When India diagnosed its first case of HIV in 1987, it was met with silence, fear, and judgment. The virus was poorly understood, and those living with it were often treated as outcasts -denied care, employment, or even the dignity of empathy. Hospitals hesitated to admit them, schools refused their children, and neighbours withdrew in fear. It was a time when HIV was not just a virus — it was a social sentence.
India is witnessing a troubling paradox. Advances in diagnosis and treatment mean that more people are surviving cancer than ever before. Yet the very systems that should protect these patients and survivors are failing to recognise the lasting impact of cancer on their lives.
When we speak of successful government initiatives of the past decade, popular missions like the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) usually dominates the conversation. Yet, quietly, another programme has been impacting the lives of the millions of India’s urban street vendors, who sustain the everyday economy of Indian cities.
The government's chief economic advisor, V Anantha Nageswaran, says he is not losing sleep over the falling rupee. We wish him long nights of peaceful rest and restoration. While the government and the RBl rest, the rupee will be hard at work, to give some respite to our exporters hit hard by Trumpian tariffs.
The Maoists might have been looking after their own interests more than those of the tribal people, and hindering State efforts to extend the scope of governance and development to their habitats, but they also raised a voice of protest against acts of injustice against the tribals.
November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month. Across the US and Europe, white ribbons mark solidarity with patients, caregivers, advocates and doctors. In India, silence reigns, even though 93 of the world’s 100 most polluted cities are here, and here, lung cancer is rising alarmingly among non-smokers, especially young women.
Nearly one in three lung cancer patients in India today has never smoked, and doctors are seeing women in their late 20s and 30s being diagnosed with advanced disease.
This is not a smoker’s disease anymore — it is a breather’s disease, driven by toxic air and environmental exposures.
The Republic of Maldives, located on the Indian subcontinent, consists of 1,190 coral islands grouped into 26 natural atolls. Following the Maldives' independence in 1965, India was one of the first countries to recognise and establish diplomatic relations with them. India and the Maldives have had long-standing ethnic, linguistic, cultural, religious, and economic links. Physical proximity, cultural links, and development collaboration have all contributed to the two countries' close, friendly, and diverse relationship.
In Small Island Developing States (SIDS) such as the Maldives, where tourism is the principal source of foreign exchange profits and government revenue, the business is growing.