Left, Right & Centre

Food delivery platform Zomato was served a notice by the National Commission For Scheduled Castes over the portrayal of a Dalit character in one of its ad campaigns. Zomato's ad for World Environment Day featured actor Aditya Lakhia who portrayed the character of 'Kachra' in the 2001 movie 'Lagaan'. The advertisement draws a link between the character Kachra with actual 'kachra' or garbage and was aired on World Environment Day on June 5. The backlash resulted in the ad being pulled down but was it too late? On Left, Right & Centre, we ask - why is caste still being used as a punch line?

"Importing Russian oil is only a temporary relief measure for India," says the chief of the International Energy Agency Dr Fatih Birol in an exclusive interview with NDTV, going on to say that 'India must look for clean energy alternatives soon.'

As Rajasthan gears up for a high-pitched state election, NDTV visits rural Rajasthan for a reality check on Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's social security schemes - have the Congress government's promises worked and are they financially viable? And how much of an effect have they made on the ground?

While the BJP is still smarting from losing Karnataka, its last bastion in the South, efforts are on to conquer the state of Tamil Nadu, where Union Home Minister Amit Shah is on a two-day trip. Mr Shah hit out at the ruling party DMK as well as the Congress, but will BJP's efforts to undermine the opposition translate into any real advantage in a state that has rejected the party decisively in almost every election?

Veteran politician Sharad Pawar has settled the succession question in his party, daughter Supriya Sule along with Praful Patel are the party working presidents. While this may be the internal matter of the party, it could certainly have implications for the overall Maha Vikas Aghadi. Does settling the succession battle within the NCP make it easier for the allies to work or could it be a spanner in the works?

An alarming Lancet report is confirming what doctors in India largely have been warning people about. A survey shows that 35.5 per cent of Indians suffer from hypertension, 15.3 per cent of people have pre-diabetes, while an alarming 81.2 per cent have dyslipidaemia -- the imbalance of lipids such as cholesterol.

Troubles mount for former US President Donald Trump after being indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents and violation of the espionage act. But despite the setback, Donald Trump remains brazen, he calls himself innocent and the target of a witch hunt.

In a case eerily similar to the Shraddha Walkar murder case, a 32-year-old woman was murdered and chopped into pieces by her 56-year-old live-in partner in Mumbai. The police were alerted to the crime after a number of neighbours complained of a stench emanating from the couple's apartment. The victim's body was disposed of in plastic bags, while the police found the remaining pieces of her decomposing body in the apartment. The motive is yet to be ascertained. But this is just the latest shocking episode in a series of gruesome crimes committed against women - not by strangers, but their own partners. On Left, Right & Centre, we ask - what's driving men to such insane levels of cruelty against those they love?

 

In a traumatic experience for over 200 Air India passengers, their plane bound for San Francisco was forced to make a precautionary landing in the remote Russian town of Magadan after hitting a snag. A replacement flight is en route to ferry them to their final destination. Several stranded passengers speak to NDTV about their unexpected experience.

The destruction of a dam in Southern Ukraine has impacted lakhs of lives and created an ecological disaster, perhaps taking Russia and Ukraine further from reaching peace than ever before. But as nations trade charges over who destroyed the dam, we ask - who is really responsible, and is there any chance left for peace in the war torn region?