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Consumer Protection (Direct Selling) Rules, 2021: Regulating India’s Multi-Level Marketing Industry

India's direct selling sector, encompassing multi-level marketing (MLM) companies selling wellness, cosmetics, and household products through networks of independent sellers rather than fixed retail outlets, operated for decades without a binding statutory framework. The only regulatory reference point before 2021 was the Model Framework for Guidelines on Direct Selling, issued by the Department of Consumer Affairs on October 26, 2016, following consultations with the Ministry of Finance, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, and select states including Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala.

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Gyan Bharatam: Building a Digital Knowledge Infrastructure for India’s Manuscript Heritage

India possesses a vast and diverse manuscript heritage covering fields such as philosophy, literature, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, arts, governance and other knowledge traditions. These manuscripts are dispersed across libraries, academic institutions, museums, temples, monasteries, private collections and individual custodians, making their systematic identification, preservation and accessibility a major institutional challenge. Government sources have estimated India's manuscript corpus in the range of 5–10 million manuscripts, highlighting the scale of the task involved in creating a comprehensive national inventory (Ministry of Culture, 2026).

When War Becomes an Operating Cost Insurance, Chokepoints and the New Gulf Security Order

When War Becomes an Operating Cost: Insurance, Chokepoints and the New Gulf Security Order

Rahi Naik

Introduction: Why the Gulf Is Building Security Beyond Washington

For decades, the security architecture of the Arabian Gulf rested on an implicit bargain: Gulf monarchies would remain closely aligned with Washington, while the United States would provide the military deterrence necessary to protect the region’s territorial integrity, energy infrastructure and maritime routes.

That bargain has not collapsed. But it has been tested.

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Mukhyamantri Palayan Roktham Yojana: Assessing Reverse Migration, and Rural Development in Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand's migration crisis presents one of India's most acute demographic challenges. Between 2008 and 2018, approximately 118,981 persons migrated permanently from rural areas of the state, while 383,726 undertook semi-permanent migration for employment (Rural Development and Migration Commission, 2018).

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ATAL BEEMIT VYAKTI KALYAN YOJANA (ABVKY) – INDIA’S UNDERUSED UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT

The Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 insured workers against sickness, maternity, disability and death, but not against losing the job itself. It assumed a worker would hold one job in one factory for a working life, so an insured person could contribute for years, lose that job, and receive nothing from a fund built partly out of their own wages.

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The India International Bullion Exchange (2022): A New Gateway for Gold Trading

The India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX) is India's first regulated gateway for the import and trading of gold and silver, operationalised at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), Gandhinagar. Its conceptual origin lies in the Union Budget 2020-21, in which Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the government's intent to establish an international bullion exchange in an International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) (Ministry of Finance, 2020).

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