Facing backlash, Govt likely to delay higher 25% ethanol blend in petrol

AMID a raging backlash over a rapid increase in the use of ethanol in petrol from 10% to 20% in just three years, the government is likely to push back the proposed shift to a higher blend of ethanol fuel E25 comprising 75% petrol and 25% ethanol.

The government had originally planned to dispense petrol blended with 20% ethanol only by 2030. But the E20 fuel - 80% petrol and 20% ethanol is now the standard petrol variant available nationwide. 

Convention centre, museum: Nod sought for work at Indira Point

From a fortified lighthouse to a convention centre and museum, the Directorate of Light-houses and Lightships at Sri Vijaya Puram (Port Blair) has sought clearance from the Andaman and Nicobar Coastal Zone Management Authority and the Environment Ministry to undertake protection and development work at Indira

Point, India's southernmost location, on Great Nicobar Island.

Official documents reviewed by The Indian Express show the proposed work falls in the ecologically sensitive Island CRZ (ICRZ)-1A and ICRZ-IVA categories. 

Shah: Centre will start cooperative life insurance firm, utility aggregator

Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah announced on Monday that the central government would soon launch a cooperative life insurance company and a utility aggregator cooperative on the lines of Bharat Taxi, India's first cooperative-based taxi service. 

'Impossible to monitor billions of posts': Google and Meta assert they are not 'super censors'

Tech Giants Google LLC and Meta Platforms have opposed a petitioner's plea in the Delhi High Court seeking proactive monitoring of alleged unlawful content on social media platforms by intermediaries.

They termed such an exercise to be "impracticable, if not impossible", owing to the "huge volume" of content uploaded on its platforms. Meta also said they "would not be able to comply" with any court order to this effect, unless specific URLs of the said unlawful content are flagged. 

Defence, critical minerals on table at India-Indonesia meeting today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday began a three-nation tour of Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand. He said the visit, from July 6-11, "will further strengthen India's Act East Pol-icy, MAHASAGAR Vision as well as our outlook towards a free and open Indo-Pacific".

Modi, who reached Jakarta Monday afternoon, was received at the airport by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. The two leaders are expected to focus on bilateral cooperation in defence and maritime partner-ships, critical minerals, food security and digital economy at their meeting on Tuesday.

Mahendragiri, an indigenous stealth frigate, to be commissioned on July 11

The Indian Navy is set to commission its sixth Project 17A indigenous stealth frigate, Mahendragiri (F38), at Visakhapatnam on July 11. It was de-signed by the Navy's Warship Design Bureau and built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, Mumbai.

According to the Navy, it exemplifies India's growing expertise in indigenous warship design and construction.

The warship incorporates advanced stealth features, enhanced survivability, a reduced radar signature, and a high degree of automation. The frigate is powered by a modern combined diesel or gas propulsion system, enabling high-speed operations with exceptional endurance across the full spectrum of maritime missions.

In disruptive times, an arc of trust to hold Indo-Pacific together

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is travelling to Jakarta, Auckland and Melbourne, undertaking a sequence of visits that may define New Delhi's approach to the Indo-Pacific in the coming decades. A bold and audacious redrawing of the map of this vast maritime region is underway. This effort will seek to recover autonomy for the powers that reside here, and it will recentre the region's story on good growth and inclusive development, away from the whims of extractive super-power contestation. India envisions a new geometry of collaboration, one not dependent on axioms outlined in Washington or Beijing, but drawn up by those who live here and thus have the most to gain or lose. 

NATO's challenge: Spending on collective defence

With Eastern Europe and West Asia in prolonged turmoil, leaders of NATO's 32 member countries are gathered in Turkey for the Ankara Summit. The cornerstone of the world's most powerful alliance, enshrined in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, stipulates that an armed attack against one or more of its members will be considered an attack against all. But now, alongside the military threat from its principal adversary, Russia, NATO faces demands for more equitable burden-sharing from its principal financial contributor, the US. 

