Agriculture Minister pegs output at 141.59 million tonnes India’s foodgrains production is estimated at a record 141.59 million tonnes (MT) in the kharif season of 2018-19 crop year, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said on Wednesday. The country had produced 140.73 MT foodgrains in the kharif season of 2017-18 crop …
Read More »A blow to private entities
The partial striking down of Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, which allows private entities to use Aadhaar for authentication of a person’s identity, comes as a great blow to corporate entities. Section 57 has been one of the most watched areas in the Aadhaar litigation before a Constitution Bench …
Read More »Lack of consensus stalls demonetisation report again
The reconstituted Parliamentary Committee on Finance, headed by M. Veerappa Moily of the Congress, could not build a consensus on the long-pending report on demonetisation with BJP members continuing to oppose its finalisation. A draft report on demonetisation, which was circulated last year, looks at the impact of the move …
Read More »Boost to SC/ST quota in promotions
A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on Wednesday modified a 2006 judgment requiring the State to show quantifiable data to prove the “backwardness” of a Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe community in order to provide quota in promotion in public employment. The 58-page judgment by a five-judge Bench led by Chief …
Read More »France offers Rafale’s naval version
Even as controversy rages in India over the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets for the Air Force through an inter-governmental agreement, a French Admiral has made a pitch for the naval variant of the fighter to the Indian Navy. The Indian Navy is on the look out for 57 …
Read More »Legislators can practise law, says SC
The Supreme Court on Tuesday held that there was no bar on legislators doubling up as lawyers. The judgment by a Bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud comes as a great relief to many sitting MPs of both the BJP and …
Read More »SC to deliver verdict on quota in promotion
A Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra will on Wednesday pronounce its verdict on the government push to provide “accelerated promotion with consequential seniority” for Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribe members in public employment. Courtesy a 2006 M. Nagaraj judgement of the Supreme Court, the government cannot …
Read More »Shortage of forms upsets NRC applicants
Many of the nearly 2,500 centres for updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) were short of forms on Tuesday, the first day of the claims, objections and corrections round of the exercise. This phase provides a 60-day window of hope for 40,07,707 of the 32.9 million applicants who were …
Read More »Enact ‘strong law’ to cleanse politics: SC
Onus on Parliament to bar persons facing charges from polls The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed political parties to publish online the pending criminal cases of their candidates and urged Parliament to bring a “strong law” to cleanse political parties of leaders facing trial for serious crimes. Rapid criminalisation of …
Read More »Claims, objections to NRC begin today
The crucial claims and objections round of the exercise to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam is scheduled to start on Tuesday. This phase provides a 60-day window of hope for 40,07,707 of the 32.9 million applicants who were left out of the complete NRC draft published …
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