Countdown to space mission: Seat for Shukla is big moment for India

Four Decades after Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to travel to space, Shubhanshu Shukla, a 39-year-old Indian Air Force officer who is in the final leg of his pre-launch quarantine at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, will on June 8 pilot a Dragon spacecraft that will take.

India, Paraguay vow to boost ties; united against terror: PM

Hosting the first foreign head of state since Operation Sindoor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the visiting President of Paraguay, Santiago Peña Palacios, that the two countries are "united in the fight against terrorism" and there is immense possibility of cooperation to fight against "shared challenges" such as cybercrime, organised crime, and drug trafficking.

WHOSE FREE SPEECH?

There is an all-too familiar and unfortunate reality to the social media age. Derogatory and offensive statements - even hate speech - are amplified by algorithms and interests that are "optimised" for outrage and attention. Sharmistha Panoli's social media post fits into all these categories - and more. It echoed, in the crudest manner, some of the most hurtful anti-minority tropes in circulation. The Kolkata Police's action against the 22-year-old law student - she was arrested from her home in Gurugram and produced before an Alipore court on Saturday-though, is both an overreaction and a symptom of a deeper rot. At the same time, while it is heartening to see many in the BJP championing Panoli's right to free speech, the irony couldn't be more obvious.

A resilience test 

How should one make sense of India's recent growth trajectory? Growth in the fourth quarter surged to 7.4 per cent. Two quarters earlier, it had slowed to 5.6 per cent. But two quarters before that, it was at 8.4 per cent. What's going on? It's tempting to believe India saw a sharp and organic private sector slowdown and is now seeing a commensurately sharp recovery. Inevitable questions will follow: What caused the slowdown? What's driving the rebound?

DRONES VS DIPLOMACY

The second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine, which reportedly lasted for barely an hour, concluded on Monday in Istanbul. Barring a potential prisoner swap, there was no breakthrough. The talks took place against the backdrop of Ukraine's "Operation Spider's Web", in which a swarm of drones targeted at least five military airbases deep within Russian territory, reportedly destroying 41 bomber aircraft. This offensive comes just a week after Russia's massive aerial assault-367 drones and missiles - on Ukraine, including its capital, marking the largest such attack of the war so far. Operation Spider's Web involved 117 FPV (first-person view) drones that had been covertly smuggled into Russia and concealed within trucks. These drones were remotely activated, allowing them to take off and strike their targets - some as far as 4,000 km away in Siberia

FLIPPING THE BRASS RAT 

students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), like those at other US institutions, are proud bearers of the American tradition of the class ring. This is a signet-style ring, worn by all members of a graduating class, that bears the insignia of the school, MIT's ring features the school mascot, a beaver, and is called "the brass rat": The insignia is engraved on the flat top, with one side of the bezel featuring a rendition of the Boston skyline and the other side, a view of the Cambridge skyline. While still in school, students wear the ring so that the beaver and Boston's skyline face them. At their commencement, they "flip the brass rat", with the beaver facing away from them, symbolising their entry into the world, while the campus skyline, now facing the students, reminds them of the legacy, and responsibilities, they bear.

Renting rooms, finding family 

Since 2012, the only neighbours I have known are my landlords. Landlords, those most dreaded of acquaintances. Like many others, I have often bemoaned this species, willing them to be banished to an exclusive land of their own, from where they can operate their business of exploiting their tenants if they find any, that is.

From aspiration to opportunity

Delhi is not just a city, it is a cradle of civilisation. It has remained steadfast despite empires rising and falling like the Yamuna's tides. Delhi is not just made of bricks, it is also made of audacious ideas and eternal ideals, as seen by the passionate debates in Parliament and the soulful chants at the Jhandewalan temple

An economist for all 

When news came about Stanley Fischer having passed away, I got emotional. I am penning these lines in the hope that people will learn about this unique human being. He was a three-dimensional Donald Bradman, a pinnacle reached by very few - indeed I don't know of any other. First, he was every (wo)man's economist. It is impossible for a student of macroeconomics to not have heard of him, and learnt from him. His Macroeconomics with Rudi Dornbusch is the go-to textbook if you want to understand macroeconomics.

Mt Etna erupts in fiery show of smoke & ash, 14th in recent months

Milan: Sicily's Mount Etna put on a fiery show Monday, sending a cloud of smoke and ash several kilometres into the air, but officials said the activity posed no danger to the population.

S Koreans vote for President after turmoil triggered by martial law

South Koreans will elect a new president on Tuesday to cap six months of turmoil triggered by a shock martial law briefly imposed by former leader Yoon Suk Yeol that marred the country's reputation as a vibrant, if at times chaotic, democracy.

US rejects India's steel tariff challenge at WTO on legal, procedural grounds

The United States has rejected India's notice at the World Trade Organization (WTO), which proposed retaliatory action against the 25 per cent US tariffs on steel and aluminium, arguing that the tariffs were imposed on national security grounds. The US also pointed out procedural errors in India's case.

India's rapid Al adoption, China's open source lead in focus in Mary Meeker report

"Unprecedented" - that's the word frequently used by venture capitalist Mary Meeker - once known as the 'Queen of the Internet-in her latest trends report on artificial intelligence (Al) development and adoption.

Lower duty on edible oils, nuts; target growth in spices, rice in US deal: Niti Aayog working paper

India Should offer concessions on agricultural products from US such as edible oils and nuts where domestic supply gaps exist, and explore duty concessions to boost high-performing exports-including shrimp, fish, spices, rice, tea, coffee, and rubber- in the US market during the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) negotiations, a Niti Aayog working paper has argued.

PM: India should be viewed as an aviation value chain leader, not just a market

India Should not be viewed merely as an aviation market but as a value chain leader in the sector, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday, as he under-scored the investment opportunity that the country presents for global aviation companies.

Why MPC is likely to cut repo rate for 3rd consecutive time '

The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is expected to cut the repo rate - the key policy rate - by 25 basis points (bps) in the policy meeting scheduled from June 4 to 6, to support growth as inflation continues to remain below the 4 per cent target. This would be the third consecutive reduction in the repo rate since February 2025. Economists also believe that the RBI may maintain the 'accommodative' monetary policy stance.

Ukraine's Trojan Horse attack

In an audacious aerial attack that was planned for more than a year and a half, Ukraine carried out large scale drone strikes on multiple Russian air bases, including one in Siberia some 4,000 km from the frontlines.

Under Operation Spider Web, a swarm of Ukrainian drones struck at least five military airbases deep inside Russia's borders on June 1, and left some 41 bomber aircraft in flames.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy celebrated the "absolutely brilliant result", and said the Ukrainian actions will "undoubtedly be in the history books". He said planning began 18 months ago, and those involved "were withdrawn from Russian territory in time".

The attack came after Russia stepped up the bombing of Ukrainian cities, and was timed ahead of the second round of crucial talks between the two sides in Istanbul, Turkey. The talks, which began on Monday afternoon, concluded after two hours, with no information on their outcome.

Changing geometries of battlefield: from WWI to the present 

Ukraine's operation Spider Web may have fundamentally transformed the geometry of the battlefield, and potentially changed the face of war for years to come.

This was a deep strike with few parallels. Rather than strategic air bombing raids or long-range missiles, the Russian bomber fleet fell victim to 150-odd relatively inexpensive quadcopter drones smuggled into Russia and launched from inside shipping containers.

Looking at the history of warfare, it is not surprising that Moscow was unprepared for this "Trojan Horse attack": historically, militaries have struggled to keep up with technological advances, often with deadly consequences.