In Focus by The Hindu

The institution that immediately comes to mind when we speak of food security is the public distribution system (PDS), the nation-wide network of ration shops that provide subsidised food grains. But over the past decade, another initiative, at the level of state governments, has made an impact – government canteens. The Indira Rasois of Rajasthan, the Amma Unavagams of Tamil Nadu and the India ca...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Russia was keenly watched across the world, after all, it was Mr. Modi's first bilateral visit since winning a third straight term. For India, the summit is a chance to engage with one of the country's oldest allies. Mr. Modi's and Russian President Putin's meeting was a chance to talk about ways to strengthen trade and investment, increase connectivity, sci...

A recent study published in the journal The Lancet Global Health, brought out a staggering figure – almost half of all Indians are not sufficiently physically active. Between 2000 and 2022, the number of adults who engaged in insufficient physical activity increased from a little over 22% to 49.4%. Women were found to be more physically inactive than men. Across the world, South Asia was ranked se...

Iran held early Presidential elections following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash. In the Presidential run-off held last week, reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian won with 53.7% of the votes. During his campaign, he promised to work towards easing social restrictions, especially with regard to the mandatory headscarf and internet freedom. On the economic front, he has p...

Pakistan is all set to launch yet another military operation against terrorists on its soil, whom it claims are coming across the border from Afghanistan. Political and army clearance for Operation Azm-i-Istehkam, or Resolve for Stability, came in the last week of June, but it is still in the works. Several operations have been launched since 2007 by the Pakistani military to rid the country from...

Two years after an economic crisis sparked mass protests and a major political upheaval, Sri Lanka is getting set for Presidential elections. While the actual date is yet to be finalised, we know that it would be between September 17th and October 16th. President Ranil Wickremesinghe has been saying that the country has gotten over the worst of the economic crisis, thanks to his able leadership, a...

There have been doubts over President Joe Biden’s mental acuity for quite some time. But his performance in the recent Presidential debate seems to have come as a shock to many, and especially to Biden’s support base. Almost the entire American liberal establishment, has called on Biden to step back and allow someone else get the Presidential ticket. Is he likely to stay the course, or will he mak...

A few weeks ago, the richest family in Britain, the Hinduja family, was convicted in a Swiss court and four of its members were given a prison sentence for exploiting their domestic workers, brought from India to a villa in Geneva. They were accused of paying the workers a pittance, making them work long hours and not allowing them to leave the premises. The family has said it will appeal the verd...

The Labour Party has scored an emphatic victory in the July 4 British general elections and Keir Starmer is all set to be the new Prime Minister replacing Rishi Sunak. Ending 14 years of Conservative rule, Labour look all set to win about 410 of a total of 650 seats, with Sunak's party way behind at 144, BBC reported. Nigel Farage's anti-immigration Reform Party won a paltry number of seats but pi...

India’s historic triumph at the T20 World Cup has laid many ghosts to rest for a generation of stalwarts, who have now passed on the baton. It has also earned Rohit Sharma a place in the pantheon of world-conquering captains, alongside the likes of Kapil Dev and M.S. Dhoni. Was there anything that set this team apart from the others in the past that came too close, only to miss, such as the one th...

Earlier this month a train accident in West Bengal killed 10 people and injured over 40. This comes just a year after the devastating multi-train collision that killed 275 people in Odisha last year.  Railway accidents have decreased significantly over the past decade -- only 0.03 accidents took place per million km in both 2020-21 and 2021-22. But this number loses meaning in light of the numbers...

Wimbledon 2024 kicks off from July 1, promising some really exciting match-ups. This would also be the first time 22-year-old Italian Jannik Sinner will enter a Grand Slam as the world no. 1, 24-time Grand Slam champ Novak Djokovic is racing against time to get fit after a knee surgery, and with French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz, rounds out the Big Three of title contenders. Among the women, the...

