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2 weeks ago | 
frontline.thehindu.com | E. Yaewon |Paige Morris |Mridula Vijayarangakumar |Divya Gandhi
South Korea’s Jeju Island often makes an appearance in Korean dramas as a dream destination. Every spring, when the island is bedecked with pink cherry blossoms, violet azaleas, and yellow canola flowers, millions of vacationing families and honeymooning couples troop there to enjoy the sights. But there is more to the island than romance: its earth holds memories of a terrible massacre that happened there in the spring of 1948.
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Dec 28, 2024 | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Mridula Vijayarangakumar |Vaishna Roy
In June this year, the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media (IIJNM) in Bengaluru shut down after 24 years of existence. The reason: the institute did not receive enough applications to proceed with the academic year. IIJNM was not alone. Convergence Institute of Media Management and IT Studies (Commits), again in Bengaluru, also downed shutters in 2023 after 23 years of operation. For others who are still fighting to keep the production line of journalists going, it is a grim battle.
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Nov 21, 2024 | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Anton Hur |Mridula Vijayarangakumar |Mujibur Rehman |Vaishna Roy
In physics, singularity is the point where known physical laws break down and predictions become impossible. The Big Bang theory suggests our universe emerged from such a singularity. That is an infinitely dense, hot point which expanded and cooled. At this moment, conventional concepts of time and space lose meaning. Anton Hur’s debut novel Toward Eternity begins with one such singularity in “the near future”. Mali Beeko, lead scientist at the Singularity Lab, discovers a way to beat cancer.
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Nov 19, 2024 | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Mridula Vijayarangakumar |Mujibur Rehman |Vaishna Roy
On October 17, 2023, the Supreme Court delivered its verdict in Supriyo v. Union of India. The Bench unanimously held that people of the LGBTQIA+ community had no fundamental right to marry and that the Court could not recognise their right to marry under the Special Marriage Act. LGBTQ+ advocates and those who support their cause were shattered, having hoped the Court would build upon previous rulings that decriminalised homosexuality to now recognise same-sex marriage.
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Sep 28, 2024 | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Mridula Vijayarangakumar |Aparna Eswaran |Silpa Satheesh |Arathi P.M
In Odisha’s town of Ganjam, there were once two girls who played on the beach, in peals of laughter as they ran into a glistening blue sea. Now, the beach exists only in their memories: the high tides have devoured the sand bed.
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Sep 14, 2024 | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Mridula Vijayarangakumar |Suhrid Sankar Chattopadhyay |Vaishna Roy
In a landmark report released on September 12, the International Labour Organization (ILO) revealed that for the first time in history, more than half of the world’s population is covered by some form of social protection. However, this milestone is overshadowed by the pressing need to address the climate crisis and ensure a just transition for all.
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Aug 5, 2024 | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Mridula Vijayarangakumar |Divya Gandhi |Vaishna Roy
Five years after the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, a new report by an independent forum of eminent citizens highlights persistent human rights concerns and democratic deficits in the region. The Forum for Human Rights in Jammu and Kashmir, comprising former judges, bureaucrats, and military officers, released its annual report on August 4, painting a grim picture of the situation on the ground.
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Jul 25, 2024 | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Mridula Vijayarangakumar |Divya Gandhi |Vaishna Roy
“How have the humanities helped researchers, activists, thinkers, and interrogators understand the contradictions, conundrums, and possibilities of our contemporary time?” Shedding light on the diverse and crucial contributions of the humanities across South Asia, particularly in India, a new report tries to answer this question, and more. The World Humanities Report, focussing on South Asia, brings together 13 critical essays and 12 video conversations with scholars and practitioners.
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Jun 20, 2024 | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Mridula Vijayarangakumar |Nirupama Subramanian |Vaishna Roy
Dehydration, heat exhaustion, fatal heat strokes. A recent study by Greenpeace India and the National Hawkers Federation, which surveyed 721 street vendors between April and May 2024, has shed light on the devastating impact of heatwaves on these informal sector workers in Delhi. Street vendors in Delhi work 11.84 hours per day, finds the study titled “Heat Havoc: Investigating the Impact on Street Vendors”; most of them do not take breaks.
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Apr 6, 2024 | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Rama Bijapurkar |Mridula Vijayarangakumar |Paranjoy Guha Thakurta |Abir Dasgupta
The Faberge egg, the curate egg, the khichdi, the elephant, and the blind men of Indostan, the glass half empty, and the glass half full—what do these metaphors all have in common? India. In her new book, Lilliput Land: How Small is Driving India’s Mega Consumption Story, management thinker Rama Bijapurkar strongly stresses India’s diversity as she navigates the complexities and opportunities of the Indian consumer market.
