Centre plans guidelines for books by defence personnel

Amid the controversy surrounding the unpublished memoir Four Stars of Destiny, of former Army chief General M.M. Naravane ((retd), the Defence Ministry is working on detailed guidelines for serving and retired armed forces personnel who wish to publish books in future.

The proposed guidelines will spell out the process to be followed before any manuscript is cleared for publication.

U.S. drops references added to statement on deal with India

The U.S. on Wednesday backtracked on changes it made to the India-U.S. joint statement and the White House factsheet on the India-U.S. framework for the interim agreement on trade, removing references to 'pulses', 'agricultural products', 'digital service tax' and Indian 'commit-ments' on investing $500 billion.

The references, which were not in the original joint statement, had led to questions being raised in New Delhi.

Tamil Brahmi inscriptions discovered in Egypt shed light on ancient trade links

A path-breaking finding has shed new light on trade links between ancient Tamilagam, other parts of In-dia, and the Roman Empire. Two researchers have identified close to 30 inscriptions in Tamil Brahmi, Prakrit and Sanskrit at tombs in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. These inscriptions are said to belong to the period between the 1st and 3rd Centuries CE

Judicial drift in the Special Intensive Revision hearings

The top court's conduct in the SIR case sees it moving away from its role as a constitutional court and adopting the role of administrator.

The CPI base revision exercise measures a slice of life

Inflation, one of the most closely watched macroeconomic indicators, is something that most people feel in daily life in their routine household expenses. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) captures this reality by tracking the prices of goods and services that households regularly consume, turning everyday experiences into an official measure of inflation. For the common man, the CPI is like a quiet mirror of daily life capturing, inter alia, the changing cost of basic needs such as food on the plate, rent for the roof over the head, and fuel for the journey to work.

The Constitution enters the sanctum

The growing number of religious disputes before constitutional courts reflects the role of the judiciary in ensuring that religious practices do not undermine constitutional principles.

Taxpayer base more than doubled in the last decade

India's direct tax system has undergone a significant expansion over the last decade, marked by a sharp rise in the number of taxpayers as well as sustained improvements in administrative efficiency. Timeseries data released by the Income-Tax Department indicate that this expansion has been broad-based and persistent, reflecting deeper formal participation rather than a short-lived compliance surge.

Have States gained from the 16th FC?

The Constitution in Article 270 provides for the scheme of distribution of net tax proceeds collected by the Central government between the Centre and the States.

With respect to the demands regarding vertical devolution, the FC opined that under the present constitutional scheme, it is neither permissible nor desirable to fix a cap on cess and surcharge or for their inclusion in the divisible pool.

In its approach for horizontal devolution, the FC was guided by two principles. First, changes to each State's share in the portion of divisible pool should be gradual. Second, due recognition should be given to efficiency and especially the States' contributions to growth.

Trump's Venezuela attack a footnote in West's history of imperial plunder

Writers argue why Latin American underdevelopment should be seen as a structural byproduct of western development, of mainly Britain in the 17th to the early 20th centuries, and the US. from the 19th century onwards.

Education Ministry pushes for Al-led teaching and learning at all levels by next academic year

The Ministry of Education is working with the goal of ensuring that artificial intelligence (AI) tools become a part of teaching and learning in one way or another from the kinder-garten to the research levels by the next academic year, officials said on Wednesday.