Daily Archives: November 23, 2018

The Empire’s Victory. King’s Speech.

The Empire's Victory. King’s Speech.

The King’s speech at the prorogation of Parliament [in London] was as follows: “My Lords and Gentlemen”. The occasion on which I address you marks the close of a period which will be forever memorable in the history of our country. The war upon which all the energies of my …

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Lok Sabha passes Tamil Nadu Bill

Lok Sabha passes Tamil Nadu Bill

The Lok Sabha to-day [November 23, New Delhi] passed the Bill to rename Madras State as “Tamil Nadu”. The Bill will now go to Rajya Sabha for approval. There were cheers from all sides when the Chair announced that the Bill was passed. The Bill was welcomed by all sections, …

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Gandhi opposed Partition

Gandhi opposed Partition

In reality, Gandhi opposed Partition until the very end. However, the Congress leadership had increasingly sidelined him by the end of 1946. By that time, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel had come to accept the idea of Partition without even the courtesy of consulting Gandhi. Eventually, the Congress Working Committee …

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Cricket’s final frontier

Cricket’s final frontier

Cricketing reputations are sometimes made or shattered based on how a player performs against Australia. That’s been something of a trend ever since the West Indies began its free fall after losing to Australia in the mid-1990s. And Australia, in its own backyard, is considered the ultimate opposition. Sachin Tendulkar …

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Unlawful dissolution

Unlawful dissolution

In dissolving the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly without giving any claimant an opportunity to form the government, Governor Satya Pal Malik has violated constitutional law and convention. Mr. Malik’s stated reasons for his action — “extensive horse trading” and the possibility that a government formed by parties with “opposing political …

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Get the model right

Get the model right

World Bank data, in 2015, showed that nearly 65% of health-care expenditure in India is “Out of Pocket” (OoP). A report by the World Health Organisation has shown that around 3.2% of Indians would fall below the poverty line because of high OoP health expenditure. Thus, a national health insurance …

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Will the BJP lose Rajasthan?

Will the BJP lose Rajasthan?

Mr. Modi has not yet appointed a Lokpal, and Ms. Raje recently extended the tenure of the Lokayukta to eight years from the earlier five, causing a severe dent to the integrity of the institution.If Mr. Modi tries to honestly find out about the actual scam in the Pradhan Mantri …

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Aligning the triad

Aligning the triad

The INS Arihant, India’s first nuclear ballistic missile submarine that completed its sea patrol earlier this month, will contribute significantly to making India’s deterrence capability more robust. Submarine-based nuclear capability is the most survivable leg of a nuclear triad, and its benefit must be seen especially in the light of …

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Why the RBI board needs to be recast

Why the RBI board needs to be recast

At the height of the global financial crisis in 2008 when liquidity crunch hit the Indian credit market, the then finance minister P. Chidambaram constituted a liquidity management committee headed by the then finance secretary Arun Ramanathan. The decision raised eyebrows as liquidity management is a key function of the …

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Falling crude puts OMC pricing under scanner

Falling crude puts OMC pricing under scanner

Are oil marketing companies recovering the Rs. 1 per litre price cut of October 4 which they had made on the Centre’s instructions and absorbed into their financials?While oil marketing companies (OMCs) deny that they are doing so, , analysts argue that the pricing mechanism is so opaque and complex …

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Trump spars with U.S. Supreme Court chief

Trump spars with U.S. Supreme Court chief

U.S. President Donald Trump has become embroiled in an extraordinary row on Wednesday with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, claiming “shocking” bias against his policies in parts of the judiciary.He singled out the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, whose jurisdiction includes left-leaning California, tweeting that its …

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Term of OBC panel extended again

Term of OBC panel extended again

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the extension of term of the commission examining the issue of sub-categorisation of other backward classes (OBCs) in the Central list till May 31, 2019, according to an official statement.This is the fourth extension of term given to the commission formed in October last …

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Fresh rift in civil-military ties in Ministry of Defence

Fresh rift in civil-military ties in Ministry of Defence

Civil-military relations in the Defence Ministry are strained once again, this time over the issue of junior officers staying in hotels and not Army guest rooms when on temporary official travel.Expressing concern at the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (PCDA) asking for a Non-Availability Certificate (NAC) and rejecting refund claims …

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Not consulted on changes in RTI Act: CIC

RTI Act CIC

The government had planned to introduce the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2018, in the Lok Sabha in July this year. But the Bill was not tabled following protests from civil society and the Opposition. The Bill proposes to give the Centre the power to decide the tenure and salaries …

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Horse-trading was going on: Governor

Horse-trading was going on Governor

Under attack from the Opposition for his decision to dissolve the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, Governor Satya Pal Malik on Thursday claimed that “extensive horse-trading” was going on in the State and dismissed allegations that he was acting on the Centre’s directions.Maintaining that it would have been impossible for parties …

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‘Death due to misplaced adventure’

‘Death due to misplaced adventure’

An American national who tried to enter the North Sentinel Island in the Andaman was killed due to “misplaced adventure” in the highly-restricted area, a senior government official said on Thursday. This was his fifth visit to Andaman and Nicobar Islands and he had come on a tourist visa. He …

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