The S.R. Bommai v. Union of India case created a historical change in Centre-state relations. Here's all you need to know about it.

here's how the Bommai Judgement of 1994 first affected Indian jurisprudence

Article 356, or President's rule is highly contentious. Here's what you need to know about it.

Who is Somappa Rayappa Bommai, and why should you know him?

What is President's Rule, and when did it come about?

Biryani comes in many forms - which ones have you tasted?

Why good biryani takes so long to make

What's the history behind Biryani?

What makes Karachi's biryani so good?

Gurgaon is known as India’s “Millennium City” since in recent times it has been emerging as the business hub of the country– bringing in many private investors and builders.

29 Jul 22

Gurgaon’s increasing land prices, many homes in the city belong to high-income families. However, as is the case in many parts of India, the middle and lower-income families have been pushed to the periphery of the developing city, away from all the glitz and glamour. 

29 Jul 22

Labradors, Pugs, German Shepherds, Indies, Indie Spitzes and Daschunds are some of the most popular dog breeds in India.

29 Jul 22

While costs might vary according to different parameters, the cost of raising a thoroughbred dog is approximately Rs. 19,000 to Rs. 20,000 a month.

29 Jul 22

According to the 2011 Census of India, Gurgaon district’s total population is 1,514,432 out of which 197,937 are from Schedule Castes and 0 are from Scheduled tribes. While 68.8% of the population lives in urban areas, 31.2% of them live in rural areas.

29 Jul 22

The worst mid-air crash in history occurred on 12 November 1996, when Saudi Arabian Airlines flight SV 763 crashed into incoming Kazakhstan Airlines flight KZ 1907 at Charkhi Dadri, a small town west of Delhi.

29 Jul 22

The black box in an aircraft contains the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) — for in flight communication between pilots and aviation control. And the flight data recorder (FDR) — for recording information about the aircraft's altitude, fuel, speed, turbulence, cabin pressure etc.

29 Jul 22

Many parameters are in place when a flight takes off– cabin pressure, engine power, speed, fuel and more. If one parameter fails, then another fulfils the task of stabilising the aircraft. This is known as the Swiss Cheese Model.

29 Jul 22

The worst mid-air crash in history occurred on 12 November 1996 when Saudi Arabian Airlines flight SV 763 crashed into incoming Kazakhstan Airlines flight KZ 1907 at Charkhi Dadri, a small town west of Delhi.

29 Jul 22

Religiosity is mostly determined mostly by socio-political reasons, including financial crises and cultural issues. In recent years, India has been through a socio-economic churn that has left people feeling more insecure about their future.

29 Jul 22

Attributing divine energy to people, nature, animals and natural phenomena is known as animism. While many tribal communities have adopted Christianity, Hinduism, Islam or Buddhism, many still practice their own unique animistic religion.

29 Jul 22

Mass hysteria is a phenomenon where collective illusions, real or imaginary, are spread across a population or society through rumours or fear. Mass hysteria is usually characterised by a loss of rational thinking and extraordinary emotional responses.

29 Jul 22

On 21 September 1995 a small temple in Delhi reported that their idol of Lord Ganesha was drinking milk. The Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (MANS), a rationalist group founded by Narendra Dabholkar, attempted to quell the mass hysteria that followed with scientific explanations for the phenomenon.

29 Jul 22

The sari, a large piece of unstitched cloth, can be traced back to the Indus Valley Civilisation. There are over 80 popular styles of wearing the sari.

29 Jul 22

The sari is commonly associated with India but is worn around the subcontinent. In Pakistan, the sari unfortunately isn’t worn as much due to it being a sign of “indianness.”

29 Jul 22

The sari has always been worn in Pakistan, however, in recent years it has been replaced by the salwar kameez. Zoroastrian and Hindu women are the ones that are seen wearing a sari.

29 Jul 22

During the rule of Zia-ul-Haq, the sari was banned from being worn on television. His intense move towards right-wing islamisation made the sari invisible among common Pakistani women.

29 Jul 22

Urmila Srivastava and Leela Namdeo were two policewomen from the Madhya Pradesh police force who married each other in 1987. Their marriage was the first documented same-sex marriage in India.

30 Jul 22

In 2018, the Supreme Court decriminalised homosexuality however same sex marriages are not recognised by law in India as of now 2022.

30 Jul 22

On August 11th 1992 the first widely known protest for gay rights was held outside the police headquarters in New Delhi. Since then the LGBTQIA+ movement has been gaining speed especially after the landmark judgement in 2018 when the Supreme Court decriminalised homosexuality.

30 Jul 22

The word “lesbian” refers to any woman who might be attracted to someone of the same sex. The word comes from “Lesbos”, an island in Greece which was home to Sappho, a Greek poet who explored themes of women’s lives.

30 Jul 22

Marriage among queer people is a complex topic. Legally, the Indian state recognises marriages between a male and a female person, that is, a heterosexual marriage. It does not recognise marriage between people of the same gender. However many queer people opt for a non-legal marriage nonetheless.

30 Jul 22

Queer unions are those relationships outside of the bounds of marriage. Queer marriages are those that are usually recognised by the law and that follow a heteronormative narrative of a male person marrying a female person.

30 Jul 22

Sikkim lost its protectorate status in 1975 after a tripartite agreement was signed between the Indian Government, the Chogyal (Sikkim’s Monarch) and the political parties representing Sikkim. In the same year, Sikkim became the 22nd state to join the Indian Union.

30 Jul 22

The Bhutias are a Sikkimese community who trace their ancestry to Tibet. They speak Sikkimese and Drenjongke, a Tibetic language. They are one of two communities who are considered to be indegenous to Sikkim, the other being the Lepchas.

30 Jul 22

According to the 2011 census, Hinduism is the most commonly practiced religion in Sikkim, followed by Budhhism and Christianity.

30 Jul 22

The Chogyals were the monarchs who ruled over the Kingdom of Sikkim. Their reign lasted from 1642 to 1975. All Chogyals belonged to the Namgyal Dynasty, a line of royals from Tibet.

30 Jul 22

Hope Cooke was an American socialite who became the Queen Consort or “Gyalmo” of the last Chogyal of Sikkim Palden Thondup Namgyal. They eventually got divorced in 1982.

30 Jul 22

Rameshbabu “Pragg” Praggnanandhaa is an Indian chess prodigy and grandmaster. He is the fifth youngest person to earn this title. At age 16, he became the youngest person to beat the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen.

30 Jul 22

No one knows for sure where and when chess was invented. As a strategy-based game played with logic in war and monarchy, it is also possible that chess emerged simultaneously and independently in different cultures.

30 Jul 22

Some of the chess capitals of the world include Moscow, Havana, London, Reykjavik, New York, and Chennai.

30 Jul 22

Chess is believed to have originated in India in the form of Chaturang, a military strategy based game.

30 Jul 22

India’s oldest chess club is the Calcutta Chess Club. The club was established by John Cochrane in 1850. The club launched stalwarts such as Mohischunder Banerjee and Petumber Mukherjee. Calcutta, being the British capital, fostered a lot of chess clubs.

30 Jul 22

Art Deco is a design style with roots in 19th century France that is characterised by strong geometric and stylised shapes presented in a repetitive pattern.

30 Jul 22

There has not been a conclusive end to films running on reels. While almost all films are projected digitally, there are a few theatres that still run on reels.

30 Jul 22

The first film to have been screened digitally was George Lucas’ Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace on June 18, 1999 in the United States. In 1999, Dil Se was the first film to be screened digitally in India.

30 Jul 22

The first movie theater to be built in India was Chaplin Cinema, also known as Elphinstone Picture Palace. Chaplin Cinema was built in 1907 by Jamshedji Framji Madan. The palace was later named “Minerva” and was a popular theatre for screening Hollywood films.

30 Jul 22

A 400 foot roll of 35mm Kodak film, which accounts for 4 minutes of footage, costs upto Rs. 16,000. For a 2 hour film, with retakes, the film roll itself will cost you Rs. 50 lakhs. Distributing the film will cost another 5 lakhs therefore, to simply create footage and distribute it you would spend Rs. 55 lakhs.

30 Jul 22

Kalathilparambil Raman Gouri Amma was the first woman to be a minister in Kerala’s state cabinet, and one of the longest serving political leaders in Kerala politics.

30 Jul 22

Even though they account for 50% of the country’s population, women are constantly underrepresented in government. Out of the 540 seats in the Lok Sabha, only 81 of them (14.4%) are currently occupied by women.

30 Jul 22

The Punnapra-Valayar revolt was a communist uprising that took place in October 1946 led by the Communist Party of India (CPI) against C.P Ramaswamy Iyer, the Dewan of Travancore. The revolt is named after the two places in which it took place; beginning in Punnapra and ending in Vayalar.

30 Jul 22

EMS Namoodiripad was the Chief Minister of Kerala between 1957-1959 and 1967-1969. He was a part of the undivided Communist Party of India (CPI) and later was a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)).

30 Jul 22

The Communist Party of India (CPI) split into the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the CPI on 7 November 1964. The CPI is said to believe in the Soviet form of communism while the CPI(M) follow the Chinese form of communism.

30 Jul 22

Dr. Kamla Chowdhry was an educator and a social psychologist. She was one of the founding members of IIM-Ahmedabad in 1961 and the defacto director of the institute until 1965.

18 Oct 22