200 to be set up in addition to the existing 100 to handle NRC cases after July 31 The Assam government will establish 200 Foreigners’ Tribunals (FTs) for handling cases of people to be excluded from the final National Register of Citizens (NRC). July 31 is the deadline for publishing …
Read More »Yearly Archives: 2019
Centre redefines child porn, moots stiff penalties under POCSO
The amended law will also apply to animated content depicting children and videos where adults pretend to be children Watching, possessing or circulating animations or cartoons that depict a minor engaging in a sexually explicit conduct could land you in jail. The Cabinet has approved a new definition for child …
Read More »Six candidates elected unopposed as Rajya Sabha MPs
They include MDMK leader Vaiko, PMK leader Anbumani; AIADMK front’s strength in House goes to 10 MDMK founder Vaiko, PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss and two candidates each from the AIADMK and the DMK were elected unopposed as Rajya Sabha members from Tamil Nadu on Thursday. The new AIADMK Rajya Sabha …
Read More »U.S., India to begin formal talks on trade today
The two sides will discuss regulatory changes by India on data localisation, e-commerce and import curbs Visiting U.S. trade officials will meet Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday, after two days of talks with a “composite delegation” from the Commerce and External Affairs Ministries, the first formal effort …
Read More »Floods displace over four lakh in Assam
More than 4.23 lakh people have been displaced by floods that affected 17 of Assam’s 33 districts. Torrential rain wreaked misery elsewhere in the northeast, claiming two lives in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang after a wall collapsed on their hostel. Officials said the rising waters of river Brahmaputra and at least …
Read More »Maratha quota: SC to hear plea today
The Supreme Court will on Friday hear a group of social workers, academics and representatives of the Muslim community who have appealed against a Bombay High Court decision upholding a “one-person or one-community” Maharashtra legislation providing reservation to the Maratha community in education and public employment. Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/maratha-quota-sc-to-hear-plea-today/article28394930.ece
Read More »Congress petitions Speaker on disqualification
Congress petitioned Assembly Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar seeking disqualification of eight rebel Congress MLAs for defection on Thursday. Three days ago, the Congress had revived an old petition to disqualify two MLAs — Ramesh Jarkiholi and Mahesh Kumthalli. However, the party is yet to seek disqualification of three other rebel …
Read More »‘Political crises will hit economy’
Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram said on Thursday that the crises in Karnataka and Goa might appear to be “political upmanship”, but it had a “damaging impact on the economy”. Foreign investors, rating agencies and international organisations did not read Indian newspapers and did not watch the tamed Indian television …
Read More »Inter-State River Water Hub in Kerala
The Kerala government has decided to establish a permanent hub in Palakkad for handling inter-State river water disputes. The Inter-State River Water Hub will become a reality in three months. The decision was taken at the tri-monthly review meeting of the Irrigation Department convened by Water Resources Minister K. Krishnankutty …
Read More »SC likely to hear Ayodhya appeals from July 25
Seeks report from mediation panel A Constitution Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, on Thursday decided to commence hearing the Ayodhya title dispute appeals tentatively from July 25 on a day-to-day basis in case a conclusion is reached, on the basis of a mediation committee report, that …
Read More »Can’t be pushed into a decision: Speaker
Ramesh Kumar meets 10 Karnataka rebel MLAs following the Supreme Court’s direction Hours after the Supreme Court on Thursday asked Karnataka Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar to meet 10 rebel legislators from the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) and take a decision on their resignations, he held a meeting with …
Read More »Immigrants to Malaysia
Malaysia to-day [July 10] tightened its immigration regulations and called on all non-citizens above 12 years of age to call at the Immigration Office before September 15 to furnish fresh particulars about themselves. There are an estimated 700,000 non-citizens among Malaysia’s 10 million population, nearly a quarter million of them …
Read More »Grecian churn
Greece under Mr. Mitsotakis is set fora period of stability and continuity The verdict in Sunday’s Greek elections affords a rare comfort for Europe’s centrists, who, arguably with the exception of Spain in April, have of late ceded ground to populist forces. The conservative centre-right New Democracy party of Prime …
Read More »Caution needed
Supreme Court decision on the Rohingya’s status must protect those fleeing persecution The Supreme Court’s decision to examine the question whether illegal immigrants are entitled to refugee status needs to be welcomed, but with caution. It is debatable whether the Centre is right in claiming that this has emerged as …
Read More »A case for nutrition counselling
It is a low-cost measure that offers lifelong benefits The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme is one of the world’s largest programmes for early childhood care and development. Now, a new study suggests that nutrition and health counselling delivered under the programme’s auspices is one of the best possible …
Read More »Deepening #MeToo
A year after an actor inspired women to speak up against harassment, it’s critical to assess the gains and challenges In the mid and late-1800s, social movements in Europe for equal rights for women threw up the word ‘feminism’, which traces its origins to French. The suffrage movement in Britain …
Read More »Turning down the heat
There is enormous potential in mitigating climate change through forest restoration During the run-up to the Paris climate change meeting in 2015 (COP-21) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, each country decided the level and kind of effort it would undertake to solve the global problem of …
Read More »Nehru and the Kashmir quandary
The former PM erred in having too much confidence in the sense of justice of his successors Union Home Minister Amit Shah earlier this month held India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, responsible for the country being deprived of one-third of Kashmir. Except for those who deify Nehru, most others …
Read More »A demographic window of opportunity
In India, investing in the laggard States will ensure their role as being the greatest contributors of the future Last month, the United Nations released the 26th revision of World Population Prospects and forecast that India will overtake China as the most populous country by 2027. The only surprise associated …
Read More »‘Doctor’ Alexa to the aid of Britons
NHA teams up with Amazon to provide medical advice for common ailments Britain’s state-run health service is teaming up with Amazon to provide medical advice for common ailments such as migraines and flu via the tech giant’s voice assistant Alexa, aiming to help more patients at home and cut down …
Read More »