India Today is the leading news magazine and most widely read publication in India. The magazine’s leadership is unquestioned, so much so that India Today is what Indian journalism is judged by, for its integrity and ability to bring unbiased and incisive perspective to arguably the most dynamic, yet perplexing, region in the world. Breaking news and shaping opinion, it is now a household name and the flagship brand of India’s leading multidimensional media group. Additionally, the weekly brings with it a range supplements like Women, Home, Aspire, Spice and Simply which focus on style, health, education, fashion, etc. and Indian cities.
FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
India Today
THE STALIN SON RISE
DOUBLE TROUBLE FOR GEHLOT
The ‘Almost’ Independents
CONGRESS’S RISING ARC
The Case of the Missing Buses
PUSH FOR WILD BUFFALOES
ORDER, ORDER
THE-POLITICS OF PURITY • The Tirupati laddoo controversy reflects the worrying trend of using even prasad for divisive ends
THE MAKING OF THE TIRUPATI LADDOO • For over 300 years, the Tirupati laddoo, also known as the Srivari laddoo, has been the primary offering at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple. Amid concerns over the adulteration of ghee, a key ingredient of the laddoo, here’s a look at the sacred naivedyam
RINGING THE DIVISION BELL • A right-wing Hindu group has started a purification movement in Maharashtra by issuing purity certificates to establishments selling religious goods
PROOF OF CREDENTIALS • UP restarts policy of requiring owners to display their names outside eateries despite fears that this will encourage discrimination
NOW CYBER KINETIC WARFARE • The coordinated pager attacks that struck the Hezbollah raise the spectre of cyber kinetic warfare, which combines communication technologies with physical destruction. India faces a heightened risk as most of its connected devices depend on Chinese and foreign components
RED FLAGS FOR INDIA • The areas of concern open to cyber attacks and possible weaponisation
WEAPONISING THE PAGER: HOW IT UNFOLDED • The operation that booby-trapped and detonated pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon involved a complex supply-chain subversion and technical finesse. Israel’s Mossad and Shin Bet agencies are presumed to be behind it
THE LOST KINGDOM • WHETHER AS PURE HERITAGE, OR AS THE VENUE OF A HISTORIC ENCOUNTER, INDIA SHOULD HAVE PROTECTED KHETRI LIKE A NATIONAL TREASURE. BUT THROUGH A 37-YEAR-LONG COURT BATTLE, A PRICELESS PIECE OF RAJASTHAN CRUMBLES TO DUST
A TANGLED WEB • The Khetri estate, including about half-a-dozen heritage structures, has been caught in a legal quagmire for 37 years
HALLS OF SHAME
THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EVs • ALTHOUGH EVs HAVE BECOME A COMMON SIGHT ON OUR ROADS, MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THEIR PERFORMANCE, SAFETY AND MAINTENANCE ABOUND. HERE’S THE TRUTH
THAT LUXE FEELING • ITALIAN, GERMAN OR YE OLDE ENGLISH CARS. IF YOU HAVE CASH TO SPLASH, THE BEST CARS ARE JUST A SHOWROOM AWAY. PLUS, MAHINDRA’S COMPACT SUV GETS A MAKEOVER
EASY RIDER • THE BIKES THAT WILL SIT EASY WITH YOU THIS FALL
IS KASHMIR’S FUTURE BEING CRAFTED FOR GOOD?
FAMILY FRIENDLY • MAHINDRA HAS TRIED TO MAKE THE THAR MORE LUXURIOUS, AND PRACTICAL WHILE RETAINING THE DNA. HAS IT SUCCEEDED?
EQALISER • THE MERCEDES-BENZ EQA HAS ARRIVED IN INDIA AND IT IS ESSENTIALLY THE GLA WITH AN ELECTRIC POWERTRAIN
SIMPLIFY, THEN ADD LIGHTNESS • THE NEW R 1300 GS IS COLIN CHAPMAN’S PHILOSOPHY IN ACTION, WHICH MAKES THE GS HOLISTICALLY MORE ACCESSIBLE AND FRIENDLIER
BULL’S EYE
THE GREEN PASTURES • WITH THE FESTIVE SEASON PROMISING A GROWTH SPURT, WE ASK AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY LEADERS ABOUT THEIR EXPECTATIONS,...