Extract: Calls for data localisation are not new. It has been a mainstay of Indian policymakers’ demands from foreign technology companies. The Justice Srikrishna Committee in its report accompanying the draft Personal Data Protection Bill released on July 27 notes that eight of the top 10 most accessed websites in …

Extract: The Vatican said Pope Francis had approved a change to the catechism of the Catholic Church — the compilation of official Catholic teaching. Previously, the catechism said the church didn’t exclude recourse to capital punishment “if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the …

Extract: China’s top envoy called on the U.S. to remain “cool-headed” on Thursday as Washington threatened to raise the tariff rate on the next $200 billion of Chinese imports. “We have been very clear about the specific changes China should undertake. Regrettably, instead of changing its harmful behaviour, China has …

Extract: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) — which has proposed to the State government to lift the ban on night traffic through Bandipur — seems to have overlooked key issues brought to light in reports by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and other agencies, including the …

Extract: Seventeen Opposition parties, including the Trinamool Congress, are planning to approach the Election Commission, demanding that ballot papers be used to conduct the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The 17 parties would meet next week to discuss the plan. “This is a matter on which all Opposition parties agreed. We …

Extract: Gynaecologists and obstetricians across the country can now exhale in relief: the Drug Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) has recommended to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare that the ban on the retail sale of the life-saving drug, oxytocin, may be lifted. The DTAB recommendation has brought immense …

Extract: RGI Sailesh told The Hindu that the SOP would ensure that filing claims and objections was a fair and credible process. “There may be many applicants who may not understand the process and the required documentation. So we have to see that every person has the right information and …

Extract: A five-judge Constitution bench headed by CJI Dipak Misra made the observation while hearing a case challenging the validity of the penal law which makes adultery an offence punishable only for the male and not the consenting women. Source: https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/adultery-law-violates-dignity-of-woman-sc/article24587075.ece

Extract: Starting this academic year, it will be mandatory for all colleges and universities across the State to ensure that yoga is taught in their institutions. This will apply to private colleges too. “Currently, only some universities have courses in yoga. But we want all higher education institutions in the …

An unusually bright meteor was seen at 7-15 P.M. yesterday [August 1, in Calcutta]. Its direction as observed from the eastern end of the Curzon Gardens was nearly S.S.W. and it appeared to fall vertically first coming into view at an altitude of about 50 degrees, increasing in brilliancy until …