HC can now test spl marriage Act's constitutional validity

The Delhi High Court will now be able to test the constitutional validity of provisions of the Special Marriage Act (SMA), 1954, which requires mandatory issuance of public notice for inviting objections to the intended marriage.

The good news is, lower-income states are catching up

This loan programme is well-suited to the task. It is ring-fenced for state capex and cannot be diverted to other uses. It crowds in states' own capital spending and complements the central government's capex.

Revised definition of Aravallis will hurt its ecology

The relevant question was never whether an average touches 100 metres, but how many individual hills fall below that threshold and what ecological roles they play.

You can set up a new AIIMS, but can you also replicate its empathy?

One of the first lessons you get on entering AIIMS Delhi from any of its gates is why it still receives overwhelming patient inflows. It is certainly not because it has the best infrastructure - several private hospitals surpass it - but because patients trust the commitment, compassion, and competence of the people inside it. To cultivate such trust in new AIIMS, governments must invest not only in budgets and beds but in people, values, and continuity. India does not merely need more hospitals. It needs institutions that embody the spirit of compassionate public service. Buildings can be unveiled with fanfare, but values cannot be inaugurated. They must be fostered consistently through service, accountability, and humane governance.

100 years of CPI:

The many roots of the Communist movement in India

• Communism in India has multiple origins: diaspora groups, independent Left groups, and worker and peasant organisations.

• The Tashkent meet attended by M N Roy had little support in India. On Dec 26, 1925, Indian groups organised the Kanpur conference to set up CPI.

• The CPI(M) considers the Tashkent meeting as the historic starting point while the CPI sees Kanpur as the foundation.

Native-language Al gains ground in startup hirings

Startups are increasingly turning to native-language artificial intelligence tools to widen their hiring and cut recruitment timelines, particularly for frontline and customer-facing roles where comfort with English has often been a barrier. The shift reflects both the scale of hiring needs in a tight labour market and a growing recognition that language choice can materially affect candidate participation and assessment quality.