News With a Wink
Panama came to Bengaluru expecting an international football friendly. What they apparently received was an unexpected endurance event featuring buses, traffic signals, road congestion and a two-hour sightseeing tour of Bengaluru—without actually booking one. The result? A 1-1 draw against India, with Panama coach Thomas Christiansen pointing to the city’s notorious traffic and complicated logistics as major factors behind his…
When the Anti-Terrorism Branch Had to Fight the Real Face of the Beauty Industry Pimpri-Chinchwad recently discovered that the phrase “beauty is only skin deep” may need a legal footnote. The city’s Anti-Terrorism Branch (ATB) raided a cosmetics shop and seized 23 packs of a beauty cream labelled “Made in Pakistan.” The products, reportedly priced at ₹550 each, were allegedly counterfeit and unauthorised for…
Shah Rukh Khan went to Lalbaugcha Raja for blessings, but somehow the internet ended up seeking answers. The Bollywood superstar recently visited Mumbai’s iconic Lalbaugcha Raja pandal with wife Gauri Khan, daughter Suhana Khan and longtime manager Pooja Dadlani. Shah Rukh arrived in traditional attire, offered prayers and participated in the festive atmosphere. But amid the aarti, crowds, security and…
Sometimes a film promotion is supposed to be about the film. Sometimes it is about the actor. And sometimes, quite unexpectedly, it becomes a referendum on hairstyles, cultural influence and the international politics of hair. Actor Nani appears to have discovered the third category while promoting his upcoming film The Paradise. At a promotional event, Nani spoke about the traditional practice…
The Road to Democracy Has Potholes There are many ways to interrupt a political convoy. You can wave a party flag, hold up a banner, shout slogans, or, if you happen to be a resident of Guna with a particularly persistent road problem, simply stand in front of the convoy and ask where the road went. That is essentially what…
A Race Against Time — and Apparently Against Nature There are many things an elite athlete is trained to do: run faster, lift heavier, push through exhaustion, ignore screaming muscles and occasionally wonder why anyone voluntarily pays money to make their lungs feel like two pieces of burnt toast. But apparently there is one lesson that even professional athletes may…
India has apparently entered a new academic category where the freedom to think comes with its own terms and conditions. According to the Free to Think 2026 report by Scholars at Risk, India has been placed in the “severely restricted” category for academic freedom, alongside countries and territories including Hong Kong, Indonesia, Pakistan, the West Bank and Ukraine. China, meanwhile, has been placed in…
Paris Court Says: Keep the Change, Kim PARIS — Nearly a decade after Kim Kardashian was held at gunpoint and robbed of millions of dollars in jewelry at a Paris hotel, justice has finally arrived — carrying approximately one euro. A Paris court has awarded Kardashian €1 in damages following the 2016 jewel heist, a case involving more than $6…
Delhi is hosting the BRICS Summit, and apparently the capital has decided that the best way to showcase India to the world is to make sure the world doesn’t see too much of India. As global leaders arrive in New Delhi for the September 12–13 summit, parts of the capital have received the kind of makeover usually reserved for a…
A bank robbery in Nagpur has given the phrase “adding some spice to the situation” an unexpectedly literal meaning. A man allegedly entered an SBI branch, attacked bank employees with chilli powder, grabbed several lakh rupees in cash and fled. Unfortunately for him, what appeared to be an ambitious bank-heist operation turned out to have the shelf life of a…