Tariff wars and a reshaping of Al's global landscape

In the aftermath of the presidential election in the United States in 2024, renewed implementation of substantial tariffs could lead to a fundamental restructuring of global technology supply chains that power artificial intelligence (AI) development. While established players recalibrate, countries such as India are finding themselves in a precarious, yet potentially advantageous, position - as the "third option" in the technological rivalry between the U.S. and China.

The tariffs have raised the costs of imported components that are critical to Al infrastructure. In 2024, electronics imports to the U.S. alone were nearly $486 billion, with data processing machine imports costing around $200 billion, sourced largely from tariff-affected countries such as Mexico, Taiwan, China, and Vietnam. These tariffs risk making the U.S. the most expensive place in the world to build Al infrastructure, driving companies to relocate data centre construction abroad, ironically to China.

The first wave of the Trump tariffs, between 2018-20, resulted in a price increase for imported semiconductor components. The current tariff regime has expanded this to as high as 27% on critical Al hardware components in 2025, particularly affecting specialised Al accelerators and advanced logic chips, components that constitute the computational foundation

Use international law to take on Pakistan-backed terror

Operation Sindoor has powerfully demonstrated India's intent to use kinetic measures to tackle terrorism emanating from Pakistan. In addition to executing "hot pursuits", India possesses other potent non-kinetic strategies, going beyond regular diplomacy, to ensure that Pakistan is held accountable for its continued support of terrorism directed against India. An impactful approach that India has not effectively employed so far is the strategy of "lawfare", or leveraging international law to confront adversaries to accomplish strategic and diplomatic objectives. 

Is establishing the truth a problem during a conflict?

Parallel to the recent escalation of military tensions between India and Pakistan, misinformation and disinformation surged online, making it increasingly difficult for the public to distinguish fact from fiction. Many media outlets published sensational stories riddled with unverified claims, and disseminated fake pictures and videos. Jingoism often drove the public response. Is establishing the truth a problem during a conflict? Nirupama Subramanian and Pratik Sinha discuss the question in a conversation moderated by Mandira Moddie. Edited excerpts:

Why India needs stable urban forests

0ne of Hyderabad's last remaining urban forests, Kancha Gachibowli, faced the threat of extinction when the Telangana government decided to give away 400 acres of its land for industrial development. Justifying its move by claiming ownership over the forest, the government alleged that protesting students were misled by real estate interests. However, the Supreme Court took cognisance of the felling of 100 acres of trees and reprimanded the State government. This issue highlighted the vulnerability of urban forests and environmentally insensitive models of urban development. 

What is the need of the hour in autism care?

Last month, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a massive testing and research effort to identify the "environmental toxins" that he said were behind the growing "epidemic" of autism in the U.S. He said the Department of Health and Human Services would launch a series of new studies focusing on environmental substances. Calling autism "preventable", he said there would be some answers by September this year. Some of Mr. Kennedy's remarks came following the release of a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that rates of autism had increased from 1 in 36 children in 2020 to 1 in 31 in 2022. 

Understanding the social, cultural and geographical contexts of Buddhism

The world is increasingly getting obsessed with self-promotion and the thinking that it alone can bring about peace and progress. The growing selfie culture is a manifestation of this daily obsession, backed by the technology of the day. Often, a 'perfect' identity is carefully curated on social media with a focus on the self.

Swayed by the glitter of social media, there appears to be no actual pursuit of knowing the inner self. Eventually, this relentless self-promotion is leading to distress. The fear of having less and the desire for more have contributed to a balance sheet of unhappiness. 

6 Kirti Chakras, 33 Shaurya Chakras conferred on defence, police personnel

President Droupadi Murmu conferred six Kirti Chakras and 33 Shaurya Chakras on personnel from the armed forces, the Central armed police forces, and the State and Union Territory police units at a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday. 

PM inaugurates 103 Amrit Bharat railway stations

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday inaugurated 103 Amrit Bharat rail-way stations through video conference from Bikaner, Rajasthan. These stations, situated in 86 districts across 18 States and Union Territories, have been developed at a cost of over ₹1,100 crore. - 

Fresh round of survey on substance use will have a larger sample size

The Union government has started planning a fresh round of a nationwide survey to establish the extent and pattern of substance use, officials told The Hindu. This will expand on the 'National Survey on Extent and Pattern of Substance Use in India 2017-18', which was a first-of-its-kind study on estimating illicit drug use in the country. 

Report on adolescent health records calls for more investments and laws

The second Lancet Commission on adolescent health and wellbeing has recorded that despite progress in some areas, without increasing investments, by the end of 2030, at least half of the world's adolescents around 1 billion people will live in multi-burden countries facing complex health challenges. Further, it has projected that in 2030, 464 million adolescents globally will be overweight and 42 million years of healthy life will be lost to mental disorders or suicide.