business
Sweet memories of summer vacations
Enjoying summer vacation in the outdoors. | Photo Credit: Getty Images In our school days, we looked forward to summer vacations. Summer in most parts of Bengal is generally marked by the glowing sun with heat waves denuding trees. In the drought-prone south Bengal district of Bankura, the mercury during mid-summer very often soars even … Read more
The comforting hill cuisine – The Hindu
Uttarakhand is called the hill State. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto When summers are in full bloom, the hills of Uttarakhand adorn themselves with bright rhododendron like a bride on her wedding day. These flowers are not just beautiful but delightfully tangy and refreshing, making them the perfect ingredient for mocktails and ice creams. They … Read more
The English conundrum – The Hindu
People of different races and regions have different accents when they speak English. | Photo Credit: Getty Images ‘Good morning.’ No response. The teacher in me was piqued. When will they learn the English etiquette? ‘Good morning’ is a simple greeting. But ‘goodnight’ is not so simple. It cannot be used just because it is … Read more
Carry on, it says cheerfully, all the while preparing to die
Kurt Vonnegut | Photo Credit: AP The semicolon is dying; sadly, there are no signs of grief anywhere. Perhaps because nobody really knows what to do with the punctuation mark that is a full stop on top and a comma below. It is neither; it is both. A grammarian’s Schrodinger’s cat, existing in two states … Read more
Decisive moment: on Chhattisgarh anti-Naxal operation
In a blow to the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist), its general secretary was killed in security operations in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday. The elimination of Namballa Keshav Rao, alias Basavaraju, is perhaps the biggest blow to the insurgents since the death of Cherukuri Rajkumar, the then CPI (Maoist) spokesperson in 2010, also in a … Read more
Letters to The Editor — May 24, 2025
Top court on ED The beauty of democracy lies in questioning. Sadly, such voices are not heard in India’s State Assemblies and in Parliament. One only has the higher judiciary coming to the rescue (“ED crossed all limits with raids on Tasmac, says SC”, May 23). The Enforcement Directorate (ED) too is not beyond questioning. … Read more
Introspecting counter-terrorism after Operation Sindoor
‘While the externalisation of terrorism through high-impact, war-like response is necessary, the caveat here is that it may end up distracting us from the primary goal — terrorism in J&K’ | Photo Credit: THE HINDU/IMRAN NISSAR The Pahalgam terror strike, on April 22, perpetrated by Pakistan proxies, and India’s retribution through Operation Sindoor, on May … Read more
Permanent damage: on the Trump administration and Harvard
Civic life in the United States stands on multiple, strong and independent institutions in different fields. These institutions, whether constitutionality mandated or not, have a continuity, life and standing of their own, beyond particular individuals. They enable diversity and pluralism, and provide protection against arbitrary decisions by those in power. Ironically enough, U.S. President Donald … Read more