GS2

Soothsayers seldom read the future correctly, especially in the realm of geopolitics. Quite a few soothsayers, however, were partially right at the beginning of 2022 when they said that uncertainty and impermanence would dictate the course of world events that year. The year did witness a spike in geopolitical challenges …

The public criticism aired by Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) judgment may be seen as comments by a high constitutional authority against “the law of the land”. The Supreme Court has held that its judicial pronouncements lay down the law. Article 141 of the Constitution …

The Office of the Registrar-General of India (RGI) is following the set of criteria set out by the Lokur Committee nearly 60 years ago to define any new community as a Scheduled Tribe, The Hindu has learnt. Approval of the Office of the RGI is mandatory for the inclusion of any community …

The U.K. and Japan, on Wednesday, signed a defence pact, which will permit the deployment of troops in each other’s countries and increase security cooperation. The move comes as Britain is undertaking a ‘tilt’ towards the Indo-Pacific in its foreign and security policy. “The Reciprocal Access Agreement is hugely significant …

Nelson Mandela had said that “there can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children”. Two global reports released on January 10, 2023 — on child mortality and on stillbirths — prod us to reflect on whether India is doing enough …

● Amid a debate on the process of appointment of judges, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday made strong comments on “public posturing” or “one-upmanship” by the judiciary. ● Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla also spoke in a similar vein. ● Inaugurating the 83rd All India Presiding Officers conference, Mr. Dhankhar, who is the …

More than eight years after the bifurcation of the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh, division of assets and liabilities between the two States remain elusive as the States make their own interpretation of the provisions under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014. Several bilateral meetings between the two States as well …

The Union Budget of 2023-24, India’s final full-year Budget before the Lok Sabha polls in 2024, is unlikely to see any major reforms and could see higher allocations for welfare measures as well as capex along with cuts in defence expenditure, as witnessed in recent pre-election Budgets, Goldman Sachs said …

A Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Tuesday said it will first take up for preliminary determination whether Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 suffers from any “constitutional infirmity”. Section 6A was a special provision inserted into the 1955 Act in furtherance of a …

Russia is “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma,” said Winston Churchill in 1939, referring to the West’s muddled understanding of Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union. The words of the Conservative leader, who led Britain during wartime, still ring true as the world, 10 months into Russia’s invasion of …

The Engineering Export Promotion Council of India (EEPC) on Tuesday organised an outreach programme to raise awareness among exporters from various sectors on Indo-Australia trade dynamics in light of the Australia-India Economic Co-operation and Trade Agreement (ECTA). The bilateral trade agreement came into force on December 29, 2022, and now, …

It helps matters that Australia exports largely raw materials to India, while India exports finished goods. The ECTA builds on this complementarity, creating win-win opportunities for the two countries. The coming into force of Ind – Aus ECTA brings together two major economies of the world – India the 5th …

The governments of India and the U.K. marked PravasiBharatiya Divas on January 9 by kicking off the Young Professionals Scheme, which will permit up to 3,000 of their degree-holding citizens aged between 18 and 30 to live and work in each other’s countries for a period of two years. The …

In a welcome move, the Supreme Court has transferred to itself petitions pending in several High Courts seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriage. A Bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala asked the Centre to file its reply to all the petitions on the …

The importance of the decennially conducted Census cannot be overstated. As it tallies data on several features of the Indian population, such as basic demography, literacy levels, caste status, educational levels, spoken languages, religion, marital status, occupation, and migration status among others, the Census is vital to administrative functions and …

In an unprecedented face-off, Governor R.N. Ravi on Monday abruptly walked out of the Tamil Nadu Assembly as Chief Minister M.K. Stalin disapproved of his selective deviation from the approved text of the Governor’s Address to the House and moved a resolution to take on record only the transcript distributed …

Following the narrow mid-term election victory of the U.S. Republican Party in the House of Representatives in November, California Congressman Kevin McCarthy waged a relentless campaign to become Speaker of the lower chamber of Congress. Facing a factionalised and conflict-ridden congressional conservative caucus, a record-making 15 voting rounds were conducted …

The Supreme Court’s timely intervention has halted the forcible eviction of some 50,000 people from Haldwani in Uttarakhand, where the occupants are accused of squatting on railway property for decades. The Uttarakhand High Court had taken a tough stand against the residents, and passed a slew of directions that would …

Negotiations for bilateral free trade agreements with several countries are “well on track” and India is also looking at some multilateral pacts that are fair and equitable for all member countries, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday. India had implemented a free trade agreement (FTA) with the …

They know it is an inhuman and demeaning job rooted in caste-based discrimination and passed on to successive generations, but the sanitary workers continue to undertake manual scavenging as employers exploit them, and at times are cruel as well. The workers, the women especially, continue to do so to sustain …