Many raised a red flag against a massive infrastructural project called the Char Dham road project that is being implemented in the Uttarakhand Himalaya. It is indeed turning out to be an unscientific road-construction project with catastrophic consequences for the mountain ecology. The Armed Forces and the authorities, in their …
Read More »A STEP TOWARDS FIGHTING CORRUPTION
In a judgment in December 2022 — Neeraj Dutta v. State (Govt. of NCT of Delhi) — the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court came down heavily on corruption among public servants in the country and lowered the bar for the quantum of evidence required to convict persons charged with corruption. This …
Read More »THE RIGHTS OF SAME-SEX COUPLES
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 …
Read More »IMPORTANCE OF THE DECENNIAL CENSUS
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 …
Read More »GOVERNOR AND CM ISSUE OVER DEVIATION FROM SPEECH IN STATE LEGISLATURE
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 …
Read More »FOREIGN UNIVERSITIES SET UP CAMPUSES IN INDIA
Foreign universities and educational institutions could soon be allowed to set up campuses in India as per the draft regulations made public by the University Grants Commission (UGC). What has the UGC proposed? The UGC announced the draft regulations for ‘Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational …
Read More »THE ROLE OF THE U.S. SPEAKER
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 …
Read More »POPULATION CENSUS
In February 1961, I was in primary school. I still remember the visit of the Census enumerator to our house. Fondly called Pachu Pillai, he was a teacher in our school and a family friend. Since many teachers were on Census duty, we (though not the entire school) got a …
Read More »REHABILITATION NORMS FOR EVICTION FROM PUBLIC SPACES
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 …
Read More »T.N GREEN MISSION
The Tamil Nadu government has asked banks to offer tree loans to farmers as a part of its Green Mission aimed at increasing the State’s green cover (areas including forest and the tree cover around it) to 33% from 23.71%. Under the mission, the State plans to encourage farmers to …
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