off-beat

With booming clubs and courts and even pickleball cafes across India, it truly is the sport of the moment, but will the fad sustain?

A hamlet of about 150 houses, barely 15 km from the temple town of Puri in Odisha, it is a heritage crafts village where history dates back to 5 BC. While in the rest of the world, art makes news only when a work is auctioned crossing the million-dollar mark; at Raghurajpur, it is practised as ‘sewa’ to Lord Jagannath.

Thieves raided the Louvre in broad daylight, taking just seven minutes to grab some of France's priceless crown jewels.

A Patachitra painting is a slow miracle. The canvas is made from old cotton saris soaked in a paste of chalk and tamarind seed, then polished smooth with a conch shell.

Wolves disappeared from Danish forests in 1813, when they were hunted to extinction – remembered only in stories and fairy tales. Then, in 2012, a lone male wolf crossed the border from Germany into Jutland, Denmark’s peninsula bordering Germany. More followed. By 2017, Denmark celebrated its first confirmed breeding pack in more than 200 years.

In a new study of a 56 million-year-old fossil bird, researchers show that the distant ancestors of ostriches and other large flightless birds once flew great distances.

A striking blend of humour, social commentary and agendas masked as entertainment, memes have become an effective way of reaching out to and convincing the masses. The diplomats and governments are increasingly tapping into this powerful tool of public diplomacy.

More than 2,000 years ago, the depiction of living figures on Roman coins caused similar ructions. It came at a time when the Roman republic was in trouble. The republic would crumble altogether soon after, ushering in the long period of Rome being led by emperor-kings who saw themselves as almost akin to gods. Perhaps the American republic is at a similar stage.

To regain public trust, social media platforms will have to behave more ethically. They should be transparent about advertising, sponsorships and moderation policies, and should make clear how content is recommended.

"The chocolate is soft and melty, and the filling is creamy, and then the crunch of the kadayif. It's all about the texture. Plus, it's sugar.”

A “Virgin Goddess” is regarded as a mortal after reaching puberty, and hence, is replaced.

In several cases, women are manipulated to adopt a stranger child. In the absence of any psychological and emotional preparation, it leads to complications.