‘Every civilisation has contributed to maths, we must own ours’

Stressing that India's Viksit Bharat goal cannot be achieved if we continue to teach colonial history to our children, celebrated mathematician Manjul Bhargava said it is essential to teach them the "correct" history, which includes making them aware of India's past achievements in science and mathematics, provide them with the right conditions for the development of scientific temperament and expose them to multidisciplinary education.

Bhargava, a mathematics professor at Princeton University in the US, is one of the key brains behind the framing of the National Education Policy (NEP) and setting up of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), the two major policy interventions aimed at reforming and modernising education, besides promoting scientific research.

Smart teachers more important than smart classrooms, says President

Educating Girls is the most effective way to ensure women-led development, President Droupadi Murmu said on Friday as she conferred the National Teachers' Awards upon 81 educators in the national capital on Teachers' Day.

Beas inflow highest ever, forced to release water downstream: Board

Amid unprecedented rainfall in its catchment areas, the Beas river in Himachal Pradesh recorded its highest-ever inflow of water at 11.70 billion cubic meters (BCM) between July 1 and September 5, Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) chairperson Manoj Tripathi Friday said. Pong dam, built on Beas, has a capacity of only 5.5 BCM, he said, adding the BBMB was forced to release excess water downstream.

CJI: Top court proactively responded to complex 21st century challenges

Chief Justice of India BR Gavai on Friday said the Supreme Court has not only safeguarded fundamental principles but also proactively responded to the complex and emerging challenges of the 21st century. Gavai credited the apex court's "broad, purposive, and context-sensitive approach."

Multipolarity and us

At the recent SCO summit, China and Russia supported India against the US with respect to Trump's tariffs.

Can we really take much comfort from their words?

The danger is that if they themselves cut a deal with Washington, the US President's bullying of India won't matter very much to them anymore. That's multipolarity - you cut your deals, and good luck to everyone else.

COMPLETE THE STORY

Indian Agriculture has suffered from lack of value addition and organised processing of raw produce enabling better integration from farm to fork. A major reason has been the multiplicity of taxes and state-level duties, cesses and surcharges. The latter levies have, thankfully, been subsumed under the unified Goods and Services Tax (GST) system since July 2017. That process has received a further fillip with the latest GST rate rationalisation exercise. Virtually every agricultural and processed food item will now attract either zero or 5 per cent duty. That includes ice cream, chocolates, biscuits, cookies, cakes, pastries, sugar confectioneries and corn flakes. These were all being taxed at 18 per cent in the mistaken belief that they are consumed by the better- off. The truth is, ice cream is a dairy product containing around 21 per cent milk solids. That's more than the 15 per cent in full-cream milk. The primary ingredient in bakery products and cereal flakes is, likewise, wheat and maize grown by farmers.

REACHING OUT TO PUNJAB

As a farmer and former finance minister, I can point to some practical realities facing the agricultural sector.

Wheat sowing will begin in a few weeks, but first we must pump out water and clear silt from flooded fields. For this, local administrations require diesel. Second, as a one-off measure, farmers should be provided free seeds and fertilisers. This provision should go to those whose fields were inundated, with subsidies for others, since all have incurred losses

Whose Urdu is it anyway?

Does the Academy, which presumably was established for the proliferation, appreciation and spread of Urdu, realise the harm it has done to itself by this act, which will only reinforce the belief that Urdu is, if not foreign, then a language spoken by Muslims, and only good Muslims at that? I really wish members of a "certain community" who were offended would realise that Akhtar's salvation or damnation is his problem, not theirs. This act of the Academy could well alienate the remaining few who wish to learn Urdu: 'Why learn it? It's their language after all!'.

We the teachers

The pen that finds its life from human fingers feeding ink into its body is different from the pen whose intestines are consumed, used and discarded. That relationship, of keeping and throwing, can be seen in their forms, in the difference between the body - and skin - of the fountain pen and a biro. One looks for a button to match the rest on the shirt when it gets lost. That effort, along with the enterprise of sewing, makes the shirt a little more valued than it might have been before. And so with relationships between humans. Repair, with its rituals of attention, renews affection - the old becomes temporarily new. Repairing requires skills - of the hands, but, more importantly, of the mind, for it to return over and over again to the same place of tear, injury and incompletion; it is also a gesture towards a renewal of commitment, to carry along with what has been given instead of raising a ticket for a new purchase. Repair, then, is a form of updating.

India's diesel exports to Europe surge ahead of EU ban on Russian oil products

As The Europe Union prepares to ban petroleum products refined from Russian crude from January 2026, India's diesel exports to Europe jumped to an 11-month high in August, according to vessel tracking data. Industry insiders and experts believe that India's petroleum product exports to Europe, particularly diesel, should remain robust in the months leading up to the EU ban as the continent would be stockpiling fuels and mitigating anticipated supply shortfalls.

Boost for small cars, mini SUVs in GST 2.0 reforms

Under the next-generation reforms cleared by the GST Council, some of India's best selling cars and motorcycles will see a reduction in tax incidence, which is expected to boost consumption in a sector that is seen as a crucial marker of domestic economic growth. GST 2.0, announced late Wednesday, includes a broad two-slab structure of 5 per cent and 18 per cent - with a demerit rate of 40 per cent rate for super luxury, sin and demerit goods.

A 15-year-old computer whiz is becoming Catholic Church's first millennial saint

At a Catholic school in Pope Leo XIV's hometown, fifth graders read comic books about Carlo Acutis' life titled "Digital Disciple."

They draw pictures of what the teenage Italian computer whiz might have had as his cellphone wallpaper. They discuss the miracles that allegedly occurred thanks to Acutis' intercession.

What Rajasthan's coaching centre Bill says, why it matters

The Rajasthan Assembly this week passed a Bill to regulate the coaching centre industry in the state, and to "create a healthier and more supportive environment" for students to pursue "their academic and professional goals".

STORY OF U.S. 'DEPT OF WAR', THE NEW NAME TRUMP PLANS FOR DoD

Us President Donald Trump has said he will soon sign an executive order to rename the Department of Defense (DoD) as the Department of War.

Trump first floated the idea in August, when he said that the Department of War sounded "like a better name". "Defence is too defensive...and we want to be defensive, but we want to be offensive too if we have to be," he said.

The move underscores "Trump's efforts to reshape the military to align with his goals of projecting a more aggressive image by showcasing war-fighting capabilities," The New York Times reported.

Why Punjab keeps flooding

Punjab, drained by three perennial rivers and a number of smaller tributaries and seasonal rivers, is naturally prone to flooding. But the devastation is made worse by governance and coordination issues.

China's massive military parade, and capabilities and concerns it displayed

A Nearly 70-Minute-long parade was held in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on Wednesday to commemorate 80 years of the end of World War II (1939-45).

In his address, delivered in the presence of leaders of 26 countries, including those of Russia, North Korea, and Iran, President Xi Jinping invoked history to emphasise the strength of the Chinese nation, which he said would not be "bullied".

The reference to the United States seemed obvious - indeed, President Donald Trump responded on social media, asking Xi to "please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America".

The parade was meant to showcase China's growing military arsenal. Anushka Saxena, a staff research analyst whose work at the Takshashila Institution focuses on the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), told The Indian Express that while a parade is not a "metric of combat efficacy," it still reveals important information and signals.