Seven years on, China President Xi to visit India

China announced оп Thursday that President Xi Jinping will attend the BRICS Summit in New Delhi this weekend, on what will be his first visit to India in almost seven years

India-Canada trade deal by the end of the year, says envoy

The India-Canada trade deal will be ready by the end of the year, Canadian High Commissioner Chris-topher Cooter has told The Hindu, adding that the two countries are planning for their increased engagement this year to culminate in a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the North American country in December.

Rude lessons

India should learn from Canada and be wary of deals with the U.S.

T he U.S.-Canada trade dispute has a few sharp lessons for India. The two econo-mies have been deeply economically integrated since at least 1965, when they established free trade in automobiles and their parts. This then widened into a full-fledged free trade agree-ment in 1989, which was expanded into the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) about five years later.

How should RUPPS be regulated?

• Six Gujarat-based RUPPS received about ₹1,700 crore in donations in 2023-24, raising concerns over opaque political funding

• Weak statutory provisions and poor compliance allow many non-serious RUPPs to remain active and potentially misuse tax exemptions

• The EC needs stronger powers to de-register such parties, while a suitable vote threshold could determine eligibility for tax exemptions

Wars, global crises may top agenda of BRICS summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to arrive here on Friday morning to attend the 18th BRICS summit that will be held here this weekend, Russian sources said.

No Statehood, Ladakh to get unique elected body, says Chief Secretary

Ladakh Chief Secre-tary Ashish Kundra said on Thursday that neither Statehood nor a Union Territory (UT) with a legislature is being offered to Ladakh; instead, it will be a sui generis model, a unique body under the Constitution that will have legislative, executive, and financial powers.

India, U.S. armies commence bilateral exercise Yudh Abhyas

The Indian and United States armies have begun the 22nd edition of their annual bilateral military exercise, Yudh Abhyas 2026, with a focus on high-altitude warfare, long-range precision fires, counter-drone capabilities, and greater operational interoperability. According to an official statement, the exercise, being held from September 9 to 28, saw the deployment of Arctic-trained soldiers from the U.S. Army, based in Alaska, for high-altitude training in India. The exercise also includes the participation of the U.S. Army's 3rd Multi-Domain Task Force.

Focus on cooperation over confrontation in space: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emphasised the need for countries to explore, innovate, and protect space together. He was delivering a speech through video-conferencing on the second day of the International Space Summit in Paris on Thurs-day.

Protein: reel, reality and what constitutes a wholesome meal

The White Paper - Rethinking Protein in Plant-Based Diets -argues that protein should be understood within the context of a person's complete diet rather than reduced to grams, amino-acid scores or marketing claims