The View From India Newsletter

Ananth Krishnan analyzes global issues through an Indian lens.

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What are muscle cramps?

15 hours ago | thehindu.com | Vasudevan Mukunth

A: A cramp is a sudden, involuntary tightening of a muscle or a group of muscles that a person can’t immediately relax. Because the muscle locks up all at once, it often feels like a sharp knot and can hurt for a few seconds to several minutes. Muscle cramps occur in parts of the legs or hands as a result of dehydration, exercise or low potassium or magnesium levels. Menstrual cramps in the uterus are hormone-driven contractions to expel the uterine lining.
TNCC president calling on Ramadoss fuels speculation of PMK allying with DMK-front

23 hours ago | thehindu.com | Udhav Naig

At a time when speculation is rife that the PMK may split — one faction under its founder S. Ramadoss and another under his son Anbumani Ramadoss — and possibly join rival electoral alliances, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K. Selvaperunthagai on Friday met Dr. Ramadoss at his residence in Thailapuram in Villupuram. The unannounced meeting created a flutter in Tamil Nadu’s political circles.
What is next for Iran’s nuclear programme?

1 day ago | thehindu.com | Vasudevan Mukunth

After its recent airstrikes against Iran’s facilities in Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan, the U.S. has been claiming it has set back the Islamic Republic’s nuclear weapons ambitions by decades and nullified the country’s ability to make a nuclear weapon of mass destruction (WMD).
Daily Quiz | On the Russian battleship Potemkin

1 day ago | thehindu.com | Vasudevan Mukunth

Q: Name the war the Russian Empire was fighting at the time the crew of the Potemkin mutinied. Russia suffered heavy losses during one particular battle in this war, forcing it to sue for peace and sending crew morale in its naval fleet plummeting. This was one of the causes of the mutiny.
Bengaluru’s Saji Varghese Makes 7 Lakh Eco-Friendly Coconut Straws Monthly

1 day ago | thehindu.com | Nidhi Adlakha

A few years ago, a professor’s walk inside Bengaluru’s Christ University led to a discovery. Saji Varghese, associate professor in the University’s Department of English, noticed several fallen coconut leaves and was reminded of his prior conversation with a visitor from the Netherlands on the single-use plastic menace. ‘Why not turn them into straws?’, Saji wondered. In 2020, he launched Sunbird Straws with Chirag MG and Sandeep U, two of his students, as co-founders.
Is India plumbing the depths of groundwater?

1 day ago | thehindu.com | Vasudevan Mukunth

India is the world’s largest groundwater guzzler. It extracted around 245 billion cubic metres (BCM) for irrigating cropland alone in 2011 – about 25% of the world’s groundwater consumption. More recently, as of 2023, the annual groundwater recharge was around 449 BCM while the extraction rate was 241 BCM, meaning India is drawing roughly 60% of whatever groundwater is available every year.
Meet the Artisans Behind India’s Iconic Kolhapuri Chappals

2 days ago | thehindu.com | Nidhi Adlakha

On June 25, as India’s GI-tagged Kolhapuri chappal featured in Prada’s Spring/Summer 2026 show in Milan, it made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Where was the credit? In Maharashtra’s Kolhapur, over 10,000 artisan families have been crafting these chappals by hand for generations. Famous for their use of vegetable-tanned leather, intricate braiding techniques of the toe loops, and use of indigenous designs, they also received the GI tag in 2019.
Check out Manam Chocolate’s outpost in Delhi

2 days ago | thehindu.com | Satarupa Paul

A miniature figurine of cacao farmer BV Rao greets you at Manam Chocolate’s striking new space in Delhi — an emblem of the brand’s deep-rooted, farmer-first philosophy. For me, it instantly stirs a vivid memory: standing beside the real BV Rao last year, amid the lush landscape of West Godavari in Andhra Pradesh.
Why does the Axiom-4 mission need 28 hours to reach the ISS?

2 days ago | thehindu.com | Vasudevan Mukunth

At 12.01 pm IST on June 25, a crew capsule containing four astronauts, including India’s Group Capt. Shubhanshu Shukla on his first spaceflight, lifted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s spaceport in Florida. The lift-off marked the start of the long-awaited Axiom-4 mission. The launch was smooth. By the time the rocket’s two stages had completed their work, the crew capsule — called Dragon — was travelling at several thousand kilometres per hour.
Science for all: New research opens doors to upcycling plastic waste into paracetamol

2 days ago | thehindu.com | Rohan Chakravarty |Vasudevan Mukunth

(This article forms a part of the Science for All newsletter that takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Subscribe now!)Scientists at the University of Edinburgh have found a way to make a classic lab reaction, called the Lossen rearrangement, happen safely inside living Escherichia coli cells — thus opening a potential new path to recycling plastic waste into valuable products.