Supreme Court stays new UGC rules on caste bias: 'Will divide society'

In a significant order on the new rules to deal with discrimination on campuses, mainly over caste, the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026, observing that they raise important questions which, if left unexamined, could have "very sweeping consequences" and "divide society".

Survey flags drying up of FDI/FII flow, Re stability

Upgrading the economy's potential growth rate to 7 per cent from 6.5 per cent three years ago, the Economic Survey for 2025-26 said the country is projected to grow by 6.8-7.2 per cent in the next financial year.

Everything looks good -from growth, inflation, credit growth to rainfall, agri, and corporate balance sheets, it said. But what is causing some concern to Chief Economic Ad-visor V Anantha Nageswaran, the principal author of the Survey, is the global capital strike, and its adverse impact on rupee's stability, despite strong macroeconomic fundamentals. The rupee, he said, is "punching below its weight".

Economic Survey calls for re-examination of RTI Act

The Economic Survey 2025-26 tabled in Parliament Thursday has called for a re-examination of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, and suggested exploring 'adjustments' to exempt disclosures on deliberative process of policy making and possibly have a ministerial veto with parliamentary oversight to guard against disclosures that could 'unduly constrain governance'.

PISA-like Class 10 assessment proposed

Schools rely on internal and board examinations that assess content recall rather than generate diagnostic evidence necessary to identify learning gaps, and a complementary initiative to this could be the introduction of a "PISA-like assessment" at the end of grade 10, the Economic Survey states.

PISA or Programme for International Student Assessment doesn't measure rote learning, but tests application of knowledge, skills.

In Central PSU turnaround stories, there's a lesson for the states

CPSEs will continue to face headwinds and challenges as technology evolves and market dynamics change. Growing use of technology will put the focus on the need for skill upgrades to achieve the desired agility.

When the law's blind spots leave women vulnerable

So long as consent remains conditional in law, justice for women will remain conditional in reality.

Call to scale up private investment

The Survey noted that India needs to scale up private participation in building infrastructure. The Budget should continue to support capex, even if at a slower pace, aligning it with fiscal consolidation goals. It should simultaneously create an environment that encourages private investment and public-private partnership in infrastructure. To what extent will the Budget listen to the Survey? We will soon know.

New inflation series: Food's weight to fall to 37% from 46%

India's new headline inflation data, with 2024 as the base year for prices, will see the weight of food and beverage items fall from 45.86% to 36.75%. According to documents published by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) on Thursday, the new series will also see housing become a more prominent component of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket - a move which, in conjunction with certain methodological changes adopted to measure rent increases more accurately, will likely result in higher housing inflation and exert upward pressure on overall retail inflation.

States' fiscal populism, cash transfers risk crowding out productive capex

Fiscal Populism, especially through unconditional cash transfers, in several states poses emerging risks by crowding out growth-enhancing capital expenditure, said the Economic Survey for 2025-26. This also increasingly affects the cost at which the government borrows and India's overall fiscal credibility, noted the survey, tabled in Parliament on Thursday.

EU lists Iran Revolutionary Guard as terrorist group

European Union foreign ministers on Thursday agreed to include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the bloc's list of terrorist organisations, putting the powerful guards in a category similar to that of Islamic State and al Qaeda and marking a symbolic shift in Europe's approach to Iran's leadership.

Why rupee's challenges are primarily external

India depends on inflows of foreign capital to maintain a healthy balance of payments. When they taper off, rupee stability 'becomes a casualty'.