Some democratic lessons from Global South that our Opposition needs

There is no objective way of measuring "electoral integrity". But an influential 2014 paper by Pippa Norris, Richard W Frank and Ferran Martínez i Coma offers a helpful list of 11 dimensions in the entire election cycle relevant to assessing electoral integrity in any given country. Indian elections were always on the borderline in one dimension campaign finance. Since 2014, our elections have gradually slipped below the threshold of acceptability in three more dimensions: Neutral electoral authorities, transparent procedures and fair access to campaign media. The latest assault of SIR and delimitation, along with the breaking of opposition parties now, crosses three more red lines: Universal voter registration, unrestricted party and candidate registration and fair boundaries of constituencies. 

India Energy Stack could power next-gen enterprise

The India Energy Stack is a shared set of specifications that enables every power-sector system to exchange data securely and verifiably, so that the infrastructure already built can deliver its full value.

Ethanol blending in fuel: Why road ahead is bumpy

• Regular ICE cars running on higher ethanol blends, alongside the drop in mileage, are harder to start on winter mornings because ethanol burns at a higher temperature than petrol.

• While a fuel with 10 per cent ethanol (E10) made little difference to a car's performance, anything above that is said to impact operations. 

Media's 'public function': Impact of Delhi HC verdict on press freedom, privacy

Fundamental Rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution have traditionally been viewed as a shield for citizens against the State.

However, a judgment by the Delhi High Court this month extended their "horizontal application", ruling that private media houses perform a "public function" and can be taken to a High Court for violating an individual's right to privacy.

A two-judge bench upheld a single-judge's order directing TV Today Network to pay Rs 5 lakh in compensation for broad-casting details that could identify a minor, who was a victim of sexual assault.

The judgment, authored by Justice C Hari Shankar on behalf of himself and Justice O P Shukla, has implications for press freedom, privacy, and avenues through which citizens can sue the media. 

'Prioritise charging infra for electric 3Ws'

As a government-led push to adopt electric vehicles (EVS) gains momentum, a statistics ministry report has said commercial three-wheeler charging corridors should be prioritised as this category of EVS accounts for the majority of electricity demand.

According to the India EV Electricity Demand Assessment Report, part of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation's (MOSPI) report of the Expert Committee on Energy Statistics, electric three-wheelers make up as much as 61% of the annual electricity demand from India's EV population of 8.97 million vehicles. 

Cash transfers helped Odisha, Maharashtra women; review amount periodically: EAC-PM

Calling for the continuation of the cash transfer scheme for women in Maharashtra and Odisha and a periodic review of the amounts to adjust for inflation and house-hold spending patterns, a paper by a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) has found the schemes boosted expenditure by as much as 46% in the case of Maharashtra and 28% for Odisha, with the increase being "qualitatively welfare-improving" as the share of money spent on lifestyle, medical, and educational purposes rose. 

NATO defence push strains Europe's budgets

Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte will insist at this week's alliance summit that member states are keeping their promise to boost defence spending. Yet progress has been uneven and push is already stretching some national budgets.

Under pressure from Presi-dent Donald Trump, members of the 32-country military pact agreed at last year's summit to boost defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035 - just over double the overall level for European states and Canada in 2025. 

China test fires missile into Pacific from nuclear sub, region alarmed

China's military test-fired a missile from a nuclear-powered submarine into the Pacific on Monday, state media reported, drawing criticism and concerns from Japan, Australia and New Zealand over Beijing's expanding military reach. 

UN's Guterres warns Al outpacing oversight, urges global rules to protect children

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday warned that artificial intelligence is developing faster than anyone can keep up, calling for globally harmonised rules to reduce potential risks - especially to children.

"A technology that can reshape economies, transform the world of work, sway elections and tilt the balance of security is being deployed faster than anyone, including the people building it, can keep up," Guterres told delegates at the first-ever government-level global dialogue on Al in Geneva.