Wang Yi begins India visit, Jaishankar says de-escalation process must move forward

As Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi began his two-day visit to India on Monday - his first since India and China completed the disengagement process along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in November last year, and days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's likely first visit to China in seven years External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar underlined that the "de-escalation process" must "move forward".

Cadets disabled in training: SC notice to Centre, armed forces

The Supreme Court on Monday sought the response of the Centre and the armed forces in a suo motu case based on reports published in The Indian Express about officer cadets who were discharged from the nation's top military training institutes on medical grounds and have since been battling severe disability with poor benefits.

GST on health, term insurance may be scrapped or cut to 5%

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) reforms expected around Diwali this year could likely lead to scrapping of the tax on insurance policies - or at least a calibrated reduction to 5 per cent -making insurance more affordable, improving financial security for millions and accelerating insurance penetration in India.

In Kerala village, 'living lab' provides local weather forecast, landslide alert

Before he ventures for rubber tapping each morning, Anil T R scrolls his WhatsApp for weather updates. The information that he gets isn't from far-off weather stations - it's specifically for his gram panchayat Kanichar, sourced from the neighbourhood and localised just for people like him.

Anil's village of Kanichar-60 km from Kannur-is India's first village panchayat where a living lab approach has been adopted for enhancing climate sensitivity and people's resilience capacity. Implemented by the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), the project has one aim - making the 4,600-odd household owners in the panchayat resilient to natural disasters.-

'Two-state solution is dead. If Trump wants true peace, he has to get real about Palestine issue'

But it has not been eradicated. Now, how does Hamas get eradicated? A very senior Israeli army officer has said in an interview that Hamas can only be eradicated once 100 per cent of the territory of Gaza is taken over and there's nobody there. That means when Gaza has been ethnically cleansed, to put it bluntly. I think that quite deliberately the goalposts have been kept movable. I don't think [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is going to say that it's all done and dusted and we're walking off.-

The Red Fort Charter

I have been privileged to listen to August 15 speeches since I was a schoolgoer, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 12th Independence Day speech on Friday was unprecedented. It unleashed a Brahmastra - Arjun's legendary weapon with no counter - aimed at accelerating India's path to Viksit Bharat. At a time of extraordinary turbulence in the global economy, India continues to surge ahead as the fastest-growing large economy. The speech was remarkable not merely for its sweep but for its scope - next-generation reforms that are bold, and capable of reshaping the destiny of 1.4 billion people - with a clarity of vision that the nation has never witnessed before.-

A Home For A Friend 

In the Mahabharat, Yudhishthir rejects the prospect of heaven rather than leave a stray dog behind. Some read the story as an allegory. But at its simplest, it is a tale of the bond between humans and dogs. It shows the "argumentative Indian" at his best as he debates with Indra, the king of the gods, insisting that there can be no worse sin than abandoning one who is defenceless and has sought refuge. Yudhishthir makes no distinction between the dignity that should be accorded to humans and more-than-humans. For his compassion, he is welcomed with fanfare and driven to heaven in Indra's chariot.-

Special Intensive Exclusion

In the Infamous press conference held this Sunday, the Chief Election Commissioner re-iterated a well-known claim that a Special Intensive Revision was the solution to the ills afflicting our voters' list. This claim has been pressed vigorously after Rahul Gandhi's exposé on voter list fraud in Mahadevapura. BJP trolls thought that they had the Opposition leader in a trap: How can he complain about inaccuracies in the voters' lists and not sup-port the clean-up exercise called SIR? The CEC followed this reasoning, exuding a triumphant tone.-

The umpire’s pitch 

The week of the 79th Independence Day ended with a press conference by the Election Commission of India that was both welcome and unsettling. On the face of it, the EC sought to address questions raised by the Special Intensive Revision exercise ahead of the election in Bihar – and even though Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar did not take Rahul Gandhi's name, on Gandhi's allegations of "vote chori".-

Tradwives, delulu: What new words in Cambridge Dictionary tell us

Among the words now recognised by the Cambridge Dictionary are skibidi, broligarchy, delulu, and tradwife. The choices are a testimony to the growing power of Internet-speak, and to the various social and political wars raging in the world.

What do these words mean, and what does their inclusion in the dictionary say about the evolution of the English language? 

Creamy layer 'equivalence'

The Government is considering ways to ensure "equivalence" in the application of the 'creamy layer' condition in reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) across a range of jobs at central and state government organisations, public sector enterprises, universities, etc.-

Ultraprocessed food makes up 53% of Americans' diets: CDC

Data released earlier in August from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggested that people in the United States were eating slightly fewer calories from ultra-processed foods compared with previous years, but nutrition experts caution that this decrease is far from a public health win

When can courts order a recount of votes? 

The Supreme Court last week overturned the result of the sarpanch election of Buana Lakhu village in Haryana's Panipat district. The apex court conducted a recount of votes by summoning all Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) used during the election to its premises in New Delhi.

Nationalists in Ireland, India: How a future Indian President was inspired

While condemning recent hate crimes against Indians in Ireland, Irish President Michael D Higgins last week said that his country and India shared "the experience of paths towards independence".-

July jobless rate at 5.2%; Himachal sees highest youth unemployment in Apr-Jun

India's Unemployment rate cooled to a three-month low of 5.2 per cent in July, monthly data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) on Monday showed. Meanwhile, new quarterly data -released for the first time on Monday as per the revamped Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) - showed that youth unemployment was the highest in Himachal Pradesh in April-June at almost 30 per cent

Major states warn of ₹7,000-9,000 cr annual loss under new GST structure

With the proposed overhaul of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime expected to kick in from the middle of the ongoing financial year, multiple states have expressed concerns over the substantial loss in their share of revenues once the next-generation reforms come into effect. States are worried that the annual loss in revenues, likely to range between Rs 7,000-9,000 crore for most major states, could leave them with less to spend on social development and state administration given the limited powers with them to raise revenues, top state government officials told The Indian Express.-

Foreign liabilities of MFs rose 19.9% in FY25

Domestic Mutual fund industry's foreign liabilities surged 19.9 per cent to $30.5 billion, in market value terms during financial year 2025, primarily driven by an increase in units issued to non-residents, a Reserve Bank of India survey showed.