Galwan to Siachen to Doklam: New locations in 'battle tourism' map

In recent public memory, Galwan the river valley in Ladakh is known as the site of violent border clashes between India and China in June 2020, wherein 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives. In 2017, there was the Doklam standoff between the two Asian neighbours. Doklam is a tri-junction between India, Bhutan and China. These two and 75 other such forward sites alongside the country's border which have witnessed some military action in the past including several other spots along the Line of Actual Control (LAC)-have now been shortlisted by the Indian Army for "battlefield tourism" in conjunction with the Ministry of Tourism. The Bharat Ranbhoomi Darshan website will be a one-stop destination for the visitors to make all necessary arrangements for their travel planning, including how to apply for permits for some of these places.

Incinerating Carbide's ghosts: 337 tonnes, a 250-km journey

It was a mammoth task that took 40 years to get started. Four days of repacking, weighing and loading of 337 metric tonnes (MT) of hazardous waste, 40 workers deployed in 30-minute shifts, 12 long-haul containers and a 250-km journey through a green corridor. Between December 29 and the night of January 1, this is what went on at the infamous Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) plant in Bhopal as the waste, collected from the surface of the plant's decrepit premises and stored since 2005, was repacked and transported to Pithampur near Indore.

Obese? Top expert panel looks beyond BMI, proposes wider approach for diagnosis

The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology Commission, a group of 58 leading experts from various medical specialties and countries, proposed a new approach to define and diagnose obesity. This approach goes beyond just using Body Mass Index (BMI) - a numerical estimate of a person's weight relative to height - that is traditionally used to determine obesity. The commission acknowledges that the BMI is a helpful screening tool to identify people who might have obesity, but suggests that it should not be the sole method. Instead, the panel recommends confirming obesity by assessing excess body fat and how it is distributed in the body.

Delhi must look beyond H-1B

The Indian Debate on Donald Trump's second White House term must look beyond the H-1B controversy raging in America. While exporting technical talent remains a top political and policy priority for Delhi, the broader implications of Trump's technology policies are arguably more significant.

The H-1B visa system, part of the broader immigration debate in America, pits US businesses against growing domestic resistance to rapid increase in foreign populations. Given America's labour shortages-in agriculture, healthcare and technology - commercial interests strongly support immigration. Meanwhile, anti-immigrant sentiment across the American political spectrum remains a persistent force.

Data localisation, parental verification weigh most on tech industry's minds

During a IT Ministry organised consultation with the tech industry on the recently released draft data protection rules, a few concerns stood out: apprehensions over data localisation, consent verification and behavioural tracking of children, and worries over cross-border data flows to foreign jurisdictions. The consultation that went on for over two hours saw repрresentation from tech companies such as Meta, Google, Microsoft, Snap and a myriad of industry lobby groups and consultancies which represent them. Data localisation has been a bugbear for the tech industry for several years now, and the data protection rules envision the creation of a government appointed committee which would recommend the classes of data and traffic patterns pertaining to them which would not be able to be exported from India.

India suffered economic losses of over ₹1L cr in natural catastrophes in 2023'

After a benign 2022, natural catastrophes caused significant losses of $12 billion (over Rs 1 lakh crore) in India in calendar year 2023. Floods in northern India and Sikkim, coupled with tropical cyclones (TC) Biparjoy and Michaung, pushed overall economic losses for the year to $12 billion, well above the previous 10-year (2013-2022) average of $8 billion, global insurance giant Swiss Re said in a report. Economic losses in 2024 are yet to be calculated. According to the Swiss Re, analysis of natural catastrophe-related losses in India over last two decades shows that floods have accounted for, on average, about 63 per cent of total annual economic losses. This is due to the climate and geography of the country. "India is under the sway of summer monsoon from June to September, and northeast monsoon from October to December. Monsoon depressions generate extreme rainfall that in turn can cause severe flooding," it said .

Why India is warming slower

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) declared 2024 as the warmest year on record. The average annual mean temperature of the Earth's surface during the year was more than 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels (average of the 1850-1900 period). 2024 was the warmest for India as well, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) announced. However, the extent of warming over India is very different from the world as a whole. The IMD said 2024 was 0.65 degrees Celsius higher than normal. The normal, in this case, is the average for the 1991-2020 period. India is located in the tropics, quite close to the equator. The increase in global temperature has been more pronounced in the higher altitudes, near the polar regions, than near the equator. This is attributable to a complex set of atmospheric phenomena, including heat transfers from the tropics to the poles through prevailing systems of air circulation.

Issues in India-Bangladesh row over fencing of international border

India and Bangladesh summoned each other's envoys following a disagreement over the construction of fences by the Border Security Force (BSF) along the border between the two countries. According to the 1975 Joint India-Bangladesh Guidelines for Border Authorities, no defence structure can be constructed within 150 yards of the zero line or the international boundary by either side. Bangladesh has essentially two objections to SRF, Sood said: about the 1975 agreement on no-fencing within 150 yards of the border, and that erecting a fence is inconvenient to residents along the border.