Gautam Prabhu

Nidhi Razdan - investigative journalist, media personality, TV anchor and Harvard Professor, read the veteran NDTV anchor’s bio in June 2020, when she announced her decision to quit her job at NDTV, one she held for the better part of 21 years, to join as an associate professor at Harvard University. But her world came crashing down when she realised it was all a sophisticated and extremely well-planned phishing attack aimed " t o access her sensitive information.   " A day after announcing on Twitter that she had been scammed, Razdan cleared the air in a detailed blog published on NDTV. She claimed that she had been a victim of a serious, sophisticated and elaborate scheme aimed at “Accessing my bank account, personal data, my emails, my medical records, passport and my devices like my computer and phone”. She also says that the attack comprised not only the exchange of phone calls and emails, but elaborate interviews, forged appointment letters, and “official” invitations....

  Ever come across people who believe that the moon landing was fake or that vaccines cause autism? Of course, you have. In this article, we discuss how such conspiracy theories arise, how it affects society and how to be on the lookout for them. “Climate change is a hoax”, writes Sudhir on his WhatsApp group full of middle-aged people going through a midlife crisis, as the third cyclone in 2 months destroys his neighbourhood. Just one of the hundreds of conspiracy theories going around. Conspiracy theories...hmmm. A term you might have heard several times in the past few years. What exactly is a conspiracy theory? When a group of people believe in something that defies most logical reasoning, garners utter disdain from experts and lacks substantial evidence to back it up, it is called a conspiracy theory. Most conspiracy theories believe in some sinister plot orchestrated by a powerful group of people. People who would do anything to benefit themselves. I mean, why wouldn't you ac...

  The exam cancellation conundrum written from the perspective of a staunch exam hater. This was written as a challenge and does not represent my view on the topic. Enjoy! On  8th June 2021, Manipal Institute of Technology finally cancelled the End Semester exams for this semester. This led to the subsequent cancellation of exams for almost all affiliated colleges, barring of course the medical and health sciences related colleges. Who wants to consult a doctor who didn’t give their exams? Jeez. To give a bit of context, MIT thought it would be a great idea to call almost the entire strength of the institute back to campus in February. This was done so that students could complete their odd sem exams and labs in the offline mode, the way God intended it to be. The only flaw in this seemingly brilliant plan was that they felt that the thrill of coming back to campus would be enough to coax students, aged 18-22, to follow all Covid related precautions to the ‘T’. Yeah, right. So...