The chess world was rattled in late 2022 when Magnus Carlsen, the current world champion, accused Hans Niemann, a 19-year-old U.S. chess grandmaster, of cheating using a chess-playing artificial intelligence (AI) system. Niemann had defeated Carlsen, prompting Carlsen’s accusation; Niemann asserted that he had defeated Carlsen fairly even though he …

The Tamil Nadu Assembly witnessed dramatic scenes on January 9. When the Governor skipped portions of the address that was prepared and approved by the State Cabinet, including references to political stalwarts from the State and the Dravidian model of governance, Chief Minister M. K. Stalin moved a resolution to …

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF) has listed Neelakurinji (Strobilantheskunthiana) under Schedule III of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 including it on the list of protected plants. Those who uproot or destroy the plant will invite a fine of ₹25,000 and three years imprisonment. The cultivation of …

The victory of the AamAadmi Party in the recent Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections has added a fresh backdrop to the unceasing face-off between the Lieutenant Governor of the National Capital Territory and the elected government. Several Governors, who are all too eager to further the Bharatiya Janata Party’s …

Soothsayers seldom read the future correctly, especially in the realm of geopolitics. Quite a few soothsayers, however, were partially right at the beginning of 2022 when they said that uncertainty and impermanence would dictate the course of world events that year. The year did witness a spike in geopolitical challenges …

While there are reports of infrastructure build-up on the Chinese side, what does not come to the fore is what infrastructure has been developed on our side, Army chief General Manoj Pande said on Thursday, stating that there has been “marked improvement” and there are plans for all-weather connectivity and …

The public criticism aired by Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) judgment may be seen as comments by a high constitutional authority against “the law of the land”. The Supreme Court has held that its judicial pronouncements lay down the law. Article 141 of the Constitution …

The signing of a multi-million-dollar deal between Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Co and the Taliban in Kabul is being marketed by the latter as its first major economic win since the return of the Islamic Emirate in August 2021. The deal, estimated to be $540 million, gives Beijing …

The Office of the Registrar-General of India (RGI) is following the set of criteria set out by the Lokur Committee nearly 60 years ago to define any new community as a Scheduled Tribe, The Hindu has learnt. Approval of the Office of the RGI is mandatory for the inclusion of any community …

The U.K. and Japan, on Wednesday, signed a defence pact, which will permit the deployment of troops in each other’s countries and increase security cooperation. The move comes as Britain is undertaking a ‘tilt’ towards the Indo-Pacific in its foreign and security policy. “The Reciprocal Access Agreement is hugely significant …

India’s net direct tax collections stood at ₹12.31 lakh crore as on Tuesday, accounting for almost 87% of the target for 2022-23 and reflecting a 19.6% growth over the year-earlier period, the Finance Ministry said on Wednesday, asserting that tax revenues continued to register ‘steady growth’. The growth rate for …

Cracks first appeared in a few houses in Uttarakhand’s Joshimath town in October 2021. Over a year later, by January 11, 2023, 723 houses in all of the nine wards in the town had developed major or minor cracks on the floors, ceilings and walls. In response, 145 families have …

Nelson Mandela had said that “there can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children”. Two global reports released on January 10, 2023 — on child mortality and on stillbirths — prod us to reflect on whether India is doing enough …

The land subsidence in Joshimath has become emblematic of a geological disaster that has in fact manifested across India, in the neighbourhood of several large resource-extraction projects. There have been reports of subsidence from the Jharia, Bhurkunda, Kapasara, Raniganj and Talcher coal mines; from Delhi and Kolkata due to the …

The Kerala Tourism Department is likely to highlight Beypore ‘Uru’, the wooden dhows handcrafted by artisans and carpenters, and the water sports there in the detailed project report (DPR) to be submitted to the Centre for the Swadesh Darshan project. Beypore and Kumarakom are the only two tourism destinations from …

● Amid a debate on the process of appointment of judges, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday made strong comments on “public posturing” or “one-upmanship” by the judiciary. ● Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla also spoke in a similar vein. ● Inaugurating the 83rd All India Presiding Officers conference, Mr. Dhankhar, who is the …

● The Union Cabinet approved an outlay of ₹2,600 crore to promote payments using RuPay cards and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), said Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav on Wednesday. Banks will be provided this incentive money to promote such digital payments, an official press release said. ● The fund will be paid …

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said the northeast monsoon is likely to withdraw from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on Thursday. Nippy weather may set in, especially over the interior parts of the State, where the minimum temperature is likely to drop by two or three degrees Celsius. On Wednesday, …

In order to enhance the safety, transparency and effective management of safe deposit lockers provided by banks, apex banking regulator Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released a list of revised guidelines, which came into force from January 1, 2022. The guidelines followed observations made by the Supreme Court in Amitabha Dasgupta vs United Bank of …

More than eight years after the bifurcation of the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh, division of assets and liabilities between the two States remain elusive as the States make their own interpretation of the provisions under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014. Several bilateral meetings between the two States as well …