The stark reality of the missing jobs for India's Gen Z

India has one of the world's largest youth populations (371 million, according to United Nations data of 2025), often described as a demographic dividend. But this demographic dividend is only a promise and does not guarantee an automatic outcome. It pays off only when the transition occurs, enabling young people to move from classrooms into decent, productive work with higher skills. Right now, that transition is faltering, and the evidence is visible in Gen Z's employment patterns.

Maturing approach

India needs to use market access in the U.K. to raise its market share

The India-U.K. Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) reflects New Delhi's more mature approach to free trade negotiations. Unlike its 2009 free trade agreement (FTA) with ASEAN, which tilted the trade balance against India, New Delhi has approached the U.K. pact by attempting to balance liberalisation with domestic sensitivities amid an increasingly fragmented global trading system. A similar shift was evident in the New Zealand FTA, where India succeeded in protecting its sensitive dairy sector despite dairy products being one of New Zealand's biggest exports. 

Much more than 'Melbourne meets Modi'

In terms of rock star performances by foreign leaders, it would be hard to beat Prime Minister Narendra Modi's magnetic engagement with a Melbourne crowd in Australia in the second week of July. As one of those in the crowd, I can attest that the audience revelled in Mr. Modi's energy, and the messages of aspiration for the diaspora and for the Australia-India partnership. Mr. Modi's visit to Australia took place from July 8 to 10. But this visit was a lot more than a rock star performance. It opened new chapters in the India-Australia story - in investment, strategic trust, culture, sports and people. 

Spreading wings

Vikram-1 is an engineering triumph seeking commercial viability

The launch of the Vikram-1 rocket built by Skyroot Aerospace from Sriharikota marked the Indian private sector's first orbital flight. Vikram-1 is a four-stage launcher de-signed to provide what Skyroot has called a "cab service" for satellites, letting customers pick their orbit and launch schedule rather than accept the orbital slot and drop-off point presented by ri-deshares, at a commensurate premium. Skyroot is targeting a price per launch below that of the PSLV and above that of the SSLV (projected), to be achieved in part by basing the rocket on car-bon-composite structures. It also has plans for a more powerful Vikram-2 rocket. 

Indians worst hit as Canada cuts down on student intake

Indian students seem to be taking the biggest hit by the decision of Canada their -most preferred destination thus farto sharply reduce the number of study permits issued to interna-tional students. The latest data available for April 2026 showed that the num-ber of new study permits and rene-wals issued to Indian students saw a 16% drop compared with last April, which itself was a striking 84% decline compared to April 2024 an indication that oppor-tunities for Indian students in the -North American country could shrink further.

On the second phase of U.S.-Iran war

The second phase of the Iran-U.S. war is being fought almost exclusively over the future of the Strait of Hormuz. The sequence of events leading to the restart of hostilities suggests there was no genuine meeting of minds when the MoU was signed. As before, by holding out and retaliating, Iran has forced the issue-shipowners now seem resigned to paying a "logical" toll, even as they worry about the precedent it sets for other straits.

Making sense of embodied AI: the next frontier in robotics

On April 14, Boston Dynamics and Google DeepMind announced that Spot, the yellow-colour robot dog that spent most of its life running narrowly scripted routines, is getting an Al brain. Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 is being folded into Spot and into Boston Dynamics' Orbit inspection platform, giving both stronger spatial reasoning, autonomous decision-making, and the ability to keep learning inside complex industrial sites.

Naveen urges Union govt. to hold dialogue with students

Former Odisha Chief Mi-nister and Biju Janata Dal president Naveen Patnaik on Sunday urged the Centre to initiate dialogue with students who have been protesting for bring-ing reforms in examination process and restoring faith of students in the system and take up the issue for debate in Parliament. "India too has made re-markable progress be-cause of the strength of its education system. Today, however, trust in this sys-tem stands broken. The damage goes far beyond a failed exam," Mr. Patnaik said, in a post on X. 

Govt. to move Bill in RS to make insult to the National Song a criminal offence

The Centre will begin the Monsoon Session of Parliament on Monday with a move to grant statutory protection to the National Song Vande Mataram, list-ing the Prevention of Insults to National Honour (Amendment) Bill, 2026. This legislation seeks to amend the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.

Ahead of Monsoon Session, MPS seek debate on NEET, delimitation

An invitation extend-ed by Parliamen-tary Affairs Minis-ter Kiren Rijiju to a breakaway Trinamool Con-gress group prompted Op-position parties to stage a walkout from the all-party meeting held on Saturday, ahead of the Monsoon Ses-sion of Parliament. 

M.P. Cabinet approves draft UCC Bill; tribes get exemption

The Madhya Pradesh Cabinet on Sunday approved the draft Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill, proposing a prohibition on practices like polygamy and nikah halala, while introducing strict provisions for live-in relationships. The Bill, h-wever, exempts the State's large tribal population. The Bill, drafted by a six-member committee and scheduled to be tabled in the Legislative Assembly during the Monsoon Ses-sion starting Monday, was approved at a special Cabinet meeting near Bhopal.

Shah unveils India's first immersive language museum

Highlighting that a coun-try's language carries its heritage and offers a win-dow into its culture, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday inaugurated the Museum of Word at the Na-tional Library campus here and called it a step to pre-serve the virasat of India. Developed by the National Library under the aegis of the Union Culture Ministry, the first immersive language museum in the country, also known as Shabdalok, celebrates In-dia's rich linguistic herit-age and showcases the evolution of its oral and written traditions through interactive and technology-driven exhibits.   

Murmu embarks on 3-nation Europe tour to deepen ties

President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday embarked on state visits to Moldova, North Macedonia, and Romania to deepen India's ties with the three European countries across a range of sectors, including trade and technology, and to boost people-to-people ties. The first leg of her tour begins with a visit to Moldova on Monday, marking the first-ever visit by an Indian President to the eastern European nation. The Rashtrapati Bhavan posted a message on X, saying, "This is the first-ever visit by an Indian President to Moldova and North Macedonia. The visit to Romania by the President is taking place after a gap of over three decades."

Swear words are uncivil, but not obscene by law, says SC

The Supreme Court has reasoned in a judgment that the use of four-letter expletive and its variations may be "abusive, unpalata-ble or uncivil", but does not qualify as "obscene" in law. "Use of mere swear words, profanities and vul-gar expletives, however distasteful or uncivil they may be, cannot be equated with obscenity... Words which are merely vulgar or abusive may evoke a feel-ing of disgust, revulsion, or shock, but that by itself does not make them ob-scene in law," the court said.   

The materials and methods that made the Vikram-1 launch unique

The 'Aagaman' mission made India only the third country, after the U.S. and China, whose private industry can reach orbit on its own launch vehicle

Rocket engines have traditionally been forged, machined, welded from dozens of parts. 3D printing inverts this

When Skyroot test-fired its 'Raman' engine in 2020, it said the fully printed injector halved the mass and cut components and lead time by 80% against conventional manufacturing

According to reports, the Vikram-1 developmental flight met almost every one of its checkpoints, including the process called 'long coast', a tricky phase for a debutant

Finning: cruel, wasteful practice

Finning, the practice of removing a shark's fins and casting the rest of the shark overboard, often alive. The animal will subsequently drown. Finning is largely prohibited across a variety of regulatory zones, countries and international conventions, even if fishing certain shark species is generally allowed.