Table of contents for 29 September 2025 in India Today

IF HISTORY WERE TO PROCEED BACKWARDS, a lot of powerful Rajput ruling dynasties from Rajasthan’s past would face the mortification of being dragged in front of modern courts. Interfaith weddings were the currency of their power. But today, state by state, India seems to be converting to a different article of faith. And Rajasthan has not only become the latest to pass an anti-conversion bill, it has surpassed all others in the stringency of its provisions. The Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Bill, 2025, marks the state’s third legislative venture of its ilk, its 2005 and 2008 editions having failed to get gubernatorial or presidential approval. Unlike those, however, this bill is stirring nationwide debate due to its near-criminalisation of interfaith marriages. A marriage where either spouse has converted…

GLOBAL WARMING ↘ Hottest year on record globally: 2024 ↘ India’s annual mean temperature has risen by 0.69°C since 2001 ↘ For a tropical country, India already has a high base average temperature of over 25°C ↘ Moreover, the Himalayan region has seen a 2.5°C rise over pre-industrial levels ↘ The country’s 10 warmest years in 120 years have all been in the past 15 years EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS In 2024, India recorded extreme weather on 88% of the days, up from 86% in 2022 *January to March Source: CSE-DTE data centre ANNUAL MEAN TEMPERATURE IN INDIA 25.050C [2001] 25.740C [2024] SHIFTING JET STREAM ↘ West Asia and Mediterranean are warming much faster than rest of the land, creating a strong pressure difference vis-à-vis the Arabian Sea ↘ This pushes…

SUSPENSION BRIDGE, Morbi OCT. 2022 The 19th-century pedestrian bridge over the Machchhu river collapsed just days after it was reopened following repairs. Overcrowding during Diwali celebrations was cited as a reason. A forensic report highlighted rusted cables, broken anchors and loose bolts as causes. Ten people were charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder 141 killed, over 180 injured MINDHOLA RIVER BRIDGE, Tapi JUN. 2023 A portion of the two-yearold ready-to-inaugurate bridge crumbled, sending shockwaves as it was to open for vehicular traffic soon. Surat-based contractor Akshay Construction was blacklisted for using substandard materials and several senior engineers involved in the project were suspended No loss of life BHOGAVO RIVER BRIDGE, Surendranagar SEPT. 2023 A portion of the 40-year-old bridge near Wadhwan city fell down when a 40-tonne dumper…

A Public Arts Trust of India (PATI) initiative, the Jodhpur Arts Week: Edition 1.0 will take place from October 1 to 7. Curated by Tapiwa Matsinde and Sakhshi Mahajan, it brings together more than 20 global artists and designers who have created site-responsive works in dialogue with Jodhpur’s artisans, landscapes and communities. “This year’s theme, Hath Ro Hunar, honours the artisans whose expertise and labour have shaped Jodhpur’s rich cultural fabric,” says Sana Rezwan, founding chairwoman, PATI. While Chila Kumari Singh Burman’s site-specific neon installation reimagines Jodhpur’s historic stepwells, Puneet Kaushik explores textile traditions as a means of cultural memory and gendered labour. Ayesha Singh’s installation reflects on women’s role in shaping public architecture and Theo Pinto merges his abstract visual language with Jodhpur’s traditional stone- and wood-carving techniques. French artist…

Once a space meant for ablutions has become a retreat complete with fashionable decor and clever design. Never before has there been so much emphasis on bathrooms. Be it wellness, technology, clever features or luxury, bathrooms are getting their big moment. This festive season, tech meets tactility as showers turn softer, toilets get smarter, fittings flirt with art, and basins slip into serene shapes. Think water-saving smarts wrapped in good design. From Hansgrohe’s new Raindance Alive to TOTO’s WASHLET S7, Kohler’s floral-etched finery, Hindware’s colour-calm basins and GROHE’s IGINA Shower Toilet, these picks lift daily rituals while keeping an eye on comfort, hygiene and style. Power of a High-Tech Shower For many looking for luxe bath beauties, Hansgrohe has been the go-to brand. “Hansgrohe’s genesis lies in combining design excellence…

Big impact does not always need big construction. Most homes feel new again with smart switches in textiles, furniture, fixtures, and accents. These are your flexible tools. Through thoughtful layering, seasonal responsiveness, and meaningful details, interiors can evolve beautifully, reflecting preferences while requiring no structural change. Embracing Seasonal Rhythm The year is a built-in mood board. Let your home follow it. When textiles, colours, and textures shift with the weather, rooms feel connected to time and place. It delights the senses. It lasts longer than a quick trend swap. Curtains are the easiest mood shifters. In spring and summer, light cotton or voile filters sunlight and lifts the room. Think muted tones or playful prints that echo the season. As winter rolls in, bring in velvet, silk, or lined cotton…

