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Monday, August 11, 2025

PoV

Instagram six-pack influencers are ruining men’s self-esteem, promoting alpha-male culture

The furore over six-pack abs on Instagram is more than just a trend. It's undermining the essence of fitness and replacing it with an illusion.

Afghan women are telling Taliban ‘Don’t touch my clothes’. It’s a new culture war

Many ask if the Taliban have changed. What people forget to ask is how Internet has changed Afghan women.

The Maggi milkshake is coming for you. Cringe food is the Roadies of today

Only if Indians said, don't yuck my yum. There’s a world of Fanta omelette, Rasgullah Maggi, and cheese pani puris waiting for you.

‘Ajkal kudiyan ne bimar’— Punjabi singer Simiran Kaur gets millions of views by shaming women

Simiran Kaur Dhadli puts down women for how they dress and for ‘fake’ cases against men in her new song ‘Lahu Di Awaaz’. It’s not music to the ears.

Dhoni might be a legend of Indian cricket. But the T20 World Cup is about those on the pitch

Winning or losing is not just a matter of having a decorated mentor. It is not the first time that former players are guiding the Indian team.

We’ll all be hate-watching Priyanka Chopra’s ‘The Activist’ — producers know that

‘The Activist’ is what happens when content creators hate wokeness, but pander to it.

Salman Rushdie on Substack is either killing the novel or taking it back to its birth

It is not surprising that authors such as Patti Smith and Scott Snyder and a host of comic book authors from Marvel and DC have also entered Substack.

ABBA’s isn’t just a cash-grab comeback. It reminds us of their staying power in pop culture

ABBA’s comeback single ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’ sounds like it could be a previously shelved Dancing Queen B-side. Disco didn’t die, it just plagiarised itself.

A Lucknow teenager is a force of nature on Instagram. Meethika Dwivedi packs UP pride, gaalis

Meethika's street-smart delivery style is replete with raw, unadulterated wisecracks. She is the voice of ‘boomers’, millennials and Gen-Z rolled into one.

We are mad about Weingarten’s Indian food comment. But who decides what’s ‘Indian’?

From Padma Lakshmi to Salman Rushdie, many were outraged by the two-time Pulitzer Prize winner's jab at Indian food. But are we not also guilty?

On Camera

MBBS guidelines for students with disabilities reduce a life to a limb

The guidelines ask whether a student can climb stairs, but not whether the college has a ramp. They ask whether a student can bear weight, but not whether the system can bear the weight of its own prejudice.

How mining, manufacturing & power sectors weighed on India’s industrial output since January 2024

India’s industrial output growth saw a 10-month low in June, with Index of Industrial Production (IIP) growing by mere 1.5% as against 1.9% in May 2025.

Legacy of Air Chief Marshal LM Katre, the man who flew Spitfires & ushered IAF into a modern era

ACM Katre was 2nd IAF chief to die in harness. It was at a memorial lecture in his honour where IAF chief AP Singh revealed that India shot down 6 Pakistani aircraft in Op Sindoor.

Modi’s ready to risk it all for farmers. Farm reform can answer Trump with new Green Revolution

Standing up to America is usually not a personal risk for a leader in India. Any suggestions of foreign pressure unites India behind who they see as leading them in that fight.