Xi pitches China as leader of new global AI order, challenges dominance of US

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday cast Beijing as the champion of a new global AI order, using China's premier tech conference to promote open-source technology and challenge US influence over the rules governing the fastmoving sector.

'King of the North' Andy Burnham set to become next British PM

Andy Burnham, nicknamed the "King of the North", was elected leader of Britain's governing Labour Party on Friday, the final step before becoming its seventh prime minister in a decade on a pledge to thwart the rise of the populist Reform UK.

France, Germany expand defence ties as Europe seeks military autonomy

The Leaders of Germany and France pledged on Friday to deepen defence cooperation and counter intense economic competition from China, which they said was exerting drastic pressure on Europe through overcapacity and an under-valued currency.

EPFO reform: Govt works on new pension plan for all

The Government is working on a new contributory pension scheme for unorganised and formal sector workers that would accumulate contributions over time, and be invested in long-term government-backed securities, with annual crediting of interest. At the age of 60 years, the scheme may allow the proposed "Target Retirement Sum (TRS)" to be converted into pension, based on prevailing annuity and interest rates, a senior government official told.

Murmu to embark on week-long visit to Eastern Europe

President Droupadi Murmu will embark on a weeklong state visit to Moldova, Romania and North Macedonia, starting July 19, to strengthen ties with the Eastern and central European countries.

"President Droupadi Murmu will visit Moldova on July 20 at the invitation of the President Maia Sandu. This is the first ever visit by an Indian President to Moldova," said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday.

SC: Name deletion under SIR does not mean automatic loss of citizenship

Reiterating that the Election Commission of India (ECI) is not the final authority to determine citizenship, the Supreme Court in oral remarks on Friday said that deletion from the electoral roll following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) would not result in automatic loss of citizenship status. The status will continue for other purposes until final adjudication by the concerned authority.

SC takes cognizance of delay in cases involving access to life-saving drugs

The Supreme Court on Friday took suo motu cognisance of delays in cases involving access to life-saving drugs after a pending Kerala HC matter over a breast cancer drug came to its notice.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, hearing the case 'In Re: Access to Life Saving Medicines and Judicial Expediency in Article 21 Matters', referred to the Kerala HC proceedings on Ribociclib, a patented medicine used in the treatment of HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, which had been listed 57 times without reaching a conclusion.

With drug body's clearance, Wegovy is first GLP-1 for adults with fatty liver

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has given its nod for the use of Novo Nordis's Wegovy (semaglutide 2.4 mg) for the treatment of fatty liver dis-ease, now called MASH (Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis).

MASH is a serious, progressive form of fatty liver disease that can lead to chronic inflammation and liver damage. This is the first time an injectable GLP-1 therapy has been approved for such use in India other than obesity. GLP-1 drugs mimic a natural gut hormone that regulates blood sugar, reduces appetite, and slows digestion.

India raises with US issues of students, travellers: MΕΑ on new visa rule

A day after the Donald Trump administration moved to tighten the visa duration for foreign students, journalists and cultural exchange visitors, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday that India takes up the issues of difficulties faced by genuine travellers and students bound for the US.

PM flags off India's first hydrogen train: 2-hour Jind-Sonipat travel, 14 halts and zero emission

India Joined a select group of nations on Friday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the country's first hydrogen-powered train connecting Jind and Sonipat in Haryana - a significant achievement for the Indian Railways in the use of zero emission, clean fuel technology.

India now has the funds, the talent and the opening for a research leap

The Anusandhan National Research Foundation, notified in 2024-a statutory body chaired by the Prime Minister, convening academia, industry, startups, philanthropy and the diaspora - exists to change the arithmetic of risk. Its Research, Development and Innovation Fund commits Rs 1 lakh crore over six years to the private sector alone, a fund of funds supplying patient capital built to outlast the quarterly cycle; its ANRF Core adds Rs 50,000 crore over five years for underlying science.

A semiconductor vision beyond the shop floor

The Union Cabinet's approval of the second phase of the India Semiconductor Mission marks a shift from creating semiconductor factories to building an innovation landscape in this cutting-edge sector. Having laid the foundations for semiconductor manufacturing, India is now attempting something more ambitious: Integrating chip design, equipment, materials, intellectual property and advanced research into a coherent industrial strategy.

Sleepless nights, a public health challenge

Rising Temperatures are keeping Indians up at night. A recent study by a US-based climate advocacy group, which assessed the loss of sleeping hours in over 1,300 cities across the world, has found that the average person has lost nearly 56 hours of sleep annually between 2020 and 2025 due to unusually high night-time temperatures. At least 10 per cent of this sleep loss is directly attributable to climate change. In some of India's largest cities, people are losing significantly more sleep than the global average, from 93 hours in Chennai to 84 hours in Mumbai and 67 hours in Delhi.

The bittersweet realities of the India-UK FTA

Despite the turbulence of recent leadership transitions in London and last-minute friction over steel protectionism, India and the UK have finally put their FTA into effect as of July 15. India was able to carve out an 85 per cent exemption for its baseline exports at the eleventh hour, just days ahead of the UK's new steel trade measures hitting on July 1. However, the deal coexists with a bittersweet reality that the market access and export opportunities of modern FTAs remain massive, yet the trade deals have become hyper-transactional, defensive, and limited.

The delimitation debate is a fight over the wrong number

Parliament's first power is the power of the purse: Its central task is to scrutinise how money is collected and where it goes. Money is raised from taxes and logically, richer states contribute more. It is then spent on people's welfare and justifiably, poorer states receive more.

NITI seeks tech firms' views on content blocking regime

As part of its broad deregulation push, government think tank NITI Aayog has turned its eye at India's expansive tech laws framework-which falls under the domain of the IT Ministry and has asked major tech

companies and start-ups if the country's current online content blocking requirements and transparency timelines are "feasible."

RBI moves closer to polymer notes, subsidiary floats tender

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is set to trial polymer currency notes, with the Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited (BRBNMPL) on Friday floating a global tender for polymer sheets that will be used to print currency notes at its own presses and that of Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India (SPMCIL).

New core industries index to have iron ore

The Commerce ministry will release the updated Index of Core Industries (ICI) next week, with the number of core industries set to increase to nine following the inclusion of iron ore to the existing eight: coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement, and electricity.

The case for updating the Indus Waters Treaty

• The agreements governing more than 100 transboundary river systems globally have risen over the years to 800-plus.

• This is evidence that many of these treaties are constantly being reviewed and updated to reflect new ground realities.

Will FY27 growth rate rise or fall? Depends on the metric you pick

Amid the severe economic turbulence brought on by the US and Israel's war against Iran, there is growing concern about whether India will be able to retain its growth momentum. India's economy grew at over 7% in each of the past three years. This figure is crucial because it is the bare minimum needed to achieve the goal of becoming a developed country by 2047.

Behind US 'explosive diarrhoea' outbreak, hard-to-kill parasite that clings to greens

The US is currently seeing a multistate out-break of cyclospora infections. More than 30 states have reported cases this year and current data shows the number surpassing the 2019 record of about 4,700, according to AP.

Cyclospora is a microscopic parasite that causes explosive diarrhoea, severe dehydration and hospitalisation. US investigators suspect lettuce at Taco Bell to be the source.