India has improved its ranking in the World Happiness Report 2025, climbing to 118th from 126th last year. However, it still lags behind neighbouring countries like Nepal, Pakistan, and Ukraine. Finland has topped the list for the eighth consecutive year. The report emphasizes the impact of caring and sharing on happiness, highlighting how sharing meals increases happiness. It also notes a decline in wellbeing in the United States, which has dropped to its lowest ever position at 24th.
The 2024 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA, a new class of tiny RNA molecules that play a crucial role in gene regulation.
From the Sensex firms, Tata Steel, Power Grid, NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Reliance Industries and Adani Ports were among the biggest gainers. Asian Paints and Tata Consultancy Services were the only laggards.
Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has taken on new academic roles at the University of Oxford and Stanford University, both alma maters of the Conservative Party member of Parliament. Sunak will join Oxford's Blavatnik School of Government as a member of the World Leaders Circle and a Distinguished Fellow, while at Stanford, he will be the William C Edwards Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution. Sunak expressed his enthusiasm for contributing to both institutions, highlighting their leading research in global challenges, economic policy, and technological advancements. He emphasized the significance of his education at both universities in shaping his life and career. The appointments have been welcomed by both institutions, with leaders praising Sunak's expertise and experience in global affairs and economic policy.
India-Turkiye ties are strained over Ankara's Islamabad tilt, its arms links with Pakistan, and fallout from the Pahalgam terror attack.
'When Dr Murli Manohar Joshi wanted to start a course on astrology, Jayant was the first one to have the courage to stand up and say astrology is not science.' 'That's a very rare quality -- to stand up to authority.'
Will the Draft UGC Regulations 2025 undermine our universities? Unlikely, notes Professor Mohammad Sajjad, citing how AMU has utilised its exceptional autonomy.
A group of faculty members of Ashoka University has written to its vice chancellor claiming that free thought within universities in India is in crisis today and demanded that all decisions on matters related to academic freedom should be put on hold till the promised committee for academic freedom is in place.
'You can imagine for India what Shuks means not just to the billions of people in India but the entire Indian diaspora around the world.'
The Pahalgam massacre highlights the evolution of terrorism into a multi-domain challenge. India's response must similarly evolve -- from tactical retaliation to comprehensive strategic deterrence. To establish a credible and sustained deterrent, India must also carry out continuous kinetic operations, both overt and covert, suggest Sakshit Raina and Rahul Mishra. To establish a credible and sustained deterrent, India must also carry out continuous kinetic operations, both overt and covert, suggest Sakshit Raina & Rahul Mishra.
A scientist working at a government research institute funded by the University Grants Commission shares his experience.
'What is fascinating about Aamir sir is that the audience in him is still alive and throbbing.' 'He still cries. He still laughs.'
Buying stocks during a dip, says Amar Nandu, research analyst, Samco Securities, can lead to higher compounding returns when the uptrend begins.
Gen Sharma served as the Army chief from 1988-1990 and was a colonel when he took part in the 1971 war.
331,602 Indians are studying in the US, making India the 'top sender' of international students to America for the first time in 15 years, as it overtook China for the academic year 2023-2024.
A study published in the journal Environment and Planning F has revealed that cameras and drones originally intended for conservation activities in Corbett National Park are being misused by local government officials and men to surveil women without consent. The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Cambridge, found that forest rangers intentionally flew drones over local women to scare them and prevent them from collecting natural resources, despite their legal right to do so. The researchers argue that these technologies, deployed under the guise of wildlife monitoring, are being used to intimidate and exert power over women, invading their privacy and altering their behavior in the forest. This has had a negative impact on women's mental health, with one woman interviewed for the study being killed in a tiger attack.
Artificial Intelligence, innovation and next-generation technologies figured prominently during the high-stakes discussion between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump at the White House, as the two sides announced transformative measures, including the US-India TRUST initiative, roadmap on accelerating AI infrastructure and INDUS Innovation, to boost tech ties.
'I always knew that the only thing that mattered to her was genuinely our health, happiness and welfare.' 'We never heard the 'Log kya kahenge? narrative.'
