The Budget and the imperative of fiscal consolidation

The Budget pinpoints the critical areas where the government needs to focus on, but sustained growth needs monetary and fiscal stability. 

The U.S. trade deal - gains from economic diplomacy

India's trade playbook is working strongly, steadily and at scale. Its new trade architecture resembles a newly built expressway, anchored in strategic trade agreements that will enable faster, more predictable movement for trade. After concluding a major free trade agreement with the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom and other partners, India has now secured a consequential trade deal with the United States.

The road to this deal was neither short nor simple. Shaped through a demanding and intricate process, the deal stands as a testament to the strength, steadiness and foresight of Indian negotiators. After nearly a year of sustained dialogue, technical negotiations and quiet diplomacy, India and the U.S. agreed upon the lower tariff of 18%. The reduction of U.S. tariffs on Indian goods to this competitive level is a huge boost to Indian exports, providing improved market access, policy certainty and avenues for new strategic partnerships. 

A turning point for nuclear deterrence

At the dawn of the nuclear age, when possessors were still building their arsenals, there was a debate on whether deterrence rested on certainty or uncertainty. 

Half of the staff in 1.5 lakh schools are contract teachers

For more than a week, contract teachers in Puducherry have been protesting about the regularisation of their jobs. On February 3, their protest march towards the Assembly was stopped by the police. The protest in Puducherry is the latest in a series of demonstrations carried out by contract teachers across the country demanding fair treatment and regularisation of their jobs. 

Issues surrounding UGC regulations

The Supreme Court stays the UGC Regulations, 2026, citing ambiguity and possible misuse, and keeps the 2012 regulations in force.

The dispute arises from the definition of 'caste-based discrimination', limited to SC, ST and OBCs, which is alleged to be biased and lacking safeguards against false complaints.

The case raises questions on equality under Articles 14 and 15, and the need for a separate definition of caste-based discrimination in higher education.

Why are Meta and WhatsApp facing a judicial ultimatum?

The Supreme Court questions Meta's business model, holds that 'consent' in a monopolistic WhatsApp ecosystem may be coercive, and shifts the debate from privacy to the 'value' and 'rent-sharing' of user data.

The case stems from WhatsApp's 2021 'take-it-or-leave-it' privacy policy, the CCI's finding of abuse of dominance, the NCLAT's partial relief to Meta, and the court's warning of "very strict conditions" unless data-sharing stops.

SIR is a process of deletion, not inclusion, Bengal CM says in SC

Mamata says she moved the court as a citizen after her letters to EC received no reply, slams poll body for hurried exercise and deletion of names; EC will have to find out solution, every genuine person must remain on electoral roll, CJI tells her. 

Denotified tribes seek constitutional recognition, separate Census entry

Denotified tribes, nomadic tribes, semi-nomadic tribes seek separate column' in 2027 caste census, claiming they have been politically misclassified among SC, ST, OBC groups; they want sub-classification to highlight backwardness within grouping

In February 2027, India will conduct a caste enumeration for the first time since 1931. Five years after that 1931 Census, the origins of the Scheduled Castes list came into being in the form of the Govern-ment of India (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1936. 

Indian cities could see far higher temperature rise than projected, says study

Climate models may be underestimating - by anything from half to two degrees how much hotter India's nonmetropolitan cities can get from global warming relative to rural areas, according to a study published on Wednesday.

The researchers, from the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom, analysed how temperatures would rise in 104 "mediumsized" cities in tropical and subtropical regions under a 2 degrees Celsius warming scenario, the emissions path that the globe is currently on. Rather than asking how hot regions become on average, the study asks a different question: how much faster do cities warm than their surrounding countryside?