Opium nearly smoked out China, made Britain acquired tainted wealth and laid the foundation of the fortunes of many a notorious trading house, most infamously Jardine Matheson, and made a number of early 19th-century Bombay Parsi families, who were middlemen in the East India Company's illicit opium trade, very rich. And it continues to have a baneful influence because it is the life-blood of global narco terrorism. Celebrated author Amitav Ghosh's next book, 'Smoke and Ashes', to be released by HarperCollins India's Fourth Estate imprint on July 15, is, in the words of its sub-title, 'A Writer's Journey Through Opium's Hidden Histories'.

A video showing an artist giving a rustic Rajasthani look to Indian cricketer Virat Kohli's picture is going viral on Instagram. Teju Jangid, an artist, shared this video on Instagram with the caption, "@virat.kohli in rural Rajasthani look..." Jangid puts a red-coloured turban and a white Kurta attire on Virat Kohli's picture. Further, he adds a stick to complete the look. He also draws a moustache on Kohli's face to give him an authentic Rajasthani appearance.

A new Omicron subvariant is spreading in the United States, and has accounted for nearly 10 per cent of new weekly Covid-19 cases reported across the country, according to data updated by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The subvariant XBB.1.16, referred to as "arcturus", has been added by the CDC to its variant tracker. The percentage is expected to increase in the coming weeks, and it may become the next dominant coronavirus strain in the country, experts warned.

Vietnam is accelerating efforts to vaccinate children against polio amid a global surge in a variant of the the virus, local media reported on Tuesday. The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology has urged local health authorities to administer polio vaccinations to children, especially those born in 2021 and 2022, reports Xinhua news agency. As a result of social distancing practices to limit the spread of Covid-19, childhood immunisation rates for polio have dropped to the lowest level in the past 20 years, putting millions of children at risk of exposure to the preventable disease, said the epidemiology institute under the Ministry of Health.

Amid the ongoing controversy over sexual harassment charges filed by students of the Kalakshetra Foundation, Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women Chairperson A.S. Kumari stated that she would present a report of her findings to the state government on Monday. She said that she will examine the complaints submitted to her by the students of the Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts at the Foundation on Friday.

It all started when theatre director Roysten Abel and singer Bombay Jayashri spoke over a video call. When she talked about her voice's voyage and what it really meant for her, Abel could feel a peculiar note. 'Voice' resonated with him on multiple levels -- political and social.

Don't you wish growing up, you had strong female voices that would speak to you in your time of need? Women, whose personal triumph would give you the courage and hope to stand up for yourself and always ask for more till the time you got what you truly deserved.

Growing up in the vibrant surroundings of Central Delhi's Karol Bagh, Anupama Mohan began writing at the age of nine -- "at least, that's how far back my memory of something tangible -- a diary, a journal -- goes".

It was Russian painter and philosopher Nicholas Roerich's daughter-in-law Devika Rani, the Indian film star, who came to Naggar in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu in 1942 where Roerich came in 1927 from St. Petersburg and made the tiny village his home.

Sangeeta Jindal, Founding Patron of Kochi Biennale and Founding Trustee of JSW Foundation, on Monday said that JSW Steel would have deep cooperation and support for Kochi Biennale, which is the pride of the country. The outside funding available for Kochi Biennale is significantly less compared to other biennales around the world, including those in Asia.