India began its Crocodile Conservation programme in 1975, and this year marks 50 years of this initiative, one that has been more successful than most. India is home to three main kinds of crocodile species – the gharial, the salt water crocodile or salties, and the muggers. These species face increasing threats from habitat loss, poachers, polluti…

On June 7, on the eve of Eid ul Azha, the Chief Adviser to the interim government in Bangladesh, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, delivered a televised address to the nation, promising to hold elections in April 2026. He also announced that the country would witness the launch of the ‘July Proclamation’, which had been earlier planned by student activists to “b…

The Central government recently proposed starting an integrated course – MBBS and Ayurveda medicine, at the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) in Puducherry. This proposed move has evoked a strong response from the Indian Medical Association who has said this unscientific mixing of various systems of medici…

Article 143 of the Constitution allows the President to seek the Supreme Court’s opinion on matters of law. This provision has been invoked by President Droupadi Murmu to raise 14 questions on a recent Supreme Court judgement. It concerns a case filed by the Tamil Nadu government against its Governor, who had withheld assent to 10 bills indefinitel…

Yet again, we are talking about a virus we would much rather forget – Covid-19 is in the news with over 4,300 cases and over deaths as of June 4. New sub-variants, descendent from the Omicron lineage first reported at the end of 2021, are believed to be driving the spike in cases. So far however, a majority of the cases have been mild, with very fe…

Discussions are ongoing in India to amend both the country’s nuclear liability framework, regulated by the 2010 Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages Act (CLNDA) the 1962 Atomic Energy Act to allow private companies to build and operate nuclear energy generation facilities. This move is part of a broader strategy to expand India’s nuclear energy capa…

At a time when Russia and Ukraine have been exchanging peace proposals, seemingly in a bid to start direct peace talks, Ukraine has carried out an unprecedented drone attack deep inside Russian territory.Ukrainian officials have claimed to have destroyed at least 40 Russianwarplanes, including strategic bombers, and say they have imposed losses on …

India is a union of states — a structure enshrined in the Constitution that gives States a central role in legislating critical areas like health, agriculture, and public order. But how well are India’s State Assemblies functioning? A new report by PRS Legislative Research that examines how 31 State Assemblies performed in 2024 has found that State…

It’s been a month since Canada’s federal elections. Canadians have voted in a Liberal government, although a minority one, for the fourth straight time. They have reposed their faith in Mark Carney, a former central banker who had no prior political experience and hadn’t held political office until the start of this year. Everyone seems to agree th…

Manipur has been under President’s rule since February 13, 2025. But this week, a group of 10 MLAs met the Governor and informed him that they would like to form a “popular government” with the support of a total of 44 MLAs. The Manipur Assembly has a strength of 60. At the same time, the state is again in turmoil over an incident in Gwaltabi villa…

On May 20, 2025, the Supreme Court restored a minimum of three years of legal practice as a mandatory condition to apply for entry-level judicial service. The ruling reverses the Court’s 2002 decision that had removed the practice requirement, originally mandated by a 1993 judgment. Is the three-year practice requirement a welcome move? Here we dis…

The Central Board of Secondary Education, or CBSE, recently mandated the establishment of sugar boards at all its schools. These boards will tell children how much sugar there is in common snacks that they eat versus what the recommended sugar intake is. The move also aims to make school canteens healthier so that the food children have access to o…

Earlier this month, reports surfaced alleging that Indian authorities had transported dozens of Rohingya refugees to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and subsequently abandoned them in international waters, in an attempt to deport them to Myanmar. However, on May 16, a Supreme Court Bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh declined…

The French Open, the only Grand Slam played on clay, kicks off this Sunday in Paris. This is a historic French Open also because it’s the first one to be held after the retirement of Rafael Nadal, the undisputed GOAT on Clay. On the men’s side, there is tremendous anticipation over the growing rivalry between world No 1 Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alc…

There has been a lot of excitement around the India-U.K. trade deal — PM Narendra Modi termed the deal a "historic milestone" while announcing that both countries "successfully concluded an ambitious and mutually beneficial Free Trade Agreement", and U.K. PM Keir Starmer recently called it a fantastic deal. India enjoys a trade surplus with the U.K…

Parallel to the escalation of the recent military tensions between India and Pakistan, misinformation and disinformation surged online, making it increasingly difficult for the public to distinguish between fact and fiction. Many media outlets published sensational stories, riddled with unverified claims, and disseminated fake pictures and videos. …

Trade-related tensions between India and Bangladesh have been rising. In a seemingly retaliatory move, India has restricted the import of certain goods from Bangladesh to just two sea ports – Kolkata and Nhava Sheva. It has blocked 11 traditional land ports in the North East. This move has caused concern among both Bangladeshi and Indian traders as…

After a nearly four-year delay, the Central government finally released a whole lot of reports about India’s births, deaths and health indicators for the year 2021. Two of these key reports, released by the Registrar General of India, were the number of deaths registered, and the medical certification of the causes of deaths. What did these reports…

How do monsoons reallywork? What makes them plentiful some years, but vanish completely in others, causing drought-like conditions? Climate scientists have been seeking answers to these questions for a long time. Now a research paper has come up with an intriguing explanatory concept: atmospheric memory. The study was conducted by two scientists --…

According to the Sample Registration System report for 2021 released by the Registrar General of India on May 7, the Total Fertility Rate (TFR), which is the average number of children that a woman is expected to have in her childbearing years, in India was 2.0 in 2021, the same as in 2020. While Delhi and West Bengal reported the lowest TFR of 1.4…

