What's happening?

While the India-UK Free Trade Agreement ("UKFTA"), entering into force on July 24, 2025, is a cause for celebration and economic optimism, there’s a silent underdog in this story that is not being talked about enough - the long-term consequences of increased imports of unhealthy, ultra-processed foods. The UKFTA allows for the import of a wide range of processed foods: chocolates, confectioneries, breakfast cereals, sweetened beverages, packaged snacks, and ready-to-eat meals. All of this will now enter the Indian market at much cheaper prices thanks to tariff cuts and smoother logistics. This also means that everything from big-name brands to budget versions of these products from the UK will flood Indian supermarkets and online platforms. At first glance, this seems like a win especially for those consumers  who are on a tight budgets and want variety. But it comes with a serious downside: making high-fat, high-sugar, high-salt ("HFSS") foods widely accessible ...

On 13 th  June, 2025, Israel launched a major pre-emptive air campaign under the banner of “Operation Rising Lion” targeting the nuclear and military sites of Iran. The rationale behind the operations was to cripple the rising enrichment capabilities of Iran which Israel views as a threat. What followed were a series of serious ballistic missile attacks from Iran as retaliation. Subsequently, the United States intervened by attacking three key nuclear sites in Iran using B2 Bombers. Iran retaliated once again, attacking a U.S military base in Qatar with missile strikes.  Now, after nearly 12 days of conflict, the warring countries of Israel and Iran have announced and accepted ceasefire as proposed by US President Donald Trump.  While this may be a moment of relief, the recent trend of pre-emptive strikes and the wars that follow them raise some pressing legal questions.  The most prominent among them being- Whether such pre-emptive strikes are even legal under inter...

Popular automaker Maruti Suzuki recently slashed its production forecast for its first electric-based SUV, the e-Vitaara, citing rare earth magnet shortages. While one may mistake this news to be a regular operational projection, a closer analysis suggests the contrary. The push towards EV amongst popular automakers in India over the past few years reflects India's growing incentivization for “cleaner” vehicles. While India’s move towards EV manufacturing is a commendable strategy to meet its Net Zero Target by 2070, it is important to recognize that this transition is far more complex than it may initially appear. The first step towards any transformation in the manufacturing sector is a sound policy. In this regard, India has introduced initiatives to incentivise EV production. These include the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME-II) Scheme (2019), the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) batteries (2021),...

If our Hon'ble Speaker of the Lok Sabha Shri Om Birla were to resign, who would take their position temporarily? "Deputy Speaker, such an easy answer", you may have said while reading this. But it is interesting to note that while your answer may be partly true, it is in fact incorrect. For currently, the answer would be- There is no Deputy Speaker. I was equally taken aback when I found out that the office of the Deputy Speaker, which has been mandated under Article 93 of our Constitution, is in fact vacant since 2019. Digging a little deeper, it is found that this is not the first time that the post has been vacant. It has been so on multiple previous occasions. However, none encompassed an entire term of the Lok Sabha and beyond. This is a first in Indian history where the Deputy Speaker’s post has remained empty for an entire term (2019–2024) and continues to be so even today. While it is true that one may argue that the language of Article 93 does not mention a time...