Below normal rain in July, current deficit 40%: IMD

Rainfall in July the most important of the monsoon -months will be "below normal" or less than 94% of what is usual for the month, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Director-General, India Meteorological Department (IMD), said on Tuesday. India's current monsoon deficit is 40%.

Gulf remittances rose in April despite West Asia crisis: Ministry

Despite the West Asia cri-sis, net remittances from the region to India rose to $16 billion in April 2026, the second month of the conflict, up 70% over the corresponding period of last year, show data presented by the Union Fi-nance Ministry in its latest report.

CM: EV policy sets structural road map for clean mobility

The Delhi government's EV Policy 2.0 goes beyond purchase incentives and lays out a clear road map for structural reforms and strengthening the institutional framework in the transport sector, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday, a day after the Delhi Cabinet approved the new policy.

India's 'Israel habit' meets West Asian realities

West Asia has been undergoing one of its most intense geopolitical reconfigurations in years, and this one is different in scale. For the past decade, the region's regional arithmetic has rested on the assumption that Iran was a wounded, sanctions-strangled actor whose reach could be curtailed and ambitions contained. That assumption has now been tested and found wanting. American and Israeli military strikes on Iranian facilities have not produced the strategic calm that Tel Aviv had hoped for at the outset of this costly campaign.

Indian and foreign

The controversy over introducing a third language from Class 6 stems from an unresolved contradiction in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. At several places, the NEP, rightly, extols the special importance of English, especially in mathematics, science and even legal education, and does not club it with other "foreign" languages such as French or Spanish. At the same time, it advocates the three-language formula, with two languages required to be native to India, one of them ideally the mother tongue, in effect relegating English to the status of a foreign language.

Reimagining sovereign Al for India's strategic future

The United States government recently directed American Artificial Intelligence (AI) behemoth Anthropic to suspend access to its most advanced Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models for foreign nationals on national security grounds. A U.S. Presidential order also creates a voluntary mechanism for the U.S. federal government to access such models up to 30 days before trusted partners can. The Trump administration is simultaneously considering equity stakes in leading Al companies, ostensibly to redistribute the supernormal profits expected from technological advances.

Data doubts 

India's latest industrial growth figures show that, contrary to global trends and overall perception, the country's industrial output is getting stronger. Notably, the data show a quick bounce-back in industrial performance after the initial hit from the West Asia crisis. However, the new data also raise some important concerns about the composition of the growth, the systems behind the recent data upgrades, and the need for further improvements.

Need for inclusive, integrated climate action

Climate and heat considerations should be integrated into occupational health policies for municipal and contracted sanitation workers

UN report captures Israel's crimes against Palestinian children

What began as a response to the terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, has prolonged in-to a nearly three-year-long aggression resulting in over 73,000 deaths and about 1.8 lakh injuries in the Gaza Strip. Children ac-counted for 30% of these casual-ties and 26% of the injuries. Israel's actions have been termed a genocide by the UN Independent Inter-national Commission of Inquiry in its September 2025 report.

The fiscal tightrope for State govts.

State government debt builds up over the years when expenditure exceeds tax and other receipts. While the Union government raises most taxes, States bear a large share of public spending.

States meet their expenditures partly through their own revenues, including State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) and sales tax, and through fiscal transfers, grants, and loans from the Union government.

The excess of expenditures over receipts has been met through market borrowings by the States, on which the States pay interest.

Criminal justice system's digital push aims for a full roll-out by next year

From January 1, 2027, procedures related to all investigations and trials under the new criminal laws will be re-corded digitally, a senior Home Ministry official said on Tuesday.

The official said the nationwide rollout of the Interoperable Criminal Jus-tice System (ICJS) - which integrates police, courts, prisons, forensics, and prosecution on a single platform is expected to be completed soon, with emphasis on end-to-end digital workflow.

Amit Shah launches new FCRA portal and e-OCI card

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday launched a new portal that, apart from reducing paperwork, will speed up clearance of applications for registration under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 (FCRA) and also enable real-time monitoring of foreign fund inflows. Mr. Shah launched the FCRA 2.0 Portal and an e-Overseas Citizen of India (e-OCI) card initiative in the presence of Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Director of Intelligence Bureau (IB) Mahesh Dixit, and several other senior officials. At present, around 14,500 organisations with FCRA registrations are working across the country.

What is Centre's new EPFO upgrade?

As part of the Centralised IT-Enabled System (CITES) project, the EPFO's effort is to modernise its service delivery mechanism through automation and rule-based processing. Designed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, the project aims to improve operational efficiency. The EPFO is hopeful that the re-vised mechanism will make the services more transparent, and subscribers will receive seamless services.

PM asks Secretaries to focus on ease of doing business, self-reliance

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday exhorted the Secretaries of all Minis-tries and Departments to focus on ensuring tangible impact of government schemes on the lives of people and boost "Aatmanirbharta" (self reliance).

709 new species and 353 taxa added to fauna, flora database

India added 709 species to its fauna in 2025, which includes 483 species new to science and 226 species recorded for the first time in India. The country also added 353 taxa to its flora, of which 14 are infraspecific taxa. "India's total faunal bio-diversity now stands at 1,05,953 species, reaffirming its status as one of the world's premier mega di-verse nations," a press statement from ZSI read.

Govt. extends customs duty exemption on petrochem imports

The Union Finance Minis-try on Tuesday extended the customs duty exemption on import of petro-chemical products by another 15 days as it seeks to ensure a smooth transition for the domestic manufacturing industry relying on them for feedstock and intermediates. At the peak of the West Asia conflict, on April 2, the government announced the waiver to ensure uninterrupted supply for domestic manufacturing industries.

FinMin panel clears Budget proposal of ₹1.25 lakh cr. for ISM 2.0

The expenditure department under the Finance Ministry has cleared a Bud-get proposal entailing an allocation of ₹1.25 lakh crore for India Semiconductor Mission 2.0, as the country looks to advance global chip-making ambitions and cement its position as a semiconductor destination for the world, according to sources. The approval is significant as it is higher than the outlay of ₹76,000 сrore earmarked for ISM 1.0.

Court rejects Trump bid to limit birthright citizenship

Handing President Donald Trump a stinging defeat, the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected his audacious attempt to restrict birthright citizenship in the United States - a right long woven into the fabric of American society - scuttling one of his top priori-ties in his crackdown on immigration.

WHO sounds alarm on disease outbreaks in Venezuela amid post-quake relief efforts

The World Health Organization voiced concerns on Tuesday about potential disease outbreaks in Venezuela with local health ser-vices overwhelmed following deadly earthquakes. "The health services are under extreme pressure now, with facilities operating beyond the capacity," spokesperson Christian Lindmeier told a press conference in Geneva, noting the surge in trauma cases.

India seeks clarity as 'tipping points' rock Bonn climate talks

At the Bonn climate talks in Germany on June 8-18, tipping points became an unexpected source of debate and controversy

India urged care and clarity in using terms like "tipping points", which it said would present challenges around defining the idea and cautioned against mis-communicating or oversimplifying the science

It is difficult to project tipping points in the climate because of complexities in the climate system and uncertainties in the input data

Rescuing a space telescope

On June 30, NASA launched a daring robotic rescue mission - a long shot to prevent one of its ageing telescopes from vanishing into dust. The $30-million operation is set to last several months, kicking off with the launch of a robot designed to rescue the Swift space telescope, which is currently falling towards the earth.