Time for nations facing tariffs to unionise: Lula

Instead of negotiating with the U.S. on tariffs separately, countries should form “negotiating blocs", Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said here on Sunday, advocating for "unionisation” of those suffering from the tariffs. 

Parliament's historic law, an extended wait for women

When Parliament passed the Women's Reservation Act in September 2023, millions of Indian women believed that their moment had finally arrived. One-third of all Lok Sabha and State Assembly seats would be reserved for them. The legislation was hailed as a historic victory for gender justice, ending decades of parliamentary stalemate. 

Lines in the sand

India's entry into the Pax Silica alliance represents a strategic manoeuvre to secure its technological future by aligning with a U.S.-led coalition focused on the infrastructure for Ar-tificial Intelligence (AI) and critical minerals. Its membership could boost domestic industrial goals by complementing initiatives such as India Semiconductor, IndiaAI, and National Critical Mineral Missions. 

India's leap, from back office to global brain trust

India's Global Capability Centre revolution is drawing eyeballs, but there are challenges as talent gaps, cyber threats and fiscal pressures. 

A new CPI base, a clearer inflation signal

India's inflation index has been updated to reflect better how households allocate their spending today.

Under the earlier Consumer Price Index (CPI), consumption was grouped into six broad categories, with a wide range of everyday services such as health, education, transport, and personal care aggregated into a single head. The revised CPI, shown in Chart 1, reorganises the basket into 12 distinct categories in accordance with the Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose (COICOP) 2018. 

Why did the U.S. drop a core radiation safety rule?

The LNT model is a risk estimation framework that says any amount of ionising radiation, no matter how small, carries some risk of causing harm, especially cancer. ALARA, short for "as low as reasonably achievable", is the operational philosophy of radiation protection.

On January 12, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) "eliminated" ALARA from its directives and regulations.

Even if some experts believe higher dose thresholds could be justified scientifically, the optics of abandoning ALARA and LNT are problematic.