Over 2,000 illegal immigrants 'pushed back' into Bangladesh since Op Sindoor

More than 2,000 alleged illegal Bangladeshi immigrants are estimated to have been "pushed back" across the border by Indian authorities since Operation Sindoor began in the early hours of May 7, following a nationwide verification exercise, Government sources told The Indian Express.

Rural beneficiaries in NREGS dip, Ministry seeks 12% higher outlay over next 5 yrs

The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) has sought an outlay of Rs 5.23 lakh crore for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for five years until 2029-30 in its May 15 proposal to the Expenditure Finance Committee, The Indian Express has learnt. EFC is a panel under the Finance Ministry that appraises all government schemes and projects.

A woman army chief? Why path is easier now

The 148TH batch of the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla, which graduated on Friday, had 17 women cadets. This is a watershed moment for the armed forces, one which opens a realistic path for women to reach the highest echelons of the Indian military in the coming decades.

WHY HAS A NEWLY DISCOVERED STAR TAKEN SCIENTISTS BY SURPRISE?

Astronomers have spotted a star acting unlike any other ever observed. It unleashes a curious combination of radio waves and X-rays, making it an exotic member of a class of celestial objects first identified only three years ago.

Inside the 'human-made' hunger crisis in Gaza: scale, causes, effects

At least 32 Palestinians were killed and 200 injured in Rafah over the last week, after thousands of them, desperate for food, swarmed aid distribution sites operated by Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an NGO backed by the US and Israel.

Gaza had been under a total blockade for almost three months until last week. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has said it cannot work with the GHF. Jake Wood, head of GHF, quit on May 25, saying its work was not in accordance with “humanitarian principle”.

Trump's visa crackdown on Chinese students: history, potential impact

For nearly a half century, Chinese students have gone to American universities. Now, a visa crackdown under President Donald Trump threatens the flow.

PUSHING BACK

In the wake of the brutal terrorist attack on Pahalgam, the government has done the right thing by heightening security across the country. It has intensified operations against terrorists and given greater urgency to increasing surveillance along the borders. Last month, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs issued an order asking states and Union Territories to detect and deport foreigners, especially people from Bangladesh and Myanmar, living illicitly in the country. The Centre's instructions have prompted several states to intensify their ongoing operations against suspected illegal im-migrants. From the West Bengal government's allegation, earlier this year, of BSF's laxity against Bangladeshi "infiltrators" to Delhi's erstwhile AAP government's drive against "illegal Bangladeshi" students to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's frequent diatribes against immigrants from India's eastern neighbour, the issue of illegal immigration has raised its head time and again in the heat and dust of Indian politics. The Centre and state governments must understand that the current moment has a far more compelling imperative than polarising politics - the two should be kept scrupulously apart. However, reports in this newspaper shine a light on the disquieting tendency among authorities to ignore court proceedings - and take the short cut bypassing due process. Among the people caught in the no man's land between India and Bangladesh is an Assam school teacher whose citizenship case is being heard by the Supreme Court. And, days ago, a 50-year-old woman was pushed into Bangladesh and then brought back after her lawyer flagged that she was legally in the clear.

Back on road to growth 

The National Statistics Office's (NSO) provisional estimates peg India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 6.5 per cent for 2024-25, with the fourth quarter growing at a blistering 7.4 per cent. The first and second advance estimates, which were based on limited data, had projected 6.4 per cent and 6.5 per cent, respectively.

A HEAVY BURDEN 

Study By The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has sounded a warning on an escalating health emergency among school children in the national capital. Of nearly 4,000 students in the six-19 years age group surveyed across Delhi's public and private schools, 13.4 per cent were found to be obese, and 7.4 per cent suffering from hypertension. The data draws an even more sobering contrast when viewed through the lens of socioeconomic status - 24 per cent private-school students were classified as obese, compared to 4.5 per cent in government schools. Students in private-school were also found to be twice as likely to have elevated blood sugar and three times more likely to exhibit metabolic syndrome - a dangerous cluster of conditions that includes hypertension, abnormal cholesterol, and insulin resistance. Left unchecked, these significantly increase the risk of early-onset cardiovascular diseases, musculoskeletal disorders, psychological stress, and Type 2 diabetes.

UNLOCKING THE UNIVERSE

Some people do not come in through the door but rather jump through the roof. Jayant Narlikar was one of them. In 1964, when Fred Hoyle and he announced in Cambridge University their new theory of gravity, suddenly Jawaharlal Nehru's modern India found a hero in science. It is therefore no surprise that Narlikar became a household name overnight in a country seeking its bearings in the world of science and technology.

A rain check for our cities

one might wonder why our urban centres-Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and several other cities are getting flooded more often in the recent past. The reasons are many, ranging from inefficient drainage systems to the implications of climate change.

When Ngugi met Tagore 

The first thing that Ngugi wa Thiong'o - who died on May 28 in the United States asked for when he met us in Kolkata in February 2018 was to visit the ancestral home of Rabindranath Tagore. Not an unusual request from a writer, but for him, it was deeply personal. I had worked as an editor on a collection of his essays, which Seagull Books had published a few years earlier, so the honour of accompanying him to north Kolkata's Jorasanko Thakurbari fell to me. As we stepped into the compound of the house - a veritable 18th-century palace -Ngugi's jaw dropped, quite literally. "This is Tagore's house? So massive?" I still re-member the blend of shock and amusement on the 80-year-old writer's face.

Decolonising the past 

The Indian Subcontinent has always been a land of flourishing science, arts, and culture. The foreign rule, however, reshaped our politics, epistemology and narratives. It colonised us to such an extent that we started undermining our own cultural traditions. This uncritical engagement with colonisers' knowledge system produced a sense of inferiority. Anything Indic was considered less significant. Against this backdrop, it is essential to critically look at our colonial past to re-store the ancient civilisational wisdom and decolonise our consciousness.

Gross GST collections in May rise 16.4% YoY to ₹2.01 lakh crore

Gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections rose 16.4 per cent year-on-year to Rs 2.01 lakh crore in May (for sales in April), data released by the government on Sunday showed. The GST collections in May were lower than last month's record-high level of Rs 2.37 lakh crore even as the growth rate was higher at 16.4 per cent in May as against 12.6 per cent growth seen in April.

Equity, debt markets witness higher foreign inflows in May at ₹30,950 cr

After heavy outflows in the last eight months, inflows by FPIs into equity markets in May have hit the highest levels since September last year on the back of de-escalation in Indo-Pak tensions, possibility of a trade deal with the US, a weakening US dollar and better than expected corporate earnings quarter for most companies.