On May 7, India launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ in response to the Pahalgam terror attack of April 22 in which 26 civilians were killed. Over three days, India and Pakistan launched missiles and drones at each other. There was also an extended aerial warfare involving fighter jets of both the countries. And on May 10, around midday, a ceasefire was an…

The petitions challenging the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, are set for hearing on May 15. They will be heard by a Bench led by the Chief Justice designate B.R. Gavai. Earlier, a three-judge Bench led by outgoing Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna had refused to put an interim stay on the amendments. But it did receive two assurances from the Union governme…

The recent death of a young entrepreneur, who reportedly took the extreme step after she lost followers on social media, is sufficient reason for us to pause and assess the role of social media in our lives. There is no doubt that social media is here to stay and has a huge role to play in our lives. By holding up a world that seems perfect, and fi…

When it comes to food, most Indians cannot imagine a day without rice. Lunch is rice, and rice is lunch – and rice is also sometimes breakfast or dinner or just part of a number of other food items we consume. But how healthy is the rice we are eating? Scientists have known for a while now that a lot of rice contains some amount of arsenic. A new s…

The Union cabinet has announced that the next population Census will also include questions on caste. This is a sharp departure from the ruling BJP’s long-standing opposition to a caste census. How do we understand this U-turn? How would this caste census differ from the last one, conducted in 1931? Given the massive scale and logistics involved, w…

The world of science was rocked early last month when U.S. company Colossal Biosciences announced that it had resurrected the dire wolf—a species that went extinct more than 10,000 years ago. Three pups, named Remus, Romulus, and Khaleesi are now living on a 2,000-acre enclosure in a secret location. Videos of the wolf pups howling went viral acros…

According to Section 53 (2) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, if there is only candidate contesting an election, then she can be declared elected unopposed. Now a legal think tank, the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of this provision. It cites the 2013 order of …

The calculated brutality of the terror attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir appears to have crossed a red line for India-Pakistan ties that were already at an all-time low. Following its diplomatic measures against Pakistan, what appropriate military response can India craft? Has the Pahalgam attack crossed a red line? Here we discuss the questi…

In a controversy that seems to have divided the art world in India, Mumbai-based poet-activist Aamir Aziz has accused well known artist Anita Dube of using his poem without his consent, and profiting from it without giving him credit or compensation. The poem in question is ‘Sab Yaad Rakha Jayega’, which became an anthem of the anti-CAA protests an…

Recently, a debate about appointing judges has gained momentum in light of cash allegedly being found in the house of a Delhi High Court judge. What began as a discussion about transparency in judicial appointments has widened into a broader conversation about the functioning of India’s justice system, which is already strained by millions of pendi…

United States President Donald Trump’s ‘reciprocal tariffs’ have been compared to the Smoot-Hawley tariffs of the 1930s, which many say hastened the slide into the Great Depression. The difference between the 1930s and now is that we have the World Trade Organization (WTO) to oversee and enforce global trade rules. However, some argue that over the…

For the first time since 2018, the United States and Iran are holding high level negotiations. What Iran wants is clear: an end to US sanctions, and resumption of economic engagement. But the US has been speaking in different voices, ranging from a maximalist position of complete dismantlement of the Iranian nuclear program, to a more moderate goal…

Even as India grapples with its estimated 101 million cases of Type 2 diabetes, a new type of diabetes has recently hit the headlines – Type 5. At the International Diabetes Federation’s meeting held recently, an announcement was made: a working group is to be formed to develop criteria and guidelines for Type 5 diabetes. Estimates indicate that th…

The Income Tax Bill, 2025 was introduced in the Lok Sabha recently. It seeks to modernise and simplify the Income Tax Act, 1961. While the Bill is indeed shorter in length than the original Act it seeks to replace, there is one major concern: privacy experts believe it institutes a regime of tax surveillance, in complete violation of the Supreme Co…

Recently, while speaking at the Startup Mahakumbh in New Delhi, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said that startups were not innovating enough and were limiting themselves to grocery delivery. Are Indian startups not scaling up on innovation? Here we discuss the question. Guests: Thillai Rajan, Professor and Head, Research Centr…

Every day, millions of posts are made online — tweets, videos, memes, reels. Some content is violent, misleading, or even dangerous. This is where content moderation comes in. However, deciding what stays up and what comes down isn't as simple as it sounds. In fact, X has sued the Union government in the Karnataka High Court for the SAHYOG portal, …

Customers of private health insurance policies in India have noticed a worrying trend – their premium costs are shooting up, and, going by the many stories on social media, rejection of claims is also on the rise. Add to this the 18% GST that is charged on premiums, and it is no wonder that many say they are choosing to not renew their policies alt…

A new report by the NGO Common Cause and Lokniti- Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) has surveyed the attitudes towards torture by policemen across India. ‘The Status of Policing in India Report 2025: Police Torture and (Un) Accountability’ has, for the first time, produced empirical data on the justifications for torture that perm…

Last month, unaccounted cash was reportedly recovered from the official residence of former Delhi High Court judge, Justice Yashwant Varma. In response, Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna initiated an in-house inquiry into the matter. Justice Varma has since been repatriated to his parent High Court in Allahabad and will not be assigned any judic…

The internet has been flooded with AI-generated images in the style of Studio Ghibli, the animation studio founded by the famous Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki. What made Studio Ghibli’s work so special was not only its distinctive style but also the fact that the images were all hand-drawn. The contrast between the high skill and hard labour of …