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Chief Minister M.K. Stalin launched phase 2 of the Pudumai Penn scholarship scheme at the Hindu College near Avadi in Chennai on Wednesday. The scheme involves distribution of a scholarship amount of ₹1,000 per month to girls pursuing their higher studies after completing their schooling in government schools. The scholarship is provided …

The Union Budget for 2023-24 came with a reduction of 38% in funds for the Ministry of Minority Affairs. The fund crunch is likely to impact spheres of madrasas besides general school education, higher research and local development in areas of minority concentration. Which schemes are affected? The worst affected …

Last week, the U.S. shot down a Chinese ‘spy’ balloon, days after the surveillance device was first spotted over American airspace, bringing the dramatic saga to a climax and dealing yet another blow to the already strained diplomatic relation between the two sides. What happened? Reports of a massive white …

With bilateral payments still not streamlined against the backdrop of Western sanctions, especially for defence deals, India and Russia are set to hold bilateral financial meetings under the framework of the Inter-Governmental Commission in the second half of February as part of ongoing efforts to iron out a mechanism, officials …

The stagnant allocations in the Budget for health, education and nutrition reminded me of the film The Last Czars. Emperor Nicholas asks his communist captors why he has been imprisoned despite loving Russia and being loyal to it. Budgets are boring documents if we look at them only in terms of financial …

Pakistan is no stranger to crises, In fact, any reading of Pakistan’s history will inform the reader that right from 1947, it was the ‘refugee crisis’ that came into the picture immediately following Partition and Independence. As many as 14 million people crossed the West Pakistan/India border, with Pakistan having …

The Delhi high court on Tuesday held that forced virginity test on persons in police or judicial custody is unconstitutional stating that strangely, though the word “virginity” may not have a definite scientific and medical definition, it has become a mark of purity of a woman. It is declared that …

The saga of the alleged Chinese spy balloon over the United States ended in an anticlimactic puff of smoke on February 4 after an American F-22 shot down the airship over coastal waters in the Atlantic Ocean. News of the Chinese airship went public on February 3. This was not …

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) was launched during the year 2015-16 to enhance physical access of water on farm and expand cultivable area under assured irrigation, improve on-farm water use efficiency, introduce sustainable water conservation practices, etc. PMKSY is an umbrella scheme, consisting of two major components being implemented …

Malaysia held its 15th general election (GE) in November 2022 to put an end to the volatile political situation in the region — the fallout of two ruling coalitions in quick succession. Given the tectonic political landscape of Malaysia, the election delivered, unsurprisingly, the first hung Parliament of the country …