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International Relations26 Jun 2026

BRICS expansion and the push to trade beyond the dollar

BRICS — the bloc of major emerging economies — has taken in new members and is exploring ways to settle more trade in national currencies rather than the US dollar. India backs cheaper local-currency trade but resists turning the group into an anti-Western front.

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Economy25 Jun 2026

GST at a crossroads: the push to simplify the tax slabs

Eight years after launch, there is renewed momentum to simplify the Goods and Services Tax by trimming its multiple rate slabs. Supporters want a cleaner structure; states worry about losing revenue.

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International Relations25 Jun 2026

IMEC: India's answer to China's Belt and Road

The India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) is a planned connectivity project, announced on the sidelines of the 2023 G20 Summit in New Delhi, that links India to Europe through the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and Greece using a mix of shipping and rail. It aims to cut the time and cost of moving goods between India and Europe, offering an alternative to the Suez Canal route. Backed by the US and EU, IMEC is widely read as a democratic counterweight to China's Belt and Road Initiative. Progress slowed after the 2023 conflict in West Asia, but India, the EU and Gulf partners reaffirmed their commitment in 2026.

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Polity24 Jun 2026

The anti-defection law: when can a legislator be disqualified?

The anti-defection law in the Tenth Schedule disqualifies legislators who switch parties. It aims to curb horse-trading but is criticised for delays and for the partisan role of the Speaker.

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Polity24 Jun 2026

One Nation, One Election: simultaneous polls and the constitutional questions

"One Nation, One Election" (ONOE) is the proposal to hold elections to the Lok Sabha and all State Legislative Assemblies at the same time, instead of the current staggered cycle of polls spread across the year. A high-level committee chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind recommended a phased move towards simultaneous elections, and the government introduced Constitution Amendment Bills to enable it. Supporters point to lower costs and less governance disruption from the repeated Model Code of Conduct; critics warn it could weaken federalism, disadvantage regional parties, and raise hard questions about what happens if a government falls mid-term.

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Science & Tech23 Jun 2026

Gaganyaan: India's first human spaceflight mission

Gaganyaan is ISRO's programme to send Indian astronauts to space aboard an Indian rocket. Success would make India the fourth country to launch humans into orbit on its own.

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Economy23 Jun 2026

How the RBI fights inflation: the repo rate and inflation targeting

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) uses monetary policy to keep prices stable while supporting growth. Under the Flexible Inflation Targeting framework adopted in 2016, the RBI's six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) aims to keep retail (CPI) inflation at 4%, within a tolerance band of 2–6%. Its main lever is the repo rate — the rate at which the RBI lends short-term funds to commercial banks. Raising the repo rate makes borrowing costlier and cools demand and inflation; cutting it supports growth. In its June 2026 review, the MPC weighed easing food inflation against global uncertainty before deciding on the rate.

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Environment22 Jun 2026

The monsoon, El Niño and La Niña: why June rainfall matters

The southwest monsoon brings most of India's yearly rain and shapes farm output and growth. Pacific Ocean patterns — El Niño and La Niña — strongly influence whether it is strong or weak.

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