Open Magazine - Top Stories

Who Pays If a Nuclear Accident Happens? India’s New SHANTI Rules Explain the Stakes
Who Pays If a Nuclear Accident Happens? India’s New SHANTI Rules Explain the Stakes
4 min read
The Centre’s draft SHANTI Rules, 2026, put operator liability, insurance and financial safeguards at the centre of India’s plan to expand nuclear power and allow greater private participation. Here’s ...
West Bengal Tarapith Hotel Fire: Pilgrims dead, owner arrested; what happened inside what it says about safety
4 min read
A predawn blaze at a hotel in West Bengal’s Tarapith killed at least seven pilgrims in initial reports, with the death toll later reported at eight. The arrest of the hotel owner has put fire-safety c ...
Scholar links kanwariya aggression to rising economic inequality, uncertainties
4 min read
Author and Montclair State University academic Dr Vikash Singh deciphers what drives kanwariya violence
Ananya Raj Death: The untold story of the actor behind Ghost and Thaggede Le, who was chasing something more
4 min read
Ananya Raj, known for Ghost, 7 Hours to Go and Thaggede Le, breathed her last on July 15 at the age of 27, with her family confirming the news nearly a month later. She had spent over a year dealing w ...
Copy, Colour & Colorbar: Can Samir Modi's Beauty Brand Take on the World?
8 min read
Colorbar built a ₹300-crore-plus cosmetics business by borrowing from the global beauty playbook and manufacturing alongside luxury brands. Twenty-one years later, it is cutting clutter, betting on re ...
Can 80,000 Cameras Think as One? Inside Gujarat Police’s Mega AI Hackathon
5 min read
India’s largest police surveillance challenge will ask coders to connect Gujarat’s scattered camera networks and teach machines to spot suspects, track vehicles and flag danger in real time. The prize ...
‘Ultimately, It’s Just 31’: Australia Turn Up Heat on Marnus Labuschagne
3 min read
The Australian No. 3 looked fluent during his 31 against Bangladesh. Coach Andrew McDonald was not buying the consolation: “Ultimately, it is 31.” With the series on the line, Labuschagne is running o ...
Ashok Dham Stampede Explained: What Triggered the Crush That Killed 7 Devotees in Bihar?
6 min read
Two trains reportedly delivered a sudden wave of pilgrims, a barricade buckled and rumours of a fallen electrical pole ignited panic. Within minutes, seven devotees were dead. The precise trigger rema ...
Fresh 5.9 earthquake hits Flores as Indonesia’s deadly tremor toll rises to 54
4 min read
A fresh magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck Indonesia’s Flores region on Monday as rescuers continued searching areas devastated by Saturday’s magnitude 7.7 earthquake. The earlier quake killed at least 5 ...
open magazine cover
14 Aug 2026 - Vol 05 | Issue 33

Freedom Issue 2026

Shashi Tharoor on being radical liberal | Ram Madhav on how Gandhi used his Hinduism | TCA Raghavan on a diplomat's travels in history | Sumana Roy on the novel beyond the Booker | Carlo Pizzati on the dissolution of Borders
Behold Gandhi the Hindu: How Sanatana Dharma Shaped India’s Independence Movement and Nationalism
Testament of a Radical Liberal
Freedom Issue 2026: Editor's Note
The Capital of Mobilisation: Delhi and the unfinished argument of the Republic