While we have gained privacy and independence, we have lost the ease and warmth of everyday connection. As I look around at life in today’s high-rise buildings, particularly in a dense and fast-moving city like Mumbai, one thing becomes increasingly and unmistakably clear—our homes have grown taller and more vertical, but our connections, in many ways, have grown quieter and more distant. We live stacked floor above floor, often separated not just by concrete walls and closed

What nature takes centuries to build can be destroyed in years and once lost, it is rarely recovered. If you think the battle for land belongs to history, think again. In ancient times, kingdoms and nations fought wars over territory because land meant power, survival, wealth and control. That struggle has not disappeared; it has simply changed form. In Goa, the fight for land continues without armies or swords. Today, paperwork, zoning changes, permissions, speculative deals

Kolhapur: Even as the state government clears the first tranche of Rs 1,500 crore under an ambitious Rs 5,000-crore plan for the development of Kolhapur as a major pilgrimage centre, the ground reality for devotees tells a far less reassuring story. Each month, the temple’s donation boxes swell by an estimated Rs two crore, while crores more lie parked in bank deposits earning interest. Yet, for the thousands who arrive daily to seek the blessings of Goddess Ambabai, the jour

On May 6, 1929, a child was born in Cavel, between Kalbadevi and Girgaum, Mumbai, who would later inspire confidence in policing and make a difference to people's lives. He would instil fear among Mumbai's underworld, communal rioters in Gujarat and terrorists in Punjab with his strategic planning and tactics. That is Julio Francis Ribeiro for you, who will now turn 97 years. After his studies at St Xavier's School, Mumbai, he completed B. Com at Sydenham College of Commerce

Heat, mangoes, quiet afternoons, and small lessons in growing up—this is what gives a Mumbai summer its meaning. Summer in Mumbai arrives with its familiar mix of complaints and comforts. The rising mercury, humid air, and relentless sun often leave us feeling drained, weary, and irritable. Afternoons seem longer, energy runs lower, and tempers can wear thin. Yet, amid the oppressive heat, there is always a sweet silver lining—mangoes. The king of fruits brings a sense of joy

From young girls in cars to grandmothers in electric autos, women are quietly reclaiming the road—and with it, a deeper sense of freedom. There is a profound, poetic justice in the sight of a woman behind the wheel. For generations, the "driver’s seat" was the ultimate symbol of masculine autonomy—the one place where a man was the undisputed captain of his journey. But in 2026, that seat is being reclaimed by those who have always known how to navigate the most complex journe

Mahatma Basweshwar, the 12 th century philosopher and social reformer, articulated a vision of society grounded in equality, dignity of labor, rational devotion and service to humanity. He was the prime minister who preferred pavement; he was the voice of the voiceless. His timeless wisdom is needed today to reshape the modern India. His principles of Kayaka (work as worship) and Dasoha (sharing and service) remain profoundly relevant in addressing contemporary challenges

AI generated image Kolhapur: The state Cabinet’s approval on Tuesday of a proposal to alter the structure of the Maharashtra Medical Council has triggered strong backlash from the state’s medical fraternity. Many termed it as an attempt to curtail institutional democracy. At the heart of the controversy is the government’s move to replace the existing electoral mechanism with a fully nominated body. Doctors argue that if elections to the Council are effectively scrapped in f

Thane: In a tragic accident that claimed 11 lives within moments, a passenger van collided head-on with a cement mixer on the Kalyan–Ahilyanagar National Highway near Rayate village in Kalyan taluka, leaving the entire Thane district shaken. The impact was so severe that all passengers in the van died on the spot, turning multiple families’ lives upside down. The accident took place on a bridge over the Ulhas River. The van was completely crushed, reduced to a mangled heap

AI generated image Mumbai: In a move aimed at modernizing urban governance and facilitating faster project clearances, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is set to launch an advanced artificial intelligence (AI)-driven facility dedicated to the city’s real estate sector. “The introduction of this AI-led facility marks a significant step towards streamlining processes and enhancing transparency in Mumbai’s real estate ecosystem. By leveraging technology, we aim to re

