Daily Archives: September 23, 2018

The stamp of diversity on midterm polls

The U.S. is increasingly diverse and census calculations project that by the year 2044, the White population of the country will be less than half of the total. The growing diversity appears to be reflecting on the political arena, though differentially, for the Democrats and the Republicans. In the current …

Read More »

Maldives set to vote in crucial election

Many poll observers were denied visa Around 2,60,000 Maldivians will cast their vote on Sunday in the nation’s third-ever multi-party presidential election since 2008. The election has come under focus amid fears of possible poll rigging and violence. In a statement issued on Saturday, the Asian Network for Free Elections …

Read More »

Sugarcane, paddy a hit this kharif

The biggest increases in acreage this kharif season come from water guzzling crops such as sugarcane and paddy. More resilient crops such as nutri-cereals — ragi, jowar, bajra — have dropped in acreage this year, Agriculture Ministry data reveals. As on September 20, paddy has been planted over 2.5% more …

Read More »

do Mudra loans have credit risks?

What is the problem? Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, in his report to Parliament recently, said that while non-performing assets stemming from corporate loans are a current problem, the government should focus on sources of the next crisis. In particular, he warned, the government should refrain from setting ambitious credit …

Read More »

Tracking a tigress in Maharashtra

For over a week now, more than 100 Forest Department officials, guards, tranquillising experts, shooters, trackers, rescue teams, veterinarians and two elephants, brought from Madhya Pradesh, have been carrying out a massive hunt for a tigress in the Ralegaon area of Yavatmal district of Maharashtra. What happened? They are looking …

Read More »

The lowdown on cases before new CJI

What is it?How did it come about?Why does it matter?What next? Over 54,000 cases are pending in the Supreme Court. But only a few grab public attention, and they become the litmus test for the court. Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who assumes office as the Chief Justice of India on October …

Read More »

Search operation on in Shopian

Joint operation of police, Army, CRPF after militants killed three SPOs A day after three policemen were abducted and killed by militants, security forces on Saturday launched a massive cordon-and-search operation in Shopian and Pulwama districts of Jammu and Kashmir, the police said. The operation was conducted in at least …

Read More »

‘Convinced that PM is corrupt’

Congress chief calls for clarification from Modi after Hollande’s statement Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday, “We are absolutely convinced that the Prime Minister of India is corrupt. This question is clearly settled into minds of people that Desh Ka Chowkidar Chor Hai (the country’s watchman is a thief),” …

Read More »

Alcohol intake doubles in 11 years

Per capita alcohol consumption in India has more than doubled from 2005 to 2016, according to a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The consumption of alcohol has increased from 2.4 litres in 2005 to 5.7 litres in 2016 with 4.2 litres being consumed by men and 1.5 litre …

Read More »

Mysuru’s unlikely link to a Guantanamo detenu

In their fight to get Abu Zubaydah released from the U.S. military detention facility, lawyers are trying to collate details of his stay in Karnataka More than 27 years after he abandoned his undergraduate studies in Mysuru to wage jihad against the Soviet-backed regime in Afghanistan, Zainalabdeen Mohammad Hussein Abu …

Read More »

Diplomatic norms flouted: Qureshi

India, Pakistan Foreign Ministers may face off at UN Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Saturday charged India with having “trampled on diplomatic norms” by cancelling the meeting between Foreign Ministers that it had agreed to just a day prior. Speaking to presspersons in Islamabad, Mr. Qureshi said the …

Read More »

Govt. will seek Parliament nod for triple talaq Bill: PM

Days after the promulgation of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights of Marriage) Ordinance, 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced here on Saturday that the NDA government would soon get the triple talaq Bill approved by Parliament. “Three days ago, the Centre took a decision that was needed for years. …

Read More »

The lone teacher

Meet Ushakumari, the lifeblood of a school in a forest settlement in south Kerala At 7 a.m., even before the sleepy Amboori village in southern Thiruvananthapuram is fully awake, R. Ushakumari begins her day. The only teacher of the Kunnathumala Agasthya Eka Adyapaka School (one-teacher school) inside the Agasthyavanam biosphere, …

Read More »