Government Policy

Time period for hearings on claims and objections likely to be extended The Centre is mulling relaxed guidelines for migrant workers and labourers from other States who were not included in the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam that was published on July 30. As …

The Railways will stop free travel insurance for passengers from September 1, an official said on Saturday. Travellers, while booking tickets through the IRCTC website or mobile app, can opt for travel insurance or opt out. The order to charge for travel insurance will be generated in a few days.IANS …

Ministry may reconsider conducting NEET twice The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry may reconsider its decision to conduct medical entrance exam NEET twice a year, following recommendations from the Health Ministry. According to sources, the Health Ministry has raised concerns on conducting NEET twice a year.PTI Source :  https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/hrd-ministry-may-reconsider-conducting-neet-twice-a-year/article24661134.ece

Bill to remove leprosy as a ground for divorce The Personal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018 introduced in the Lok Sabha on Friday seeks to strike down leprosy as a ground for seeking divorce. The bill was introduced by Minister of State for Law Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/bill-in-ls-to-remove-leprosy-as-a-ground-for-divorce/article24661135.ece

Rights body says changes in consonance with its demands The Muslim women’s rights group spearheading the movement against instant divorce has welcomed the amendments to the triple talaq Bill, and urged MPs cutting across party lines to ensure its passage in Parliament. The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved three amendments …

Highlights violence before SC Bench In an uncharacteristic public criticism of growing violence, intolerance and rioting in the country, Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal told the Supreme Court on Friday that there was an incident of major rioting every week in the country. Appearing before a three-judge Bench, led by Chief Justice …

A Bill awarding a maximum sentence of death to those convicted for raping girls below 12 years of age was passed by Parliament on Thursday, with the Rajya Sabha approving the proposed law by voice vote. The Lok Sabha had cleared it on July 30. It replaces the Criminal Law …

Was brought to bypass Supreme Court ruling that ‘diluted’ provisions of law The Lok Sabha on Monday passed the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2018, to bypass the recent ruling of the Supreme Court laying down procedures for arrests under the Act. The Bill will …

Health Ministry attributes rise of incidence in Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura to injecting drug users and unsafe sexual practices The good news is that there has been a steady decline in the number of HIV cases in India. The bad news is that Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura have emerged as …

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to get early assent of the President to a Bill passed by the Telangana legislature in April last year, which provided for reservations to SCs, STs, BCs and minorities in excess of 50%, the cap fixed by the …

UGC had sought graded punishment for the offence Student researchers found guilty of plagiarism may lose their registration and teachers could lose their jobs as the Human Resource Development Ministry approved new regulations on plagiarism drafted by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The Ministry had notified the UGC (Promotion of …

Need to raise productivity: RS members Rajya Sabha members have sought that the sittings of Parliament be extended to a minimum of 120 days a year, and suggested that the salary and allowances of members who disrupted proceedings should be deducted on that particular day. Congress MP Husain Dalwai said …

“They are presumed backward,” Mr. Venugopal submitted, saying the State needs to show “affirmative action” by giving them equality of opportunity. The government objected to a creamy layer concept among the SC/ST. “You cannot dissect the SC/ST and see those who are worthy (of quota) and those who are not,” …

Action against persons designated by Foreigners’ Tribunals District officials in Assam have begun work to delete the names of “declared foreigners’ whose names had been included in the complete draft of the updated National Register of Citizens (NRC) that was published on July 30. In Morigaon district, officials have identified …

Supreme Court had raised the fear that it may create a surveillance state A proposal to have hubs to monitor social media traffic and trends has been withdrawn, the Union government informed the Supreme Court on Friday. The decision comes after the court had questioned the proposal in a hearing …

The State government has decided to ask ICRISAT to conduct an in-depth study to assess the impact of de-siltation of tanks taken up under the prestigious Mission Kakatiya project. The study to be conducted over two years would cover aspects like impact of de-siltation on water availability for irrigation, changes …

Cites historical deprivation, calls on Supreme Court to revisit 2006 Nagaraj ruling Citing “1000 of years of deprivation” suffered by Dalit communities, the government on Friday began its push for providing “accelerated promotion with consequential seniority” for Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) members in public employment. Courtesy a 2006 M. …

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 …

With this, a five-judge Constitution Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, began examining whether the pre-Independence provision of adultery (Section 497) treats a married woman as a commodity owned by her husband and violates the constitutional concepts of gender equality. The petition filed by Kerala-based Joseph Shine, …

While the focus of the NRC has been on the exclusion of Bengali Muslims and Hindus — two communities often suspected to be illegal migrants — an estimated 100,000 of some 2.5 million Gorkhas in Assam have not found their names in the updated draft. “Data collected from the districts …