Monthly Archives: November 2018

Florida races heading for recount

Senate and governor elections are in focus, Georgia governor race remains open With the prospect of vote recounts looming, two of the high profile U.S. midterm races — for State governor and a Senator from the State — continue to stay in focus even after the voting day. On Thursday …

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Trump tightens U.S. asylum rules

Will deny it to migrants who enter country illegally; experts say move will face legal challenges President Donald Trump on Friday invoked extraordinary national security powers to deny asylum to migrants who enter the country illegally, tightening the border as caravans of Central Americans approach the U.S. Mr. Trump is …

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‘No move to seek Rs. 3.6 lakh cr. from RBI’

The rift between the two became public last month after a speech by RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya in which he cautioned that “governments that do not respect central bank independence will sooner or later incur the wrath of financial markets… ignite economic fire, and come to rue the day …

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India to export sugar to China

Initial contract is to despatch 50,000 tonnes to COFCO In a boost to sugar mills sitting on surplus stocks, India will start raw sugar exports to China in early 2019, and is in talks to finalise exports to Indonesia and Malaysia as well. In a statement on Thursday, the Commerce …

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India appreciates sanctions waiver

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday expressed appreciation for the United States’ waiver on India-Iran energy trade and the Chabahar Port project. MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the port would be of importance in helping the situation in Afghanistan, but reiterated that India would continue to import Iranian …

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An Adivasi-Lambada war of attrition

A year since the beginning of their campaign for the expulsion of the Lambada tribe from the Scheduled Tribes list, the Adivasis in Telangana are looking forward to the Assembly election to help the movement gain political currency. No political party, however, has paid the kind of attention that the …

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Army fire power gets booster shot

Emerging from the shadow of the Bofors scandal, the Army on Friday inducted its first artillery gun systems in three decades. The M777 Ultra Light Howitzers from the U.S. and K9 Vajra-T self-propelled artillery gun from South Korea were inducted at the Devlali Field Firing Ranges in Maharashtra. The third …

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If you dump garbage, be ready to go to court

Though the fine is not more than Rs. 500, police hope the legal process will act as a deterrent If the beat policeman catches you dumping garbage on the roads, be prepared to go to the court to battle charges of “spreading disease”. In the past 10 days, as many …

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Public order: Supreme Court’s ruling

A competent authority under the Preventive Detention Act is entitled to take action to prevent subversion of “public order,” but not in aid of maintenance of “law and order” under ordinary circumstances. Before a contravention of any law could be said to affect “public order,” it must affect the community …

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Advancing BS-VI emission norms

What does the Supreme Court order say? On October 24, the Supreme Court banned the sale and registration of vehicles conforming to Bharat Stage (BS)-IV emission standards across the country, from April 1, 2020, citing “alarming and critical” pollution levels. With this decision, vehicle makers will only be able to …

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Shape of sanctions

The U.S. administration’s decision to grant India and seven other countries waivers on the sanctions it re-imposed on Iran provides some temporary relief to India. While the details of the waivers are yet to be released, the Trump administration has agreed to waive sanctions on the purchase of oil from …

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Back in DC

The Democratic Party made a comeback in Tuesday’s midterm elections after spending two years in the political darkness, when it seized control of the House of Representatives. Yet, predictions of a “blue wave”, as a backlash to the racially charged, polarising campaign led by President Donald Trump, failed to materialise. …

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Always a world citizen

Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay has long been recognised in India as the person chiefly responsible, after Independence, for the revival of the country’s variegated crafts traditions and for drawing critical attention to ‘tribal art’. She is generally viewed as an authority on Indian handicrafts, but Chattopadhyay played no less a role in …

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