De-escalation process at LAC must go forward, Jaishankar tells Wang

The process of withdrawing troops from the Line of Actual Control needs to "move forward", External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, as the two sides began discussions to improve bilateral and trade relations in Delhi on Monday. 

Required reforms

The central government's proposals to reform the Goods and Services Tax (GST) system are bold and timely. They stand to benefit the middle class and the business community, as the government claims. Shifting 99% of the items in the 12% slab to a 5% tax rate, and 90% of the items in the 28% slab to 18% will substantially reduce the tax burden on most consumers. Rationalising the number of slabs and shifting similar products to the same slab will also reduce ambiguity and litigation, which are the major issues businesses have with the current GST setup. Further, while most of the focus has been captured by the rate restructuring propo-sals, the procedural reforms regarding registration, return filing and refunds are equally important. Simplifying GST is not just about reducing the multiplicity of rates but also about making it easier and less timeconsuming for taxpayers to navigate the system. Easing registration, simplifying returns and speeding up refunds, therefore, are welcome improvements the Centre is pursuing. Combined with the new Income Tax Bill and the rejig of incometax slabs in this year's Budget, these GST reforms will highlight 2025 as a watershed year for tax reform - direct as well as indirect tax. While the government has not made an official estimate of what the revenue impact of these reductions will be, sources have said that it expects a hit. Two years ago, the Reserve Bank of India had estimated that the average GST rate was 11.6%, which is now expected to fall substantially. However, the government is confident that an in-crease in consumption and a widening of the tax base will offset most of the revenue loss. With a large number of items set to be taxed at just 5%, the incentives for input tax credit scams and tax evasion will also be substantially removed. 

Alaskan winds, India and the Trump-Putin summit

The "Alaska Moment" between United States President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15, 2025 will translate to other objectives for Ukraine as Mr. Trump engages with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders, leading up to a possible trilateral summit in a quest for the end of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. For New Delhi, however, the Alaska Summit did not yield the clearcut outcomes many had hoped for before the meeting between the leaders of two of India's closest friends. Nor did it help the peculiar sense of vulnerability that Indian diplomacy faced, of having so much at stake in a meeting while having so little agency in its results.

Broadly, the Narendra Modi government had hoped that a U.S.-Russia rapprochement would take off some of the pressure from the U.S. India has felt over its ties with Russia. However, while there was a visible warmth in the Trump-Putin exchanges, this did not result in a less chilling tone that Mr. Trump has had towards India. He has been taking India to task on a number of issues. 

Familiar impasse 

Global resistance to a universal treaty on eliminating plastic pollution remains stubborn and huge. Last week, the sixth attempt since 2022 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to get membernations to agree upon a treaty to address plastic pollution ran into the familiar vortex of opposition. There was disagreement among the major blocs of countries on whether comprehensively ad-dressing plastic pollution requires eliminating plastic production itself. All countries agree that the ubiquitous polythene bag, despite its im-mense practicability and affordability as a container, has ballooned into a civic crisis. India generates around 3.4 million tonnes (MT) of plastic waste but recycles only about 30%. Its plastic consumption rose at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.7% from 14 MT in 2016-17 to over 20 MT in 2019-20. India has a production ban on about 20 singleuse plastic items cups, straws, spoons. While this has, to some extent, induced a degree of behavioural change in greater reliance of paper and cloth bags it has had little impact on waste management and recycling. This is also reflective of the global picture. According to the UNEP, the world produces more than 430 MT of plastic annually, two-thirds of which are shortlived products that soon become waste. Overall, 46% of plastic waste is landfilled, while 22% is mismanaged and becomes litter. In 2019, plastic, which is a derivate of fossilised crude, generated 1.8 billion metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions or about 3.4% of the global total.  

The path to ending global hunger runs through India

With global chronic undernourishment now on a downward trend, the world is beginning to turn a corner in its fight against hunger. The United Nations' newly released The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2025 reports that 673 million people (8.2% of the world's population) were undernourished in 2024. This is down from 688 million in 2023. Although we have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels (7.3% in 2018), this reversal marks a welcome shift from the sharp rise experienced during COVID-19.

India has played a decisive role in this global progress. The gains are the result of policy investments in food security and nutrition, increasingly driven by digital technology, smarter governance, and improved service delivery.

Revised estimates using the latest National Sample Survey data on household consumption show that the prevalence of undernourishment in India declined from 14.3% in 2020-22 to 12% in 2022-24. In absolute terms, this means 30 million fewer people living with hunger - an impressive achievement considering the scale of the population and the depth of disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

What true empowerment of women entails

The trial of former Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna, tainted by every trick in the book that power can muster, from legal intimidation to procedural delays, could have been yet another grim entry in India's long and exhausting history of justice denied. However, this case was different because a 47-year-old domestic help, with no wealth, no political connections, and no media machinery at her disposal, refused to be worn down. She braved high-profile legal muscle, relentless attempts at discrediting her, and the quiet but crushing social pressures that compel victims to disappear into silence. She didn't disappear; instead, she stood her ground. 

China's Ejiao boom kills six million donkeys a year

According to a report published in June by a U.K.-based charity, nearly 6 million donkeys are killed every year globally to produce a traditional Chinese medicine called Ejiao. This problem of animal cruelty, according to data and reports, is fuelled by a gap between demand and supply in China. It has also led to many other issues spanning multiple countries across continents. 

Who decides nominations to UT Assemblies?

The Union Home Ministry, in its affidavit before the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court, has submitted that the power of the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) to nominate five members to the Legislative Assembly of J&K can be exercised by him without the aid and advice of its Council of Ministers. 

How should toll collection practices be reformed? - 10

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has recommended significant reforms to toll collection practices on national highways, such as calling for an end to the perpetual tolling system. The report was submitted before Parliament on August 12.

The PAC headed by Congress MP K. C. Venugopal has advocated for discontinuing or significantly reducing toll charges on national highways once the capital expenditure and maintenance expenses have been fully recovered.

The rates of fees have been increasing by 3% each year from April 1, 2008.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways acknowledged the Committee's concerns and informed the PAC that it has initiated a comprehensive study with NITI Aayog to revise the user fee determination framework. 

On soaps and detergents: how they are made and manufactured

There is nothing like a refreshing bath after a sweaty workout or a hard day outside. The feeling of freshness and the pleasant odour after the bath is the contribution of the ubiquitous soap. In ancient India, soap nuts were crushed and used to clean, as were the bark of certain trees and specific flowers and leaves. The first use of soap has been traced back to 2800 BC in Mesopotamia. From there this little item later spread into Europe. During the Industrial Revolution, soaps started to be mass-produced. But even until the 19th century, soaps were treated as luxury items and taxed heavily in Europe. 

Indian broadcasters staring at crores in licence fee dues

TV broadcasters in India are due hundreds of crores in overdue license fee pay-ments from distributors in Nepal and Bangladesh, a problem that has been getting worse over the last year, two executives with knowledge of the payment issues told The Hindu. The problem has been particularly acute in Bangladesh, where after the ouster of former president Sheikh Hasina, TV distributors have stopped paying Indian broadcasters the fees they are due for transmit-ting their channels.