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The FinePrint

From gaon to Golf Links — Modern India is still under the spell of black magic

Lona Chamarin and Ismail Jogi aren't commonly known — unless you are with a tantrik invoking these mystery figures as part of his Kamakhya vashikaran spell.

Indians bit off more than they can chew. Many pandemic pet dogs homeless now

From an average of five adoptions a month in 2020, new homes for pets have fallen to just one or two now. Adoption agencies are toughening clauses.

‘Running Boy’ Pradeep Mehra’s overnight fame shows India’s obsession with merit and success

Feeding the idea ‘hard work will give rewards’, in a country where ‘a chaiwala can become a PM’, helps stave off questions about inequality.

400-acre campus painted with nostalgia, an Asian melting pot — how Nalanda 2.0 is taking shape

With a 200-strong international student community, 'unique courses', and a campus cradled by Rajgir hills, Nalanda hopes to achieve the stature of its centuries-old predecessor.

Lost, found or vanished: For many child runaways, dice rolls at New Delhi railway station

India’s ‘lost’ children are usually trying to escape from something: crippling poverty, deprivation, violence, abuse, or simply unbearable pressure to perform well in exams.

Let farmers lease land like people rent houses – Land laws are holding India back

All states place restrictions on who can buy farmland. India’s low score on the protection of property rights harms farmers.

Anatomy of Gujarat’s ‘Rs 6,000-cr coal scam’: UPA-era MSME subsidy that beneficiaries ‘never got’

A scheme guaranteeing subsidised coal for MSMEs was formulated in 2007-08 under the Manmohan Singh govt. Its implementation in Gujarat has spawned allegations of corruption.

India’s nuclear doctrine is useless. Discard no-first-use, say nukes are for China threat

The government has to change its view of nuclear weapons as mere symbols of power and see them as affording India a dynamic military means against China.

Crisis-hit Sri Lanka bets big on $14 bn China-backed Port City, wants reluctant India to invest

China has invested $1.4 billion in the strategically located project. But the Rajapaksa govt wants India to invest in the potential metropolis, which is Sri Lanka's first SEZ.

Diamonds & blood: How sanctions against Russian diamond industry can help crime, hurt India

Even though exports to India make up just about 10% of Russian direct sales, Indian diamantaires fear they could end up on the frontline of the war in Ukraine.

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?