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Dil Doom Doom Kare: Four AI labs lost control of their models this summer. India’s AI governance guidelines don’t mention it

Bhupen Hazarika wrote a melody for a heart that will not settle, a heart that trembles because it remembers something it cannot put down. The artificial intelligence industry has spent the past…

China and India can make Greater Brics a force for the Global South

The 18th Brics summit will open in New Delhi on September 12 to 13. India holds the rotating chairmanship this year under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and…

Brics built the new solar economy. Now it must build the systems to scale it.

Last year, 80% of all new generation capacity added anywhere in the world was renewable. 80% of that was solar. And 80% of that new solar was built in Brics countries.  Three datasets define that...

Tarique Rahman’s BRICS dilemma: Challenges, choices and opportunities for Bangladesh

As a BRICS chair, India is hosting the 18th BRICS Summit on 12-13 September in New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited Bangladesh’s counterpart Tarique Rahman to the Outreach Session of…

The Weekly Vine, Edition 106: The radical thing you should do instead of the ’80s AI photo challenge

Hello and welcome to another edition of the Weekly Vine. I tell everyone who is willing to listen that there are three great dystopian novels one needs to read. The first, by Bihari lad George...

Second Helping, Edition 2: A Brave New Carbonara

On garlic confit, béchamel crimes, the Manchurian defence, and why I am declining my invitation to the future of food. I was recently offered a taste of the future, at lunch, in the office, and...

The mountains have stopped waiting for a consensus

The international consensus that formed on climate change is dissipating as geopolitics gets complex. However, climate impacts are getting even more severe. Whether because of the politics of the…

The seven things I have learnt from people who have learnt seven things

There was a time when becoming a guru required inconvenience. You had to retreat to the mountains, renounce a reasonable quantity of worldly goods, sit under a tree for an unreasonable length of…

Pranic healing, its spiritual lineage and legacy–Part 3

As we continue to know more about Guru Padmasambhava, the sat-guru of GMCKS, his life & contribution to the world is worth mentioning. His influence extends from India to Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan,…

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When mountains collapse, the hazard cascades: Build beyond the river’s reach

The Himalaya is a landscape of extremes: young and tectonically active mountains, glaciers, steep slopes, unstable rocks, and powerful rivers are increasingly influenced by rapid climatic change. But…

TOI Bharat Abroad: When Desis bring home the Dollars

Hello and welcome to TOI Bharat Abroad. What do passports, billions of dollars and an Indian cowboy have in common? They all feature in this week’s TOI Bharat Abroad. From a fresh US immigration…

The age of Trump: How Modi and Xi are preparing for an unpredictable America

This week, we are tracking: Modi, Xi and the art of Trump-proofing foreign policy The TOI went back to school: Don’t be shocked by what we found 7.8% growth, a Rs 6 lakh crore revision...

The Weekly Vine, Edition 105: The Apologetic Indian

Hello and welcome to another edition of The Weekly Vine. If you asked my mother to write the Vine, she could write every edition about my departures from normative behaviour during my childhood and…

The dog was Dharma. The gods were not sure

There is a particular sound a brand makes when it folds. It is not a scream. It is the soft, laminated hum of a legal-and-comms note being read aloud by someone who has never in...

Green-Blue infrastructure and heritage: Building a resilient and timeless Delhi

Great cities are defined not only by the infrastructure they build, but by what they preserve, restore, and pass on to future generations. Delhi is uniquely endowed in both respects. The Yamuna and…

Application Error

Private universities are filing weak patent applications to improve their rankings. The government should change the rules. The S&P 500 is one of the world’s best-known stock market indexes. The…

#79: My calcium score was terrible. My friend’s was perfect. He might be the one who should worry.

A friend called me a few weeks ago, sounding relieved. He is 48. His doctor had ordered a coronary calcium scan and the score came back zero. In his mind, that settled it. His LDL...

The Himalaya is sending a warning: Nepal’s disaster could be a preview of what lies ahead

Namaste Langtang Lirung. Namaste Bhote Koshi and Trishuli. Namaste Chorabari and Kedarnath. Namaste Gangotri, South Lhonak, Sikkim, Himachal, Ladakh and the glaciers of the great Himalayan arc.…

Pranic healing, its spiritual lineage and legacy — Part 2

As we continue exploring the spiritual lineage of Grand Master Choa Kok Sui, I would like to draw attention to the profound presence of his Sat Guru and my Sat Guru, Lord Padmasambhava his Indian...

Cascading hazards and the limits of transboundary preparedness in the Himalayas

The Bhote Koshi flood was not a conventional glacial lake outburst. Understanding what happened — and preparing for what comes next — will require more than any one discipline, or any one country,…