Open a research paper today and you may feel you are decoding a message rather than reading a sentence. A single paragraph can appear as a string of capital letters, each representing something important, yet together making the text harder to follow. What begins as simplification often ends in confusion. We encounter such abbreviations not only in scientific writing but also in news reports, government policies, corporate communication, and everyday conversations. Acronyms,

AI generated image Mumbai : A quiet revolution is unfolding in Navi Mumbai’s Belapur – one that converts old clothes into new livelihoods - and transforms the lives of over 150 women participating in it. The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), has set up India’s first municipal Textile Recovery Facility (TRF) under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0” – empowering many humble home-makers and other women to rewrite their futures. Working

Latur: G. Thikanna, serving in the Andaman Police Department as an Assistant Sub-Inspector in Communications was posted on one of the most remote and lesser-inhabited islands in the world to complete a one-month tenure. This island lies about 140 nautical miles away from the capital city, far from his family and loved ones in Port Blair. Life there is challenging, with no mobile network and no regular power supply. The only source of electricity is a portable generator that r

Deceased belong to same family, six children included Nashik: Nine members of a family, including six children, were killed after their car fell into an open well in Nashik district, police said on Saturday. The accident occurred in the Shivaji Nagar area of Dindori town around 10 pm on Friday, an official said. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed grief over the deaths of children in the tragic incident, and said that he has ordered an immediate safety audit of open we

A new toll technology cannot become an excuse to ignore old flaws in road quality, contract recovery and commuter rights. Over the past 18 years, I have examined the toll tax system and identified numerous discrepancies. Globally, tolling is accepted as an efficient way to finance road infrastructure. In India, however, the model operates differently, with persistent concerns over transparency and the integrity of its accounting. To finance highways across the country, the ce

War widens every fault line, but the status of women bears the deepest fracture. War does not affect all bodies in the same way. It reorganises power, access, and survival along lines that already exist. Gender is one of those lines. When conflict begins, it does not create new inequalities. It sharpens the old ones and makes them harder to ignore. The philosophical case for taking this seriously is straightforward. If a society's baseline distribution of rights, resources, a

A liberalism that polices cultural expression risks becoming what it once claimed to resist. Two recent pieces of journalism - the first by eminent columnist Shobhaa De in ‘The Print’ (March 24), titled “Why Arjun Rampal saying ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ should worry Bollywood audiences,” and the second by Rahul Bedi in ‘The Wire’ (March 26), titled “Deeply Problematic: Military Veterans React to Senior Army Officer’s Lecture on Bhagavad Gita” - illustrate a section of our intellec

Mumbai: In a move that has sparked both commercial and cultural concerns, the Western Railway (WR) has ordered at least 55 iconic AH Wheeler (AHW) stalls across its Mumbai Central Division to shut shop from March 31 and vacate their premises within 72 hours, sources said. The directive follows the expiry of the five-year contract granted to these stalls from April 1, 2021. A notification issued on Saturday by Assistant Commercial Manager Yajush Acharya directed concerned stat

As we curate our content, the deeper question is whether content is quietly curating us. Few can manage a 90-hour workweek, but most would easily go beyond a 90-hour social media week. With our growing appetite for social media and instant commerce, the real question is no longer just how we consume, but how much. In an age where every swipe, click and scroll is engineered to hold attention, overconsumption is becoming less a habit and more a way of life. What once felt priva

Despite higher quotas, supply fails to reach ground Kolhapur: Despite official assurances and a 20 per cent increase in gas allocation for hotels and food processing units, operators in Kolhapur say supplies remain elusive. With distributors citing administrative curbs even as stocks are available, the crisis has pushed nearly 4,000 establishments to the brink — threatening 80,000 livelihoods and casting a shadow over the city’s tourism-dependent economy. The situation stands