I picked up gardening as a hobby. By growing my own food, I realised agriculture is not sustainable and is plagued with rampant pesticide use, which deteriorates soil health and lowers the nutritional value of the food we consume. I contacted a farmer who lived close by and gave him the supplies needed for growing food. I grew an abundant produce, which I gave away to friends and family, and then realised it should be scaled up. That is how Farmizen came to be.

Last week, the government managed to pass the Finance Bill, which made Aadhaar mandatory for services from getting a SIM card to filing taxes. Yes, the same Aadhaar that makes a database of citizens’ fingerprints and iris scans, and that until recently was optional. Aadhaar is on it’s way to becoming the only identity card in the future. But, a major component is biometric identification technology, and technology can always fail. What happens if a software cannot recognise you? Or what if you

‘Can a dyslexia programme help a 40–50 year-old child?’ said Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a chuckle to a gathering of students at IIT Roorkee. This was a tasteless statement in which he was alluding to his political rival, Rahul Gandhi. It shouldn’t come as a shock that Prime Minister Modi made such a statement — it wasn’t his first time. As the Gujarat chief minister, while trying to make a seemingly progressive statement, he made an unbelievably casteist and ableist remark, drawing paral

Rakshak Security service has one task – to save the Yamuna, on orders of the National Green Tribunal. But a task force of about 20 men, they find it hard to patrol the over 60 km area from Okhla to Wazirabad and keep polluters at bay while also dealing with the sand mafia. They say they have stopped 1,000 tonnes from being dumped at what was once the river, but has now turned into a wasteland, in the seven months they have been working. The security force wants more help from the police and DDA authorities, in terms of increased manpower and speedy responses. Why do they take on the arduous task of cleaning the river? So that people of the area get clean water and don’t fall ill.

The media, supposedly entrusted with the responsibility of being neutral and conducting informed debates, has resorted to fear and hate-mongering, and has demonised those who question the authorities. We saw the results of that in the attack on Umar Khalid yesterday.

“It’s that time of the month” can have wildly different connotations in a woman’s life, depending on whether she is wrestling with Mother Nature or with the reality of her bank balance till the next paycheque comes through. It’s 2019, and money and menstruation are both talked about in the same hushed tones, as one stumbles along with some help from friends and family. Money matters shouldn’t be an uncomfortable conversation, but rather something that’s taught in school.

Zia’s Pakistan was a strong US-ally, and was at the forefront of the Afghanistan war, fighting against the Soviet Union. It was a plane ride that cost Zia his life when it exploded mid-air en route Islamabad from Bahawalpur on 17 August 1988. There were 31 other people onboard that flight, including the American Ambassadors to Pakistan and Zia’s top officials. While there are many theories on what caused the plane crash, no one is convinced that it was an accident.

Yes, Apple did it again. It “innovated” to give us a phone it was so excited to unveil that it tweeted its details, even before Tim Cook could talk about it on stage. We got a new iWatch, which has GPS when ironically the company has not even managed to perfect their maps. They got rid of the headphone jack to give us an hour of battery life. RIP Jack. Also, RIP iPhone (which will no longer be saved from falling by the headphone wire) While this is a wish list of all the features we hope to

Where can you find Palash Sen singing an acoustic version of Maaeri and reuniting Euphoria for a mini-concert? On The Quint of course! After having turned to direction recently for a short film, Sen has not forgotten his fans and has a new album to release this December. He also tried keeping up with the millennials as he tried his hand at figuring out if he is “basic AF” or “woke”!

Rapper Drake might be the most famous Canadian after Justin Trudeau. Every song of his tops the charts. His cool moves and lyrics keep people hooked. But, if you don’t know who he is, chances are his lyrics will remind you of some famous people closer home. He’s rapped about short clothes, money, alcohol and his enemies.