Govt fears trade war may trigger import surge of US farm, Chinese factory goods

Amid Escalating global trade tensions, the Commerce and Industry Ministry is assessing the risks of significant trade diversion from other countries to India and is particularly concerned about the likely surge in imports of US farm produce and factory goods from China, Vietnam and Indonesia into the country, a government official said on Tuesday.

Above normal rain likely, says IMD; may spur consumption

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast 105 per cent of the long-period average or normal rainfall in the upcoming June-September monsoon season. If the forecast holds good, this will be the second consecutive year of 'above normal' rainfall. 

Complete trials in child trafficking cases within 6 months, SC tells HCs

The Supreme Court Tuesday asked High Courts across the country to collect data on pending trials in child trafficking cases and ensure their completion within six months.

Cancelling the bail granted to the accused in three inter-state child trafficking cases, a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said that if need be, day to day trials should be conducted to achieve this.

ROOM TO PLAY

Data released by the government on Tuesday showed that inflation in India remains well under control. Retail inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, stood at 3.34 per cent in March. This is the second straight month that inflation has remained below the RBI's target. With this latest print, it has averaged 3.73 per cent in the last quarter of 2024-25- considerably lower than the central bank's February forecast of 4.4 per cent. This only under-lines the space for further monetary easing. 

Xi in the neighbourhood 

"Mitra-Bhedam", or Separating your adversary from his friends, is among the first principles of strategy according to the Panchatantra, the ancient Indian storybook on statecraft. Moscow and Beijing understand this well. They have long sought to separate the US from its allies and partners in Eurasia but success has eluded them, until now at least. That is not surprising given the entrenched structures of the US alliances in Europe and Asia. While the US remains the preeminent power, alliances and partnerships have been its force multipliers in the world.

THE BIT MODEL INDIA NEEDS

If India's relationship with other countries varies in terms of capital, why should there be a single, uniform model BIT? However, this 'horses for courses' approach, which no other country follows, has limitations. The relationship between countries is dynamic.

The new Sangam 

Prayagraj Hosted more than 60 crore pilgrims and visitors over a span of 45 days during the Maha Kumbh, according to the estimates of the Uttar Pradesh government. The world has witnessed the religious and spiritual fervour that moved the entire nation while it celebrated its reverence for the river goddess Ganga. Yet, the event is fundamentally a manifestation of a profound and deep-seated river-society relationship. Cultural gatherings such as the Maha Kumbh are known to happen along rivers and water bodies. Can we leverage this relationship for the enduring rejuvenation of rivers and water bodies?

It would not be a stretch of imagination to say that indigenous practices spiritual or non-spiritual-often embody an ecological ethic of conservation. Using indigenous metaphors and practices can be very effective in pursuing environmental outcomes. The recent example of the popular leader Morari Bapu's successful campaign to protect the whale shark in the Saurashtra coastal region is one example. Such deployment of spiritual consciousness can possibly address a critical gap in the efforts to rejuvenate rivers, especially the Namami Gange programme to clean the Ganga.

Fastest fingers legal game 

Whenever a new law is passed by Parliament, the script before the Supreme Court becomes all too familiar. Whether it was the 10 per cent economic reservation, the Kashmir amendments, the citizenship amendments, the Uttarakhand UCC, the same set of petitioners with the same set of lawyers knocks on the doors of the apex court. Behind this is a carefully crafted frenzy, a pre-hearing narrative, yearning for the Court's intervention, ostensibly to "Save Democracy". Fitting perfectly into this pattern, the challenge to the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 comes as no surprise. It is worth noting that even before the amendment became operative on April 8, after receiving presidential assent, non-maintainable petitions were filed "preemptively". Most petitions, far from being genuine, drafted and constructed after a careful study of the law and precedents, have become a game of fastest fingers first. Publicity trumps quality and law becomes the casualty.-

QCOs on inputs a 'malign intervention', hurt MSMEs, says NITI Aayog VC Bery

Quality Control orders (QCOS) for inputs are a "malign intervention" to restrict imports and lead to high costs for MSMES, NITI Aayog Vice Chairperson Suman Bery said Tuesday. Bery's remarks followed the release of a report on boosting India's power and hand tool exports, which called for easing QCOs on steel and polymers to give manufacturers greater access to cheaper raw materials and make exports more competitive.

"My understanding is that we are, unlike certain countries, so keen to be WTO (World Trade Organization) compliant, that we are looking for other ways to keep certain inputs out, and these quality control orders are the mechanisms we have arrived at," Bery said at a media briefing. 

How to evade taxes in ancient Rome? A 1,900-year-old papyrus offers a guide

It may not have been the tax-evasion trial of the century but it was of such gravity that the defendants faced charges of forgery, fiscal fraud and the sham sale of slaves. Tax dodging is as old as taxation itself, but these particular offenses were considered so serious under Roman law that penalties ranged from heavy fines and permanent exile to hard labor in the salt mines and, in the worst case, a public execution in which the condemned were devoured by wild animals.

Trump's sledgehammer

President Donald Trump's tariff actions are currently focused on China as the United States works on trade deals with other countries, including India.

As it closes in on three months in office, the Trump administration is keen to demonstrate to the President's MAGA base that he has kept his campaign promises - from tariffs to cracking down on immigration and "aliens".

While the Chinese, the world's second-largest economy and the world's second superpower, have remained defiant, these US actions have impacted countries around the world in ways that have gone beyond just the economy and trade, and triggered disruptions and uncertainty.

India has been put in an uncomfortable diplomatic position, with the US, its strategic partner, having imposed costs on it, and moved transactionalism to the heart of the bilateral relationship.

Here are five elements that stand out in Trump's chaotic view of the world, and how they impact India and India-US ties.