
Is BRICS a credible Global South minilateral?
BRICS travelled from the world of fiction to an institutional reality in 2009, with Brazil, Russia, India and China coming together.

BRICS travelled from the world of fiction to an institutional reality in 2009, with Brazil, Russia, India and China coming together.

According to the Sustainable Development Report (SDR) 2025, India has ranked 99th out of 167 countries.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation came into existence as an Independent Ministry on 15 October 1999, following the merger of the Department of Statistics and the Department of Programme Implementation. The Ministry has two wings, one relating to Statistics and the other to Programme Implementation. The Statistics Wing, also known as the National Statistical Office (NSO), comprises the Central Statistical Office, the Data Informatics & Innovation Division, and the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). The Programme Implementation Wing has three divisions: the Twenty-Point Programme, Infrastructure Monitoring, and Project Monitoring, as well as the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme.

This time around, the Qataris—and by extension, other Arab and Islamic countries—are showing exceptional unity in confronting Israel directly, and, by implication, the US as well

Health insurance for individuals has been made exempt from Goods and Services Tax. GST has been removed from life insurance premium payments for individuals, as well. Both used to be charged GST at 18%. So, this represents major relief for individuals, this lowering of the cost of buying insurance by nearly a fifth, right? That magnitude of reduction in the cost of either life or health insurance is merely an illusion. The cost of insurance might come down somewhat, but definitely not by 18%.

India embraces its need for American intelligence and weapons to keep China at bay. At the same time, India does not want to be obliged to the US so much that it comes under its thumb. India is better off with a multipolar world, with multiple power centres.

Education has never been a critical step towards ending the chain of inherited social inequality in India. For SCs, formal education has long been precluded by discrimination as well as financial struggles.