in Patna, on February 26, 2025. | Photo Credit: PTI Seven new Ministers — all from the BJP — took oath to join Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s … Read more
The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is an autonomous body established by the University Grants Commission (UGC) in 1994 to systematically assess and accredit the Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in India, with the objective of quality assurance and improvement in the quality of education. Over the years, the NAAC rating has acquired a lot … Read more
Recently, I participated in a panel discussion at the Azim Premji University in Bengaluru as part of the Wipro Earthian Awards. This gathering brought together participants from diverse backgrounds — students and educators from remote villages, tier-2 and tier-3 cities, and major urban centers — each with their perspectives and experiences in environmental stewardship. The … Read more
A popular model of evolution concludes that it was incredibly unlikely for humanity to evolve on Earth, and that extraterrestrial intelligence is vanishingly rare. But as experts on the entangled history of life and our planet, we propose that the coevolution of life and Earth’s surface environment may have unfolded in a way that makes the evolutionary … Read more
America has already lost its global competitive edge in science, and funding cuts proposed in early 2025 may further a precipitous decline. Proposed cuts to the federal agencies that fund scientific research could undercut America’s global competitiveness, with negative impacts on the economy and the ability to attract and train the next generation of researchers. I’m an astronomer, and … Read more
Students will be better prepared for success in their careers if their learning is driven by curricular outputs. Learning outcomes has become a focus in education policy and pedagogy. But schools need to move beyond textbook learning and education should shift focus from rigid learning objectives to achieving dynamic curricular outputs. Schools need to implement … Read more
Daily Quiz: On Virat Kohli’s milestones Virat Kohli celebrates his century after scoring the winning runs during a One Day International (ODI) cricket match of the ICC Champions Trophy between India and Pakistan, at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, in Dubai, UAE, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. START THE QUIZ 1 / 6 | On Sunday, Kohli … Read more
“Who wants to live forever?” Freddie Mercury mournfully asks in Queen’s 1986 song of the same name. The answer: Quite a few people – so much so that life extension has long been a cottage industry. As a physician and scholar in the medical humanities, I’ve found the quest to expand the human lifespan both … Read more