Editorial

The free spirit

Independence Day is here. If not already, you will soon be hounded by special holiday packages, special offers and sales at every possible mall and store – all in the name of Independence Day. It is interesting how the meaning of August 15 has changed over the years, hasn’t it? We wear our Indi...

Cover Story

The Game Changer

Not only has Harshvardhan Neotia impacted the way West Bengal shops, eats and lives, the industrialist has learnt his own lessons along the way As this copy goes to print, Harshvardhan Neotia will be away in London with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and a number of other industrialists...

Up-To-Date

TERROR STRIKES PUNJAB: 7 KILLED AFTER A 12-HOUR STANDOFF

TERRORISM// In the first major terror strike in Punjab in eight years, heavilyarmed terrorists in army uniform sprayed bullets on a moving bus and stormed a police station, killing six persons, including an SP, and injuring eight others in Gurdaspur bordering Pakistan on June 27. One terrorist was k...

GREECE SAYS NO!

EUROZONE CRISIS// The people of Greece have rejected a plan proposed by other European countries that would give their country new money through loans, but would require their government to cut back on expenses such as pensions given to old people. As a result, the country now owes billions of dolla...

CSK, RR owners banned from IPL

IPL// Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR), two of the Indian Premier League's (IPL’s) most popular teams are in a fix as their owners have been banned from the world’s most watched T20 league. In a recent order, a panel of former judges appointed by the Supreme Court of India sai...

HARYANA GIRLS SCALE A NEW HIGH

ACHIEVEMENT// Twenty-three-year-old twins from Sonepat, Haryana — Nungshi and Tashi Malik -- have gone where few have managed to reach before. The sisters completed the Explorers Grand Slam, which involves reaching the North and South Poles, as well as scaling the highest peaks spread across seven...

India Inc. commits Rs 450,000cr for Modi’s ‘Digital India’

DIGITAL INDIA// As Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the “Digital India Week”, India Inc committed an investment of Rs 450,000 crore (some $75 billion) for the initiative that seeks to empower citizens by deploying IT and associated tools. Choosing no less than a sports stadium to launch the...

SETTING SIGHT ON PLUTO

SPACE// Nine years after it left our planet, space probe New Horizons has safety reached its destination – the dwarf planet Pluto, which is at the far end of the solar system. To get there, the probe has travelled 3 billion miles at a dizzying speed of 34,000 miles per hour. On July 15, New Horiz...

NASA DISCOVERS A NEW EARTH

SPACE// Kepler 452b is an alien world recently examined by astronomers that may be a near-twin of the Earth. Researchers from NASA and other scientific organisations believe this explanet may, however, be older and larger than our home planet. Kepler 452b is the first Earth-like planet ever discover...

Foreign Despatches

Surviving as a vegetarian in Korea

A little knowledge of the language and knowing how to find your way about can prevent you from enjoying meat in disguise AS A STUDENT, any student, not studying in their home country will tell you, life isn’t all alcohol and night-long parties. The average student juggles part-time jobs, a hectic...

Tech Talk

A perfect phone for mid-range addicts

At first glance, Huawei’s Honor 3C smartphone looks a lot like any other midrange phone with a not-so-huge display and a lean design. However, things change when you hold the phone and actually start using it. Honor 3C surprised me with its ergonomics and user-friendly design. Its plastic back cov...

Platform1

lest we forget

No one, including the PM, should deny armed forces their due pay, pensions No oNe in this country, including the political executive, should ever think of denying the armed forces personnel and the currently-onprotest veterans what is justifiably due to them. The issue of pay and perks disparity b...

Finance

MONEY FOR NOTHING

Lessons from the Greek debt crisis Greece, a small country in South Europe, has not only defaulted on loans, and but has also threatened not to stick to the austerity measures suggested by its creditors — the International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Union and the European Central Bank. As a r...

Spiritual

Too Scared To live?

Fear can be conquered by courage that is derived from unconditional love Have you ever wondered how we human beings are constantly trapped in the shadows of fear and stress? We often find ourselves using statements such as “I want freedom, peace, happiness; I want to enjoy my life.” But how man...

Looking Back

THEATRE, A NEVER-ENDING JUNOON FOR SANJNA

After giving Prithvi Theatre a new lease of life, Sanjna Kapoor’s Junoon evolved out of a desire to reach theatre and the arts out to more people Beautiful, vivacious, determined and gritty, the lady with a fire in her belly and a junoon for her art is what aptly describes this Indian theatre per...

Platform2

Playing for keeps

If you choose money over all else, you are a bad guy. If you choose national pride, you're a good person. Does it have to be an either-Or; can't a person choose both? Or neither, for that matter? Teofilo Stevenson was described by the BBC as “Cuba’s greatest boxer, once its most famous figure a...

Issue

DRAW STUMPS?

Is it time to shrug off the cricket hangover when nothing seems to be going right with it — from form to the way it functions? Shouldn’t we embrace other sports such as badminton, tennis, hockey and wrestling, which have brought nothing but accolades for the country? CHANDER SHEKHAR LUTHRA// Cr...

Good Karma

The joy of giving

The MBD Group celebrated its fifth Founder’s Day by sharing its joy with the less privileged When you have been a part of every school-going child’s life, you know the true meaning of learning and growth. Little surprise then that the MBD Group decided to celebrate its fifth Founder’s Day wit...

Creative

THE QUEEN OF INDIAN DÉCOR

Raseel Gujral Ansal reminisces her childhood days to tell the story of her journey as one of the most revered lifestyle décor experts in India today Looking around at Casa Paradox, Navin Ansal’s and Raseel Gujral Ansal’s fabulous high-end homegrown furniture and furnishings store in New Delhi...

Reading Room

Shoot down the stars

Here’s a book by an entrepreneur who knows the secret to not only breaking into a market, but creating one. Here’s one whose driving force includes both failures and the ability to think big the first thing you notice about this book, even before you go on to read the title and the author’s n...

Prince of darkness

“And here comes in the question whether it is better to be loved rather than feared, or feared rather than loved. It might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both; but since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved....

Hitchhiker’s Guide

Monsoon Magic

If you thought Goa is best enjoyed in winter, try it in monsoons and you are sure to get hooked There I was, ready with my threat, a secret smile on my lips. “I am going anyway, so you decide.” After 10 years of marriage, the man obviously knows which threats need to be taken seriously. So ther...

Garnish

A TASTE OF DIM SUMS

Michemin-starred restaurant from London, Yauatcha, has taken this essentially hawker food item and it turned into a high-end dish In India, the concept of dim sums is roadside momos. They have become ubiquitous now, with roadside hawkers selling them at almost every marketplace and street corner. B...