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Date: 3rd June, 2026
Cradles Of Cruelty: When Homes Turn Homicidal For Toddlers
The Fact: Across two different states, two toddlers became victims of extreme violence at the hands of adults known to them. In Kerala's Nedumangad, one-and-a-half-year-old Arshid died after what investigators describe as prolonged and brutal abuse. His mother, Akhila (24), and her live-in partner Ashkar (31) were arrested in connection with the death. According to the postmortem report cited by The Indian Express, the toddler had 51 injuries across his body, including fractures, old wounds, burn marks, and signs of internal trauma. Police said the fatal assault allegedly occurred when the child cried while being fed. Investigators allege Ashkar struck the toddler on the head, causing fatal injuries. The case has also drawn attention because the child's maternal grandparents had reportedly approached authorities earlier over concerns about the boy's safety, but custody remained with the mother. In Uttar Pradesh's Firozabad, one-year-old Aarav was allegedly murdered by Jitendra Pathak, also known as Viraj. According to police, Viraj had repeatedly pressured Aarav's mother, Rati, a widow, to marry him. She refused, citing her responsibility toward her son. Investigators allege that Viraj subsequently lured the child away on the pretext of buying him toffees before killing him by repeatedly throwing him onto the ground. Police later tracked him down and arrested him following an encounter in which he allegedly opened fire on officers.
The Context: What makes both incidents particularly disturbing is that the threat did not emerge from strangers but from individuals situated within, or seeking entry into, the child's immediate social environment. In Kerala, the alleged perpetrators were the child's mother and her partner. In Firozabad, the accused was a man attempting to establish a marital relationship with the child's mother. Both cases underscore how children are often most vulnerable within private domestic spaces where abuse remains hidden until it escalates into tragedy. The Kerala case also raises questions about institutional response mechanisms. Reports indicate that concerns regarding Arshid's welfare had been raised by relatives before his death.
The Peek Insight: The latest national crime report show that crimes against children continue to remain a significant concern in India, with registered cases recording a steady increase in recent years. Against that backdrop, these two incidents illustrate different but equally troubling pathways to child victimisation. The Firozabad case reflects how obsessive entitlement and rejection can transform interpersonal disputes into violence directed at the most vulnerable person connected to the target of that rejection. The child was allegedly not the source of the conflict but became its victim. The Kerala case highlights the vulnerability of young children living in unstable or abusive domestic environments. Investigators allege that Arshid endured repeated violence over an extended period before the fatal assault, suggesting not a momentary loss of control but a sustained pattern of abuse. Taken together, these cases are less a story about changing relationship structures and more a warning about the consequences of unchecked domestic violence, coercive behaviour, and failures of early intervention. When warning signs are missed,or cannot be acted upon effectively, the home, which should be a child's safest space, can become the site of their greatest danger.
The Firozabad Incident (Image Courtesy: India Today)
L- Akhila with Arshit; R - Akshar (Image Courtesy: Mathrubhumi)
CBSE Takes The Fall, Pradhan Keeps The Chair
L - Rahul Singh; R - Himanshu Gupta (Image Courtesy: India Today)
The Fact: The Centre has transferred CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh and CBSE Secretary Himanshu Gupta after lakhs of students complained about negligence in the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system. Over 4 lakh students applied for re-evaluation on the CBSE’s portal this year. The Centre has also ordered a formal inquiry into the procurement process of the OSM system. The move comes amid growing criticism over the CBSE's handling of the class 12th Board examination. A committee headed by former bureaucrat S. Radha Chauhan has now been tasked with investigating the matter. The decision is a welcome move. However, critics argue that merely transferring officials does not address the larger systemic issues plaguing India's examination ecosystem. In recent weeks, students as well as other groups like the NSUI and the Cockroach Janata Party have called for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The Context: This year, the CBSE decided to change the class 12 board's evaluation from manual checking to a digital system. After the declaration of the result, multiple students who applied for re-evaluation complained of blurred answer sheets, missing pages, and even receiving another candidate's answer sheet. The row saw an escalation in recent days when a student hacked easily into the CBSE portal, revealing the vulnerabilities of the entire website. Earlier, several experts from IIT and IIM were also deployed to oversee the CBSE website, who reported glitches. The CBSE also came under scrutiny for employing Coempt (Edu Teck) for the OSM evaluation after compromising technical standards. The Centre has now appointed Lokhande Prashant Sitaram as the new CBSE Chairperson and Varun Bharadwaj as the Secretary of the Board.
The Peek Insight:The transfer of the CBSE Chairman and Secretary is being projected as accountability. But for lakhs of students and parents, it looks more like accountability stopping exactly where political responsibility begins. Let’s be clear. The CBSE controversy is not an isolated administrative error. It comes in the same year as the NEET and CUET crises, examinations that collectively affected more than 40 lakh students. These are not failures of a single board or a single officer. They point to a broader collapse in oversight within the education ecosystem overseen by the Union Education Ministry. When examination systems malfunction, answer sheets go missing, portals become vulnerable to hacks and students are forced to fight for basic transparency, responsibility cannot be limited to two bureaucrats. The Education Ministry is ultimately responsible for the institutions functioning under it. Yet, while officers are transferred, the political leadership remains untouched. More importantly, a transfer is not the same thing as punishment. In India’s bureaucracy, transfers often serve as a pressure-release valve. We have seen this movie before. Following the NEET controversy in 2024, senior officials were moved outz Yet the examination ecosystem returned with even bigger controversies.