It is safe to say that Artificial Intelligence isn't just a fantasy anymore, we are using AI more and more in our day to day life, be it on our phones or for work.  This year, every smartphone manufacturer, be it Samsung, Apple, Google to Oppo, Nothing, are placing their bets on the technology. They have announced plans to integrate generative AI in phones to provide a personalised user experience...

President Vladimir Putin visited Pyongyang earlier this month, his first visit to North Korea in 24 years. The two countries have signed a comprehensive co-operation agreement that includes a mutual defense pact – that is, if one country is attacked, the other will come to its defense militarily. It is also expected that Russia will help North Korea with technical assistance for its military, ball...

Last week, on June 15, the world marked Elder Abuse Awareness Day. How well are senior citizens in India doing? A report that was released by the NGO HelpAge India reveals that a large majority of them are not doing very well – their study conducted across 20 cities in 10 States surveying over 5,000 elderly citizens found that nearly 65% reported that they were not financially secure. Over half of...

In September 2022, India launched an ambitious project to restart a self-sustaining, cheetah population in the country by importing African cheetahs. In all, about 20 adult cheetahs were translocated to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. Of these 20, 13 have survived, and with another 13 cubs born, there are now 26 cheetahs at Kuno. Obviously, Kuno is not big enough to accommodate this many ani...

The Supreme Court, in May this year, directed the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) to ensure that advertisers and ad agencies submit self-declarations for every ad they put out. In these self-declarations, the advertisers would have to certify that their ads contain no ‘misleading’ content and are in compliance with all applicable regulations. With the Ministry complying with the ape...

The results of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) 2024 have sparked a major controversy. Students and experts have flagged plenty of irregularities. Petitions were filed in the Supreme Court over the award of grace marks to more than 1,563 students by the National Testing Agency (NTA), the body that conducts the exam. A concerned Supreme Court observed that the sanctity of the exam...

North India is enduring its hottest ever summer this year, with the number of heat wave days in May increasing by 125%. As per reports, extreme temperatures – in the range of 48-49 degrees - have caused the deaths of around 77 people across the country, including 33 who were on election duty. Not only have average temperatures been high, they have been consistently high across a vast region, and a...

Avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu is back in the news again – at least four states in India: Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala and Jharkhand have already reported outbreaks among poultry. The Centre has asked all States to be vigilant, and said all necessary measures have to be taken to prevent its spread. It’s not just in India that bird flu is in the news though – the United States h...

A 73-member Union Council of Ministers led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi took oath on the 9th of June. A vast majority of BJP ministers have been retained even as about half a dozen Cabinet slots have been given to allied parties in the NDA government, the first since 2014 where the BJP doesn’t have a majority of its own.  So, what kind of government are we looking at? Will the BJP’s divisive pl...

Barely a month after Israel rejected a three-phase peace plan brokered by Egypt and Qatar, President Joe Biden has announced another version of a three-phase peace plan. He has put himself on the line by publicly claiming that it is Israel that has come up with this proposal. But Israeli leaders are yet to own up to this plan, and keep repeating the old line that they will not accept any eventuali...

A lot has already been said and written about the results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. But a lot more remains to be unpacked. While the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has secured a majority, its biggest constituent, the BJP itself, has fallen short of the 272 mark by 32 seats. Is there a message in this mandate? Or is the outcome an effect of several factors and concerns? Also, what went w...

The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the forum through which the 194 member-states of the World Health Organisation (WHO) discuss and decide on policy matters. Every year, the WHA meets for a week in May. This year’s session, the 77th World Health Assembly, started May 27 and will conclude on June 1. There is a lot of interest in the WHA negotiations this year as the agenda items include an ambitiou...

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has put out a draft Digital Competition Bill to regulate anti-competitive practices in the digital space. The Bill has provisions for identifying Systemically Significant Digital Enterprises (SSDEs) – basically large digital platforms. These would then be subject to certain restrictions aimed at preventing anti-competitive conduct. For instance, they would be forb...