scorecardresearch
Add as a preferred source on Google
Tuesday, April 7, 2026
HomeThe FinePrint

The FinePrint

Pashmina takeover, debt traps—Kashmir’s dying handwoven carpet industry hurts Pasmandas most

With dwindling demand and low wages, Kashmiri carpet weavers are increasingly turning to Pashmina shawls, a comparatively lucrative profession.

A temple in the Taj Mahal? What Mughal-era documents tell us about tangled claims

Allahabad HC Thursday dismissed a plea to open sealed rooms of Taj Mahal to investigate 'real history', while BJP MP Diya Kumari claimed monument stands on Jaipur royal family's land.

I reviewed Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande’s performance 27 years ago. This is what I found

COAS Gen Pande was a humble, unassuming and clever officer who only ‘spoke when spoken to’.

How CNG prices have taken the gas out of Delhi’s auto drivers and their livelihoods

Rajesh Pandey, who plans to go back to Nepal as driving auto becomes unsustainable, says he sits idle during most hours of the day without a passenger in sight.

Modi is a polarising figure and that’s not a bad thing. But we need answers to 3 questions

Concerns of Modi critics are valid, but not enough to justify the horror and fear. TV debates and the press are wrong about why he's so polarising.

Buddhist Asia had a globalised script 1,000 yrs before the West. It spread from north India

Siddham is, in some ways, the McAloo Tikki of the medieval world.

In Myanmar, a new ‘criminal’ State is rising. And China is paying to build it

Myanmar’s narcotics warlords are finally becoming the arbiters of the State. While China quietly moves in, India will have to make tough choices.

Temple posters, orders to priests: How Telangana district is fighting ‘auspicious’ caesareans

In April, Karimnagar collector issued instructions to doctors & priests against needless surgery. Hope is if 'auspicious date' perk is removed, parents will opt for natural birth.

Plea to worship Hindu idols, survey row — the latest Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi legal tussle

Fresh bone of contention is a court-ordered survey of ‘Maa Shringar Gauri Sthal and other areas’ within Gyanvapi mosque complex. Survey team has been stalled twice.

Don’t reduce BSF from first-class border guarding force to third-class police force in states

The BSF was created to guard borders, it hasn't been trained for police function. Expanding its mandate will dilute its core competence.

On Camera

Rahul Gandhi wants to jail Himanta Sarma but Congress has a Bihar-sized problem in Assam

The Congress has promised Rs 50,000 assistance to each woman but as we've seen in many recent elections, voters seem to be conscious of the proverb: 'A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.'

Stocks fall, oil prices climb as Trump issues fresh threat to Iran ahead of his deadline

Fears that an escalation of the conflict could heighten a fuel squeeze & endanger the economy unnerved traders, with NYT reporting Iran stopped negotiating a truce with the US.

UAE walks away from financing Rafale F5 due to restricted access to technology, reports French media

French newspaper La Tribune earlier last week indicated that UAE withdrew from deal to fund EUR 3.5 billion. India is looking to order 114 new Rafales, which could include the F5.

China insulated itself against energy shocks. India is ‘all talk, no walk’

China patiently invested capital, skill and technology in coal gasification. Unlike it, we won’t move from words to action. As crude prices decline, we lose interest.