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The FinePrint

Mewat’s star lawyer is saviour of Muslims arrested in cow smuggling cases — 99% acquittals

Most cases have the same script and you know it when you read it, says the lawyer. They tell a sorry tale of dodgy FIRs, hurried chargesheets, weak investigation and prosecution.

Campa, Coke, Pepsi, politics—cola wars and Indian capitalism. Now Ambani to fuel new battle

This is the story of India’s cola wars. It’s always been a potent mix of politics, nationalism, predatory market practices and good old conspiracy theories.

Weeping in bathroom, torn poster, quota jibe—IIT Ambedkar study circles battle to be & belong

Organisations like Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle at IITs help marginalised students cope with systemic caste discrimination. They are the strongest pillar of support for students who are regularly harassed and even pushed into suicide.

Gandhi spoke no Sanskrit & Narayana Guru spoke no English when they met during Vaikom

When MK Gandhi and Narayana Guru met in 1925, they clashed on the non-violent approach to the Vaikom Satyagraha and conversion as a path to freedom for avarnas.

Soumya Swaminathan is now making science and policy work together. Her WHO lessons helping

WHO's first chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan learned to deal with a room full of high-income nations. But her work as the chairperson of MS Swaminathan Research Foundation is just getting started.

Bhutan desperate to settle dispute with China. It will change how India looks at its north

Surely, the Bhutanese would have thought that if Delhi still hasn’t been able to resolve its dispute with Beijing, what chance did Thimphu have?

‘Selling dreams to small people’—Kerala’s lottery system powers ambition, addiction

At least 1.5 lakh people earn a living from Kerala’s lottery business. If a ticket wins, even the agent who sold it gets a share of the prize money.

Erasure of caste in universities existed during colonialism, but its roots much deeper

IIT Bombay has ruled that the death of Darshit Solanki was due to academics, and not caste; as if the two are independent.

Arif turned away from meeting sarus in Kanpur zoo. Next mission is SP politics, Instagram tick

Arif visited Kanpur’s Allen Forest Zoo for his reunion with the bird and was accompanied by his latest well-wisher, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav.

Three men, a great orator, Gandhi—all that led to the birth of Vaikom Satyagraha 99 years ago

The movement left indelible marks on Kerala society, made leaders and heroes, and gave hope to a dispirited Congress just after Malabar rebellion was suppressed.

On Camera

Postcards from Hyderabad—stories Europeans told about the city

For all their colonial underpinnings, postcards from Hyderabad also inadvertently preserve a trace of local memory: a glimpse of a street, a face, a forgotten name.

Navigating Trump’s tariffs is no child’s play. Indian toymakers are losing out on orders, enquiries

Indian toymakers are now exploring new markets, but they want govt to negotiate a trade deal with US soon, introduce incentives and subsidies to make the industry more competitive.

What is Project Sudarshan Chakra, announced by Modi from ramparts of Red Fort

The project is meant to be a ‘protective shield that will keep expanding’, the PM said. It is on the lines of the ‘Golden Dome’ announced by Trump, it is learnt.

War of IAF, PAF doctrines: As Pakistan obsesses over numbers, India embraces risk, wins

Now that both IAF and PAF have made formal claims of having shot down the other’s aircraft in the 87-hour war in May, we can ask a larger question: do such numbers really matter?