As the job market is tight for those with PhDs in science,it is important that they develop other skill sets The number of PhD graduates has proliferated over the decades — while there were only a dozen doctorates till 1920 in India (the first was awarded in 1904), there were …

Kerala has a unique opportunity to put in place climate-resilient water management The recent floods in Kerala saw heroic rescues from raging rivers swollen by unprecedented rains — and the opening of shutters of major dams. There were allegations of ‘human blunders’ while the government said it could have done …

A recap of the Saibaba case shows just how urgently the UAPA needs to be read down In the 1950s, the U.S. was gripped by an anti-communist hysteria that is now known as “McCarthyism”, after Senator Joseph McCarthy, its chief propagandist. McCarthyism was characterised by blacklists and harassment, investigations and …

The debate on data localisation must not be reduced to a good-bad binary For long, Internet activists considered the Internet as being beyond law, politics and governments. J.P. Barlow made the famous Declaration of Independence of Cyberspace in 1996. It was fine when this phenomenon was just shaping up and …

The Securities and Exchange Board of India has given the regulatory go-ahead to BSE and NSE to start their respective commodity derivatives segments. Both bourses plan to start the new segment from October 1. Interestingly, both the equity exchanges plan to start with non-agriculture commodities like metals and bullion, and …

May have to lay down laws: apex court The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it would have to lay down some laws on what stage the adjudicating authority, appellate authority and the apex court could interfere in insolvency resolution proceedings. A Bench of Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Justice Indu …

Debt accounts for 0.5%-0.7% of overall bank loans: Moody’s Rising liquidity issues in Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) are credit negative for Indian banks and debt market, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report. “As of 31 March 2018, debts incurred by IL&FS in the form of bank loans …

Many Centrally Sponsored Schemes are boutique in nature, with ‘dubious’ outcomes: N.K. Singh Several Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) are just boutique in nature with ‘dubious’ outcomes, the 15th Finance Commission of the Union Government has noted while calling for urgent rationalisation of the CSSs. The pruning of such schemes would …

National campaign sets out six scenarios for holding another referendum The national campaign for a second referendum on whether Britain should leave the EU on the terms being negotiated by the government set out six scenarios in which such a vote would be possible, as it sought new momentum to …

Expert says Seoul wants to strengthen ties on economic and strategic fronts One of the major foreign policy initiatives of President Moon Jae-in of South Korea is the government’s ‘New Southern Policy’, with a goal of deepening ties with South East Asian nations as well as India, and building an …

Islamabad High Court says NAB could not bring evidence against the Sharifs in corruption case Members of Nawaz Sharif’s party celebrated his release on Wednesday after the Islamabad High Court suspended the jail sentences handed to the former Prime Minister, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Captain Muhammad Safdar (retd.). National …

Organisation to hit streets on Sept. 24 Protesting against the absence of permanent teachers to teach in Santali in schools, a tribal organisation has decided to hit the streets in the city. Santali as medium of instruction in the State-run schools of West Bengal was announced a few years ago. …

Justice Ranjan Gogoi on the Special Bench hearing the Assam National Register of Citizens (NRC) case observed on Wednesday that by allowing the claimants to file extra papers, the apex court was actually giving them a ‘second chance’ to prove their Indian legacy. “Usually, the process of claims and objections …

Proposal made by Governor Facing a volatile situation, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik has proposed to offer insurance cover of Rs. 10 lakh to all candidates participating in the polls to the civic bodies and panchayats in the State. Meanwhile, the Congress and JD (U) on Wednesday decided …

“You [the Maharashtra government] should make a clear distinction between opposition to government and efforts for mass destruction or violence… We may not like it [resistance], but we must accept the fact that there will be opposition,” Justice Chandrachud told Mr. Mehta. The Maharashtra government claimed that their raids unearthed …

Workshop to revive Valley’s vanishing breed of master darners Once sought after by Mughal emperors for their finesse, Kashmir’s master darners, known as rafugars, have become an endangered species. The Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) government is now making efforts to revive this dwindling breed of craftsmen whose rare ability to …

198 existing structures in 7 States will benefit from scheme The government has approved a 65% hike, and extended by two years, a project to improve the stability and working of dams in 11 States. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the …

Post-mortem report fails to establish that the deadly attack was by a big cat Many of the villagers living on the fringes of Odisha’s Satkosia Tiger Reserve (STR) were against having a tiger in their neighbourhood. But they had no say in the matter when two big cats were transferred …

In Morigaon town, most citizenship certificates were forged or tampered with A Foreigners’ Tribunal in central Assam’s Morigaon district observed last month that the process of identifying foreigners and doubtful voters had become “an industry” for “minting money.” The “unfair practices” involved, it noted, turned Indians into foreigners and foreigners …

Says situation in Afghanistan is far worse than it was earlier In a dramatic move that has set diplomatic circles in Delhi as well as political circles in Kabul abuzz, Afghanistan’s Ambassador to India Shaida Mohammad Abdaliresigned during President Ghani’s visit to India on Wednesday. He explained his decision in …