EARLY YEARS 1950: Born on September 17 in Vadnagar, Gujarat, to a family that ran a tea stall. From an early age, Modi displays an interest in debate and public life. As a teenager, he leaves home, spending years travelling across India, living an austere life SANGH SCHOOLING 1972: Modi joins the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh as a pracharak. It provides him a training ground in ideology and discipline that would later define his politics BUILDING BASE IN THE BJP 1987: Joins the BJP, initially managing campaigns in Gujarat, where his organisational skills stand out. Plays pivotal roles in L.K. Advani’s 1990 Somnath-Ayodhya Rath Yatra and the 1991-92 Ekta Yatra, hoisting the tricolour at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk THE GUJARAT MODEL 2003: Post-2002, Modi recasts himself as a pro-business reformer—streamlining approvals, promoting…

THE DALY COLLEGE OF INDORE carries a certain elite cachet, owing to its colonial vintage and also by how it ramifies all the way into the modern hallways of power and wealth. The who’s who of Madhya Pradesh politics and business can be said to have a direct or indirect stake in the 155-year-old public school. Imagine a canvas brimful with former and latter-day rajas. Add litigious busybodies to the mix. Any wonder, then, that Daly is yet again in the eye of a storm? The prize catch: the Board of Governors, the school’s apex body. In the latest ground assault, Sandeep Parekh, a board member and alumnus from 1979, has secured an order from the Assistant Registrar of Firms and Societies, Indore, directing school authorities to amend their bylaws.…

PUNJAB 56 DEATH TOLL ₹12,000 cr. OFFICIAL LOSS ESTIMATE 612 mm AGGREGATE RAINFALL* 50% EXCESS RAIN * For the period Jun. 1-Sept. 15, 2025; Source: IMD THE WATERS HAVE STARTED TO RECEDE BACK INTO THE RAVI, but life in Gurchak village, in the Dera Baba Nanak area of Gurdaspur district, Punjab, will take months to return to normal. The village’s 650 acres of farmland remain fully submerged, while another 1,100 acres are heavy with murky pools and silt from the monstrous surge on August 27. That afternoon, minutes after the floodgates at the Madhopur barrage near Pathankot were breached, the rampaging Ravi tore through temporary embankments, transforming what were once lush green fields into scenes of devastation. By the end of the day, the river had swollen 3-4 km on both sides.…

Curated by award-winning artist and filmmaker Sarah Singh, the fifth volume of Panorama Editions will be held at Kangra Fort near Dharamshala this October. Titled Ten Nights By A Lost River, the three-day art salon will explore the theme of power through theatrical installations, music and dance. “The royal family here traces their lineage back 2,500 years, and one of their ancestors (that they claim) is King Porus, who was in the major battle with Alexander the Great. These are all battleground areas and there are these historical connections with the broader region. Himachal Pradesh is known as Veer Bhoomi or the land of the brave,” says Sarah. The theatrical installations will unfold like a gallery of about 15 scenes, with guests moving around and getting different perspectives or seeing…

Sky’s the Limit Home Artisan’s new Wabi-Sabi inspired collection of handcrafted ceramic vases and decor objects celebrate the beauty of imperfection and organic forms. Featured here is the Calla Shell Blue Ceramic Vase with soft blue finish and subtle ivory striations, and the piece is inspired by a coastal morning sky. PRICE ₹2,790 onwards AT @home.artisan (Instagram) Serving with Style Yellow Marigold’s Hand-Painted Art Series celebrates the thoughtful collaboration between heritage craft and contemporary design. Each piece of serveware is created by skilled local artisans who bring knowledge, traditon, and storytelling into every detail. The range includes trays, coasters, caddies and Lazy Susans. PRICE ₹1,850 onwards AT www.yellowmarigold.in When Classic meets Cool Located in Kochi’s historic Pappali House, Magari’s new store is a sight for good design deprived eyes. While…

Known for its sprawling warehouse-style stores, IKEA’s latest move in Delhi raised a few eyebrows. Instead of another mega-format outlet, the Swedish giant has opened a compact 15,000 sq ft store at Pacific Mall, West Delhi. But that’s where the surprise ends. Step inside and you’ll find everything you’d expect from IKEA and then some. Dreamy bedrooms, organised kitchens, practical home offices, and aisles of standalone products. Choice isn’t a problem, narrowing it down is. “Delhi is our biggest market, and we see tremendous potential here. While our larger store in Gurgaon has its own timeline, this location felt right. The mix of customers, the popularity of the mall, and the direct metro connectivity sealed the deal,” says Adosh Sharma, Country Commercial Manager, IKEA India. Several products are available for…

