Vairamuthu wins Jnanpith; many rush to Tamil poet's defence as MeToo allegations kick up dust

The Tamil poet and lyricist Vairamuthu, whose verses have shaped the language of popular music and modern Tamil poetry for more than four decades, has been chosen for the 2025 Jnanpith Award, India's highest literary honour. The announcement on Saturday placed him among a small group of Tamil writers to receive the prize - and immediately reopened a long-running debate about artistic achievement, accountability and the unresolved tensions of the #MeToo movement.

Disruption carries a reminder: Policy reforms in fertiliser sector are overdue

Diversify fertiliser imports and their feedstocks by involving countries other than those from the Gulf. Reform the fertiliser sector either through DBT and decontrolling prices, or quantitative restrictions, or bringing urea under the NBS.

India's FDI policy tweak for LBCs: Who stands to gain from these changes

To boost investment in key manufacturing sectors such as mobile phone components and rare earth magnets, the Centre this week announced calibrated changes in the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy for investments from Land Bordering Countries (LBCs), or those that share a land border with India. The decision comes nearly six years after the government made its prior approval mandatory for Indian entities receiving investments from LBCs in April 2020.

How inflexible coal-fired plants harm India's clean energy push

Even as India rapidly expands its renewable energy (RE) capacity, the operational limitations of coal-fired power plants is emerging as a critical hurdle in creating more headroom for clean energy in the national grid. With the addition of over 44 GW of RE in 2025, India's total installed renewable energy capacity has reached 262 GW, accounting for over 51% of overall installed power capacity.

As patent lapses, generic weight loss shots may cost 60% less

With the patent of the blockbuster diabetes and weight loss drug semaglutide set to expire on March 20, nearly 50 generic brands are expected to enter the market later this month. Not only will this expand access to the new class of medicines, the prices are also likely to drop by at least a third, according to market experts.

Gamechangers in reversing obesity

Drugs like Mounjaro and Wegovy belong to a class of medicines called incretin mimetics - they mimic the action of the gut hormones called incretins to improve secretion of insulin, inhibit secretion of glucagon that stimulates glucose production in the liver and reduce appetite by slowing down digestion.

Why the adolescent brain is more vulnerable to online validation, addiction

The relationship between screen use and emotional wellbeing is often two-way. Emotional distress can push children toward excessive screen time, while prolonged screen exposure can worsen mental health by disturbing sleep, appetite and mood. Untangling which came first is rarely straightforward.

Why LPG sector is the worst hit by Iran war

India's annual LPG consumption is currently estimated at around 33 million tonnes, of which domestic production is around 13 million tonnes, or around 40%. This means that India's import dependency for LPG supplies is around 60%. Now, in the case of crude oil, the reliance on imports is much higher at over 88%. So why is it that so far India appears to be doing fine on crude oil and major fuels like petrol and diesel, while LPG supplies have been affected?

At the heart of the problem is the Strait of Hormuz - the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea - where maritime traffic has effectively come to a halt since the conflict began.

India's reliance on the Strait of Hormuz for crude is around 40%, while in the case of LPG, it is a whopping 90%. This effectively means that with the chokepoint all but closed, over 50% of India's LPG supply has disappeared.

SHANTI Act: How thorium can power India's path to energy independence

India's three-stage nuclear power programme, designed to leverage thorium re-sources, envisages fast breeder reactors (FBRs) as the stage beyond thermal reactors. The first 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor is almost ready. Beyond this, metal-fuelled FBRs with associated fuel recycling technology must also be developed to achieve the short doubling times needed to support rapid capacity growth.