T.N. CM opposes amendment to National Food Security Act

Tamil Nadu Chief Mi-nister C. Joseph Vi-jay on Monday urged the Centre to retain the existing entitlement of 35 kg of foodgrains per month for every household covered under Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), irres-pective of the number of fa-mily members, as has been the practice since the enactment of the National Food Security Act. In a letter to Prime Mi-nister Narendra Modi, he requested the Centre to re-consider the proposed amendment to the first pro-viso to sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the National Food Security Act, 2013. 

In India, voting cannot remain merely a statutory right

Recently, a Congress leader revived an old constitutional debate by demanding that voting should be recognised as a fundamental right. At first sight, the demand appears unexceptionable. In a democracy, what could be more fundamental than a citizen's right to choose those who govern? Yet, for more than seven decades, the Supreme Court of India has consistently held that the right to vote is not a fundamental right but merely a statutory right.

Al governance and a voice for the Global South

In February 2026, India hosted the India AI Impact Summit 2026, that sought to put the needs and challenges of the Global South at the centre of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) discourse. The summit's themes framed by India were rooted in the contextual realities of the Global South with a focus on real-world harms. This was a departure from the previous summits (at Bletchley Park, 2023, U.K.; Seoul 2024, and Paris 2025) that prioritised both catastrophic and existential risks over questions of present harms, equity and inclusion.

How the right to walk is integral to modernity

That we would need a court of law to remind us that the Right to Walk should be a fundamental right at this moment in history when activists are trying to stop government-corporations from restricting the natural flow of rivers cannot be just a coincidence. The Right to Walk on footpaths, to be specific. There is a restriction on the freedom of nearly all parts of the human body imposed by the state - the hands cannot touch whatever they want to, one can't spit or defecate wherever one might want to, one cannot rest one's back against every available wall, and our legs are prevented from taking us to anywhere the mind wants to.

Questions surrounding the Quad's future

Last week, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was in New Delhi for the 16th India-Japan Annual Summit, her first visit to India since assum-ing office. The two sides reaf-firmed their commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The reaffir-mation, however, comes at a mo-ment when the idea of the Indo-Pacific appears to be losing its principal champion. On June 16, the Pentagon renamed the U.S. In-do-Pacific Command back to the U.S. Pacific Command, reversing a change it had made in 2018.

Will El Niño weaken India's economy?

A weak monsoon and a potential super El Niño could reduce kharif output, depress rural incomes, fuel food inflation, slow GDP growth, and hurt exports. Experts say India must move beyond crop insurance by investing in irrigation, drought-resistant high-yielding crops, and other risk-reduction measures, as prolonged rainfall stress could strain water storage and disaster preparedness.

Modi begins three-nation trip, starts with Indonesia to boost strategic ties

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Indonesia on Monday, on the first leg of his three-nation tour, aimed at further strengthening India's Act East Policy, MAHASAGAR Vision and its commitment to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. In a special gesture, Mr. Modi was received at the airport by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto. In addition, four Ministers were also present to receive the Prime Minister, who was accorded a traditional ceremonial welcome and a Guard of Honour.

Meghalaya CM urges Centre to reconsider FCRA changes

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma has urged the Centre to address the State's concerns over the proposed changes to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) (FCRA), saying it could adversely affect Christian institutions involved in public service. 

Jaishankar gearing up to lead India's campaign for non-permanent seat at UN Security Council

India on July 13 will launch the official campaign for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council during 2028-29. According to a press note by the Ministry of External Affairs, the launch will be made by Ex-ternal Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar who is currently travelling in the Gulf region and will reach New York ci-ty on July 10 for the official ceremony that will be crucial from the point of view of India's leadership position in the Global South.

Test run for 2nd phase of Census has 'open column' to record caste

The rehearsal for the se-cond phase of Census, which started in 16 States and Union Territories on Monday, has an "open co-lumn" for respondents to record their castes, several officials involved in the ex-ercise told The Hindu. Though this gives an in-dication of how caste is likely to be enumerated in the country as part of the Population Census 2027, officials said that this was just a "pretest" and the fi-nal methodology will be prepared based on the feedback received during the exercise, which concludes on July 20. 

