Nicobar gram sabhas signed off on infra project without 50% quorum

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands (A&NI) administration did not achieve the mandated 50% quorum at the gram sabha meetings held to get consent for the Centre's *92,000-crore Great Nicobar Island project. Instead, it claimed to have done so by attendance figures ranging from 2% to 15% of the population, which, it argued in the Calcutta High Court, counted as "proper quo-rum". The submissions were made by the administration in an affidavit to the Bench that is hearing a batch of petitions alleging that procedures under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) had been violated in obtaining consent for the project.

Trump pauses Hormuz move; says war will end if Iran agrees to deal

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday paused "Project Freedom", launched on Mon-day and aimed at guiding stranded merchant ships through the Strait of Hormuz, citing "great progress" in talks with Iran. He added that the war could end if the Islamic Re-public signed a deal, warning that the U.S. would resume bombing if it did not.

Delhi most unsafe for women and children, show new NCRB data

Delhi recorded the highest number of crimes - 13,396 - against women among all metropolitan cities, ac-cording to the National Crime Records Bureau's (NCRB) 'Crime in India 2024' report, which was re-leased on Wednesday.

The Capital saw an in-crease in crimes against women, with 13,366 of-fences reported in 2023, even as the total number of criminal cases declined year on year.

Understanding inequality in India's growth story

There have been some significant policy changes in the recent past - this includes the implementation of the new Labour Codes and the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, 2025 replacing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) - which have raised serious concerns regarding the welfare of informal workers and those belonging to rural India. These changes are accompanied by the official understanding that inequality is much less of a concern today than it was in the early 2010s, even though data comparability itself is an issue.

Fixing structural deficits in India's health system

On March 11, 2026, the Minister of State for Health, Anupriya Patel, informed Parliament that 43 new medical colleges have been established and 11,682 MBBS seats along with 8,967 postgraduate seats have been approved for the 2025-26 academic year.

Will this address India's problem of non-availability of doctors in the public health system? Of the 8,967 new postgraduate doctors, how many will actually have the inclination to serve in aspirational districts or underserved areas? Of the 43 newly sanctioned medical colleges, only eight are under State governments, eight are in the Employees' State Insurance (ESI) sector, and 27 are in the private sector.

When does a CM cease to hold office?

Though Article 164 states that the Council of Ministers holds office "during the pleasure of the Governor", this is not absolute; in practice, a Chief Minister can continue only so long as they enjoy the confidence of the Legislative Assembly.

The majority of a Chief Minister is determined through a floor test in the House, and if they fail to prove support, they must resign.

What is Karnataka's new gig worker grievance system?

Karnataka has operationalised a government-backed grievance redressal mechanism for platform-based gig workers, allowing them to lodge complaints through the IPGRS, which is routed to platform IDRCs for resolution.

The move aims to bring structure, transparency, and legal recourse to gig workers, addressing issues such as pay, working conditions, and arbitrary account deactivation.

CJI's role in CEC, EC appointments was temporary, pending new law: SC

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the Chief Justice of India's involvement in the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs) was only meant to last until Parliament came up with a law.

Rubio may visit India for talks, Quad Foreign Ministers meet in May end

In a visit expected to shore up India-U.S. ties, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Ru-bio is set to travel to India for bilateral talks and to at-tend the Australia-India-Ja-pan-U.S. Quad Foreign Minister's Meeting (FMM).

Vietnam major pillar of India's Act East Policy, says Modi as defence, rare-earth ties renewed

India's relation with Vietnam is a partnership that does not aim at any other country in the Indo-Pacific region, said senior officials on Wednesday. The remarks came soon after India welcomed General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam's Central Committee To Lam, who is also the cur-rent Vietnamese President.

India, Algeria hold first joint defence commission meet

India and Algeria held their inaugural Joint Commission meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday, marking a significant step forward in bilateral defence ties. According to the Defence Ministry, the discussions focused on enhancing cooperation in key areas such as training, joint military exercises, medical collaboration, and defence industry engagement.

Overall crime rate drops 6%; cybercrime up by 17%: NCRB

The overall crime rate in India declined in 2024 from the 2023 figure, but there was an increase of over 17% in cybercrime cases, show the Crime in India, 2024 re-port released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on Wednesday. 

A total of 1,01,928 cyber-crime cases were registered in 2024 over 86,420 such cases in the previous year.

Centre mandates local committees to oversee and govern schools

In a move to decentralise school governance and align with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the Ministry of Edu-cation has issued comprehensive new guidelines mandating the formation of school management committees (SMCs), and granting them financial and operational powers to oversee and govern schools.

India to host first Big Cat Summit in June; 95 countries set to participate

The inaugural Internation-al Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) Summit, to be held here from June 1 to 3, is expect-ed to adopt the first-ever global declaration on big cat conservation. Titled the 'Delhi Declaration', it will articulate shared priorities, strengthen trans-boundary cooperation, and promote a landscape-based approach for con-serving big cats and their habitats.

To minimise Al's impact on jobs, ILO bats for lifelong learning

Given the tumultuous trends reshaping labour markets across the world, lifelong learning needs to be a central pillar of governments' economic and social policies, the International Labour Organization said. Growing digitalisation, artificial intelligence (AI), green transition and demographic shifts were identified as some of the factors driving this shift.

Invasive species may be the wrong enemy in a changing subcontinent

Across India, campaigns against invasive alien species (IAS) are gathering administrative and judicial force. Authorities now identify, map, classify, and remove species deemed ecological threats.

In the last year alone, India's English-language press has carried sustained coverage of ecological-loss studies, State eradication drives, and human-wildlife conflicts linked to such species. What was once a niche scientific concern has become a visible public issue and priority.