By Bharti Rawat*   It is April 2026, and India is on fire. Nineteen of the world’s twenty hottest cities are in India. Temperatures in several regions are already touching 42–45°C, and the India Meteorological Department has warned that intense heatwaves will persist through June. This is not merely a climate story. It is a public health emergency—one that is killing people, destroying livelihoods, and exposing a catastrophic failure of the state to protect its most vulnerable citizens.

By Bharti Rawat*  India’s public health story is often framed as one of steady progress—rising institutional deliveries , expanding insurance schemes, and broader access to care. Yet beneath these gains lies a quieter, more persistent crisis: the financial shock of falling ill.

By Bharat Dogra  One of India’s most significant peace initiatives unfolded in the Chambal Valley between 1959 and 1978, when nearly 650 dacoits voluntarily surrendered. The largest wave came in 1972, with about 500 laying down arms in a single year.  

By Ravi Ranjan*  The image is seared into recent memory: millions of migrant workers, stripped of wages and hope, walking hundreds of miles back to their villages. For many, this was not a joyful homecoming but a desperate flight for survival. Leeladhar Mandloi ’s Hindi poem, ‘Ve Laut Nahīm Rahe’ (‘They Are Not Returning’), captures this tragedy with startling precision. Written before the COVID-19 lockdowns, the poem has become painfully prophetic, exposing the deep contradictions between India’s development narrative and the dignity of its working poor.

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  The recent viral story of a DoorDash driver delivering two bags of McDonald’s to President Donald Trump at the White House on April 13, 2026 , has captured public attention in the United States. The driver, Sharon Simmons , a Republican from Fayetteville, Arkansas , has also been campaigning against a proposed “ tax on tips .” At 58, a grandmother of ten, Simmons has reportedly completed over 14,000 deliveries since 2022, averaging about ten trips a day. Far from easing into retirement, she continues to work to finance her husband’s cancer treatment.

By Ilya Ganpantsura   Nations forged in the shadow of empire often face a paradox: the harder they struggle to define themselves, the greater the temptation to deny parts of their own past. Ukraine today stands at precisely this crossroads—seeking to consolidate a coherent national identity while wrestling with the layered, and often uncomfortable, inheritances of history.