3 Things Maharashtra's new textbooks, cost of tourism, and a missing Indian
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Nov 2, 2026 
Journalists Niharika Nanda, a public-affairs reporter and producer, and Nikhil Ghanekar, an environmental and infrastructure correspondent, explore Maharashtra’s revised Class 6 textbooks and their treatment of ancient knowledge, caste and inequality. They examine tourism, roads, hydropower and ecological risks in Himachal Pradesh, before turning to the troubling disappearance of Indian worker Vineet Kumar Dubey in Russia.
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Maharashtra Textbooks Expand Ancient Knowledge
- Maharashtra’s revised Class 6 books expand ancient Indian knowledge across geography and science while aligning with NEP 2020.
- They place Vedic cosmology beside the Big Bang and Bhaskaracharya II alongside Newton, despite limited written evidence for some claims.
Caste Explanations Disappear From History Textbook
- The new history book removes or rewrites explanations linking caste, priestly monopoly, birth-based status, and social inequality to religious change.
- It also replaces Harappan invasion theories with environmental and trade explanations such as drying rivers and declining Sumerian commerce.
Himachal’s Development Crisis Reaches The Supreme Court
- The Supreme Court’s Himachal case began after judges warned that repeated extreme weather and development could endanger the entire state.
- The court established a broader environmental review covering tourism, forests, roads, mining, and hydropower.