Andhra Pradesh High Court calls for data about 'sewer deaths' from 1993

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has directed the Commissioner of Municipal Administration to collect data pertaining to the death of workers during the cleaning up of sewers from all municipal corporations, municipalities and other local bodies from the year 1993, in order to pay compensation and rehabilitate their families.  

Finding the rhythm of a painter's incredible life, an album sheds light on Raja Ravi Varma's oeuvre

Celebrating the life and legacy of legendary artist Raja Ravi Varma, a musical tribute will be paid here on Tuesday by the Kilimanoor Palace, where he was born and worked initially, on the occasion of his 177th birth anniversary.

Clean Al 

India must stay the course of powering Al technology sustainably

The International Monetary Fund's report that pointed to the likelihood of the economic gains of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications outweighing the environmental costs of the increased energy demand that Al data centres will require is reassuring. It under-scores that this transformational technology is not fundamentally at odds with the global imperative to pursue sustainable growth strategies across the board. Countries that are better pre-pared with renewable energy generation are bound to see a lower social and environmental cost to pursuing their AI ambitions. India's AI infrastructure at least the part of it that the government is indirectly funding through the IndiaAl Mission does not rise to the level of weighing at a macro level on the nation's energy mix. Still, the need for pursuing renewables specifically for AI is necessary to follow. This is already in a sense the government's approach to the issue, outlined at the AI Action Summit in Paris earlier this year. While AI is not the sole industry where a push for renewable energy and sustainable practices is important, the sector nevertheless offers itself up for two main reasons. The first is the sheer volume of electricity that it is set to consume. The IMF's report indicates that in the United States the single largest home for Al computing capacity globally - "AI expansion alone could increase electricity prices by up to 9 percent, adding to price pressures coming from many other sources"

The 'political trilemma' and the crisis in the West

Democracies in the western world are in crisis, marked by deepening polarisation, mistrust in democratic institutions and rising populism that is making those countries take an insular turn.

Over two decades ago, economist Dani Rodrik put forward a proposition he termed the political trilemma of the world economy. Examining the state of economic integration in the western world, he claimed that countries face a difficult choice - over time, they could only have at the most two of the following: international economic integration (globalisation), the nation-state (sovereignty), and mass politics (popular democracy).

Rodrik's paper, "How Far Will International Economic Integration Go?" (2000), introduced this concept, arguing that despite the rhetoric of globalisation, international economic integration remains remarkably limited. Countries, adopting a protectionist stance, have erected barriers to free trade. National borders and the transaction costs significantly hamper international commerce, limiting the extent to which gains from globalisation could be realised

The real Indian arbitrator needs to stand up

India's economic rise has, unsurprisingly, triggered many conversations about the potential of Indian arbitration as a significant contributor to the growth. An increase in domestic and cross-border commerce has made the occurrence of commercial disputes inevitable. The Indian court-litigation machinery remains overburdened and inadequately equipped to efficiently decide and dispose of these disputes, which are often time-sensitive, technical in nature, and entail large monetary sums. Resultantly, the mechanism of commercial arbitration, especially under the auspices of specialised arbitral institutions, becomes a popular solution. However, the question that arises is this: is the Indian arbitration ecosystem living up to its perceived popularity? Is India truly on course to become a global hub of arbitration? While discussions routinely focus on legislative reforms or minimisation of judicial intervention, the most significant stakeholders of Indian arbitration, i.e., the arbitrators, escape scrutiny. 

Gender and space

Legal changes must factor in rights of trans people

In the backdrop of a rising trend of decimation of rights for people who do not fit into the binary of male and female, led by the U.S. administration, a recent U.K. Supreme Court ruling has further polarised the gender debate. In an 88-page judgment, five judges unanimously ruled that only biological women and not transwomen meet the definition of a woman under Britain's Equality Act 2010. In its limited scope of deliberation, it provided a "statutory interpretation" that the terms 'woman' and 'sex' in the Act refer only to a biological woman and the biological sex. A transwoman who has undergone a gender reassignment and has a gender recognition certificate as a woman for all purposes would lose the right to be treated as a biological woman. While the appellants in the case, For Women Scotland, funded in part by gender-critical writer J.K. Rowling, celebrated the verdict saying they had been vindicated, trans supporters and campaigners felt it was a setback for trans inclusion. There has been a considerable change in the resolve of the original respondents, The Scottish Ministers, too with the resignation of Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon in 2023. She had led the fight to change gender laws so that those with gender recognition certificates could be entitled to the same protections as biological women. But there was a backlash against gender recognition reforms after a trans woman, who had raped two women while she was a man, was initially sent to an all-female prison. 

India's Al compute conundrum

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology announced the launch of a continuous empanelment process for Al compute providers, which allows firms to apply on an ongoing basis to supply AI compute and related services. While this may seem like a good move in the short term, the process impedes market dynamics and creates bureaucratic hurdles for both providers and users of compute infrastructure. Allowing markets to function freely and offer services that meet consumer needs is necessary for long-term sustainability. 

What is behind Trump's crackdown on U.S. universities?

United States President Donald Trump's administration has been targeting several U.S. universities, accusing them of anti-Semitism. When Harvard University refused to comply with the demands of the White House on hiring, admissions, and teaching practices, the administration froze federal grants to it.

On March 10, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights sent a letter to close to 60 universities saying they were under investigation for Title VI violations relating to anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination. The letter warned of action if the universities failed to comply with the administration's demands.

The Trump turmoil in bond markets

Not content with rewriting the rules of international trade, U.S. President Donald Trump has sought to upend a vital cornerstone of the U.S. financial architecture: the independence of the Central Bank. Mr. Trump has deemed the chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, a "loser" for refusing to lower interest rates. Though he has walked back his threat of firing Mr. Powell, the U.S. President's interference has deepened uncertainty in global financial markets.

The dollar and stock markets have registered further falls following Mr. Trump's latest declarations. The rise in bond yields and the fall in the dollar are indicative of the fact that global investors are reducing their holdings of American assets due to fears about inflation. Mr. Trump's conflict with Mr. Powell will only heighten those fears and bring about further turmoil. 

Google's expanding AI ambitions in India clash with U.S. antitrust scrutiny

As Google rolls out a sweeping expansion of its Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools acros search, advertising, and YouTube in India, its global ad and search business models are simultaneously under intense legal scrutiny in the U.S., raising questions about the balance between innovation and market power.

In India, Google is aggressively integrating generative Al into its advertising ecosystem to reshape how brands reach consumers. At a recent virtual media roundtable, the tech giant highlighted AI-driven advancements aimed at enhancing discovery and commerce. 

ISRO's second short hot test of semicryogenic engine a success

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully conducted a short duration hot test of the semicryogenic engine at its facility in the ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri.

This ignition test, conducted on April 24, is the second milestone after the first successful hot test on March 28, which was a major breakthrough in the semicryogenic engine test programme.