Ashwin

Here is what is happening at ghacks. chipp.in/news/here-is-w… ☹️

S. Thyagarajan, veteran sports correspondent and doyen of hockey writing, who worked with The Hindu for many decades, passed away.

Puducherry Student Performs Bharatanatyam 20 Feet Underwater at Rameswaram This Video deserves to go viral on social media📈💥

Thanks for the kind words, Martin. I'm still processing what happened.😢

So, ghacks.net has been sold and I'm no longer involved. Ashwin has been fired as well. If you have any writing gigs, especially for Ashwin, let me know. He is a talented, hard working, and knowledgeable writer.

In today’s press meeting, we strongly condemned the DMK Government’s wilful defiance of the court’s clear directive permitting Hindu devotees to light the sacred Karthigai Deepam on the Deepa Thoon (stone pillar) atop the Thiruparankundram hill. The chronology of events, essential aspects of the previous judgments, the DMK government’s deliberate attempt to hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus and their cheap vote bank politics were elaborated during today’s press meeting. @BJP4TamilNadu @NainarBJP @DrTamilisai4BJP

Despite heavy rain, TN BJP leaders led by @VinojBJP ji protested outside DMK headquarters in Chennai today. They're asking gvt to follow the court order and allow Hindus to light the Karthigai Deepam atop the Thiruparankundram hill. Good to see BJP leaders hitting the streets against the anti-Hindu DMK govt and taking stand for Hindus...

Thirupparankundram is the First of the Six Abodes of Lord Murugan (Kartikeya). The practice of lighting lamps atop the hill during the Tamil month of Karthigai is an ancient tradition of Hindus. It is sad and ironic that today the Hindus in Bharat have to seek judicial interventions to practice their faith and perform their rituals. If, even after winning a decisive legal battle, devotees cannot perform a simple, peaceful ritual on their own property, then where, in their own country, shall they truly find constitutional justice? In short and simple, let all the Hindus in Bharat understand this - The bitter truth is - The Chennai High Court affirmed our right to light the Deepathoon - first by a single judge, then upheld by a higher bench. Legally, the battle was won. Yet, practically, we were forced to adjust. Ask yourself - Can any religious festival be moved a week late? Can a holy day's celebration be shifted to a different time? No. Because the sanctity of religious time and the integrity of every religious calendar is non-negotiable. Yet, for Sanatana Dharma, the moment—the sacred Karthigai Deepam—was stolen, vanished forever. Why? Because Hindus can be taken for granted. Sometimes it's the governments, sometimes it’s the executive, sometimes it’s the NGOs, sometimes it’s a random pseudo intellectual groups – but every time, it is Hindus who accept the loss and adjust. We secured the right, but lost the ritual. This repeated, systemic denial is why a time has come to demand more than just court victories - We need the Sanatana Dharma Raksha Board where devotees actively manage their own temples and religious affairs. Mockery of Hindu traditions and rituals has become a norm for certain groups. Do they dare to do the same for other religious events? Does Article 25 become an optional right instead of a fundamental right to the Hindus? Can a Police Commissioner or a District Magistrate unilaterally nullify a specific High Court Directive? If the High Court confirmed the Deepam lighting was a "harmless religious act" on legally owned land, who decides that this practice constitutes a threat to "communal harmony," and by what legal mechanism? How come HR&CE Department consistently and repeatedly act against the interests of Hindu devotees and their temple's traditions, and how do these officials evade serious accountability? Hindus should observe the collective spirit and solidarity shown by practitioners of Abrahamic religions (religions of Arabian origin) when religious issues arise. They overcome their ethnic, regional, and linguistic differences for the sake of their faith. As long as Hindus remain divided by caste, regional, and linguistic barriers, the mockery, insults, and abuses against the Hindu religion and its practices shall continue. If Hindus in our nation don't unite under a common minimum program with the collective spirit of Hindu Dharma (or Aram in Tamil), this spirit will be lost. I hope for a day when every Hindu from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Kamakhya to Dwarka wakes up to the humiliation Hindus face in their own land. #Tiruparakundaram #SanatanaDharmaRakshaBoard

I've been getting this SMS alert about Ditwah cyclone from NDMAEW, TNSDMA for like 20 times within the last half an hour.

Please spread the word Chennai.

IMD Weather Alert ! A Low Pressure Area over the southeast Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify into a Cyclonic Storm by 27th Oct over the southwest & adjoining westcentral Bay of Bengal. 🌧️ Heavy to very heavy rainfall expected over: Tamil Nadu, Kerala & Mahe: 24–28 Oct Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam & Rayalaseema: 24–29 Oct Odisha: 27–29 Oct Extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places on 27–28 Oct. Stay updated & stay safe! #IMDWeatherAlert #CycloneWarning #BayOfBengal #HeavyRainfall #TamilNadu #Kerala #CoastalAndhraPradesh #Odisha #StaySafe #WeatherUpdate @moesgoi @ndmaindia @DDNational @airnewsalerts

If someone like Sridhar Vembu had been born in any other state, he would have been celebrated beyond measure. Born into an ordinary family, he studied hard, went to the U.S., built a $1.5-billion-revenue global enterprise, then returned to his motherland to expand his company in rural TN, creating employment opportunities for rural youth. Now, he’s striving to make India technologically self-reliant… A vision that deserves admiration and support. If this story were brought to the big screen, and a popular actor played his role, the nation would hail him as a hero. But the real hero? He’s being trolled and abused for his background by supporters of a certain political ideology (the kind we locally call “200-rupees upis”) Why? There is only one reason… He doesn’t fit into their political agenda and he belongs to a community which they have been portraying as villains for the last several years… It’s truly shameful.

@techvenkat That's interesting. Venkat, can you check if there are flags that you can enable in about:config to access the feature? I see there is browser.ipProtection.enabled but I'm not sure if that does anything.

Rare these days to see a civil services officer stand firm against a heavyweight politician trying to throw his weight around. Anjana Krishna, 2022 batch IPS officer, hats off to your courage. In any reasonable country, Ajit Pawar would’ve had to resign and face action. But then, this is India. Don’t want to say more otherwise Anjana Krishna will only be ordered to dispatch a team to arrest me. Would be poetic, but I’d still pass it. Well done again Anjana Krishna V.S. May your tribe grow.

@techvenkat @techdows @techvenkat Also, I received a report from a reader that someone copied my article, and rewrote it with AI. Well, at least they credited you :D androguru.com/2025/09/firefo…

@techvenkat @techdows I remember Techdows :) and so does Martin. Actually, I came to know about TD through Ghacks many years ago.

#अंतर्राष्ट्रीययोगदिवस – Yoga for One Earth, One Health As part of run up to the 11th International Day of Yoga #IDY2025, Integrated Headquarters of Ministry of Defence (Army) Camp in collaboration with Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga and Patanjali Yogpith, organised a month long Yoga sessions for the serving personnel, their families and local populace at #NewDelhi. @DefenceMinIndia @SpokespersonMoD @HQ_IDS_India @moayush

Been wanting to say this for a while now. @JioHotstar shouldn't be showing ads of 'A' rated shows and movies in between overs of a cricket match. Kids will be watching and all ads should be "U" or "PG" rated. @BCCI