Seven Maoist leaders were killed over three consecutive days in armed encounters in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district, according to police. Civil rights organisations have alleged that at least some of them were picked up from a village, held in custody, tortured and then executed.

The central government has launched the Bharatiya Bhasha Anubhag (Indian Languages Section) to free the administration from the influence of foreign languages and promote decision-making in Indian mother tongues. At first glance, it may look like a step toward inclusivity. But it raises several fundamental concerns—both practical and political—that cannot be brushed aside under the guise of cultural revival.

At a public function on 5 June, Madhya Pradesh Cabinet Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya said he disapproves of the trend of women wearing “skimpy clothes,” calling it a foreign concept of beauty that clashes with Indian tradition. The remark reflects a flawed notion, as it targets women’s clothing instead of confronting the real issue in India, which is that many men have not been taught to look at or behave around women with respect, regardless of what women choose to wear.

India’s unicorns are celebrated, and its startup scene is often seen as the future. But behind the fast-paced success stories, there’s a worrying pattern that can’t be overlooked. A private investigation shows that much of this shiny success has been built on unstable ground.

Flooding in northeast India has long been treated as an unavoidable natural disaster – a view convenient for those in power, as it conceals the fact that the annual devastation is not inevitable. On June 3, the death toll from rain-related disasters across the eight northeastern States rose to 47 – a loss that could have been prevented.

Why don’t we often feel moved, angry or responsible when we read about tragedies in the news? The recent death of a 10-year-old Dalit girl from Bihar, raped and left in critical condition in an ambulance, may have saddened us for a moment, but not enough to make us act—not even to express outrage online. But this wasn’t the case after the 2012 Nirbhaya Delhi gang rape. Let’s turn to psychology to understand what makes us pick and choose whose suffering we mourn.

The Indian public, and even members of Parliament, first learned about the Indian Air Force’s losses during the early phase of Operation Sindoor through foreign media reports quoting Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan on May 31. This confirms that the information about the initial setbacks is not classified on grounds of national security. Why, then, has the central government not provided a clear explanation of what transpired during those four days of armed conflict?