India, U.S. draw up deal on rare earth elements

On the sidelines of the 11th Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting (FMM), India and the United States on Tuesday firmed up an important framework for cooperation in ensuring steady supplies of critical minerals, in a move that follows growing concerns over China's export controls of rare earth minerals and strategic metals vital for technology supply chains.

Quad announces maritime plans amid Hormuz crisis

Responding to the challenges emanating from the conflict-hit Persian Gulf and the tensions in the South China Sea, the Quad grouping on Tuesday pledged to enhance cooperation in the maritime and energy domains.

Panel set up to study 'demographic change'

The Centre has constituted a high-level committee to "study the demographic changes arising from illegal immigration and other ab-normal reasons", Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday.

'Premature': SC rejects review plea by Tamil Nadu on Mekedatu project

The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition filed by Tamil Nadu to review a November 2025 decision that termed the State's challenge to Karnataka's proposed Mekedatu Ba-lancing Reservoir cum Drinking Water project as "premature".

India's energy strategy needs price correction

The Strait of Hormuz is no longer just a geopolitical flashpoint; it has become the fault line of the global energy economy. As tensions in West Asia continue to disrupt shipping through one of the world's most critical maritime corridors, countries across the globe are confronting a harsh reality: energy security is now inseparable from geopolitics. For India, which depends on imports for the overwhelming majority of its crude oil needs, the crisis has exposed both the strength of recent policy interventions and the limits of shielding consumers indefinitely from market realities.

Bad fences

Marco Rubio's visit was an opportunity to mend economic and energy ties

Secretary of State Marco Rubio's four-day visit to India, his first since taking office in January 2025, was understood to have been aimed at smoothing bilateral ties that have been deeply ruptured over the past year. The problems have been multifold, ranging from the U.S.'s high tariffs and cutting down on visas, im-migration and outsourcing; to sanctions on India's energy procurement and investment, its moves with China and Pakistan, and the pejorative remarks by President Donald Trump and his cabinet colleagues about India.

Rajya Sabha defections, constitutional questions

The recent episode involving the Aam Aadmi Party and the invocation of the provisions of the 10th Schedule highlights the need for judicial clarity

NCDs accounted for 60% of all deaths in 2022-2024

India's youth mortality profile is shifting with Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) being the cause of 60% of all deaths in the 2022-2024 reporting period, according to the Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report 2024, released this month. This was an increase of 7.3 percentage points compared with the 2015-2017 reporting period, when NCDS were the cause of 52.8% of all deaths.

The judiciary's role in complete justice

The Supreme Court of India, as the custodian of the Constitution, has been given such powers which could be exercised where the law is silent or is found incapable of grievance redressal.

The Court's power to deliver complete justice is residuary in nature, and it may be exercised to ensure the observance of due process of law. It is an extraordinary jurisdiction implicitly vested with trust and faith that it shall be exercised by applying the principle of natural justice.

The global impact of Indonesia's export policy shift

In a major overhaul of trade policy, resource-rich Indonesia announced that key commodities can soon only be exported via a state-run agency. Speaking to Parliament on May 20, President Prabowo Subianto said the Government Regulation on Natural Resource Commodity Export Governance, as the measure is called, would mean that the Indonesian Government will be the sole exporter of natural resource products, beginning with palm oil, coal and ferro alloys.  

How safe is India's critical national infrastructure?

Over the last few decades, critical infrastructure and services have been scaled up through automation, the Internet of Things and Al. However, this has also made them more vulnerable to attacks through IoT devices, highlighting the need for a policy framework to safeguard our infrastructure

No clarity on Quad leaders' summit; questions rise about group's future

The Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting ended on Tuesday without any clarity on when the next Quad Summit, which was due to be held in India, will be scheduled. This sparked speculation that the Quad may now revert to a Ministerial dialogue, as it was before it was upgraded in 2021.

SC to examine if law is diluting the count of wetlands in India

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to examine a challenge to the constitutional validity of the definition of 'wetlands' in the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 for arbitrarily excluding most human-made, artificial, and historically developed wetlands from environmental protection and diluting accountability through decentralised oversight.

India, Canada aiming to seal trade deal by year end: Goyal

India and Canada are aiming to conclude talks on a trade deal by the end of this year, if not earlier, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said during the first day of his three-day visit to Canada.

China, Pakistan agree to 'unswervingly safeguard' and develop bilateral ties

Pakistan and China agreed to "unswervingly safe-guard" and develop their bilateral relations by working closely to build a shared future, according to a joint statement issued on Tuesday.