No discrimination against anybody: Govt after protests on new UGC norms 

Amid Protests over the recently notified "equity regulations" for higher education institutes by the University Grants Commission (UGC), Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said Tuesday that no one would be allowed to misuse the provisions and that "discrimination will not be allowed against anybody".

The UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, which replace the 2012 equity regulations of the commission, have seen protests by groups, mostly on social media, claiming that these could be used to "harass" general category students and create "caste divisions". On Tuesday, some students protested outside the UGC office in Delhi seeking the withdrawal of the regulations.

Acid attacks: SC for harsher measures like in dowry death

The Supreme Court on Tues-day sought to know if there can be legislative intervention to ensure harsher measures to deal with acid attack cases, including shifting the burden of proof on the accused like in dowry death cases.

"Think of some legislative intervention. First should be shifting of onus (burden of proof), make it not less serious than dowry deaths," said Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, presiding over a three-judge bench including Justices R Mahadevan and Joymalya Bagchi.

FTA not an endpoint, marks reform push for the next strategic move

By signing the EU deal, India signals the constraints it is willing to live with, and to what extent. US tariffs have forced a choice; the EU FTA, in turn, provides India with time to gradually wean itself away from Russian dependence.

Meghalaya's Al story is a template for inclusive tech

Leveraging data-driven governance systems, Meghalaya has reduced its maternal mortality rate by nearly 50 per cent, a metric that showcases Al's capacity to save lives when deployed thoughtfully in public health systems.

Monkey intelligence runs a tight ship

The Comedian George Carlin used to characterise "military intelligence" as an oxymoron. One wonders what he would have made of monkey intelligence. A study published in the journal npj Complexity has found that spider monkeys in Mexico's Yucatán peninsula run an elaborate intelligence-gathering operation. Agents are dispersed in cells, scout different areas, split and recombine seamlessly into different cells and brief each other, pooling and synthesising their knowledge to build up an increasingly granular intelligence picture. It's a continuous process, and the same group of agents may never come together a second time. No silos, no bureaucracy, just quiet competence and good operational security - monkey intelligence (MI) runs a tight ship.

For Delhi and Brussels, challenge is to move from breakthroughs to delivery

With Europe, India must generate both the ideas and momentum. Delhi also needs creative institutional engagement and an expanded presence across Europe's multilingual and multinational geography.

How shifting trade winds nudged India-EU talks across finish line

US tariff threats may have accelerated talks, but EU & India narrowed their differences by reevaluating their positions amid rapid geo-economic changes.

India, EU seal FTA with CBAM breather

Indian Trade negotiators have managed to secure a 'Forward-Most Favoured Nation' clause on the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) under the India-EU trade deal that will help the Indian industry receive the same concession that the European Union has promised the US under their trade deal inked earlier last year, a senior official said.