What Consumption Expenditure Survey Leaves Unanswered

Why in News? The release of the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) for 2022-23 marks a significant milestone after a decade-long hiatus. The factsheet offers valuable insights into present patterns of household consumption, but decisive conclusions should not be made due to change

The evolving role of the Colombo Security Conclave

Context: Recently, India’s National Security Adviser (NSA), took part in the 6th NSA meeting of the Colombo Security Conclave (CSC) which agreed upon a road map for the year 2024. About: Originally known as the Trilateral for Maritime Security Cooperation, this regional security grouping

Opportune pause - Indian Science Congress (ISC)

Context: The Indian Science Congress (ISC) 109th edition, originally to be held in  Lucknow University in 2024, has been cast in doubt after the University pulled out citing an  ongoing dispute between the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the ISC Association.&n

Milli-second burst detected by AstroSat

Context: AstroSat, India’s first multi-wavelength space-based observatory, has detected bright sub-second X-ray bursts from a new and unique neutron star with ultrahigh magnetic field (magnetar), which can help understand the intriguing extreme astrophysical conditions of magnetars.

Are antibiotics over-prescribed in India?

Context: The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) recently found that over half of the nearly 10,000 hospital patients surveyed for a study were given antibiotics to prevent, rather than treat, infection.  The survey mapped patients treated on one to five days each at 20 tertiary ca

Free legal aid in India

Context: Supreme Court judge Justice BR Gavai has been nominated as the Chairman of the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee (SCLSC), replacing Justice Sanjiv Khanna – the seniormost judge of the top court after the Chief Justice of India (CJI). What is the Supreme Court Legal S

India’s stubborn income poverty problem

Context: Declining multidimensional poverty is good news but income poverty, which has remained defiantly high for the last five years, must be fixed. Progressing Indian economy: NSO estimates GDP growth at 7.3%, Sensex crosses 72,000, and foreign exchange reserves exceed $620 billion. In

Warming up to climate change: How do we know humans are causing global warming?

Background: 2023 could have been the hottest year in the 174-year observational record and probably the hottest in 125,000 years. It was dotted with lethal heat waves, devastating floods, droughts, and record-low ice levels in the Arctic and Antarctic. These are only a handful of the effects of clim

Donkey routes: En route Europe, how Indians visit several countries to create ‘travel history’

Context: Last year, Serbia had to change its visa rules because of the illegal migrants, including Indians, flooding it as an entry point to Europe. Background: Serbia modified its visa rules last year due to pressure from the European Union, prompted by the misuse of its visa-free regime. In

The hottest year

Context: With temperatures at all-time high in 2023, 2024 will be pivotal in reducing emissions, without compromising developmental needs News: COP 21 Agreement: Eight years ago in Paris, countries agreed to limit global temperature increases to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-indust