Arvind’s Newsletter

1.Seminal events, like the partition of India and Pakistan, have impacts that are everyday as well as historical.

That is a message of New Delhi’s recently opened Partition Museum. The site opened in May after first being established in the northern city of Amritsar. Inside the Delhi branch are an array of household objects carried across what was then a newly created border, as well as wedding photographs, letters, and notebooks, “scattered in glass cases amid newspaper cutting and documentary photos of violence and migration,” India’s Outlook magazine wrote. “Perhaps to help the visitors connect the dots between personal and the political.

2.Bhutan cuts tourist fee for stay per night from $200 to $100 to attract more international visitors.

The country had initially raised its "Sustainable Development Fee" to $200 per visitor per night from $65 after ending Covid-19 restrictions in September 2022. The increased fee was intended to offset the carbon footprint generated by tourists.

Bhutan is a Himalayan kingdom and is known for its pristine landscapes. It has now reduced the daily fee to $100 per night. The new rate will come into effect from September and will remain in place for a duration of four years. The government's decision is driven by the recognition of tourism's role in generating employment and adding revenues to its overall economic growth.

3.Amazing footage shows Indian Rover ramping down the Lunar Surface, reports Futurism.

Earlier this week, India became just the fourth country to ever land on the Moon, a historic moment in space exploration.

And now, we get to watch the landing in a fascinating pair of videos released by the ISRO.

The first shows Vikram releasing a 57-pound, six-wheeled rover called Pragyaan — Sanskrit for "wisdom" — down to the lunar surface, where it's designed to explore the area for evidence of ice. The second shows Vikram already rolling across the crater-dotted surface.

4.Indore is shedding its old-world humility for a brasher, bolder and brassier avatar. A new wealthy class is exerting its will on the city.

It is now a city of surplus: Porsche, Kulhad pizza, tandoori cold coffee, palace mall, reports the Print.

5.India’s new chess wonder kid is here:Praggnanandhaa’s journey: What it takes to be a global chess star by Susan Ninan in Indian Express.

Praggnanandhaa may not feel it just yet. But what he’s done at the World Cup in Baku over the past four weeks is a tectonic, seminal, throw-in-the-thesaurus big deal. Both for him and Indian chess. And it wasn’t just him.

Praggnanandhaa turned 18, crossed 2700 Elo, made a World Cup final and qualified for the Candidates — the latter will determine the challenger for the World Championships.

Ordinarily, all of this doesn’t happen in the space of a few weeks. It’s a breakout moment for the game in the country. With his casual genius and goofy smile, the teen may seem not to make a big deal out of this. He may even be hurting a smidgen from the loss in the final tiebreaks against world No 1 Magnus Carlsen. More than what this result means in isolation, it is a signpost of how far he and his fellow Indian players have travelled. Read on.