Modi bats for 2-state solution to iron out Israel-Palestine issue

Highlighting the role of dialogue and diplomacy in the "period of global turbu-lence", Prime Minister Na-rendra Modi on Tuesday reiterated the importance of the two-state solution to end the Israel-Palestine conflict. "In this period of global turbulence, India believes that the role of dialogue and diplomacy has be-come more important than ever before. On the issue of Palestine, we continue to support a two-state solu-tion and the pursuit of last-ing peace," Mr. Modi said in Jakarta, Indonesia, the first leg of his three-nation tour.

India's economic prospects after the West Asian crisis

The United States and Iran agreed to a 14-point preliminary Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) towards ending the West Asian crisis and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Although there have been initial hiccups, it is expected that, with the reopening of the Strait, global crude oil supply will stabilise and prices will normalise at a lower level. Following these developments, India should adjust its strategies, keeping in mind both the 2026-27 outlook and medium-term growth prospects.

Grand ambitions

Hypercompetitive business models that dominate the economic lives of people have undesirable social consequences. The cooperative model offers an alternative, al-beit with its own imperfections. India's Ministry of Cooperation, which completed five years on July 6, is a bold experiment in harnessing the potential of this approach. Traditionally confined largely to agriculture, cooperatives now have the opportunity and a requirement to expand into other sectors, particularly services.

Beyond three Cs, the new lexicon of India-Australia ties

During his visit to Australia in May 2023, when the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and Australia D was almost three years old, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had characterised India-Australia ties as having entered T-20 mode. He also stressed that the relationship had gone beyond the conventional three Cs of Commonwealth, Cricket and Curry - and the subsequent three Ds Democracy, Diaspora and Dosti. As Mr. Modi undertakes his third visit to Australia this week, it would be instructive to look at some of the recent progress in two other important dimensions, the Ds of Development and Defence.

Linking women's incomes and healthcare

India is experiencing two revolutions at once. The first is economic. Female labour force participation has risen sharply over the past few years, supported by greater formalisation, digital payments, and government efforts to increase women's participation in the workforce. The second is epidemiological. India is no longer fighting only infectious diseases. Diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, obesity and mental health disorders are now becoming defining public health challenges. These chronic conditions already account for most deaths in the country and place increasing pressure on both households and public finances. 

India's EV transition cannot afford to ignore retrofitment

The conflict in West Asia has once again reminded the world of an uncomfortable truth - severe energy dependency is a structural vulnerability, not a temporary inconvenience. For emerging economies such as India, which imports more than 85% of its crude oil requirements, such events can quickly test energy se-curity and economic resilience. Over the past decade, the go-vernment has placed enormous emphasis on transport-sector de-carbonisation, with multiple schemes rolled out to support Electric Vehicles (EVs) and create long-term demand. 

On the method for caste enumeration

The BJP-led NDA government announced on April 30, 2025 that caste would be counted during Population Census 2027. 

The discourse on the methodology of caste enumeration has largely swung between either leaving an open column for caste, just as the 2011 SECC did, or preparing a list of castes for people to pick from - as the Bihar government did in its 2022-23 caste-based survey.

How India's life insurance sector funds government expenditure

When the government borrows, the question that follows is rarely asked aloud: who lends? A large part of the answer is the life insurance sector. Every year, millions of households across India pay premiums into life insurance policies. That money is reinvested, for decades, in the very securities that finance government expenditure - roads, railways, water supplies, hospitals, defence. The household protecting itself against the loss of its breadwinner is simultaneously, and unknowingly, lending to the sovereign [the Central government]. Life insurers collectively hold close to a quarter of India's outstanding central government dated securities, based on RBI and IRDAI data a share that has remained stable even as the total sovereign debt stock expanded by around 40 per cent in three years. This is not a number that appears in budget speeches or parliamentary debates. It is, however, a number that matters.

Four States reach a pact on Narmada project payments

The States of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh reached an agreement on Tuesday on the settlement of pend-ing payment issues among the Narmada Award benef-iciary States. The agreement was signed in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Minister of Jal Shakti C.R. Patil. Chief Mi-nisters Devendra Fadnavis (Maharashtra), Bhupendra Patel (Gujarat), Bhajan Lal Sharma (Rajasthan) and Mohan Yadav (Madhya Pradesh) signed the agree-ment, which relates to the cost-sharing arrangements for the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Project.

