At the pharmacy’s front shelf sat a row of slick bottles, a good quarter of them crowned with chrome or beige lids: Radiance Boost Serum, Anti-Aging Serum, Deep Repair Serum. What these had in common, apart from their pleasing promises, was that they were, well, not serums. But serum—the pale sediment of centrifuged blood—does to…
Nuclear redlines have not just been crossed—they’ve been obliterated. In a world already staggering under war fatigue and geopolitical disarray, the airstrikes launched by Israel against Iran, followed by US B-2 bomber raids on three of Iran’s nuclear sites—Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow—signal not a surgical intervention, but a strategic unravelling. These weren’t empty bunkers; they…
The 14th Dalai Lama will turn ninety on July 6. The Tibetan community refers to the Dalai Lama’s birthday as “Goton”, which is more than a birthday; it is a celebration of a global icon and a pivotal moment for Tibetan Buddhism and continuity over a thousand years. However, this year is also more than…
Hello and welcome to another edition of the Weekly Vine. This week, we take stock of the winners and losers in the Middle East, examine India’s chastening defeat in the first Test of the England series, explain why the U-2 bomber strike on Tehran felt straight out of Top Gun: Maverick, discuss the new king of…
In a strategic development that shifts the compass of professional diplomacy, the institute of company secretaries of India (ICSI) has recently formalised a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the services export promotion council (SEPC) in June 2025. This is not just another signature ceremony, it is a definitive assertion of India’s readiness to export…
Democrat Zohran Mamdani wins primary, progressive economic ideas trump Cuomo New York City bets on 33-year-old Democratic State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani as the surprise frontrunner in the Democratic mayoral primary, outpacing former governor Andrew Cuomo after the first round of ranked-choice ballots.Since the primary is decided through ranked-choice voting (RCV), final results are still awaited,…
On June 25, 1975, hours before Emergency was declared, then oppn bigwigs rallied in Delhi. An eyewitness account of the last protest before Indira Gandhi suspended democracy for 21 months Over the last 50 years, Delhi has changed dramatically. The city looks different, feels different. Yet, some iconic places appear roughly the same as they…
Whether the ceasefire holds & West Asia becomes less incendiary depends on US president’s ability to make Netanyahu stop using war as political cover and take peace seriously One could have hoped that after 12 days of mutual skirmishing between Israel and Iran, the exclamation points would outweigh the question marks regarding the future of…
Did you know killer whales — also called orcas — might be using kelp (a type of seaweed) like a loofah to scrub and clean each other? That’s right! Scientists just discovered something amazing: orcas have been seen making grooming tools out of kelp to help each other feel clean and calm. This is the…
Iran’s targeting of US military bases in Qatar and Iraq in retaliation for American strikes on Tehran’s nuclear programme may have drastic consequences. But there is huge uncertainty about which direction change will take. US had been sending mixed messages. On Sunday key officials did the rounds of US TV shows saying they weren’t seeking…
