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Sunday, November 23, 2025
HomeGround Reports

Ground Reports

India’s coaching institutes are having a meltdown. Teachers, students dropping out

The turbulence isn’t confined to UPSC coaching institutes. FIITJEE has now closed 8 centres after hundreds of its teachers resigned over non-payment of salaries and pay cuts.

Haryana cremations are going green. A Sirsa farmer lit the spark

Around 300 green crematoriums have come up in Punjab and Haryana through the efforts of Sirsa activist Ramji Jaimal. ‘We think at scale and we’re a scientific people.’

No one assaulted Unnao girls—Accused headmaster is back, case closed, parents silent

The Special Juvenile Police Unit of the local police was not involved in the recording of the statements and the NCPCR chose to make two cooks employed at the school as complainants, making the case weak.

Haryana’s House of Sangwan keeps on giving—4 generations of women racing, driving, flying

In Haryana’s Sangwan family, four generations of women are breaking the mould, from a 108-year-old ‘Udanpari’ great-grandmother to a 22-year-old ‘Sherni’ pilot-in-training.

Massive reservoir found at Rakhigarhi is giving us more clues on Saraswati River

A reservoir unearthed last month in Haryana’s Rakhigarhi is not just a marvel of Harappan engineering but also advances evolving research on the Saraswati River.

Atul Subhash suicide was a ‘sacrifice’ for India’s men’s rights movement. It’s mainstream now

Anil Murty of SIFF argues that like in the feminist space, within ‘meninism’ there are different schools of thought. SIFF, for instance, does not identify with incels, Andrew Tate followers.

Bihar has even tried election-level security to fix BPSC leaks. Nothing is working

Bihar Public Service Commission’s measures now include control centres, strongrooms, trucks with digital locks and more. But they have done little to stem the tide of leaks.

Jadavpur University Press is a rare success in publishing. Now Ashoka is catching up too

Distribution and display have always been twin challenges for small publishers, more so for university presses, who have the added burden of perception.

UP IASOWA is changing—Its ‘Akanksha’ programme has gone beyond masala & mathri

The IAS Officers’ Wives Association in UP is no longer headed by just the wife of an IAS officer. In July 2024, Rashmi Singh became the first IAS officer to be its president.

Maha Kumbh and India’s new-age sadhus—riding Bullets, making Reels

For the Bullet Baba, his worldly belongings are a bike, a tent, and a bag of clothes. He doesn’t live in any akhara or ashram.

On Camera

In Tejas Dubai crash, the harm goes beyond the loss of an aircraft and pilot

Airshows are thrilling spectacles of aviation skill and engineering marvels. But they carry inherent risks as the crew is pushing the aircraft, and themselves, to perform at the edges of the envelope.

At Charcha 2025: Local entrepreneurship, not just big IT, will drive next wave of distributed AI work

While global corporations setting up GCCs in India continue to express confidence in availability of skilled AI engineers, the panel argued that India’s real challenge lies elsewhere.

From a small Kangra village to Tejas cockpit: IAF fighter pilot Namansh Syal’s journey cut short

Wing Commander Namansh Syal is survived by his wife, their 6-year-old daughter and his mother. Back in his native village, relatives and neighbours wait for his remains for last rites.

A tribute to Tejas. India’s delay culture is the real enemy in the skies

It is a brilliant, reasonably priced, and mostly homemade aircraft with a stellar safety record; only two crashes in 24 years since its first flight. But its crash is a moment of introspection.