These are times when democracy is being redefined by repeated State assaults and unfailing surges of retaliation by its people on a medium that is in constant flux. Six students from Jenneys Academy of Hotel Management discuss the arrest of the ‘Facebook women’ in Mumbai and its fundamental democratic violation

Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar says Karnataka Youth Policy will be implemented in toto

In the end it was all a maya. The world did not come to an apocalyptic end on December 21 as was predicted by doomsday-mongers, after ‘deciphering’ ancient Mayan hieroglyphs. The world is still alive and kicking! All the more reason to go all out and celebrate life, say a bunch of young achievers from Kerala. They talk to MetroPlus about the phenomenon and their hopes and dreams for 2013. Here’s what they have to say…

A group of musically inclined youngsters have come together with a song for the KMB

Aishwarya Manivannan talks about her love for the ancient martial art, handlooms and how she combined the two in a recent popular video

The 10-minute theatre festival, Short + Sweet South India, makes a comeback after two years with enthusiastic participation from new faces and young groups

With climate change and the demand to create a responsible and adaptive built environment, is sustainability given enough importance in the classroom?

Students will now be involved in creating a more sustainable world by influencing the way buildings are built over the next 30 years

The creators of War and Peas, Brown Paperbag Comics, Bakarmax and more talk about the growth of the Indian webcomics scene as the stage is set for Bengaluru Comic Con

The first day first show of ‘BTS: Yet To Come’ in Hyderabad saw their ardent fans make a beeline to the cinemas

Dr. Rovelli has written several popular-science books. In his latest work, White Holes: Inside the Horizon, he explains the theoretical existence of white holes — the converse of black holes. The latter is believed to be the ultimate graveyard of all matter from which nothing, not even light, can escape. White holes on the other hand may beget a new universe. Though still in the realm of speculation, the math checks out

“You cannot feed the people with communal sentiments indefinitely,” the Congress leader said in an interview to The Hindu, where he also dismissed concerns about factionalism within the party

If Left parties and Congress join the INDIA alliance with Trinamool Congress we will put candidates against the INDIA bloc also, says the lone MLA of the Indian Secular Front

Raghuram Rajan on why India must be open and inclusive, and welcoming to all, before it aims to be an upper income country by 2047

Ahead of the Global Investors’ Meet, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu dismissed claims that Uttar Pradesh had overtaken Tamil Nadu as the second largest State economy. He also spoke about renewable energy and impact of floods on revenues. Excerpts from an interview with The Hindu:

Through data and evidence, journalists Sreenivasan Jain, Mariyam Alavi and Supriya Sharma debunk notions of love jihad, population jihad and appeasement of minorities

The author of Let’s Talk Mutual Funds on why mutual funds should be a part of the Indian investor’s portfolio

“As far as INDIA bloc, in Maharashtra, you have the Maharashtra Vikas Agadi, in Bihar you have the Mahagathbandhan and in Tamil Nadu you have DMK-led secular front. So, in each State these talks are already on. And I am sure by the end of this month, the situation will be far clearer,” says CPI(M) general secretary

As the government searches for a definition, the author of ‘The Assamese: A Portrait of a Community’ unpacks the composite culture of the people by the Brahmaputra

Roman writers had an anxiety about one-man rule. But there was little opposition to the system, says the author of ‘Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World’

The possibility of a Japanese invasion in 1942 not only led to an exodus from several cities, including Madras and Calcutta, it also shaped major political events leading to the Quit India call to the British, says the author of The Great Flap of 1942

The Indian Army has embraced change and forged a balance between tradition and modernity, says the author of Camouflaged — Forgotten Stories from Battlefields

Ibrahim Muhawi, who has won 2023’s Palestine Book Award for translating Hussein Barghouthi’s Among the Almond Trees, reflects on themes that dominate Palestinian literature

RJD leader says the contest in Bihar for the Lok Sabha election is with the BJP; he adds that the real issues are inflation, poverty, unemployment, education

The 84-year-old Colin Thubron on why travel books will endure and what draws him to remote places on earth like Siberia

EFTA negotiator cautions that actual investment can only come from European private sector, not guaranteed by governments, and hopes FTA will be ratified by 2024-end

Sudipto Das on the relevance of scientist and polymath Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose in the contemporary world

The actor and founder of Makkal Needhi Maiam says it is now the moment for people from all sections to come together in the fight against fascism

Mohiniyattam dancer and academic RLV Ramakrishnan plans to protest against discriminatory remarks made by a veteran dancer

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan discusses the significance of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and secular democracy in India.

In an interview with The Hindu, Mr. Gadkari said the BJP remains united in its ideological commitment, with no discord between the party and the RSS.

Deputy Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha and the party’s candidate for Jorhat says the BJP is arm-twisting everyone from those in the corporate sector to the common people, and is employing a use-and-throw policy for its allies

Chitralekha Zutshi on the paradoxes and contradictions that trailed the political life of one of the tallest leaders of the Kashmir Valley, and why the abrogation of Article 370 did not come out of the blue

The Congress veteran says the BJP espouses a ‘militant, extreme, right-wing Hinduism’ which is also working in its favour in Hindi-speaking States while Hinduism is essentially ‘more inclusive’

The development agenda of the PM with special focus on the Northeast will help the NDA win most of the 25 LS seats in the region, says former Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, while criticising Congress for misinterpreting CAA for political reasons

This is ‘Devbhoomi’ (land of the gods) and its people will never forget how Congress posed hurdles in the construction of the Ram Mandir, the BJP’s media chief says

Criticising the Modi-led government for its failure to fulfil past poll promises such as providing two crore jobs annually and doubling the income of farmers, the Congress chief says the BJP’s manifesto is silent on issues such as rising food prices and unemployment; he also asserts the INDIA bloc’s main aim is to safeguard the Constitution and democracy

Reddy talks about her constituency, sexism in politics, and her connect with many groups in an interview with The Hindu

Monica Raymund, who plays the lead in the crime drama set in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and Rebecca Cutter, the creator of the show, say the third and final season will see the characters end up in a place that feels at once shocking and inevitable

People look up to us for the principles of leadership going forward. The bond we share with people is because of good work and not due to the royal background, says Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the BJP candidate, Mysuru Lok Sabha constituency

People give top priority to development while judging the achievements of the government and that the Guarantee schemes come later, says the BJP State president

Congress general secretary in charge of Chhattisgarh says that the change in tone and tenor of BJP leaders after the first two phases of polling shows things are not going their way; he says that there is little energy and enthusiasm in the BJP vote base to re-elect the same government to power

He says a “disciplined solider” like him cannot keep quiet when injustice is being meted out to the party

It is the Congress that has diluted reservations for OBCs by giving a quota to Muslims, says Assam CM

Veteran minister Piyush Goyal is excited to be a first-time candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections; he feels that this opportunity will help better him understand candidates’ psychology, allowing him to emerge a sensitive person 

Rahul Gandhi could challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Telangana Chief Minister says

Writer-journalist Johann Hari brings himself into the Ozempic conversation, taking readers through the risks of obesity, its causes and effects, and what the drug does

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and BJP senior leader Devendra Fadnavis said that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde would not have rebelled, but when someone was pushed to the wall, they’re left with no other option, and that is what happened in Mr. Shinde’s case.