The cost of the war is being counted not in the corridors of power in Washington or Tehran, but in Firozabad's darkened furnace rooms, Howrah's idle casting sheds, and a barbershop in Kochi where the wait is suddenly, inexplicably, an hour long, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War.
'The March correction was clearly due to the war and with prospects of that coming to a conclusion, there is a natural rally.'
'The unregulated marketing has to stop. People are getting recommendations for this from gym trainers, from marriage counsellors -- that is simply unacceptable.' ''There are many ways to lose weight -- eat less, fast, exercise, eat healthy. That is how you lose weight.'
The Chhattisgarh government is shifting its focus to the development of the Bastar region after claiming the elimination of armed Naxalism. The plan includes preserving tribal culture, creating economic opportunities for youth, and strengthening the economy through forest produce and women-led self-help groups.
'The BJP must have decided to replace Nitish with a green signal from JD-U leaders close to him.'
The ceasefire is still technically holding, to the extent that no overt hostilities have been reported yet, but the rhetoric has hardened dangerously. The week ahead will also clarify whether the Islamabad failure was a negotiating tactic or whether Washington has genuinely locked itself into a position from which the only exits are climb-down, escalation, or the slow bleed of a new status quo that nobody chose and nobody controls. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
'The Supreme Court stated that once the delimitation plan is approved by Parliament and receives assent of the President, it cannot be undone. Nor can it be modified.'
'It is going to be a negative vote against the government rather than a positive vote for the UDF.'
'Pakistan's is the only military-controlled nuclear weapons programme in the world.' 'As people get radicalised, the risk of a brigadier or pilot taking matters into their own hands is a real concern.'
'All this talk about women's reservation and Nari Shakti is a mirage.' 'It is a classic Trojan horse to bring about an alteration in the structure of political competition -- to the enduring advantage of the BJP.'
'Our government is committed to addressing it firmly while protecting the rights of genuine citizens.'
'Credit growth in India remains in double digits, even though corporate borrowing is subdued.' 'Corporate credit is weak because companies are cash-rich and cautious amid global uncertainty.'
From styling icons like M S Dhoni and Virat Kohli to launching India's first horror film festival, Sapna Bhavnani's journey stretches far beyond cricket and Bollywood -- into fearless self-expression, bold filmmaking and unapologetic reinvention.
'Many have contributed in terms of gold and silver. Ladies in big numbers have contributed their home belongings and gold.' 'Some have donated their cars too.'
The core issues to be settled -- access to Hormuz, Israel's aggression in Lebanon, the question of Iran's nuclear programme, sanctions relief and compensation -- are thorny enough to require weeks of patient negotiation. The most likely outcome of the opening sessions is that both sides take the measure of each other, establish what is and is not negotiable, and return home without having broken anything. That would count as progress.
'Secularism or social development or social justice is no longer part of development, according to the youth in Kerala.' 'They are concerned about material wellbeing and material welfare, and they believe that Narendra Modi is capable to giving them that kind of development.' 'So, they don't have any ideological hesitation in voting for him.'
'People have lost hope of finding justice in this state ... I want to give these victims, their families, the people of this state, a voice.'
'American stature has been reduced because they have not been able to achieve their aims.'
'My resignation is a larger governance and governance-plus kind of an issue, which the board of directors of the bank should be introspecting.'
The delegations from the US and Iran head to Islamabad on Friday, carrying a ceasefire that is already fraying, a Strait that is technically open and practically closed, and a negotiating agenda that would challenge even parties actually negotiating in good faith, which these groups are not. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
'The jail staff told me Kasab was served only jail food and not biryani.' 'They told me that Kasab was beaten regularly after court proceedings.' 'And they filled Kasab's bottle with urine so that whenever he felt thirsty he used to drink urine.'
Ajay Kela, CEO of Wadhwani Foundation, highlights India's significant opportunity to lead in the diffusion of technology, creating national-scale use cases that reach millions of end-users. He also discusses the role of deep-tech startups and SMEs in job creation and the importance of upskilling initiatives.
'He is not accessible even to his family, his wife or his mother or his father. No one.' 'He has created a barrier so that nobody can go and talk to him.' 'This kind of a mentality is a big question mark in politics.'
'Why can't we work towards a dignified end of the person when a cure is not possible and the end is inevitable?'
Nikkhil Advani, a master of long-form storytelling, reflects on Freedom At Midnight and what it was to make a two-part series on the most difficult period of India's history in these polarised times.
'The BJP is keeping its options open and that the final decision is still tightly held.' 'That is consistent with the party's tendency to preserve suspense, avoid premature factional conflict, and use leadership selection as a way of resetting internal hierarchies.'
Learners in India prefer to pursue newer courses, such as Gen AI by building apps and code using the technology, along with learning about it.
'You are scared about the next film: 'Will it work? Will it be as good as my previous film?' Deep inside, I think everybody is scared.'
'Nitish Kumar may be marginalised as an office-holder, but that is not the same thing as the disappearance of Nitish Kumar's politics.'
'India is at a critical juncture in this century. I want to be a part of the diplomatic team that works to make India great.'
'What we have yet to see on either the US or the Iranian side is willingness to compromise on their ultimate demands and the flexibility to reach an agreement to end the war.
'India's ties with Israel have to do with defence and general technology.' 'The war changes nothing in what India and Israel hope to get from the relationship.' 'It's not as though India will get significantly more benefits from Iran if India abandons Israel at this time.'
This weekend, Donald Trump has begun to say the quiet part out loud -- that he wants to take control of Iran's oil, a formulation more in line with his robber-baron style of international relations.
'In such a scenario, Iran could proclaim itself victor, rebuild, re-enforce its diminished regional proxies to further destabilise neighbouring nations and take control of the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.'
16 days into the war, US forces were already running out of ground-attack missiles and Israel is about to expend its entire Arrow interceptor missiles by end March. To be sure, the Iranians are watching closely and that explains their defiant stance that 'Iran will end the war when it decides to do so and when its conditions are met', notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'I made a big fuss about playing Manoj Kumar's mother, but he had made up his mind. He said he would wait until I made up my mind. I was about 40 then. He was so large and I was so tiny!'
'We were in a heavily nuclearised environment. China had tested for Pakistan in the 1980s and helped their missile programme stay just one step behind us.'
'Much later when I came to Afghanistan, I realised that there were songs in Bollywood films.'
The LPG squeeze on India's restaurant sector is the quotidian face of a deeper crisis.
'Much will depend on the position of the United States.' 'It will have to be seen to what extent the US will be more interested in achieving some form of a deal and to what extent Israel will be allowed to continue to carry out both airstrikes and the killing of Iranian officials.'
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