Electric power woes in winter have become endemic in Jammu and Kashmir and, for the moment, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. People of the state have become cynical enough to say that the problem would be solved only after India and Pakistan resolve the Kashmir issue.


Heart of Darkness: Why Kashmiris link power woes to India-Pakistan dispute (Special Focus)


IANS Automatic

The trust a kirana merchant enjoys in the neighbourhood and the preference of Indian consumers to come in direct contact with sellers is opening the doors of next big wave in e-commerce - the assisted e-commerce.


Assisted e-commerce players to tap huge offline market (Business Feature)


For a film aficionado, the overwhelming suspended sculpture of Gollum - the popular fictional character from "The Lord Of The Rings" trilogy - gives just the right vibe about the treasure trove of talent, creativity and imagination that Wellington, New Zealand's largest film production hub, truly is.


In NZ, it's yesterday once more in wondrous Wellywood (Travelogue)


Ever seen the Taj Mahal from 3,000 feet above and from a distance of just 500 metres? Well, this could be your lifetime chance as the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department is hosting a hot air balloon festival in the vicinity of the monument November 14-16.


In November, see Taj Mahal up close from a hot air balloon


From brewing and selling country liquor to weaving exquisite fabrics and also finding a market in neighbouring Bhutan, the women of Chatra, a remote village in Assam's Nalbari district, have not just elevated themselves to a respectable profession but have changed the image of their village for the better.


Nixing hooch for weaving, these Assamese women turn a new leaf (Feature)


When the UN was but a glimmer in the eyes of Allied statesmen in 1942, pre-independence India's involvement in the idea of a world body began with a representative of India, G.S. Bajpai, signing the "Declaration by the United Nations" in Washington while World War II rained death and destruction around the globe.


UN and India: A pictorial journey through history 


Cliched as it may seem for chefs to love their spices, for Sanjeev Kapoor, one of the most celebrated ones on television, that was the topic of an "interesting" discussion when he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and whipped a meal up for him in Abu Dhabi.


I spoke with PM on food and spices: Chef Sanjeev Kapoor (IANS Interview)


Owing to my Mongoloid features, people in India often think that I hail from Korea or China instead of the northeastern Indian state Manipur. It was no different when I set my foot in Singapore for the first time. People of the Lion City thought I must be from Indonesia or Malaysia or anywhere else - apart from India! But this time, it wasn't because of my facial features.


A Manipuri mistaken for an Indonesian in Singapore (Travelogue)


Women farmers in Nepal's mountains are adopting environmentally-friendly farm practices to re-green fields and also facing head-on the challenges posed by rising temperatures and scarce rains.


Nepal's empowered mountain women go green


The women'swear market in India is huge compared to men'swear fashion but with the arrival of international brands, there will be a subtle change in the way the "not of fashionable gender" dresses up, says Gordon Richardson, creative director of British brand TOPMAN.


'Foray of foreign brands will change how Indian men dress'


After smoggy, sooty Delhi, the crisp air at Bhutan's Paro airport is unmistakable and, descending after a three-hour flight, the first instinctive reaction is to breathe in a lung-full of the clean, soft and scented air.


The attractive calmness of thunder dragon land (Travelogue)


With the side-effects of therapy being one of the major stumbling blocks in advancing treatment for deadly diseases, a team of scientists, including one of Indian origin, has designed a "nanovehicle" that could drive drugs straight to their destinations - the diseased tissues - thereby sparing other healthy organs from any unintended effects.


Indian-origin scientist designs tiny 'vehicle' to drive drugs to targets


As one walks down the market street on the way to the pristine Kuta beach on Bali island, Indonesia's major tourist destination, it is hard to miss the Queen's of India.


From butter chicken to paneer makhanwala at Bali restaurant (Foodie Trail-Bali)


Shopping for vegetables, fruits or bread wasn't fun - not as a regular chore in the least. But online grocery marketplaces are fast changing the habits and mindsets of people, especially the young urban professional, on what was once mundane into fun. Plus, no more scurrying around for parking space, small change or wading through dirty marketplaces.


Grocery shopping goes online: Lower prices, hassle-free purchase sees business surge (Business Feature)


Have you seen Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor's poster at the back of a taxi? The lure of Bollywood is unstoppable even in the remotest parts of the world and the last place you expect to see this is in Timor-Leste, one of the world's newest nations perched between Indian Ocean and the Pacific.


How Shah Rukh Khan helped Timor rediscover love


It all began when Ravi Patel, a 30-year-old Indian-American investment banker turned Hollywood actor, pestered by his parents on a long flight to India to get married, agreed to search for his bride the "desi" way.


"Meet the Patels": In search of a desi bride (Diaspora Feature)


The printing machines at the famed Gita Press here have fallen silent for the first time in 92 years of its existence.


Iconic Gita Press in crisis amid labour dispute


A simple innovation like a check-dam has dramatically turned around the lives of the 500-odd people in 50 poor Adivasi houselholds in this village located on a water-scarce plateau in Madhya Pradesh, where the nearest water body was once over four kilometres away.


Changing lives in water-scarce Bundelkhand through simple dams


The Botanical Survey of India (BSI) has developed the first open-access online database of India's floral diversity to document over 18,000 flowering plant species in an effort at boosting digitisation and conservation of endangered ones.


India's first e-flora database developed


Dispelling the notion that whiskey doesn't mix well, Jack Daniel's "Whiskey Cocktails - Made with Jack" festival is aiming to bring out savoury cocktails prepared with the good ol' Jack to bewitch liquor aficionados in India.


Jack Daniel's If You Please: Old-fashioned whiskey in cocktail avatar (Lifestyle Trend)


Many old timers today recall fond memories of being drawn to the streets by snake charmers and madaaris (conjurers) and being told stories - alas, what is now a lost practice. But for renowned theatre artist Kamal Pruthi, "a storytelling movement (of the kind he has started) was necessary to fight the advent of technology, which has been dumbing the children down".

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