HC upholds uniform legal marriage age for all religions

The Allahabad High Court has held that the minimum age of marriage prescribed under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006, applies to all citizens irrespective of religion, observing that the Muslim personal law prin-ciple recognising puberty as the age of marriage can-not override the provisions of the Central law. 

WhatsApp username debate brings informational privacy to the fore

What is perhaps sui generis (unique) about the WhatsApp "username" debate is that both the instant mes-saging platform and the Centre, in different ways, ultimately seek the same objective: protecting the informational privacy of users. The Supreme Court, in its August 2017 judgment delivered by a nine-judge Bench, held that "informa-tional privacy" is a facet of the fundamental right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution. The court recognised that threats to privacy in the information age could arise not only from the state but also from non-state actors.

PM announces IIM-B campus in Indonesia

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday an-nounced that the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B) would establish its first campus in Indonesia, describing the initiative as a major step to wards strengthening edu-cational ties and benefiting students across the ASEAN region.

School dropout rate falls across key stages: report

The Union Educa-tion Ministry on Tuesday released the comprehensive report on the Unified District In-formation System for Edu-cation Plus (UDISE+) for the academic year 2025-26, which reflected a down-ward trend in dropouts. The preparatory level (Classes 3 to 5) dropout rate fell from 2.3% (2024-25) to 1.8% this year. More notably, secondary level (Classes 9 to 12) dropouts dipped from 8.2% to 7.0%. Dropout rate tracks the rate at which students quit school. "The consistent de-crease across all levels sug-gests that schools are be-coming more supportive and responsive to stu-dents' needs," the Ministry said.

Contact lost with Drishti, world's first OptoSAR satellite

The Bengaluru-based space start-up GalaxEye has lost contact with Mis-sion Drishti, the world's first OptoSAR satellite, as it encountered an anomaly following a geomagnetic solar storm, the company said on Tuesday. Mission Drishti, which was launched in May, is al-so India's largest privately developed earth observa-tion satellite.

BRICS nations call for timely exchange of information on drugs

The BRICS nations on Tuesday adopted the Gu-wahati Declaration, reaf-firming their commitment to strengthen cooperation to prevent and combat illi-cit drug trafficking and re-lated organised transnational crime. BRICS, an intergovern-mental organisation of ma-jor emerging markets and developing countries, is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. It expanded to in-clude Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Indonesia.

Independence of the Bar is crucial for preservation of rule of law: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said indepen-dence of lawyers is just as important as indepen-dence of the judiciary. In fact, the court said the le-gal profession's indepen-dence from the Executive and Legislature formed the foundation of the rule of law and democracy in the country.

Taking efforts to curb child sexual abuse content: Meta

Meta on Tuesday pu-blished a blog detailing its efforts to curb child sexual abuse content across its apps, citing Al-powered detection and large-scale enforcement actions, days after the government is-sued a notice over reports of such content being pro-moted via Instagram ads.

Upcoming Index of Services Production is expected to rely heavily on GST figures

The upcoming Index of Services Production (ISP) will rely heavily on Goods and Services Tax (GST) da-ta to arrive at its estimates of services sector produc-tion, the report of the tech-nical committee tasked with designing the index framework has said. Where GST data is not available, the index will use a combination of admi-nistrative data and the An-nual Survey of Incorporat-ed Services Sector (ASISSE), which would make the in-Enterprises dex a "unique blend" of multiple data sources and methodologies, according to the report.

Rural demand to face pressure as El Niño impacts rains

Scant monsoons have ad-ded to higher farm input prices after geopolitical events and are expected to trump rural demand and push prices further up, ac-cording to expert analyses. "Prospects for FY27 look precarious: a severe El Niño effect has produced a 41% rainfall defi-ciency in the first month of the southwest monsoon, with most States across north, south, east, and central India recording def-icient or severely deficient rainfall in June 2026.

Trump praises Erdogan, slams NATO before summit

U.S. President Donald Trump praised his "che-mistry" with Turkish lead-er Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he arrived in Ankara for a NATO summit on Tues-day, while hitting out at Eu-ropean allies for their res-ponse to his war in Iran.

Finerenone helps slow kidney disease in patients without diabetes

Across different forms of chronic kidney disease, researchers found that finerenone slowed disease progression, reduced protein leakage in urine, and lowered the risk of kidney failure

Finerenone, researchers say, does not target diabetes itself. Instead, it blocks inflammation and scarring inside the kidneys processes that can occur in many forms of kidney disease

The drug is already available in India and currently costs around 80-90 a day. However, it is expected to become significantly cheaper once it loses patent protection in 2028