The U.S.s immigration blocks as a self-defeating path

A study by Britta Glennon found that in response to increasing H-1B visa restrictions, American companies do not typically hire more U.S. workers. Instead, they just accelerate foreign hiring. 

A decrease of 1% in initial employment from the H-1B supply could have an impact in terms of the foreign affiliate growth rate of between 10 and 20%. Other research shows that each H-1B visa holder creates 1.83 additional jobs for native-born American workers over the next seven years. Research by the National Foundation for American Policy shows that more than half of America's billion-dollar startups have been started by immigrants.

The Budget pipeline and India's foreign policy ambitions

Last year, the MEA budget saw a rare 23% spike, up from the modest 4% annual increase between 2017 and 2023. Despite efficient Budget utilisation, exceeding 96% of the revised estimates, the MEA remains one of the least-funded Ministries. Yet, the MEA's current budget just 0.4% of India's overall expenditure falls short to deliver on these plans. In 2022, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs suggested raising this to 1% of the total budget. While such an increase (approximately 63%) seems unlikely, even a gradual increase to 0.6% or 0.8% would signal intent. Two areas demand greater budgetary resources to beef up India's diplomatic clout: economic tools for regional integration and cooperation, and the MEA's institutional capacity by expanding human resources and research expertise. India's regional connectivity faced new challenges in 2024, including Bangladesh's regime change, Myanmar's instability, strained ties with Nepal, and the Maldives' "India Out" stance. India's aid to foreign countries declined by 10% in 2024-25, while loans to foreign governments, increased by 29%. 

Substantive equality in child marriage laws

In Sanjay Chaudhary v. Guddan (2024), the Allahabad High Court annulled the marriage of a couple, who got married when the man was 12 and the woman was nine, under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006. A literal reading of the provisions of the PCMA thus suggests that both male and female parties can seek annulment before they attain 20 years of age. In 2011, the Madras High Court in T. Sivakumar v. The Inspector of Police held that a literal interpretation will create an unfair disadvantage for males married at 20 who, despite being married below the legal age, would not be able to annul their marriage, and thus interpreted the age limit for annulment for males to be 23. 

Govt. schoolchildren lead recovery in basic skills; private ones lag

The latest data for 2024, published in the Annual Status of Education Report (Rural), broadly indicates that rural schoolchildren have largely recovered from the learning loss experienced during the pandemic. To understand the learning losses during the pandemic as well as the post-pandemic recovery, the story used data for Class 5 children from the report. First, while children showed significant improvement in their arithmetic abilities, their progress in reading ability has been less pronounced. Second, government schoolchildren showed strong recovery in reading abilities, with the share of those who can read a paragraph in their regional language reaching pre-pandemic levels. While private schoolchildren have made some progress from the pandemic-induced decline, the share who could read a paragraph in their regional language remained well below pre-pandemic standards. 

The impact of classifying denotified tribes

After a three-year study, the AnSI and TRIs have recommended the inclusion of 179 of these communities in the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes lists. At least 85 of these communities are being recommended for a classification for the first time ever. The study also found that 63 communities that had never been classified were "not traceable" anymore - meaning that they had likely assimilated into larger communities, changed their names, or migrated to other States. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment had in a December 2022 report said that it had repeatedly flagged the government's "inability to take necessary action" on the speedy categorisation of these communities. "Delay in locating them would increase their suffering and they would not be able to get benefits of the prevailing schemes meant for the welfare of SC/STs," the House panel said. 

Is Trump's order on birthright citizenship constitutional?

January 23, U.S. District judge John Coughenour in Seattle blocked President Trump's executive order attempting to curb 'birthright citizenship'. Birthright citizenship is a legal principle that grants automatic citizenship to individuals born within a country's territory, regardless of their parents' citizenship status. U.S. District judge John Coughenour issued a temporary restraining order halting the enforcement of the executive order, nationwide. He described the order as "blatantly unconstitutional". Nations worldwide largely determine citizenship through two principles - "jus soli" (right of the soil), which grants citizenship by birthplace, or "jus sanguinis" (right of blood), which grants it by familial descent. 

Union Budget: understanding its formulation and implications

There are three major components expenditure, receipts and deficit indicators. Based on their impact on assets and liabilities, total expenditure can be divided into capital and revenue expenditure. Consider the expenditure incurred for constructing new schools or new hospitals. All these are classified as capital expenditure as they lead to creation of new assets. Revenue expenditure involves any expenditure that does not add to assets or reduce liabilities. Expenditure on the payment of wages and salaries, subsidies or interest payments would be typically classified as revenue expenditure. All tax and non-tax revenue reduces net income of the private sector and thereby leads to reduction in private and aggregate demand.

ASER study shows post-COVID recovery, but many students still lag in reading, arithmetic

After a prolonged decline due to learning loss during COVID-19, the latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), 2024 reveals that there has been recovery in foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) learning among school students. Using the 2011 census frame, 30 villages were randomly selected from each district, and 20 households from each village. The report states that children's basic arithmetic levels - recognising numbers, conducting numerical subtraction for two di-gits with borrowing, and solving division problems consisting of three digits by one digit have shown a substantial improvement in both government and private schools. Percentage point improvement in States such as Himachal Pradesh and Bihar was less at 4 to 5.9 points, as compared with States such as Odisha, Haryana, West Bengal, and Jharkhand, which showed more improvement at 6 to 9.9 percentage points. 

ISRO set for a historic 100th launch from Sriharikota

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will in the early hours of Wednesday oversee the historic 100th launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota with the GSLV-F15 mission. The first launch, on August 10, 1979, was the experimental flight of Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 (SLV-3 E10) carrying the Rohini Technology Payload, which was only partially successful, according to the space agency. The location of the spaceport on the east coast was decided upon by the founding members of the Indian space programme due to its unique features. "Features like a good launch azimuth corridor for various missions, nearness to the equator (benefiting eastward launches) and large uninhabited area for a safety zone have made Sriharikota the ideal location for the space-port," the SDSC has stated on selecting this location.

Replace regular table salt with lower-sodium salt substitutes that contain potassium: WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) released a set of guidelines on Sunday recommending use of low-er-sodium salt substitutes. While the international body had already strongly recommended reducing sodium intake to less than 2 grams a day, it has proposed a set of guidelines to replace regular table salt with lower-sodium salt substitutes that contain potassium. This recommendation is for adults (not pregnant women or children), and excludes individuals with kidney impairments or with other circumstances or conditions that might compromise potassium excretion.