Sushim Mukul is a keen observer, with interest in polity, geopolitics, culture and heritage.
A movie on Kanhaiya Lal Teli, a tailor in Udaipur who was beheaded by two Muslim men for sharing a post supporting a BJP leader's comments on Prophet Muhammad, is caught in a storm of controversy. In 1929, publisher Mahashe Rajpal was stabbed to death by a 19-year-old Muslim carpenter for the book Rangeela Rasool. Massive protests over the book resulted in the British introducing the blasphemy law in India.
A bag of blood travelled 35 kilometres in 15 minutes, beating Delhi's chaotic traffic. A June ICMR report, based on trials, shows drones could revolutionise emergency medical delivery. The real test now is whether science, regulation, and infrastructure can unite to make the promise come true.
China, the biggest holder of rare earths, is weaponising them by restricting the supply. Though it has hit the EV industry in India, will the country, which possesses the third-biggest reserve of rare earths, be able to use this as a rare opportunity?
Though nominated five times, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi never won the Nobel Peace Prize. On the shortlist in 1948, Gandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse, just days before the committee's final decision. The Nobel Peace Prize wasn't awarded in 1948 as "there was no suitable living candidate".
Even as nationalism is running high in India, groups run by linguistic chauvinists and regional fanatics are dividing Indians. Raj Thackeray and Shrinkhal Chaliha are just two of the extremists preventing decades-old wounds from healing through toxic politics that goes against the modern Indian concept of staying anywhere in India for education, business or leisure.
The Seine, which flows through the heart of Paris, was sick for 100 years. For the first time since 1923, people were allowed to swim in the Seine. This is after an extensive clean-up of the river. The Yamuna is similarly polluted in Delhi. With Delhi CM Rekha Gupta intensifying the push, will Delhiites get to swim in the Yamuna anytime soon?
Sixty years after Assam's Guwahati was linked by rail, Mizoram's Aizawl is the latest Northeast capital ready to join the network, beyond the strategic Shillong Corridor or Chicken's Neck. With state-of-the-art bridges in Seismic Zone V and kilometre-long tunnels, the Indian Railways has connected Aizawl, after linking Itanagar and Agartala.
It was a Great Escape in 1959 from Lhasa's Norbulingka Palace, the summer seat of the Dalai Lama, the head of Tibetan Buddhism. Then just 23, the Dalai Lama had no option but to flee Tibet after it became clear that an invitation to a dance event was communist China's bid to imprison him. Disguised as a soldier, he hoodwinked Chinese soldiers and entered India after a gruelling two-week trek.
The India-US trade deal is reportedly stuck because of DC's tough demands on the agriculture and dairy sectors. India shouldn't give in to Donald Trump's demands because agriculture is hugely subsidised in the US, with farmers there getting over $61,000 against India's $282. If concessions are to be made, it should be by the US, and not India. Here's why.
Electric air travel has officially arrived. The Alia CX300 aircraft flew 130 km from East Hampton to New York's JFK in just half an hour. The one-way, 35-minute trip, which cost passengers only $8 (around Rs 700), heralds a new era of cheap air travel.
