By MOHAMMED SHAFEEQ: A t a time of widespread agricultural distress caused by successive droughts, unremunerative farming and debt-trapped rural economies, a young man with his mobile app is showing how change can be brought in the life of farmers at the grassroot level. In 2016, V Naveen Kumar, who had no personal knowledge of agriculture, was so moved by the suicide of a farmer in a village in his native Warangal district of Telangana that for the next three months he ran around ..

 By ASIM KAMAL:  The bitterly fought election campaign might have a sting but scorpions in a dargah here don’t - not even when you pick them up. Syed Sharfuddin Shah Wilayat’s dargah in western Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha is where long held beliefsin the power of miracles meet everyday rationality. And where the lines of what you know and what you see sometimes begin to blur. Locals say the dargah (shrine) is the everyday miracle of poisonous scorpions that don’t ..

  Since Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first summitted Mt Everest in 1953, more than 4,000 mountaineers have reached the highest point on earth. They probably never imagined that the giant they summitted would one day turn into a dumpster. When recreational mountaineering skyrocketed in the 1980s, the ugly side of the business started becoming apparent. Every year, as the spring develops, Everest is swamped with tourists. Tour groups, together with teams of Sherpas, unite to begin ..

  By RITA AGGARWAL: Q. I recently cleared class 12 exams and preparing for JEE Advance now. What are the courses offered for research in Physics after 12 Std. Actually I am interested in both Physics and Mathematics. So is there a way I can study both of them in the same course? Or would I have to study both of them separately? Can I get this course at IISC Bengaluru or IISER Pune, Kolkata etc. Kindly help me.  Ans. It is good to know that you are interested in pure science and ..

By RITA AGGARWAL:    In the din of the large open style office hall, a man was pouring over a sheet of papers for long hours, silently, quietly doing his work unperturbed by the noise even during the tea break. As a new comer to this office he stood out starkly asIwatched him closely for a week. He maintained the same demeanour on work and was actually quite friendly when approached. I thought he would be a loner and a recluse but far from it. I could not help satisfyin..

  By ASIT BHAGAT: We all recognise that fast growing Cities need a sustainable supply of usable water. However with global water resources remaining constant but its quality and its management deteriorating, water is mankind’s nemesis.  The sight of women carrying pots to fetch water from far away distances becomes common, especially in the countryside, during summer. Miles have to be walked to fetch water as all possible sources in the neighborhood go dry or the government ..

   R enowned author Vasant Kallola whose book ‘‘It’s okay to fail, my son’ has achieved a status of National Best Seller, is ready to take readers to the postMahabharata era with his latest book Chiranjivi - The Beginning. Set in the backdrop of War of Mahabharata, ‘Chiranjivi’ tells an interesting story of a sage, Ashwatthama who had been living through the curse of Shri Krishna. He was living a miserable life with a permanent wound on his forehead ..

    By RITA AGGARWAL: Q I am a 20-yr-old girl and I am feeling extremely low since a month. My boyfriend cheated on me and even my best friend ditched me. Both are different cases, but I feel used physically and mentally. I have entrance exam for my PG course in May and I am not able to concentrate on studies. I had asked him several times that if he was seeing another girl, but he never told me. I feel bad that even after being so honest and frank with him, he cheated ..

    By POOJA SALVI: “Intricately designed stages in large, palatial gardens, rituals by a breezy seashore, hosting hundreds, even thousands of guests in international locations is Big Fat Indian Wedding. ” I ntricately designed stages in large, palatial gardens, rituals by a breezy seashore, hosting hundreds, even thousands, of guests in international locations is the Big Fat Indian Wedding. PoojaSalvi digs a little deeper into the planning of such weddings, ..

  By RITA AGGARWAL:  Q. I am totally confused about my career. My parents want me to take up Commerce and become a CA, as my father is one. But I am interested in Humanities and like English literature. No one supports me and instead tease me for it. I am very unhappy and confused. Is it a bad career option? Ans. Arts and humanities are great courses to learn and study. It has many subjects as an option. English language, as well as other languages are great to opt for and make ..

The only ceiling in life is The one you give iT..

  By T G L IYER,  T he world has changed around us. It is not anybody’s fault and we can’t get mad at anyone. All we can do is to understand what is happening and respond to the situation to the best of our abilities. In a scene in Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid they were trying to escape the Federal Marshals who were tracking them. Butch and Sundance found themselves at the edge at the jagged cliff and Bullets were flying over their head. Butch looked into the ..

  By RITA AGGARWAL,     P erhaps this is a language all would understand - assets and liabilities! If I say ‘maturity’ I have reason to believe that even 10 year olds today feel they are matured! ‘Don’t tell me - I know everything’, ‘don’t teach me, don’t advice me’- for I know it all syndrome exists in this age of technological catastrophe. Kids think no end of themselves, teenagers behave like adults ready to ..

   By T G L IYER, Mark Twain said: “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that but the really great make you feel that you too can become great. Some people in life take you down a notch or two. That is because they feel inferior to you. The only way they can build themselves is by tearing you down. They can’t see themselves accomplishing anything great and so they don’t want you to either. Always try to build relationship ..

    Men and women from different fields talk about how they took the resolution to stick to their diet plans and how it benefited their physical and mental health In 2008, Tyra Banks took down trolls who had body shamed her after a photograph of her in a swimsuit had gone viral. She ended her stirring speech on The Tyra Banks Show with the ultimate take-down to everyone who had criticised her for her body - “Kiss my fat a**!” A decade later and women are still ..

Green! Blue. Aquamarine. Turquoise. Grey! Take away the colours from God’s palette and paint the skies and ocean of the Emerald archipelago - The Andamans, the dream destination of many a visitor to this heaven of tourism! It is a one and half hour flight from Kolkata to Port Blair. As the plane glided down and cascaded over the little city, the first view from above seemed ethereally fascinating ..

       By MOHAMMED SHAFEEQ,   F rom tribal hamlets to Paris, Araku coffee has come a long way and is set to lure the taste buds of New York’s coffee aficionados this year. Started as a livelihood project ..