The turnout in the panchayat polls in Kashmir slid to 17.3% on Saturday, while Jammu recorded a heavy 84.6% polling. Anantnag and Kulgam districts, witnesses to widespread militancy and violence, recorded a dismal 7.3% and 4.6% polling, respectively. Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/kashmir-sees-173-voting-in-panchayat-polls/article25646031.ece
Read More »Monthly Archives: December 2018
Delhi fixes weight of school bags
Taking some burden off school students in Delhi, the AAP government issued a circular on Saturday fixing the maximum weight of a school bag. It stated that school bags for students in Class I and II should not weigh above 1.5 kg, 2-3 kg for Classes III to V, 4 …
Read More »Modi, Xi upbeat on relations post-Wuhan
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed that there had been a “perceptible improvement” in bilateral ties after their Wuhan summit and both sides are optimistic that 2019 would be an even better year for India-China relations. During their fourth meeting this year on the sidelines of …
Read More »Time-travelling, on the corridor to Kartarpur shrine
The history of Sikhism and Punjab is closely tied to the gurudwara which houses a rare, original copy of the holy Granth Sahib As they sat down to the ‘Guru ka Langar’ or community meal at the Kartarpur shrine after attending the ground-breaking ceremony for the Kartarpur corridor, conducted by …
Read More »Wage drag
The International Labour Organisation’s Global Wage Report has put into sharp relief one of the biggest drags on global economic momentum: slowing wage growth. Global wage growth, adjusted for inflation, slowed to 1.8% in 2017, from 2.4% in 2016, it shows. Worryingly, this is the lowest rate since 2008. Excluding …
Read More »The death debate
In questioning the merits of retaining the death penalty, Justice Kurian Joseph has re-ignited a debate that is important and requires serious thought. What he said cannot be ignored, though the law laid down in Bachan Singh (1980), upholding the validity of the death penalty and laying down guidelines for …
Read More »Together in an uncertain world
Last week saw the European Union releasing its strategy on India after 14 years. Launching the strategy document, the European Union (EU) Ambassador to India, Tomasz Kozlowski, underlined that “India is on the top of the agenda of the EU in the field of external relations… this strategy paper reflects …
Read More »Neighbourhood first?
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi touched down in the Maldives in mid-November to attend the swearing-in of Ibrahim Mohamed Solih as the country’s President ( picture ), it was easy to count the “firsts” in his visit. Among them: this was Mr. Modi’s first visit to the Maldives, the only …
Read More »Destruction in the delta
As Tamil Nadu struggles to restore normalcy in the districts affected by Cyclone Gaja, Jayant Sriram and B. Kolappan report on the devastation visited upon the region’s coconut cultivators, and how farming in this predominantly agrarian belt could be made more disaster-proof.Standing under a cloudy sky that now casts a …
Read More »Six new antibodies to combat Zika
Researchers, including one of Indian origin, have developed six Zika virus antibodies which may help diagnose as well as treat the mosquito-borne disease that has infected over 1.5 million people worldwide.The antibodies “may have the dual utility as diagnostics capable of recognising Zika virus subtypes and may be further developed …
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