India Today

Amid the great public indignation over delays in the impending hanging of convicts in the 2012 ‘Nirbhaya’ gangrape-and-murder case in Delhi, there has been little room for a dispassionate consideration of the merits of the death penalty. A large majo

Perhaps it’s a sign of how ugly the Delhi election campaign became in the last days before the polls (on February 8, with the results due on the 11th), that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal felt compelled to defend himself against the BJP’s absurd desc

From creating theatre commands—a single geographical command integrating assets of two or more services—to working within budgetary constraints, India’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) GEN. BIPIN RAWAT explains why he will be the armed forces offi

Rajdeep Sardesai begins 2019: How Modi Won India, with an encounter with an old woman at a polling station in rural Uttar Pradesh who wanted to cast her vote directly for Narendra Modi (and not for the local BJP candidate or the party’s lotus symbol)

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is said to be a painter, author, lyricist, composer and poet. Now, it seems, she is a sari designer as well. Didi is apparently the brain behind the inch-wide border and striped pallu in her wardrobe of cott

7,100 THE CHEETAH HEAD COUNT in the wild, almost all in Africa. Of the Asiatic cheetah, once plentiful in India, only a few dozen are believed to be alive in Iran. On Jan. 28, the Supreme Court reversed a 2013 order that had stalled a decision to bri

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who has allowed himself a delicate ambivalence on the controversial CAA (Citizenship (Amendment) Act) but sounded quite categorical in his rejection of the proposed NRC (National Register of Citizens) has now demand

A fortnight after he took charge as Maharashtra chief minister on November 28 last year, Uddhav Thackeray told bureaucrats at a meeting in Mantralaya, the administrative headquarters of the state government, that he wanted to rid Mumbai of “visual po

THERE IS SOMETHING unique about the budgets presented by the Modi government’s finance ministers. They are mainly expressions of long-term intent, as opposed to policy statements with a bearing on the near-term prospects of individuals or businesses.

NARENDRA MODI BEGAN HIS SECOND TERM as prime minister with a series of big-bang reforms. In quick succession, he took decisions on long-pending major issues, including ending the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constituti

THE REAL ESTATE SECTOR, WHERE SLUGGISH demand resulted in flat sales in calendar 2019, was expecting a budget to boost demand, but it was not to. “It has been a huge disappointment for the real estate sector, especially after high expectations prior

There is hope yet for the Rs 1,000 crore Jal Mahal project 17 years after the Rajasthan government invited bids to transform the picturesque Mansagar lake with a palace at its centre into a tourist attraction in Jaipur. On Friday, the Rajasthan High

BY LINKING AGRICULTURE IN BUDGET 2020 to ‘aspirational India’ and introducing new concepts like ‘Krishi Udaan’, ‘Kisan Rail’ and ‘Bharat Net’, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has attempted to tie the destiny of the hapless Indian farmer to the ha

THE ALLOCATION FOR HEALTHCARE IN Budget 2020-21 was disheartening—at Rs 67,484 crore, it’s a modest 5.7 per cent increase over the revised estimate of Rs 63,830 crore in the previous year. The allocation, given the estimated nominal GDP growth of 10

THE UNION BUDGET HAS SOUGHT TO GIVE A major impetus to infrastructure on the back of “accelerated development of highways”, with the road transport & highways ministry being allocated Rs 91,823.2 crore, as against Rs 83,016 crore in the previous fisc

THE FEBRUARY 1 BUDGET HIGHLIGHTED what will be the defence ministry’s biggest worry in the years ahead—for the first time, expenditure on defence pensions overtook purchases of military hardware like fighter jets, warships and battle tanks. The defen

THE NEW EDUCATION POLICY (NEP) DRAFT, RELEASED IN 2019, estimated that for proper implementation of policy proposals, the budgetary allocation to education would need to go up by 10 per cent every year over the next 10 years. Budget 2020-21, however,

Speaking at the fifth edition of the annual India Today Art Awards, Aroon Purie, Chairman and Editor-in-chief of the India Today Group, talked about the importance of art as a safe space to express dissent and as a medium that holds up a mirror to th

On January 31, as a special Air India flight evacuated 324 Indians from Wuhan, Monika Sethuraman, 31, broke down in tears realising that she wouldn’t be on the plane. “I couldn’t breathe for a few seconds...I am stuck here in the city, and it’s now t

How you’ll react to Namita Gokhale’s Jaipur Journals will depend on your outlook on life. If you are a glass half-full kind of person, you’ll be amazed by the depth with which Gokhale manages to empower this slim novel inspired by the annual Jaipur L

Only a few Hindi filmmakers inspire the kind of loyalty and scrutiny that Imtiaz Ali does. Recently, after a trailer of Love Aaj Kal released, cinephiles took to social media. On Twitter, Samrat Singh said the writer-director “is creating the Marvel

Kashmir has always been an emotive issue, and the ordeal of Kashmiri Pandits perhaps even more so. Vidhu Vinod Chopra, though, has never shied away from that which is difficult. The director, a Kashmiri Pandit himself, is now releasing Shikara, a fil

Nothing escapes Bose Krishnamachari’s eyes. “I have deliberately not named any piece in this show,” the artist clarifies. The Mirror Sees Best in the Dark, his first solo show after nearly nine years, has been building in his head ever since he visit

Q. This is your third biography. How do you feel this is different from the first two? Every biographer employs a different language and has a different emphasis—one wants to know more about my music, another is interested in my personal history, a t

Contemporary Madhubani artist Avinash Karn’s Nataraja is created using the tantric symbols of the Lingam and Yoni. The dynamic depiction of the androgynous Ardhanarishwar in a phallic dancing form is a choreography of metaphors. Korean artist Sun T

Where do we go from here, that is a question that the luxury industry asks itself periodically? The beginning of a decade is a good time to take stock of worldwide trends to figure out how they will affect consumer buying. Today’s millennials are dif

It’s that time of year when the bonhomie of the New Year may have worn a little thin but the patina of fatigue has still not tinted the cheer. So it’s a good a time as any to think about some retail therapy and serious buying. Whether your buys feed

Take a slow approach to beauty and let your inner goddess shine for that lovely glow. Taking the time to indulge in your Ayurvedic skincare rituals, steeped in the wisdom of indigenous knowledge as you step back from the maddening pace of life. Here

The luxury of time may not need a hard sell but we are soon closing in on a time when nobody really ‘needs’ a watch. Naturally, brands are getting progressively smart preempting thoughts and executions that will lure customers over the line and into

Shaken or stirred, it’s tough to ignore those colourful concoctions served in delightful stemware with surprising garnishes. As trends go, cocktails are in and gin cocktails are the cherry on the swizzle stick. However, gin cocktails may be in vogue,

Fashion is a fickle lover; an apt allegory for all that is untenable, unreliable and often unthinkable. But through this fleeting romance, its commitment to thrill and awe remains unshakeable. On board the luxury train, we pull out all the stops to b

There’s a niche for good-looking vehicles. Back in the 1980s the underpowered Toyota Sera (remember the gullwing doors?) nailed the concept and outsold far more capable cars. While people still buy cars and motorcycles based on appearances, mere good

Just when you think only a meat dish can pair with the Pinot Noir that Rajat Parr crafts at Sandhi and Domaine de la Cote at Santa Rita Hills in the United States, he picks the Cocogarganelli—a vegetarian dish of homemade pasta made with cocoa in the

The sea-facing salon at Taj Land’s End has got a makeover as Niu & Nau, which urges customers to feel ‘new’ from the moment they step in. Floral notes of the specially crafted fragrance Ocean Bliss fill the air as the well-trained staff recommends ha