The UN Climate Conference held in Katowice, Poland, has moved ahead with the implementation of the Paris Agreement through a rule book, reflecting strong support among citizens of all countries for urgent action to avert dangerous climate change. Public pressure has prevailed over scepticism, although the outcome does not adequately …
Read More »Daily Archives: December 19, 2018
Restoring the balance
Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s three-day visit to India this week seems to have brought a tumultuous phase in India-Maldives ties to a close. This is Mr. Solih’s first overseas visit after becoming the President of the Indian Ocean nation of 400,000 people. He defeated Abdulla Yameen in a surprise …
Read More »‘There is no question of going back to the paper ballot’
The former Chief Election Commissioner on the EVM controversy, why the Supreme Court verdict on criminals in politics is a missed opportunity, and electoral bonds The debate on the reliability of electronic voting machines (EVMs) refuses to settle, with political parties continuing to voice their concerns about malfunctioning machines. Former …
Read More »The slow, tortuous path to justice
Sajjan Kumar is likely to spend New Year’s Day, in 2019, in prison. Thirty-four years after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the killings of Sikhs that followed, a political leader who may have electorally benefitted from communal violence has been sentenced to imprisonment for life. The wheel …
Read More »Drone delivers vaccines in key Vanuatu trial: UNICEF
A one-month-old on a remote island in the Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu became the first child to be immunised in a trial of drone-delivered vaccines, UNICEF said on Tuesday. If successful, the initiative could be replicated in isolated and far-flung areas around the world, the UN agency said.AFP Source : …
Read More »Most-distant solar system object ever discovered
Scientists have discovered the most-distant body ever observed in our solar system — located over 100 times farther than Earth is from the Sun. The new object has been nicknamed “Farout”. Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-life/most-distant-solar-system-object-ever-discovered/article25778079.ece
Read More »Warming leads to water crisis in Himalayas: study
Climate change is driving glaciers in the Himalayas to melt more rapidly than at any point in the last 10,000 years, and could soon cause water supply shortage in parts of India, Pakistan, and Nepal, a study has warned. Researchers from Ohio State University in the U.S. showed that climate …
Read More »Surgery performed on man after brain prolapses via ear
“It was like living with two hearts,” 54-year-old Loganathan of Namakkal summed up how his life has been for the last few years. The non-stop pulsating sound in his right ear resounded with that of his heart. Little did he or his surgeon realise that it was the brain that …
Read More »Film on menstruation, set in rural India, joins Oscar race
Period. End of Sentence , a the short film about women in India fighting against the deeply rooted stigma of menstruation, has made it to the Oscar shortlist in the Documentary Short Subject category. Directed by award-winning Iranian-American filmmaker Rayka Zehtabchi, the film is created by The Pad Project, an …
Read More »RBI officers protest over promotion policy
Hundreds of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officers joined a protest at the central bank’s headquarters here on Tuesday against a recent change in the promotion policy, Reserve Bank sources said. The protest, which started around lunchtime, went on till the evening prompting some senior central bank officials to discuss …
Read More »RBI scales up liquidity infusion
The Reserve Bank on Tuesday said it had decided to scale up the amount of liquidity infusion by Rs. 10,000 crore to Rs. 50,000 crore this month, after a review of the evolving liquidity conditions. The central bank had earlier announced to infuse liquidity amounting to Rs. 40,000 crore through …
Read More »Govt. unearths GST evasions of Rs. 12,766 cr.
The government has detected 3,196 cases of Goods and Services Tax evasion amounting to Rs. 12,766.85 crore in this financial year up to November 2018, according to the Finance Ministry. Of this, an amount of Rs. 7,909.96 crore has been recovered between April and November 2018, according to data provided …
Read More »Price IPOs reasonably: SEBI
The capital markets regulator has asked investment bankers to do more due diligence and price public issues more reasonably so that it would be acceptable to both investors and issuers. “IPOs not clicking is something, which is a cause of worry… Merchant bankers have a role to see that it …
Read More »U.S. military to have a ‘Space Command’
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered the creation of “Space Command”, a new organisational structure within the Pentagon that will have overall control of military space operations. The command will be separate from Mr. Trump’s goal to build an entirely new branch of the military called “Space Force,” which …
Read More »Rajapaksa named leader of Opposition
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was on Tuesday named the Leader of Opposition in the Sri Lankan Parliament, but rival lawmakers contested his eligibility to hold the position. The Speaker has said that he would consider the objections and give a ruling on Friday. Number of MPs Days after he stepped …
Read More »‘No online sale of drugs till norms in place’
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday said its stay on sale of drugs and prescription medicines by online pharmacies will continue till rules are framed to regulate such entities. A Bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V.K. Rao said that “once the rules come into play, you [online …
Read More »Working to bring 99% items in sub-18% GST slab: Modi
Indicating that further simplification of the Goods and Services Tax is on the anvil, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his government wants to ensure that 99% items attract sub-18% GST slab. Before implementation of the GST, registered enterprises numbered 65 lakh, which has now risen by 55 lakh, Mr. Modi …
Read More »Benefit of the doubt must go to accused: SC
The benefit of the doubt in cases based on a flawed police investigation must favour the accused irrespective of the gravity of the crime, the Supreme Court held in a recent judgment in a 17-year-old case of murder and rioting in Uttar Pradesh. “The accused cannot be expected to relinquish …
Read More »NGT raps Ministry over groundwater notification
The National Green Tribunal on Tuesday rapped the Union Water Resources Ministry over its notification pertaining to groundwater extraction. A Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel came down heavily on the Ministry and said that the notification, issued on December 12, was against “national interest”. No-objection certificate …
Read More »Renaming spree does not spare Tagore
The Patna Municipal Corporation is said to be considering renaming the city’s main intersection, Kavi Guru Rabindra Chowk, after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The move has stoked a controversy in Bihar. The proposal is said to have been made by Mayor Sita Sahu of the BJP. The Empowered …
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