On September 15, Union minister of culture and tourism Gajendra Singh Shekha wat took to social media to lecture the ‘Congress IT Cell AI over-enthusiasts’ on how artificial intelligence is meant for ‘innovation, information and healthy entertainment’ and not for ‘insult, imitation or intended hurt’. The rebuke was perhaps triggered by a recent AI video, posted by the Bihar Congress, showing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mother visiting him in his dream and admonishing him over playing politics in her name. The social media clip set off a furious row over the slight to the prime minister and his late mother. Fair point: the video was crass, and has rightly invited a legal notice. But Shekhawat’s moral policing would carry more weight if he offered the same advice to his own…

IT’S LIKE A DOSE OF THE FEAR HORMONE being shot through the veins of Bengal—a vague but sharp sense that something larger, and potentially disruptive, is about to unfold. Bivash Patra, a thirty-something in Nazat, North 24 Parganas, epitomises it. Like a man possessed, he’s shuttling between dowdy government office counters. His Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) spells his name as Bibhas instead of Bivash. This is no longer a routine matter: such slips, dime a dozen in Indian documentation, could now determine whether he’s ‘in’ or ‘out’. If cause and effect are the same across the polity, the Election Commission’s Form 8 is both key and lock for the afflicted. Armed with this mandated document for corrections, Patra approached the local BDO, only to be told his year of birth…

RAJINDER NEGI, AN APPLE GROWER IN KOTKHAI, HIMACHAL PRADESH, CAN ONLY SHAKE HIS HEAD IN DISBELIEF. His crop is rotting in warehou ses or stranded on broken roads. Life itself seems broken in this Him ala yan state: it has seen 45 cloudbursts, 91 flash floods and 105 major landslides so far this season, leaving over 660 road blockages in their wake. For Negi and countless orchard owners, the fallout is devastating, with up to 40 per cent of their apple harvest lost this year, a staggering blow to the Rs 5,500 crore industry. This, when they have only partially recovered from the 2023 floods. “We have rebuilt before,” says Negi, “but this time the damage is too deep.” His words capture the collective exhaustion of a community grappling with rapidly…

Mehrangarh Fort will once again transform into the epicentre of global roots music as Jodhpur RIFF (Rajasthan International Folk Festival) returns for its 18th edition from October 2–6. Known for its dramatic setting and thoughtful curation, the festival gathers artists from Rajasthan, Bhutan, Uzbekistan, Portugal, Finland, Colombia and more—offering audiences music that bridges tradition and innovation in unexpected ways. Festival director Divya Bhatia sums up RIFF’s journey with a line from Marcel Proust—‘The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.’ “We’re learning how best to positively impact the livelihood of traditional Rajasthani artists,” he says. “And we have done this while keeping programming fresh.” A key highlight this year is En Route, a solo immersive walking experience that turns the fort and…

The Oberoi New Delhi | Sept. 27 A Rare Treat Auction house Saffronart is celebrating 25 years with a special anniversary live sale in Delhi on September 27. Highlights include works by V.S. Gaitonde, Akbar Padamsee, M.F. Husain and Jagdish Swaminathan. It also features F.N. Souza’s ‘Six Gentlemen of Our Times’, a 1956 canvas by Tyeb Mehta, as well as works by Jehangir Sabavala, S.H. Raza, Nicholas Roerich and others. Vadehra Art Gallery, Delhi | Till Oct. 11 Reclaiming the Body Woman Song | Looking Back at Vadehra Art Gallery presents a selection of 35 paintings from artist Vasundhara Tewari Broota’s oeuvre from the 1980s to the present. One of Broota’s preoccupations throughout her career has been the nude female body, which she has reimagined as a site of agency, resistance,…

Some homes wear quiet luxury like a well-tailored suit. Tucked into Lutyens’ Delhi, the Sundar Nagar residence does just that. Here, contemporary ease meets classical bones, then nods politely. The brief was simple yet ambitious—a home that feels timeless. Therefore, the palette stays minimal, the materials feel natural, and the contrasts are gentle. Nothing shouts. Everything speaks. Facing the Delhi Zoological Forest, the house leans into its setting. Big windows, smart openings and generous terraces choreograph a steady dialogue with the trees. Light pours in, views stretch out. Indoors and outdoors trade places until the boundary feels optional. Bespoke Glulam timber doors and windows by Artius stitch this relationship together. Solid wood, modern engineering, proper craft. The plan unfolds across three levels, each with its own mood. A Georgian Bar…