Iran: No talks while US breaches interim deal; 'low keying' it: Trump

Iran and the US are not engaged in talks and Tehran will not start them as long as Washington keeps breaching an interim deal signed in June, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday, adding that messages are being exchanged via intermediaries.

In its first month, VB-GRAM G sees almost 50% y-o-y dip in rural jobs

Employment Generation under the government's revamped rural job guarantee programme saw a sharp decline, registering a fall of 49.94 per cent year-on-year in July, as per official data. The drop came as the government transitioned from the two-decade-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to the newly-launched Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or VB-GRAM G, from July 1 this year.

Invasive species spawns India's first fishermen-driven removal initiative

The Ujani reservoir, once known for its high-quality freshwater fish, is battling an ecological crisis triggered by invasive alien species-the suckermouth catfish, tilapia and African catfish.

These fish have decimated native biodiversity, collapsed fish populations, and put thousands of fishermen's livelihoods at risk. In response, the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) has launched an active removal-and-restocking pro-gramme, India's first such community-driven initiative.

Row around who gets to prescribe modern drugs

Doctors Across Maharashtra went on a strike last week to protest homeopathic doctors being allowed to prescribe modern medicines after completing a bridge course. While the strike was called off after the Bombay High Court stepped in, the issue is still simmering.

The protests began after Dr Neha Siddharth Pawar, 36, early last week became the first homeopathy practitioner from Maharashtra to be registered in the state's allopathic Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC)-opening the gates for others like her, who have completed the state's Certificate Course in Modern Pharmacology (CCMP). This was a contentious move, opposed by the practitioners of modern medicine ever since the state Assembly amended the MMC Act in 2014.

Bill on financial evidence: Critical overhaul, but concerns remain

Lok Sabha last week cleared the Bankers' Books Evidence Bill, 2026, which aims to overhaul the colonial-era Bankers' Books Evidence Act of 1891 and bring the legal framework governing financial evidence in line with modern, digital banking systems.

While legal experts have welcomed the update, they have expressed concerns regarding data privacy and the missed opportunity to introduce robust digital safeguards.

Scientists can now shrink and rewrite proteins with AI. Here's what that unlocks

Scientists at Duke University, North Carolina, have come up with an Artificial Intelligence system termed Raygun, which can miniaturise, enlarge and extensively rewrite proteins. Their work was published in the journal Nature recently.

Why would anyone want a smaller protein?

Proteins are already minuscule, typically a few nanometres across. Shrinking them sounds like a strange goal until you consider that, much as with a compact car in a crowded city, a smaller version can go places the larger one cannot.

Gene therapy is a clear case. The aim is to deliver a working copy of a gene into a patient's cells to compensate for a faulty one. A gene cannot simply be swallowed and has to be packed into a molecular vehicle, typically the hollowed-out shell of a harmless virus. Those shells have a strict capacity limit, and many therapeutically valuable genes are too large to fit.

A strategic partnership faces an ethical question

The foundations of India's defence relationship with Israel were laid during the 1999 Kargil War, when Israel emerged as one of the few countries willing to rapidly provide critical equipment, including ammunition, drones and precision-guided munitions. That experience established Israel as a reliable defence partner and accelerated a relationship that has expanded ever since. Un-like many Western suppliers, Israel has also demonstrated a willingness to transfer sophisticated military technologies to India.

Delhi-Dhaka need reset, must let go of political baggage

The So-Called sonali adhyay, or golden phase of India-Bangladesh relations after 1971, appears to have receded. Trade integration, cross-border connectivity, energy interdependence, and the political economy of regional cooperation now face multiple constraints. Although Bangladesh continues to be one of India's principal trade partners in South Asia, the trade relationship stands at a critical juncture, caught between the possibility of renewed cooperation and the risk of reversal.

Houthis attack key Saudi refinery after kingdom signs defence pact

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have attacked Saudi Aramco's Jazan refinery, they said Sunday, two days after the kingdom signed a defence pact with Turkey and Pakistan in response to growing regional instability from the US-Israeli war on Iran.

The alliance with Sunni Muslim US allies, Turkey and Pakistan, is intended to strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression and stipulates that an armed attack against any of the three would be regarded as an attack on all.

Typhoon Dolphin hits China; 1mn evacuated, 1,500 flights cancelled

Typhoon Dolphin, the most powerful tropical cyclone to hit China this year, made landfall on the country's eastern coast on Sunday, bringing torrential rain and strong winds and triggering warnings of flooding and land-slides.

The typhoon has already swept through Japan's southern Okinawa prefecture, injuring six people and cutting power to more than 50,000 buildings.

Jaws: Scientists turn to sharks to improve hurricane predictions

From the killer shark of Jaws to the tornado-tossed predators of the Sharknado movies, films long have portrayed sharks as objects of summer fear.

But when a shark cuts through the waters off the US East Coast, it now may be doing more than hunting. It may also be gathering data that helps scientists understand the potential intensity of a hurricane before it makes landfall.

Dovish RBI's core inflation views leave economists unconvinced

The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) legal target is 4%, in a band of 2-6%, in terms of the headline inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). But comments last week, when it left the policy repo rate unchanged at 5.25%, are making experts believe it is actually targeting core inflation-specifically, inflation minus food, fuel, and precious metals.

As per latest data, headline CPI inflation in June rose to 4.38% from 3.93% in May, with core inflation unchanged at 3.9%. Core inflation excluding precious metals stood at 2.5%.

FDI threshold for CCEA approval to be raised to Rs 15,000 crore

In a move that will further liberalise foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, the government is considering raising the threshold for large FDI projects requiring the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) from Rs 5,000 crore at present to Rs 15,000 crore.