Trump to end birthright citizenship, will hit Indians in US; 18 states sue

US President Donald Trump has sought to revoke birthright citizenship-automatic citizenship of children born in the US to non-citizen parents. Among the first few 'Presidential Actions' listed by the White House on its website, the order titled 'Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship' specifies that those who were born in the US "but not subject to the jurisdiction thereof are excluded from birthright citizenship. According to estimates based on the 2022 US Census Bureau data, Indian Americans number over 5.4 million as of 2024, comprising 1.47 per cent of the US population.

US exit from WHO among first orders, fieldwork in India may be affected

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization (WHO). The order cited four main reasons for the withdrawal: the WHO's alleged "mishandling" of the Covid-19 pandemic, its "failure to adopt" urgently needed reforms, its "inability to demonstrate independence from the in-appropriate political influence of WHO member states," and its continued demand for "unfairly onerous payments from the United States".

Law seeks EC response to over 20 queries raised by JPC on joint polls

From inquiring about real savings given mid-term polls would also require imposition of the Model Code of Conduct to whether irregularities in a polling booth would require re-polls for both Assembly and Parliamentary seats affected, the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the one-nation one-election Bills has raised over 20 questions that the Law Ministry has conveyed to the EC for its response. Union Law and Justice Minister had introduced the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 in the Lok Sabha. The two Bills would provide for syncing the terms of the Lok Sabha and state and Union Territory assemblies, paving the way for simultaneous elections. The two Bills were referred to a JPC.

Pune's IITM develops system to predict dengue outbreak

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, and other institutions have developed a dengue early warning system that can predict potential outbreaks. This system incorporates all potential climate-based dengue factors (predictors) and their combined interactions with dengue at a regional scale. Using observed temperature, rainfall, and humidity patterns, the dengue model is able to predict potential outbreaks more than two months in advance.

Neutral expert vindicates India stand on Indus treaty: MEA

India welcomed World Bank-appointed neutral expert Michel Lino's announcement that deciding on the differences between India and Pakistan over two key hydroelectric projects under the Indus Waters Treaty would be within his competence. India is constructing two hydel power projects-Kishenganga HEP on Kishenganga river, a tributary of Jhelum, and Ratle HEP on the Chenab. In 2015, Pakistan, objecting to their design features, moved the World Bank to seek a settlement through a neutral expert, but withdrew its request a year later and asked for adjudication through a Court of Arbitration instead. 

India, for its part, moved an application for a neutral expert to rule on the dispute. In October 2022, the World Bank responded by appointing both a neutral expert and a Court of Arbitration.

BRACING FOR TRUMP

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoyed a positive rapport with Trump during his first term (2017-2021), and considerable progress was made in bilateral relations, navigating Trump's return to the White House will not be straightforward. This does not imply any inherent hostility from Trump towards India; however, Delhi now faces challenges stemming from Trump's clear intent to fundamentally reshape America's internal and external policies. The developments witnessed in Washington signal a historic shift in three crucial areas for India: Open markets, open borders, and America's great power relations.

A revolution in the US

The American revolt against the liberal order has been brewing for some time in the 21st century. This growing discontent helped Trump, an outsider, defeat established political dynasties like the Clintons (Democratic) and Bushes (Republican) to win the White House in the 2016 elections. The establishment and liberal media launched a relentless campaign against Trump, branding him a "Russian agent" and seeking to undermine his presidency at every turn. The 2024 elections represented a decisive rejection of the liberal establishment's anti-Trump politics. While the establishment labelled Trump a 'felon', his supporters viewed the campaign as a political witch hunt that stretched legal boundaries to convict him. This situation reflects a significant and deep divide within American society.

A PACT IN PERIL

Us President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw his country from the Paris Climate Pact was widely expected. In his campaign, he gave ample evidence that his attitude to the treaty had not changed in the four years he was out of office. He was more explicit about opening new oil and gas fields, compared to 2016. Trump's 2017 decision was withdrawn by Joe Biden almost immediately after he took charge. Biden's track record on global warming mitigation is arguably the best among American presidents. Even then, the US is amongst a large number of developed countries that are not on track to meet their emissions target for 2030. The US decision comes at a critical time in climate change negotiations. The emissions cut commitments of countries do not put the world on course to meeting the Paris Pact's targets-countries are expected to announce new targets by February.

Trump policy: Fix 'unfair, unbalanced trade, counter currency manipulation'

Us President Donald Trump instructed his commerce and treasury departments to investigate the causes of America's "large and persistent" annual trade deficits in goods, as well as the "economic and national security" implications of such deficits, according to an official document titled 'America First Trade Policy' released by the White House. This holds significance for India, which recorded a $50 billion trade surplus with the US in 2023 compared to $25 billion in 2019. During his first term, Trump had invoked national security pro-visions to impose 25 per cent tariffs on steel and 10 per cent on aluminium from India and other countries and had revoked the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), a preferential trade agreement which benefited India the most."

To curb grey market activity, Sebi is working on launching 'when-listed' platform

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is looking to launch a" when-listed" platform for trading of shares of companies that have finished their initial public offering (IPO) and are yet to be listed on stock exchanges, its Chairperson said. The new platform, when launched, will help reduce trading of shares in the grey market prior to the listing. The regulator is also working with both the exchanges to setup a "when-listed" platform. Buch said "We are actively considering "when-listed" trading, Today, we are at T+3 (trading plus three working days) from the closure of the issue to listing but even in those three days there is a lot of (grey market).

What WHO, Paris pullouts mean

United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order to withdraw from the World Health Organisation (WHO). The order gave the reasons as the WHO's "mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic", "failure to adopt urgently needed reforms", "inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states", and continued demand of "unfairly onerous payments from the United States". The US pulling out will also sever the collaboration between the WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is key to international surveil-lance and response to health threats. There is no provision for withdrawal by a country in the WHO's constitution. But at the time the US joined the organisation in 1948, Congress had put a condition saying the country could withdraw after giving a one-year notice and meeting its financial obligations for the current year.