‘You are F***ing Crazy’: When Trump’s Blue-Eyed Bibi Crossed His Red Line
Image Courtesy: Foreign Policy
The Fact: During a phone call on Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump erupted at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reportedly branding him "fu***ng crazy" and demanding Israel halt its planned military escalation against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Trump warned that striking Beirut would further isolate Israel globally and invoked his personal intervention in Netanyahu's legal troubles. He even claimed credit for keeping the Prime Minister out of prison, a reference widely interpreted as alluding to both Netanyahu's domestic corruption trial and the International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued against him for alleged war crimes. Following the confrontation, Israel agreed to postpone the planned Beirut strikes, and Trump announced a fresh truce between Israel and Hezbollah.
The Context: The heated exchange unfolded as Israel's Lebanon offensive threatened to imperil delicate U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations, with Iran having suspended talks in direct response to Israeli military pressure. Trump, who had previously positioned himself as Netanyahu's most vociferous international defender, publicly denounced the Israeli premier's corruption trial as a "witch hunt." He drew explicit parallels to his own legal battles, and threatened to reassess the $3.8 billion in annual U.S. military assistance to Israel unless the charges were dismissed. The episode exposed the transactional nature of their alliance, one historically portrayed as unconditional.
The Peek Insight: The fallout could have major geopolitical consequences. Washington’s plan to bring Israel and Lebanon to the negotiating table is already under strain, with Lebanese officials saying meaningful talks are nearly impossible while Israeli strikes continue. More importantly, Netanyahu has openly vowed to keep targeting Southern Lebanon even after Trump announced that the offensive had been halted. That public disagreement suggests rare cracks within one of the world’s closest strategic alliances. If the divide widens, it could weaken ceasefire efforts, complicate U.S. diplomacy in the region, and create openings for Iran and its allies to expand their influence. It would also raise serious questions about the future of a U.S.-Israel partnership that has been a central driver of the region’s escalating conflicts and the resulting turmoil in global energy markets. At a time when wars across West Asia have disrupted trade routes, threatened oil supplies, and fuelled energy inflation worldwide, visible divisions between Washington and Tel Aviv could reshape not only regional security but the global economic order that has already paid a heavy price for these conflicts.
Giant Leap In Cancer Science: A Breakthrough Decades In The Making
The Fact: A new experimental cancer drug called ‘daraxonrasib’ has shown significant results in advanced pancreatic cancer, which is one of the deadliest forms of cancer in the world. The trial involved 500 patients across Asia, Europe, and North America, who were divided into two groups. The finding showed that patients receiving chemotherapy survived a median of 6.6 months, while those receiving daraxonrasib survived a median of 13.2 months, which is double the survival period. The drug also caused fewer severe side effects than chemotherapy. These findings were then presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago and published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Oncologists hail it as one of the most significant breakthroughs in pancreatic cancer treatment in decades.
The Context: Daraxonrasib works by targeting mutated KRAS genes. These genes are present in over 90% of pancreatic tumours. Under normal conditions, KRAS helps in regulating cell growth and division. But when it mutates, it continuously signals cells to multiply uncontrollably. Further, their smooth molecular structure makes it difficult for medicines to bind to. For this very reason, scientists have long been considered "undruggable." But Daraxonrasib effectively shuts down the mutated KRAS pathway, which slows cancer growth and spread. What's notable here is that pancreatic cancer is often detected only after it has spread beyond the pancreas. Early symptoms are mostly vague or absent. And by the time patients are diagnosed, many are no longer eligible for surgery. Even with surgery, pancreatic cancer remains one of the most complex procedures in medicine, and is called the "Mount Everest of general surgery."
The Peek Insight: Pancreatic cancer is the sixth leading cause of death caused by cancer around the globe, and its five-year survival rate remains just 10%. As per data, in February 2025, there were over 5,00,000 new cases. Earlier, it was estimated that pancreatic cancer would see a 95.4% increase in new cases by 2050. That is precisely why this breakthrough is remarkable. Treatments for breast cancer, blood cancers, melanoma, and lung cancer have advanced dramatically over the last two decades. But for pancreatic cancer, patients largely received the same limited therapies with modest improvements in outcomes. While the increase in survival time may sound modest, for the victims of this disease, it is a significant milestone that previously seemed impossible. And with this trial, and targeting the very genetic machinery that drives it, one could hope for another breakthrough eventually.
Image Courtesy: PBS
‘Class’ Divide: When The Fee Slip Becomes A Death Note
The Fact: A Class 12 student from Punjab took her life after allegedly facing repeated harassment by school authorities over unpaid fees. Before her death, the student recorded a video in which she claimed that she was mentally tortured by school officials over the fees. She was allegedly taken to a separate room and humiliated. Her family has alleged that the harassment was linked to an outstanding fee of around ₹20,000. They have held the school administration responsible for her deteriorating mental condition, which prompted her to end her life.
The Context: The incident comes amid a broader debate around rising private school fees and the treatment of students who might not be able to afford the same. Last year, parents in Delhi staged protests against private schools like DPS Dwarka over fee hikes. They alleged that several harsh measures were taken against their children, like isolating them, denying them access to washrooms, and even publicly humiliation. Back then, the issue drew judicial attention. The Delhi High Court had observed that some institutions were functioning like "money-making machines" and remarked that schools that torture children over unpaid fees deserve to be shut down. But now the same court has struck down government attempts to regulate or reject fee-hike proposals by private schools.
The Peek Insight: Data from the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) shows that fees in urban private unaided schools have risen by over 169% in the last decade, significantly outpacing general inflation and income growth for many families. Over the last two decades, private schools have become the preferred choice for millions of Indian parents. While government institutions continue to educate a majority of children in many states, issues such as teacher shortages and infrastructure gaps have pushed many families toward private education despite the financial burden. This very demand has allowed private schooling to expand rapidly. This has allowed these private schools to act like a luxury service rather than an institution of learning. However, with these fee-related disputes, it is the students who end up becoming the pressure points, bearing the humiliation, which leads to devastating consequences.
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