US team in Delhi today, urgency to finalise deal

A TEAM of United States Trade Representative (USTR) officials, led by chief negotiator Brendan Lynch, is set to commence negotiations with India over four days starting Monday to finalise an interim agreement. Government sources said there is a sense of urgency now because a new US tariffs architecture is likely to replace the reciprocal tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump, and deemed illegal by the Supreme Court in February.

Govt seeks to bring back delimitation Bill, push joint polls by 2029

IN THE wake of its defeat in Parliament over its attempt to push the delimitation Bill, moves are on within the Government to revive the legislation and also bring in the One Nation One Election Bill -both before the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.

J&K HC: President, Gov can terminate govt employees over 'security of state'

THE JAMMU & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has held that the President or a Governor, acting on the aid and ad-vice of the Council of Ministers, can remove an employee from government service without a departmental inquiry or an opportunity to be heard if the matter concerns the security of the state.

Herbal cigarettes as harmful as tobacco cigarettes: Study

HERBAL CIGARETTES, which are outside India's tobacco control laws, can be as damaging as tobacco cigarettes, a joint study by Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), US, has found. Widely marketed in India and abroad as "natural, tobacco-free and even therapeutic alter-natives" to conventional cigarettes, herbal cigarettes produce emissions that can be com-parable to or even more damaging than tobacco smoke, the study, released ahead of the World No Tobacco day, said.

SC asks govt to make law exempting trafficked sex workers from prosecution

UNDERLINING THAT there can't be a one-size-fits-all approach in the application of the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act (ITPA) to tackle commercial sexual exploitation (CSE), the Supreme Court has laid out an elaborate 'Victim Protection Plan', securing the rights of "voluntary" sex workers, and called upon the government to consider amending the law to exempt trafficked victims from being prosecuted for prostitution. It also sought that the new law protects the victims from "sexual abuse" by police personnel when in custody.

'Encroached India land': Nepal PM triggers a row

NEPAL PRIME Minister Balendra Shah on Sunday said he has learnt about his country "encroaching" territories in India, as he sought to answer questions in parliament on a long-running border dispute and in-stead triggered a controversy.

Austerity is needed, but energy security requires breaking silos in government

The government should consider enacting an Energy Responsibility and Security Act' that defines the roles and responsibilities of every citizen in securing energy 'atmanirbharta' and sustainability

Science collaboration is space compass, not conflict

LAST WEEK, NASA announced an ambitious roadmap for sustained operations on the Moon over the next decade. The agency reportedly envisions creating a base on the lunar South Pole in three parts: Getting to the moon's surface and beginning experiments from 2026 to 2029; "initial operations", including potential nuclear power installations in the next three years; and commencing work on a "semi-permanent" human station after 2032.

Amid rising inflation, RBI cannot neglect growth

THIS WEEK, the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee will deliberate on fine-tuning its stance on the repo rate - the interest rate at which India's central bank lends money to commercial banks. Typically, when prices threaten to rise at a rate faster than what the RBI finds prudent, the central bank raises the repo rate to contain inflation. On the face of it, India is facing such a phase, with the war in Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz keeping the prices of crude oil and other critical imports high.

Safer motherhood begins before pregnancy

A new study in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Women's Health shows India's maternal mortality ratio has fallen from 384 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2000 to just 88 in 2023-one of the steepest declines anywhere in the world. Sustaining that momentum now requires turning our attention to a condition that shapes how safely a woman experiences pregnancy long before she reaches the labour room: Anaemia.

India-Oman pact holds promises for farms, factories and small businesses

THE INDIA-Oman Free Trade Agreement that comes into force from June 1 is a defining milestone in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mission to create global pathways to prosperity for India's students, artisans, women, farmers, fisher men and MSMEs by opening new markets and accelerating job creation.

India has a deep economic and people to-people connect with Oman, home to nearly 7 lakh Indians, including merchant families whose roots there go back 200-300 years. Indian remittances from Oman amount to about $2 billion annually, while more than 6,000 Indian enterprises operate there.

Trump's Iran challenge -to go beyond Obama's deal

THERE WAS a great sense of optimism nine days ago when Donald Trump held a summit phone call with Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, and Turkey - and spoke separately with Israel - to announce that a US-Iran MoU was close to being finalised. However, the MoU, now la-belled the Islamabad Declaration, continues to hang fire.

Under its provisional framework, Iran will reopen the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war commercial shipping levels within 30 days of signing the MoU, though restrictions will remain in place for military vessels. In re-turn, the US will gradually lift its naval blockade, temporarily suspend oil export sanctions, and pledge comprehensive sanctions relief alongside the unfreezing of Iranian assets upon a final agreement.

Israeli forces push deeper into Lebanon; complicates Iran deal

ISRAELI FORCES are making their deepest incursion inside Lebanon since they withdrew from the country over a quarter-century ago, despite a nominal U.S.-brokered cease-fire and the first direct Israel-Lebanon talks in decades. It's a challenge in the emerging deal to extend the Iran war ceasefire as Tehran wants it to end fighting in Lebanon, too.

How China's reduced oil imports have helped India

India is among the three Asian economies - along with Thailand and South Korea - most vulnerable to high oil prices, according to a Nomura report.

Every 10% oil price increase typically widens India's current account deficit by 0.4% of the GDP

Aravalli range's role in shielding Gangetic plains from Thar dust

Dust storms and the plains

Dust storms primarily originating from the Thar Desert are not unusual over northern India in the pre-monsoon months of April to June. These storms are fuelled by intense heat and dry conditions, while south-westerly and westerly winds move the dust across the region. The India Meteorological Department's Climate Hazards and Vulnerability Atlas of India, based on 1981-2010 climatological normals, shows that parts of northwest India fall in the highest dust-storm frequency class, averaging 0.89 to 1.55 dust-storm days.

Unaffordable homes: UN report lists factors behind housing crisis

ACROSS COUNTRIES, housing prices are slipping out of the budget of large sections of the population. The world is in the midst of a housing crisis as more people move to urban areas and not enough houses are being built, according to a recent report by the United Nations. The report also flags financialisation as one of the major factors behind this crisis.

Religion and the tribal identity: Why 'delisting' debate refuses to die down

Scheduled Tribes in India are those recognised under Article 342 of the Constitution as eligible for certain benefits and State support. "Delisting" refers to the demand that tribal people converting to Christianity or Islam should not continue receiving the benefits for STs. Among the major voices raising this demand are Adivasi Hindus. But another section of Adivasis, from the Sarna community (which does not identify as either Hindu or Christian), argues that if religion becomes the basis for removing tribal status, the same rule should apply to tribal people who have con-verted to Hinduism. This comes amid the recent Supreme Court observation reiterating that Dalits converting to Christianity or Islam cannot continue to claim Scheduled Caste status under Article 341. However, Article 342, which deals with STs, does not explicitly mention religion.

India, Oman FTA to come into effect today

THE INDIA-OMAN Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) will take effect on Monday, extending zero-duty access on 98% of tariff lines, which cover 99.4% of India's ex-ports to Oman. In return, India will open up 77% of its tariff lines for Oman, covering 94% of its total exports to India. This is India's 15th bilateral trade agreement. For India, the most visible gains lie in merchandise exports.