Union Cabinet clears two-year service extension for Agniveers, opens path to regular service

The Union Cabinet has ap-proved an additional two-year engagement period for a section of Agniveers, creating a pathway for all cadets under the Agnipath scheme to join the armed forces as regular soldiers, subject to their willingness and fulfilment of selection criteria.

Falling fertility has made laws penalising violation of two-child norm outdated: SC

The Supreme Court on Wednesday held that laws penalising having more than two children have lost their relevance due to the falling fertility rate in India. "We are of the strong opinion that laws that penalise having more than two children have lost their relevance. The foundation of such laws, that is, the fear of overpopulation, has crumbled due to demographic changes in the past few decades," a Bench headed by Justice P.S. Narasimha observed.

Apex court seeks response from Union govt. on pleas challenging lifelong legal immunity to CEC

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought a response from the Union government on petitions challenging the constitutionality of a specific provision in the Chief Election Commissioner-Election Commissioners' appointment law which grants them blanket, lifelong immunity from any legal action or criminal prosecution, not only during the official tenure but even after retirement.

Anaemia burden - iron alone is no solution

India must tackle its anaemia burden through targeted nutrition, better diagnostics and comprehensive public health measures, not salt fortification alone

What the BRICS carbon market partnership needs

On September 12, at the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, the New Delhi Declaration confirmed that BRICS members look forward to implementing the Memorandum of Understanding on the BRICS Carbon Markets Partnership. The commitment remains modest: on capacity-building and experience-sharing, with no trading framework, targets or timeline. The Rio summit acknowledged the memorandum in 2025, and New Delhi has reiterated it. With India's BRICS presidency entering its final quarter, operationalising the partnership requires not so much a common trading platform as a common rulebook.

From poverty alleviation to prosperity

• The World Bank's prosperity gap measures how far incomes are from the global benchmark of $28 per person per day; India's score of 4.9 points to the scale of the income increase required

• Nearly 64% of Indians fall in the $4.20-$8.30 daily income band, highlighting the concentration of the population just above the lower-middle-income poverty threshold

• Poor-quality human capital services, the prevalence of informal work, and the mismatch between educational qualifications and available jobs impede socio-economic mobility

How U.S. midterms could shape geopolitics for India

The dramatic results of the U.S. midterm elections will probably have less impact on India-U.S. bilateral relations than on geopolitics and, as a result, India's "operating environment" in the world. The elections gave the Democrats a majority in the House of Representatives and a comfortable edge in the Senate, which means U.S. President Donald Trump will face restraints on both domestic and foreign policy.

Cess levied on sales tax falls within State's ambit, says SC

The Supreme Court held on Wednesday that an additional tax levied by a State legislature on the sale or purchase of goods will not fall outside the State's competence.

A seven-judge Bench confirmed a 1975 ruling (S. Kodar versus State of Kerala) that a cess levied as an increment to an existing sales tax has to be judged in the same way as the principal tax.

Fast-track special courts scheme extended till 2031

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a five-year extension of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for fast-track special courts (FTSCs), in-cluding exclusive POCSO courts, from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2031.

The scheme, operational since October 10, 2019, has undergone extensions to ensure expeditious disposal of cases related to rape and offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. It was initial-ly launched for one year and was extended up to March 31, 2026.

India secures $400-billion investment commitments in renewables

India has secured preliminary investment commit-ments worth $400 billion across the renewable energy sector, including green hydrogen, energy storage and transmission, among others, Union Minister for New and Renewable Ener-gy Pralhad Joshi said on Wednesday.

Centre earmarks ₹2,814 crore for lithium, nickel processing

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a 22,814-crore capital expenditure support scheme to establish domestic processing facilities for lithium and nickel, seeking to strengthen India's critical mineral ecosystem and reduce import dependence. The scheme will remain in force for five years. Union Minister for Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy said the scheme would strengthen domestic capabilities, boost manufacturing and reduce dependence on imports.

Cabinet approves scheme to overhaul statistical system

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a 24,371 crore scheme - Viksit Bharat Initiative for Statistical Transformation, Analytics & Research (VISTAR) to overhaul the statistical architecture at both the Central and State levels, for the period 2026-27 to 2030-31. The scheme will be divided into three components: Comprehensive statistical operations and strengthening of the ecosystem, support for statistical strengthening, and an economic census.

Cabinet okays 14,500 cr. VGF scheme for large scale energy storage

The Union Cabinet has ap-proved a 14,500 crore Via-bility Gap Funding (VGF) scheme for the development of grid-scale energy storage systems for the pe-riod 2026-27 to 2030-31, the government announced on Wednesday. The scheme is aimed at supporting the development of 92 GWh of fresh, yet-to-be-commissioned, energy storage capacity across the country.

The Amazon is no longer a carbon sink, it is an emitter

The world's largest tropical forest, referred to as the 'lungs of the planet,' the Amazon rainforest once acted as a vast carbon sink that helped absorb human-induced CO2 emissions. But now, a study has found that the Amazon releases more CO2 than it absorbs from the atmosphere, as it is decimated by deforestation and forest fires.