A major confrontation is on between the Union government and the Supreme Court over the former’s resentment towards the Collegium system of appointments and its push to have a dominant say in judicial appointments and transfers. The government has also started airing its grievance against the invalidation of the National …
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PETITION AGAINST CONVERSION ON SC
The Supreme Court on Monday took serious note of a Christian organisation’s objections to “scurrilous, vexatious and scandalous” allegations made against minority religions by petitioner-advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay in his case alleging “massive” forcible religious conversions. Appearing before a Bench of Justices M.R. Shah and S. Ravindra Bhat, senior advocate Dushyant …
Read More »‘FUTURISTIC’ ENERGY CONSERVATION BILL
The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill clearing the decks for “mandate use of non-fossil sources”, including green hydrogen, green ammonia, biomass and ethanol for energy and feedstock and establish Carbon Markets in the country. The Lok Sabha had passed the Bill in August. Replying to …
Read More »UNSC REFORM AND TERRORISM MEETING
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will visit New York to participate in two high-level ministerial meetings at the UN Security Council on December 14 and 15. The meetings will take up reforms in the UN Security Council and the global counter-terror campaign. During the visit, he will unveil a bust …
Read More »‘FREEBIE’ CULTURE
Vaishnaw said that efforts by the Modi government, since it was voted in, in 2014, were to shift to long-term moves that bring in good governance and transparency versus “shortcuts” of offering “freebies” that have no long-term impact of easing the everyday life of citizens. “All efforts, be it opening …
Read More »BIG TECH AND THE NEED IN INDIA FOR EX-ANTE REGULATION
The Indian anti-trust body, the Competition Commission of India (CCI)’s move, in October, to impose a penalty of ₹1,337.76 crore on Google for abusing its dominant position in the android mobile device ecosystem, has forced us, once again, to rethink the market power of Big Tech companies. When India established …
Read More »PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEMS FROM A POPULATION PERSPECTIVE
A failure to examine and interpret public health problems from a population perspective is leading to ineffective and unsustainable solutions as far as complex public health problems are concerned. This is obvious for problems such as undernutrition, for which individualist solutions such as micronutrient supplementation and food fortification have been …
Read More »A FACE-OFF ALONG THE LINE OF ACTUAL CONTROL (LAC)
Indian and Chinese soldiers suffered “minor injuries” in a face-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh on December 9, the Army said on Monday evening. “On December 9, 2022, People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops contacted the LAC in the Tawang sector, which …
Read More »HUMAN RIGHTS DAY CELEBRATION
The President of India, SmtDroupadiMurmu graced and addressed the Human Rights Day celebration, organised by the National Human Rights Commission, in New Delhi today (December 10, 2022). Speaking on the occasion, the President said that it is an important occasion for the whole of humankind, as it was on this day in …
Read More »COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES AMENDMENT ACT
The Bill to amend the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 7. Opposition parliamentarians alleged that the Bill’s provisions encroached upon the rights of State governments, demanding that it be referred to a Standing Committee. What are multi-State cooperatives? According to the …
Read More »EXISTING LAWS ON RELIGIOUS CONVERSIONS
In post-independent India, Odisha became the first State to enact a law restricting religious conversions, which later became a model framework for other States. Odisha’s 1967 Act provides that no person shall directly or indirectly convert any person from one religious faith to another by force, inducement or any fraudulent …
Read More »17TH ASIA AND THE PACIFIC REGIONAL MEETING
In his concluding remarks at the 17th Asia and the Pacific Regional Meeting (APRM) of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Singapre on Friday, ILO Director-General and former Prime Minister of Togo, Gilbert F. Houngbo, said he looked forward to continuing the consultations towards the development of the Global Coalition for …
Read More »INDIA’S ROAD MAP FOR OLYMPICS 2030
Decades ago, when P.T. Usha travelled by the Madras-Mangalore Mail, her employers, the Railways, permitted an unscheduled stop at her hometown Payyoli in North Kerala. Such was the respect she garnered for her medal-winning exploits at the Asian level while the collective heart-break she bequeathed in narrowly missing a bronze …
Read More »THE ROLE OF THE ‘CHINA TEST’ IN INDIA’S GRAND STRATEGY
If principal contradictions must determine strategic priorities, New Delhi should decide what its principal contradiction is. The concept of a principal contradiction — one that poses the most intense challenge to an individual/organisation, and has the power to shape its future choices and consequent outcomes — is a useful method …
Read More »UN SECURITY COUNCIL ON TERRORISM
The era of classifying terrorists as “bad” or “good” on the basis of “political convenience” must end immediately, a concept note circulated by India in the UN Security Council here has said, underlining that categorising terror acts by intent as religious or ideologically motivated will dilute the shared global commitment …
Read More »HUMAN RIGHTS DAY CELEBRATION
The President of India, SmtDroupadiMurmu graced and addressed the Human Rights Day celebration, organised by the National Human Rights Commission, in New Delhi today (December 10, 2022). Speaking on the occasion, the President said that it is an important occasion for the whole of humankind, as it was on this day in …
Read More »EXISTING LAWS ON RELIGIOUS CONVERSIONS
In post-independent India, Odisha became the first State to enact a law restricting religious conversions, which later became a model framework for other States. Odisha’s 1967 Act provides that no person shall directly or indirectly convert any person from one religious faith to another by force, inducement or any fraudulent …
Read More »COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES AMENDMENT ACT
The Bill to amend the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 7. Opposition parliamentarians alleged that the Bill’s provisions encroached upon the rights of State governments, demanding that it be referred to a Standing Committee. What are multi-State cooperatives? According to the …
Read More »17TH ASIA AND THE PACIFIC REGIONAL MEETING
In his concluding remarks at the 17th Asia and the Pacific Regional Meeting (APRM) of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Singapre on Friday, ILO Director-General and former Prime Minister of Togo, Gilbert F. Houngbo, said he looked forward to continuing the consultations towards the development of the Global Coalition for …
Read More »CRYPTO REGULATION IN G-20 MEETING
A coordinated approach to regulating crypto assets, managing debt vulnerabilities and reorienting global financial institutions have been identified as critical focus areas of the Finance Track agenda for India’s G-20 Presidency, which will kick off with the first meeting of G-20 finance and central bank deputies in Bengaluru on Tuesday. …
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