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India has assured Sri Lanka of its support at the UN Human Rights Council, Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary JayanathColombage has said, just days before member countries vote on a new resolution on the island nation’s rights record. India’s Ministry of External Affairs declined to comment on the Sri Lanka Foreign Secretary’s …

Chief Justice of India agreed with advocate Prashant Bhushan recently to urgently hear a plea by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms to stay the sale of a new set of electoral bonds on April 1, before the Assembly elections in crucial States such as West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Responding to an …

Recently, the Union Minister of State Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) said that connectivity is an important element of Act East Policy. Important points: The ‘Act East Policy’ announced in November, 2014 is the upgrade of the “Look East Policy”. It is a diplomatic initiative to promote economic, strategic and cultural relations with the vast Asia-Pacific region at different …

The U.S. has sought to build strength before engaging China later this week and the Quad summit is an example of this. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan are scheduled to meet China’s Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi and …

The Lok Sabha recently cleared the Appropriation Bill, allowing the Central government to draw funds from the Consolidated Fund of India for its operational requirements and implementation of various programmes. Key terms: An appropriation bill, also known as supply bill or spending bill, is a proposed law that authorizes the expenditure of government …

The Supreme Court recently said it was a “very serious” matter if the Centre had really cancelled around three crore ration cards, even those of tribal people and the poor, solely because they could not be biometrically linked with Aadhaar. A Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde, asked …

The Union Cabinet recently approved a Bill to set up a Development Finance Institution, Finance Minister announced. The Minister said the government had mentioned in the Budget that it would be setting up a national bank for funding infrastructure and development activity. As of December 2019, she said, there were over 6,000 brownfield and …

The Rajya Sabha recently passed the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 that increases the time period within which an abortion may be carried out. Opposition MPs said the Bill still did not give women the freedom to decide, since they would need a nod from a medical board in the case of …

Recently, the central government introduced the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021 in the Lok Sabha to amend the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991. It aims to “further define the responsibilities of the elected government and Lieutenant Governor (LG) in Delhi”. Provisions of the Bill: …

Meghalaya has registered the highest increase in MGNREGS wages — a jump of Rs 23 from Rs 203 in 2020-21 to Rs 226 — for 2021-2022, while there has been no increase in Kerala and Lakshadweep, according to the “state-wise wage rate for unskilled manual workers” notified by the Ministry of …