Cooperative life insurance firm to be set up soon: Shah

Union Cooperation Minis-ter Amit Shah on Monday said a cooperative life insu-rance company would be set up to boost the growth of cooperatives in the country. He said the Coop-eration Ministry had given a new "lifeline" to India's cooperative movement, which was "neglected" during the Congress rule.

BRICS nations call for stronger ties to curb drug trafficking

Representatives of member countries, who con-verged in Guwahati for the two-day BRICS Heads of Anti-Drug Agencies' Meeting, 2026, on Monday emphasised the need for stronger international cooperation to combat drug trafficking.

'El Nino set to dent India's wind, hydropower output'

India's power system stands to be strained more by the developing El Nino than that of any other country, according to an analysis by the think tank Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). It projects that weaker wind and hydro-power output, combined with rising demand for air conditioning, could open a generation gap of nearly 18 TWh (terawatt hour) over a period of one year, till June 2027.

Diamond jewellery among payloads to be launched by Vikram-1 rocket

A diamond jewellery creation mounted on an aluminium base plate and a mi-niaturised artwork cast in the shape of a rocket using 18K gold are among the payloads which will be launched by India's first privately developed orbital-class rocket, Vikram-1. It is expected to be launched some time bet-ween July 12 and August 4. Skyroot Aerospace on Monday announced that the orbital launch vehicle will carry six payloads. 

Stealth frigate Mahendragiri set to join Indian Navy

The Indian Navy will com-mission its sixth indige-nous Project 17A stealth fri-gate, Mahendragiri (F38), at Visakhapatnam on July 11, marking another major milestone in India's indige-nous warship-building programme. The stealth frigate was designed by the Navy's Warship Design Bureau and built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, Mumbai. The advanced multi-role frigate will sig-nificantly enhance opera-tional capabilities across the Indo-Pacific while rein-forcing the country's At-manirbhar Bharat initia-tive, the Navy said.

Will record FPI Indian bond flows be sustainable?

The overall inflow of foreign investor money into India's bond market crossed a record 55,518 crore in June. Experts, however, aired concerns over sustainability of the momentum as the macroeconomic climate had not turned fully conducive. In early June, the Centre waived Long Term Capital Gains (LTCG) tax on foreign investment in bonds. The RBI and the Centre further expanded the Fully Accessible Route (FAR) to include new long-term Government Securities with 15-year, 30-year, and 40-year tenors, as well as Sovereign Green Bonds.   

China test-fires 'strategic' missile in the Pacific, raises regional concerns

A Chinese submarine test-fired a "strateg-ic" missile carrying a dummy warhead into the Pacific Ocean on Monday, Beijing said, drawing im-mediate condemnation from nations in the region. China made the rare show of its military might on the same day Australia and Fiji signed a major de-fence treaty, bolstering their ties as Canberra seeks to outmanoeuvre Beijing in the strategically important South Pacific.    

Why FDA nod for vepdegestrant is a major shift in cancer therapy

On May 1, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug vepdegestrant for patients with ESRI-mutated, ER-positive, and HER2-negative advanced breast cancer. It is the world's first therapy that the FDA-whose lead many drug regulators worldwide follow has approved that is based on PROTAC technology.

The approval paves the way for drugs designed to remove harmful proteins from cells, rather than simply block them. This is an advance because PROTACs can sidestep the barriers to treating diseases that involve hitherto 'undruggable' proteins. Researchers have been developing this technology for more than two decades.

Oldest quasars found deepen 'perplexing' space mystery

The Euclid space telescope has spotted the oldest quasars -- the brightest objects in the universe -ever discovered, deepening a cosmic mystery that has been puzzling scientists. A quasar is the intensely luminous core of a distant galaxy powered by a supermassive black hole. As gas spirals into the black hole, extreme amounts of gravitational energy are converted into radiation, making quasars shine with the light of a trillion suns. They provide valuable insights into the early evolution of galaxies and black holes.