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China has set up a ropeway near the TorsaNala on its side of the India-Bhutan-China tri-junction, and is strengthening roads and other infrastructure along the entire eastern sector, according to defence sources. In the Yangtse area of Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh, which saw a scuffle last week, defence officials …

Department of Telecommunications (DoT) under Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative aims to promote ecosystem for research & development and make India a global hub of development of technologies and manufacturing of telecom equipment including Core transmission Equipment, 4G/5G Next Generation Radio Access Network and Wireless Equipment, Access & Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), Internet of …

Background: India’s exports declined about 16.7% in October compared with the year-earlier period. This is the first slide reported for any month since February 2021. October imports rose at a much milder pace than earlier, most likely because of softening commodity prices worldwide, and trade deficit widened by as much …

The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave the Centre three months to constitute an Inter-State River Water Disputes Tribunal to resolve the dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over constructions in Pennaiyar river. Tamil Nadu had filed an original suit in 2018 against Karnataka’s work on check dams and diversions’ structures …

S.-China relations have witnessed an unprecedented downturn in 2022. Nancy Pelosi’s historic visit to Taiwan in August has deeply upset bilateral ties. The imposition of heavy restrictions on China’s semiconductor industry by the U.S. in October has fanned the flames of rivalry further. Amid this escalation, the U.S. President Joe …

With just 55 to 60 District Disability Rehabilitation Centres (DDRC) made functional so far out of the targeted 269 in designated districts, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment has said that it feels the Union government is “somewhat casual” in its approach to complete this task. It …

A CONSERVATION BILL THAT ENDANGERS FOREST RIGHTS The expeditious passage of the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2021 in the Rajya Sabha this winter session — this followed its passing in the Lok Sabha during the monsoon session — needs comment. The Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972 has safeguarded numerous …

Recent comments by the Vice-President, Jagdeep Dhankar, and the Law Minister, Kiren Rijiju, can be read as a concerted attack on the collegium system, the Supreme Court of India, and even the basic structure doctrine (conveniently forgetting that it is this doctrine that has kept the Indian Constitution intact). Clearly, …

The Kerala Assembly on Tuesday passed two University Law (Amendment) Bills to replace the Governor as the Chancellor of 14 State universities. The legislations, subject to the Governor’s assent, will enable the State government to appoint academicians or “persons of eminence” in various fields of knowledge as Chancellors in all …

There is a time for everything under the sun. And the time for organisations to file the annual report on Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) is upon them. In fact, the time is in its last embers. The best practice is to file the report by the end of the …

Ministry of Tribal Affairs has revamped the existing Scheme of ‘Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub-Scheme (SCA to TSS) with nomenclature ‘Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna (PMAAGY)’, for implementation during 2021-22 to 2025-26, which aims at transforming villages with significant tribal population into model village (Adarsh Gram)covering about population …

The Government has formulated four Labour Codes, namely, the Code on Wages, 2019, the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, the Code on Social Security, 2020 and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 and published these Codes in the Official Gazette for general information. As a step towards implementation …

Government has announced a Centrally Sponsored Scheme namely, “New India Literacy Programme” (NILP) for implementation during five years from 2022-23 to 2026-27. The programme aims to cover a target of 5.00 crore learners during the five years under Foundational Literacy and Numeracy component. The programme has five objectives: Foundational Literacy …

For conservation and development of art, culture and crafts across the country, the Ministry of Culture, Government of India has set up seven Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs) with headquarters at Patiala, Nagpur, Udaipur, Prayagraj, Kolkata, Dimapur and Thanjavur. These ZCCs organize various cultural activities and programmes on regular basis in …

According to government data presented in the Lok Sabha on December 9, women representation in Parliament and most States legislatures is below 15% with 19 Assemblies having less than 10% women lawmakers. In this article dated September 24, 2020, Bhaskar Dutta explains why we need increased female representation in policy …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …