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The Supreme Court on October 8 issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a public interest litigation petition by a non-political forum seeking an exercise, similar to the one done in Assam, to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Tripura. Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma, son …

Situated near the Great Rann of Kutch, Banni, the largest grassland of Asia, spread over 2,717 sq.km, is in the grip of a severe drought as winter sets in. While the area is known for its scarce rainfall and semi-drought conditions, it is for the first time in 13 years …

The situation in Kashmir is volatile and drifting into a negative sphere on two counts: rising violence and the shrinking space of regional mainstream parties after the four-phase urban local bodies elections on October 16. The spiral of violence showed no sign of let-up even after Governor Satya Pal Malik …

As work gets under way on one of India’s prize projects in the Indian Ocean to upgrade facilities on the Agalega islands in Mauritius, the government is watching a battle brewing in the Mauritius parliament over the project. After facing resistance over placing its helicopters in the Maldives’ Addu Atoll …

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to put into action his promise made from the ramparts of the Red Fort to embrace Kashmiris with love. Speaking at a youth conclave here on Saturday, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister said the leadership in New Delhi …

Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena on Saturday suspended Parliament, a day after he sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and replaced him with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, plunging the island nation into political turmoil. Through an extraordinary gazette, President Sirisena said Parliament was prorogued until November 16. The announcement came just …

Mockingbirdis America’s best-loved novel To Kill a Mockingbird, a coming-of-age story about racism and injustice, overpowered wizards and time travellers to be voted America’s best-loved novel by readers nationwide. The 1960 book by Harper Lee emerged as No. 1 in PBS’ “The Great American Read” survey, whose results were announced …

The Maldives Opposition moved closer on Wednesday to impeaching the Speaker of Parliament, a staunch loyalist of outgoing strongman President Abdulla Yameen. An alliance of Opposition parties has collected signatures from 55 MPs, or roughly two-thirds of sitting lawmakers, for a petition to oust Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed. The Speaker has …

Pakistan has been offered aid worth $6 bn by Saudi Arabia Pakistan has not dropped the idea of seeking assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) despite Saudi Arabia offering a $6-billion aid package, officials said on Wednesday. Prime Minister Imran Khan earlier this month gave the green signal to …

Officials reach out to Huawei to recover data from a phone Sri Lankan authorities will seek Chinese assistance to tap evidence pertaining to an “assassination plot” said to be targeting President Maithripala Sirisena. On Tuesday, Sri Lankan police won permission from a magistrate court here to approach Chinese multinational Huawei …

The Centre has decided to set up skill development institutes on government land, in partnership with private players, across the country. The Union Cabinet approved the scheme on Wednesday, according to an official statement. The public-private partnership model will be adopted to set up the institutes — to be called …

Punjab bans sale of herbicide glyphosate The Punjab government has banned the sale of the herbicide, glyphosate. “This chemical has been observed to be a group 2A cancer-causing material. It is also known to cause other health problems and has the potential to damage human DNA,” said an official statement …

The Centre has set up a Rs. 7,522-crore fund to create infrastructure facilities for the fisheries sector and help boost annual fish production to 20 million tonnes by 2022-23 from the current production of 11.4 million tonnes. The establishment of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund was approved by …

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has signed a $777 mn deal with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) to supply additional Barak-8 Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LRSAM) systems for seven warships of the Indian Navy. “IAI’s partnership with India dates many years back and has culminated in joint system development and …

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the setting up of a high-level steering committee chaired by the Chief Statistician of India and Secretary to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) to review if India was on track to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The panel …

A writ petition was filed in the Kerala High Court on Wednesday seeking a ban on entry of non-Hindus into the Sabarimala temple. The court adjourned the hearing on the petition to October 29 after asking the government to respond to the petition. ‘Enforce Rule 3(a)’ In his petition, T.G. …

Bench warned States against inaction The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday gave an undertaking to the Supreme Court that the office of Lokayukta will start to function from February 1 next year. The State’s assurance came after a Bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi took a stern view of …

‘CVC has no role in curtailing tenure of CBI Director’ The Supreme Court has to examine whether the government and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) can unilaterally remove the CBI Director on the assumption that the move will restore public faith in the country’s premier investigative agency. The CVC and …

To prevent attacks on women when temple opens for the annual pilgrimage The Kerala police will turn Sabarimala into a highly secure zone to prevent attacks on women devotees when the temple opens for the annual pilgrimage season on November 17. As a first step, they have told the government …

China said on Tuesday that it has expressed concern to the U.S. over what it considered an affront to its sovereignty after two U.S. warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait. The move adds to increasingly fraught relations between the two countries, which have clashed over a number of issues, including …