GS-II

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that it may create a surveillance state A proposal to have hubs to monitor social media traffic and trends has been withdrawn, the Union government informed the Supreme Court on Friday.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 …

Kerala losing over Rs. 400 crore due to tax evasion The State has also had to take a beating because of the recent decision of the GST Council to cut tax rates for a horde of goods, mainly durables, which would affect a consumer State such as Kerala. It is …

Collegium sent their names in 2016 The Supreme Court Collegium has reiterated the names of two advocates — C. Emalias and Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy — for appointment as Judges of the Madras High Court. The proposal for elevation of the two advocates, recommended by the High Court Collegium on December 19, …

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: 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: 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: 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