NPCIL: Kudankulam data breach not linked to nuclear security

Following Reports of a data breach at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) said on Wednesday that the leaked information does not pertain to any nuclear safety or security systems. 

Delimitation Bill: Ahead of House session, Sule signals options open

Signalling Another break in the Opposition ranks ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP(SP)'s working president and MP Supriya Sule on Wednesday said her party would consider supporting the Centre's proposed delimitation Bill if it ensures a 50 per cent increase in the Lok Sabha seats in all states.

India-UK trade deal kicks in: PM says boost for farmers & MSMES

The India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), under which 99 per cent of Indian goods entering the UK and 90 per cent of UK goods entering India will either be duty-free or attract reduced tariffs, came into force on Wednesday. 

Eye on supply chain, Cabinet approves Rs 1.27 lakh crore semiconductor push

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the second iteration of India's ambitious Semiconductor Mission, with an outlay of Rs 1.27 lakh crore.

The fresh six-year initiative will focus on subsidising the supply chain related to chip manufacturing in order to attract companies producing commodities like gases and chemicals used in production. 

Under proposed Bihar law, UG colleges will no longer report to Governor

The Bihar government is set to introduce a draft legislation in the upcoming Monsoon session to bifurcate degree colleges from state universities. Under the proposal, over 500 constituent colleges offering undergraduate degrees would come directly under the control of a newly created higher education department, leaving the Governor, who is also the Chancellor of universities, with control over only post-graduate courses. 

SC considers SOP to hear urgent life and liberty cases after working hours

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to consider implementing a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to facilitate access to constitutional courts during off-duty hours in urgent matters involving questions of life and personal liberty.

IIT Bombay's new finding could make drug discovery 'faster, cheaper, more sustainable'

Scientists at IIT Bombay have found a novel and efficient way to convert simple, straight-abundantly-available, chain carbon compounds into complex ring-shaped molecules that can be building blocks for medicinal or other valuable chemicals.

People losing sleep in big cities due to high night-time temperatures: Study

People in some of India's largest cities are losing between 65 and 93 hours of sleep each year because of climate change-induced increases in night-time temperatures, a new study has revealed.

   Chennai was found to be the city with highest overall sleep loss in India, with residents losing an average of 93 hours of sleep annually, of which five hours could be directly attributable to climate change, according to the study by Climate Central, a US-based climate advocacy group. Residents of Mumbai and Kolkata are losing 84 and 80 hours of sleep respectively every year, the study said.

     The study used an already-established relationship between night-time temperatures and sleep to assess loss of sleeping hours in more than 1,300 cities across the world.-

America's hubris has yielded a dramatically more dangerous world

The humiliating MoU starkly contrasts with Obama's JCPOA, scrapped by Trump in 2018, which restricted Iran's nuclear capacity without a single bomb being dropped. 

Australian uranium fuels next phase in India's n-programme

Consensus on the safeguards-related procedures governing the tracking of uranium was achieved after two years of intensive negotiations. This signals renewed hope that Australian uranium will make its way to India once commercial contracts are in place. 

The sea has a seat at the table

The Scottish Association of Marine Scientists (SAMS) is amongst the world's oldest ocean research agencies. Founded in 1884 by the naturalist John Mur-ray, it connected the early academic mapping of ocean floors with practical economic initiatives. Murray himself partnered with the British government to extract phosphate from oceanic islands. The father of oceanography may have found the latest move of the institution he founded eccentric-the Atlantic Ocean is now a trustee of SAMS. 

One Nation, One Election will not fix what is broken

India's Parliament is set to take up the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill to synchronise Lok Sabha and all state assembly elections, inserting a new Article 82A and amending Articles 83 and 172. The Bill requires a two-thirds majority in both Houses and ratification by half the states. After a High-Level Committee (HLC) chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind, the government has committed to this push. The scale of the constitutional intervention demands rigorous scrutiny of the claimed benefits. 

A law to give women farmers their due

Maharashtra has become the first state to enact a law for the empowerment of women farmers. The Maharashtra Women Farmers Empowerment Act, 2026 is a path-breaking initiative. Women across the globe do much of the work across agrifood systems from production to processing, yet their contributions are not recognised. They face challenges in access to credit, insurance, extension services, technology and markets. Government benefits are often linked to land ownership, usually held by men. It is against this backdrop that 2026 is being observed as the International Year of the Woman Farmer, calling for "fairer, more inclusive and sustainable agrifood systems for all."

OTP or fixed PIN?

It's a question of security

A pin authenticates a person; it says that whoever offers it knows a secret belonging to the account. A one-time password authenticates an event; it says that this specific booking is the one this driver is about to begin. Three properties follow from this that no fixed number can reproduce. 

Ladakh's 7 councils & the decentralisation debate

According to Ladakh leaders, the proposal for 7 hill councils figured in the Minutes of the May 22 meeting. They refused to sign that version, after which a revised record. without the proposal, was signed.

• They now argue the Centre went ahead with the announcement without consulting them. 

Green energy push, 7.5-GW capacity target: Gujarat's data centre policy

The Gujarat Government last week announced a data centre policy for 2026-29, targeting investments of Rs 6 lakh crore and the creation of 7.5 gigawatts (GW) of capacity, which it says would be the highest in the country.

The policy lays out a wide range of incentives for investors, including duty and tax exemptions, relief in Floor Space Index (FSI), uninterrupted water and power supply and relaxations in building norms.

The Viksit Gujarat Data Center Policy (2026-29) follows Reliance Industries Ltd's announcement last month of a partnership with Meta to lease its first Alen-abled data centre in India, at Jamnagar in Gujarat.

Telangana was the first state in the country to announce a data centre policy in 2016, followed by Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Maharashtra, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh. 

India-UK FTA kicks in: What changes for consumers and industry

AMID A fracturing world trade order, the India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) came into effect on Wednesday. The deal, negotiated over four years and marked by major political volatility in London, is India's first comprehensive deal with a developed country. The deal laid the framework for India's negotiations with the European Union. 

In China's new ballistic missile test, the worries for Indo-Pacific region

China tested its sea-based long-range intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) last week (July 6), marking its first-ever test of a submarine-based ballistic missile in international waters. This is the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) second launch of a ballistic missile in international waters since 1980. China conducted a land-based ICBM test on September 21, 2024.

US bill proposes 100% tariffs on top five buyers of Russian energy

A Reworked bill, backed by a bipartisan group of US senators, proposes up to 100% tariffs on the top buyers of Russian oil and natural gas, which include India and China. The move comes amid renewed Gulf crisis with experts calling it impractical. The bill, initially backed by the late US senator Lindsey Graham, was aimed at squeezing Russia's revenue from oil and gas exports. Following Graham's sudden demise last week, the group of US senators on Tuesday unveiled the revised version of the Russia sanctions bill.

Vessel transits via Hormuz crash to pre-MoU levels. Here's why

INDIA is among the three most vulnerable Asian economies to high oil prices in terms of import bill and current account balances, the other two being Thailand and South Korea, according to a report by Nomura.

EVERY 10% oil price increase typically widens India's current account deficit by 0.4% of the GDP, it said.

Ukraine vows to protect exports as Russia targets Black Sea ports

Ukraine will do everything possible to protect seaports and guarantee grain exports at no less than last season's level, deputy economy minister, Taras Vysotskiy, told Reuters Wednesday.