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Will the 16th Finance Commission, which has begun its exercise, be more sympathetic to India’s tribal areas than its predecessor? Will the commission, mandated by the Constitution and whose recommendations hold good for five years, devise ways to alleviate the chronic fund crunch of these autonomous institutions? Will it find solutions to functional hitches which invariably arise between the state government and the autonomous institutions, where election results do not facilitate ‘double engine’ governance?

Consecutive monthly decline in GDP marking the first back to back contraction since the Covid-19 lockdown are signals to UK economy policymakers to clear the decks for a precarious balancing act. This is necessary to stabilise short-term economic performance while fostering long-term growth.

On December 8, 2024, the European Union (EU) implemented the revised product liability directive (Directive (EU) 2024/2853). This brings in a significant change in product liability rules. This update expands on the concepts outlined by the 1985 guideline. Nonetheless, it amends them to handle the difficulties of developing technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), software and the Internet of Things (IoT).

The Union Ministry of Agriculture recently circulated a new draft for a policy framework concerning agricultural marketing. Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, additional secretary in the ministry, proposed the draft to revamp the existing framework. According to the government, the proposed universal tax on agricultural produce will increase farmers’ incomes. The committee has suggested replacing the state-supported market yards, laws on bulk storage, and regulations governing direct purchases by large private entities with a new framework for agricultural marketing mechanisms. A committee comprising state agricultural ministers, similar to the empowered GST committee, will be established to facilitate the direct collection of taxes from the Union government.

Things in the course of development of Artificial Intelligence have come to such a pass that the General Secretary of the United Nations António Guterres had to warn the world about the impending danger to the entire humanity. And any delay in putting in place international guardrails could heighten the risks to global peace and security.

It is a disease called 'Rahulphobia', which afflicts the Gujarat duo. The phobia is a proven strategy to defame Rahul Gandhi and possibly send him to jail. On Thursday, the Makar Dwar of Parliament saw violent scenes, unprecedented in the history of parliamentary democracy in India.

Can the Congress be revived in Uttar Pradesh to challenge BJP in 2027? This is the question agitating senior leaders and Congress workers. Especially after the manner in which INDIA partner Samajwadi Party performed in the recent by-elections for nine seats. Senior Congress leaders and Congress workers are annoyed with the results of the bypolls. Congress leaders and Congress workers had kept a distance from Samajwadi Party candidates which also contributed to the humiliating defeat of SP candidates. The Samajwadi Party could win only two seats of the nine seats it contested.

I saw a video on YouTube in which the Supreme Court was scolding a young lawyer for having sought information about a municipal body by inspection. The court was asking him why he wanted this information and telling him not to use the right to information (RTI) since he was an officer of the court.

Apparently heeding his corporate “handler,” multibillionaire Elon Musk, Republican President-elect Donald Trump torpedoed a spending agreement covering the federal government from now through March 14 unless congressional Democrats raised the U.S. debt ceiling.

Just a day before the scheduled end of the winter session of the Parliament of India, the confrontation between the ruling NDA and the Opposition INDIA bloc turned physical at its entrance, and several MPs were injured. It is something different from the issue-based confrontations within both the Houses of Parliament, which is nothing but a symptom of a democratic breakdown. Functional relationship between the ruling establishment and the opposition seems to have broken which prevented smooth functioning of the parliament.