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The State Information Commission of Tamil Nadu has been the worst performing in responsiveness under the Right to Information Act, furnishing only 14% of the information sought. Maharashtra was the second worst, sharing 23% of the information asked for, according to a report card on the performance of Information Commissions …

The conviction of former Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen by a criminal court in the Maldives just a year ahead of general elections could affect his plans to lead the PPM-PNC opposition alliance. He faces 11 years in prison and a $5 million fine after being found guilty of corruption and …

Wary of a rise in number of COVID-19 cases, the government has made negative RT-PCR reports a mandatory requirement for air travellers arriving from China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand. In its latest guidelines for international travellers, the Health and Family Welfare Ministry has said a pre-departure test conducted …

The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday announced the development of a prototype of a multi-constituency remote electronic voting machine (RVM) to enable remote voting by migrant voters. The machines can handle multiple constituencies from one remote booth. The EC invited all recognised political parties — eight national and 57 State …

Last week, the Union Government tabled the Jan Vishwas Bill, 2022, (Bill) in the Parliament with the objective of “decriminalising” 183 offences across 42 legislations and enhancing the ease of living and doing business in India. It is a welcome move and can be viewed as an attempt to reverse …

Various export promotion councils (EPCs) on Wednesday lauded the trade agreements signed by India with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Australia, saying the pacts will help India boost exports by granting preferential access to those markets for Indian products. Engineering Exports Promotion Council said India had benefited from preferential …

TRIPLE-TEST RULE FOR OBC QUOTA IN POLLS As the clamour for a caste census grows across India, with several States looking to introduce reservation for the Backward Classes in urban local body polls, the judiciary, over the course of 2022, has established time and again that caste population surveys conducted …

Data furnished on the website for the recently launched Namma School Foundation (NSF) scheme showed that all the government-run schools in Tamil Nadu have together given a massive wish-list for ₹68,656 crore to improve their infrastructure. This is 86% more than the School Education Department’s budget estimate of ₹36,896 crore …

Reservation to EWS Due to the efforts of the Government, New Articles 15(6) and 16(6) were inserted in the Constitution vide the Constitution 103rdAmendment Act 2019. These Articles enable the States to provide upto 10% reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in Government jobs and Government Educational Institutions. Based …

On December 21, the Delhi High Court, in the case of Hamdard National Foundation (India) vs Sadar Laboratories Pvt. Ltd., restrained Sadar Laboratories from manufacturing and selling beverages under the impugned trademark ‘DilAfza’. The court observed that the trademark ‘RoohAfza’ is prima facie a strong mark requiring a high degree of protection …

Concerned over revival of the Old Pension Scheme by certain Opposition-ruled States, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) member Sanjeev Sanyal on Monday said unfunded pension schemes are ultimately a tax on future generations. Sanyal further said given the current stress in the global economy and the repeated …

Digital capture of the attendance of workers employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has been made universal by the Centre from January 1. The Union government, arguing for transparency and accountability in May 2021, had started a pilot project to capture attendance via a mobile …

A mock drill will be held on Tuesday across health facilities in several States and Union Territories to ensure that they are ready to deal with any eventuality related to COVID-19, following an advisory by the Centre. It will focus on parameters such as availability of health facilities (covering all …

The practice of civil society organisations using representative visuals for fundraising activities concerning development issues such as malnutrition now faces new scrutiny, with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) issuing a directive to non-governmental organisations (NGO) not to depict vulnerable children. A 2013 campaign by a U.K.-based …

When BilkisBano, sole survivor of a horrific gang-rape and mass murder in 2002, asked the Supreme Court of India to review its May 2022 judgment which directed the Government of Gujarat to consider the early release of one of those convicted of these monstrous crimes, it was an opportunity for …

When the Constitution was adopted by the Constituent Assembly, the founders left deliberate gaps in it to enable a future Parliament to modify and amend the Constitution that was in accordance with the aspirations and the will of the people. This ostensibly gave birth to a Constitution with glaring misses. …

Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi has chosen to remain silent on the fate of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Bill even four weeks after the Ordinance on the same subject lapsed. There are several pieces of legislation awaiting the Governor’s clearance, but the …

Millions of people hunkered down against a deep freeze Sunday morning to ride out the frigid storm that has killed at least 24 people across the U.S. and is expected to claim more lives after trapping some residents inside houses with heaping snow drifts and knocking out power to several …

Since the initial outbreak in 2019 in Wuhan, China, the world has seen multiple repeated waves of COVID-19 infections over the past few years, largely driven by the emerging variants of concern (VOCs) of the causative virus, SARS-CoV-2. However, until recently, China remained successful in containing the spread of the …

The Union Ministry of Health has issued a communique to States to resume genome sequencing of new cases of COVID-19, in view of the sudden spurt of cases in some parts of the world. In a letter, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said sequencing of positive case samples will allow …