Banu Mushtaq's "Heart Lamp" is the first Kannada title to be shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025. The collection of short stories, translated from Kannada to English by Deepa Bhasthi, tells stories of encroaching modernity and the lives of Muslim women in southern India. The judges praised Mushtaq's "witty, vivid, colloquial, moving and excoriating" style of writing.
Activist short-seller Nathan Anderson, known for his high-profile campaigns against the likes of Adani Group, said he is closing his firm, Hindenburg Research, not because of any threat -- legal or otherwise -- and that he stands by all its reports.
Retail investors have been the hardest hit in the recent market downturn, with stocks where they hold over 20% falling 45% from their 52-week highs.
Food budgets in urban areas spent less on protein as compared to beverages and processed foods, reveals the Household Consumption Expenditure survey data for 2023-24.
The resilience of the economy and strength of domestic demand will continue to make India an engine of growth amid the rapidly evolving global trade landscape as a result of US tariffs, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in London on Tuesday.
Many unauthorised migrants originate from Punjab and Gujarat, states known for high migration aspirations rather than political instability.
Of these 212 million Indians, 133 million have untreated diabetes. Undiagnosed diabetes has been linked with complications such as diabetic retinopathy which can cause vision loss and blindness.
With its age-old fascination for education, southern states have done better than the North. Start-ups, IT hubs, and industry majors setting up shop have changed the face of the South. Nearly 79% of global offices set up by international conglomerates in India are in the South. Almost 46% of tech unicorns are from the South. The GDP per person in the South is 4.2 times higher than the North. None of these indicators can be ignored by any central government, whatever the political compulsions, notes Ramesh Menon.
India has its share of both large tech companies and large national laboratories, but why is it that these don't seem to be at the forefront of any innovation news headlines? asks Ajit Balakrishnan.
'We want to hide it (by saying) we are too busy in our lives, we have other things to attend to, we have families.' 'But they all had families, including Jyotiba or Mahatma Gandhi, or anybody who challenged the system.'
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla Shukla says Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma -- the first Indian to travel to space --has been advising him about the space flight.
While other backward classes had a share of 9 per cent, there were no scheduled tribe billionaires.
Indians hoping to study in Canada should think twice because many students have ended up in substandard colleges with no job prospects despite spending lakhs of rupees, resulting in depression and suicide, India's top envoy there says.
'The strategic direction of the relationship will not be affected. But the perception has been affected.'
This is the story of a man who fought racism and casteism throughout his life to become a professor of Bharata Natyam at the premier centre for performing arts in India, the Kerala Kalamandalam.
The Indian government has approved the construction of a third launch pad at Sriharikota, capable of sending heavier spacecraft into orbit. This new facility will support India's ambitious space program, including the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission and a lunar landing. The launch pad will be built at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre and is expected to be operational within four years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said a country can aim for high achievements only if it has a big vision and asserted that technology upgradation should be to empower the poor. Speaking after launching via video link three PARAM Rudra supercomputers, developed indigenously under National Supercomputing Mission, Modi asserted that today's India is carving new opportunities in the infinite sky of possibilities. Modi said his government has taken steps to ensure research in technology benefits the common man.
What is pushing students to take this extreme step?
The 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to David Baker, Demis Hassabis, and John M Jumper, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on Wednesday.
The Nobel Assembly on Tuesday said in a tweet, 'The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics with one half to Roger Penrose and the other half jointly to Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez.'
With Google announcing the milestone of Willow - a state-of-the-art quantum computing chip that can solve complex problems in under five minutes, a computation so complex it would have taken a supercomputer around 10 septillion (10^25) years to complete - tech experts believe this breakthrough could impact artificial intelligence (AI), particularly by making it more accessible to the masses. However, industry players caution that it may take several years for this innovation to become commercially viable.
The Budget has given signals that India is sensitive to the US needs and willing to walk the extra mile, but if need be, we should respond in equal measure as a sovereign nation, notes Ajay Srivastava.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances