Shekhawati Havelis: How Rajasthan’s Global Diaspora Could Help Save Its Painted Heritage Rajasthan is planning to conserve 662 historic havelis and develop a heritage tourism circuit across Shekhawati. With the region’s painted towns now on UNESCO’s Tentative List, a dedicated December meeting offers overseas Rajasthanis…

The Language They Carried Across the Oceans: How Girmitiya Descendants Preserved Indian Heritage in Fiji and Trinidad When Indian indentured labourers left the subcontinent for distant plantations during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, they carried more than personal belongings. They carried songs, prayers, stories,…

Mahila Housing Trust: How India’s Women-Led Climate Model Could Help Cool Cities Worldwide Named a 2026 Earthshot Prize finalist, India’s Mahila Housing Trust is combining reflective rooftops, heat-triggered insurance and women-led community action to protect vulnerable households. Its next challenge is scaling an approach that…

The New Cost Calculus for Indian Students For Indian families, studying abroad is becoming a more careful financial decision—not simply a route to an overseas job or permanent residency. A ₹20-lakh budget can work for some programmes, but the country, course length, tuition rules, city…

From Jaipur to Dubai: How Indian Weddings Became a Global Celebration Industry There is a useful way to explain the modern Indian wedding to someone who has never attended one. It is not simply a wedding. It is a wedding, fashion show, concert, food festival, family reunion, hospitality operation and destination holiday—sometimes all before the actual wedding ceremony has started. And increasingly, this distinctly Indian way of celebrating is travelling around the world. From Muscat and Abu Dhabi to Mauritius, Thailand, Italy, Bali and Türkiye, Indian couples are taking familiar rituals—mehendi, haldi, sangeet, pheras and elaborate receptions—and placing them against international landscapes. The result is an unusual form of cultural globalization: India is exporting not merely clothes or cuisine, but an entire celebration format. That is the fascinating part. The Indian wedding has become a global business without becoming culturally anonymous. First, let’s talk about the money The frequently quoted $100 billion figure needs some caution. India’s wedding economy is estimated at around that level, with WeddingWire India’s 2024–25 survey describing the Indian wedding industry as a $100 billion market and reporting an average wedding expenditure of ₹29.6 lakh among its surveyed couples. India House Foundation similarly describes India’s wedding

How Indian Shipyards Are Changing the Navy’s Future There was a time when an Indian Navy warship usually came with an interesting footnote: “Built with foreign assistance.” Today, an increasingly common description is rather different: Designed in India. Built in India. Armed increasingly with Indian systems. That change is one of the most consequential developments in India’s defence-industrial story. India’s naval modernisation is no longer just about buying more ships. It is increasingly about creating the industrial capacity to design, build, maintain and eventually export sophisticated warships. And the shipyards are getting very busy. Project 17A: the frigate programme becoming a manufacturing lesson The clearest example is Project 17A, India’s Nilgiri-class stealth frigate programme. The programme comprises seven advanced multi-mission frigates, being built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in Mumbai and Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) in Kolkata. By 2026, the programme had moved substantially from construction into induction. INS Nilgiri, INS Himgiri, INS Udaygiri and INS Taragiri had already entered service, followed by INS Dunagiri in June 2026 and INS Mahendragiri in July 2026. INS Vindhyagiri remains the final ship of the seven and is still under construction. These are not merely larger floating pieces of steel.

Novak Djokovic Retirement: The Decision Belongs to the Champion, Not the Crowd Editor, Doonited News There is a particular cruelty in watching a sporting legend struggle with the one opponent nobody can defeat forever: time. Novak Djokovic’s first-round exit from the 2026 US Open has reopened an increasingly familiar question — should the 39-year-old Serbian champion retire? The question is legitimate. But the decision is not ours to make. Djokovic’s defeat to Argentina’s Mariano Navone was extraordinary by the standards of a career built on extraordinary consistency. Navone won 7-6(5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 after four hours and 36 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium. It was Djokovic’s first opening-round defeat at a Grand Slam since 2006. More concerning than the result was what happened physically. Djokovic struggled with nausea and vomiting and battled cramping and pain involving his back and shoulder. He eventually lost control of the match after taking a two-sets-to-one lead. In his own account after the match, he indicated that physical problems had been following him through much of the season. That makes the retirement debate understandable. But understandable does not mean decisive. The body is asking a difficult question At his peak, Djokovic’s greatest weapon was

How an Old Hindi Song Became a New Diplomatic Moment Diplomacy normally has a familiar soundtrack: formal statements, handshakes, carefully negotiated phrases and microphones that seem to multiply whenever a leader enters a room. But in New Delhi this week, diplomacy briefly found a different rhythm. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim picked up a microphone and sang Kishore Kumar’s “Khwab Ho Tum Ya Koi Haqeeqat,” the evergreen Hindi song from the 1965 film Teen Devian. The moment, captured on video, quickly travelled far beyond the room where it happened. The accompanying pianist was Indian musician M. Rehman, and the performance took place during a gala dinner associated with the 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi. Within days, the clip had become one of those rare diplomatic moments that ordinary social-media users could enjoy without needing a briefing note to understand it. There was no complicated communiqué to decode. Someone was simply singing a beloved Hindi song. Anwar and Kishore Kumar — not exactly a new acquaintance The viral performance may have surprised viewers who knew Anwar primarily as Malaysia’s prime minister, but his connection with Indian music is not new. During an earlier India visit, Anwar had already performed

Brian Lara’s Imran Khan Appeal: When Cricket’s Respect Crosses Political Borders Cricket has always been more than a game in South Asia. It creates rivalries, national emotions and unforgettable sporting memories—but it can also create a shared language between people who otherwise stand on opposite sides of political boundaries. That dimension returned to the spotlight on September 5, 2026, when West Indies cricket great Brian Lara publicly expressed concern about the treatment of former Pakistan captain and former prime minister Imran Khan, calling for proper medical care and dignity while Khan remains in prison. Lara made his appeal through his official Instagram account. He recalled that he and Khan had crossed paths only a handful of times on the cricket field, but said the respect he developed for the former Pakistan captain was immediate and lasting. The significance of the intervention lies not simply in the identity of the person speaking, but in the language he chose. Lara deliberately separated his appeal from politics, describing the issue as one of basic humanity and asking that Khan receive independent medical care and the dignity due to every human being. From cricket captain to political prisoner Imran Khan occupies a unique place

From Hyderabad to the Heart of the AI Race: Uday Ruddarraju Takes Charge of OpenAI’s Computing Infrastructure Indian-origin technology executive Uday Ruddarraju is set to lead OpenAI’s broader computing and infrastructure organisation, placing him at the centre of the systems that power the company’s artificial…

ElevenLabs’ India Bet: Can Voice AI Bridge the Language Gap for India and Its Global Diaspora? London-based ElevenLabs plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in India, expand its local team and develop voice AI for the country’s linguistic diversity. The move signals a…

Gopal Vittal Re-Elected GSMA Chair Until 2028: An Indian Leader at the Centre of the Global Connectivity Debate An Indian telecom executive will continue to help shape the global mobile industry’s agenda as it faces the next wave of artificial intelligence, digital platforms and security…