THE independent constitutional authority, Election Commission of India, tasked to conduct free and fair elections, today stands like the naked Emperor. Since the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) was launched on June 24, 2025, for Bihar, it was clear that it was not intended to clean up the electoral rolls. It had no precedent contrary to what was claimed by the ECI nor was it backed by any formal decision nor based on any due diligence to hold the exercise across the nation as was made out during launch.

GEORGI DIMITROV, the outstanding Bulgarian Communist leader who had presided over the Seventh Congress of the Comintern and piloted the tactics of United Front to fight fascism, had earlier been an accused in the Reichstag Fire case and imprisoned by the Nazis after they had come to power in Germany in 1933. Dimitrov had rejected the offer of a lawyer provided by the Court and had defended himself during the trial. In his defence he had wanted to cross examine Herman Goering, top Nazi leader and Hitler’s war minister, and his request had been granted by the Court.

THE reported custodial death of Sai Krishna in Vijayawada has barely faded from public memory, yet another death of a youth has raised fresh questions over the treatment of Dalits and other marginalised communities in Andhra Pradesh. Cheekati Gopi, a Dalit youth from Guntur district, was reportedly taken into police custody in connection with a theft case and later found dead.

For centuries, scientists viewed the brain as one unified organ. A new Stanford Medicine study published in Nature Neuroscience on 18 September by lead authors Rayyan Jokhai and Carolyn Dundes overturns that idea. It shows that what we call the brain is really two ancient nervous systems joined together. The front part, which includes the forebrain and midbrain, comes from one type of starter cell. The back part, the hindbrain, comes from an entirely different starter cell. These two cell groups never mix.

ONE of the cardinal principles of a vibrant, organic democracy is the manner in which elections are held. What is important in this connection is transparency, impartiality and accountability of the body administering elections. Whatever be the aberrations or peculiarities of the TN Sheshan (former CEC) period, the impartial authority that the ECI should possess was made public during those days. Ever since Gyanesh Kumar took over, just the opposite has been the case.