Centre's tobacco tax rejig to take effect from Feb. 1

The Union Finance Ministry on Thursday issued a series of notifications that will give effect to the new taxation regime for tobacco products from February 1.

The Central Excise (Amendment) Act, 2025, passed in the recently concluded Winter Session of Parliament, specifies new rates of excise duty on tobacco products.

Ancient Marathi literature reveals savannas are not degraded forests

Savannas in western Maharashtra are far older than commonly believed and should not be treated as degraded forests, according to a study that mines medieval Marathi literature and living oral traditions to reconstruct the region's ecological history. Published in the British Ecological Society journal People and Nature, the research shows open-canopy, tree-grass landscapes have persisted for at least 750 years, long before colonial timber extraction, and calls for conservation strategies that explicitly value local culture alongside biodiversity.

Mandating student presence, erasing learning

Indian universities must confront a truth that they evade - a classroom where attendance is enforced is pedagogically bankrupt.

Mob rule

The bogey of infiltration is resulting in hate crimes across India

In the closing weeks of 2025, a series of violent incidents across India exposed a disturbing pattern of mob violence directed at migrants who were labelled foreigners - Bangladeshis and Chinese - by their attackers. In these cases, the three victims were Indian citizens from various parts of the country. Suspicion based on language, region, appearance or presumed nationality is escalating into mob violence in different regions. This is extremely worrying and the police must act strictly.

From encroachment to legal ownership

The Haryana government regularises unauthorised occupation of village commons through payment, framing it as an administrative settlement to reduce litigation and recover value for panchayats.

This process risks converting encroachment into ownership, privileging those with the ability to pay and reinforcing elite capture.

Marginalised households, particularly landless Dalits, face limited access to commons, undermining the social and livelihood functions these lands are intended to provide.

Why does India need climate-resilient agriculture?

Climate-resilient agriculture uses biotechnology, biofertilizers, biopesticides, genome-edited crops, and Al-driven tools to enhance farm productivity while reducing dependence on chemical inputs.

Scaling CRA in India requires a coherent national roadmap under the BioE3 framework, stronger adoption among small and marginal farmers, quality bioinputs, climate-tolerant seeds, and digital tools to deliver resilience at scale.

The Aravalli question faces the brunt of India's fondness for 'strategic exemptions'

India does not resolve clashes between its climate commitments and industrial demand through any clear rules; instead, it often resorts to executive discretion and opaque measures, citing 'national defence' or 'strategic considerations' to bypass scrutiny.

Financial dominance over wife cannot qualify as 'cruelty': SC

The Supreme Court has said that monetary and financial dominance of a man over his wife cannot qualify as cruelty, especially in the absence of any tangible mental or physical harm caused to her.