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The FinePrint

Tirupati god was originally offered pongal. North Indian pilgrims brought laddus

Tirumala was once a minor shrine with only local devotees. It grew as an investment destination for Vijayanagara elites in the 16th century.

Rajasthan’s 17 new districts are running from mandis, hostels, schools. A logistical mess

A year after Rajasthan’s 17 new districts were carved out, they’ve become a political battleground between BJP and Congress. But action on a review panel’s report still pending.

Chandrababu Naidu’s Tirupati charade won’t work. Andhra Pradesh is not Gujarat

Luckily for the YSR Congress Party—and for the Opposition in Andhra Pradesh—Jagan Mohan Reddy, although a dynast, is no Rahul Gandhi.

Where does Aravalli end? Lack of clarity leads to rampant mining; furious Haryana villagers

Haryana's Rajawas village’s vehement opposition to mining near the Aravalli range comes from bitter experiences. They have faced the repercussions of living near a stone mine.

South India’s GDP growth didn’t come out of the blue. Central govt had a big hand

A recent EAC-PM working paper showed southern states performed very well in terms of contribution to the nation’s GDP. A history of concessions and policy support from New Delhi played a part.

Bengal’s shape-shifters are banking on Bohurupi. ‘Give us a stage, we’ll enthrall a city’

Kolkata: Nanichora Das Baul becomes someone new every day—Shiva or Parvati, Durga or the demon king, even a skeleton sometimes. As one of Bengal’s few remaining bohurupis—quick-change artists who...

Chemistry of curd to physics of paratha, GST rates on food are a multi-disciplinary tangle

Issue of GST on food items is in news again after hotel owner’s viral interaction with Finance Minister Sitharaman last week. But complexities highlighted go back further in time.

India’s youngest spiritual baba wants no friends, smartphones. What about homework, people ask

Ten-year-old Abhinav Arora’s teachers ask him to sing bhajans for them during free periods. Every child in his class wants to sit with him—they have to use a roster.

Jaswant Singh kept bullets from IC814 in his office. With a sign that read ‘Lest we forget’

Every day of the hijacking, my father was woken up at midnight by a call from wife of a crew member. He’d sit on the bed, listening to her crying every night.

20 UP villages lost their beloved Sakarni River decades ago. They just got it back this July

A local environmentalist and Pratapgarh officials used MGNREGA funds to mobilise 30,000 residents to revitalise the 28-km Sakarni River in Uttar Pradesh.

On Camera

Meghnad Desai was a man of many passions. Marxian economics, politics to Bollywood

Meghnad’s interest went much beyond economics and politics. This is reflected in his writing, particularly after his retirement as a full-time LSE professor in 2003.

Govt’s earlier FDI limit of 74% in insurance sector has remained underutilised, Parliament told

In the latest budget, the FDI limit was increased to 100 percent, but most foreign companies are not buying such large stakes in the Indian insurance sector.

India to get last of Spain-built C-295 next month, focus now on 1st India-made aircraft

New Delhi: The last of the C-295 transport aircraft that is replacing the ageing Avro fleet of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be...

Modi’s Bharat vs Indira’s India: 11-yr report card of politics, diplomacy, economy, nationalism

As Narendra Modi becomes India’s second-longest consecutively serving Prime Minister, we look at how he compares with Indira Gandhi across four key dimensions.