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Over the course of November and December, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India heard a crucial case about the method by which the Election Commission of India (ECI) is constituted, and Election Commissioners appointed. At the time of writing, the Court has reserved its judgment, which is …

The Forest Department has accused the Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation (IISWC) in Udhagamandalam of illegally allowing the felling of 370 trees on forest land. According to officials, a contractor had worked for around two weeks in September and removed eucalyptus, wattle and acacia trees, estimated to cost …

The 147th international convention of the Theosophical Society will be held between December 31 and January 4 at its headquarters in Adyar. Various programmes, including lectures and concerts, have been scheduled as part of the event. The inauguration is scheduled for December 31 between 8.30 a.m. and 10.30 a.m. Lectures by …

The long queues of air travellers removing their laptops, mobile phones and chargers from their cabin baggage before screening them could soon become history in India. The aviation security regulator, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), is expected to issue technical norms within a month which will pave the …

Urban Development is a State subject. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs assists the States / Union Territories (UTs) through its Missions / Schemes in urban areas- Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation 2.0 (AMRUT 2.0), Smart Cities Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 (SBM-U 2.0), Pradhan Mantri Awas …

The Climate Change Performance Index 2023 report was released recently and India secured 8th position in the index which is 2 positions up from the last edition. Since no country was strong enough in all index categories to achieve an overall very high rating, thus the top three places i.e 1-3 …

The study of Himalayan glaciers is a complex and evolving subject studied through investigations, data collection and analysis of various research studies by scientists in India and all over the world. The glaciers and their characteristics exhibit complex changes in specific locations across different sub-regions of the Himalayas. There are …

The Government has taken several policy initiatives in the past few years and brought in reforms to encourage indigenous design, development and manufacture of defence equipment, thereby promoting self-reliance in defence manufacturing & technology in the country. These initiatives, inter-alia, include according priority to procurement of capital items of Buy …

The Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was passed in Parliament on December 12, despite the Opposition’s demands to send it for scrutiny to a parliamentary committee. The Bill empowers the government to establish carbon markets in India and specify a carbon credit trading scheme.  What are carbon markets? Article six …

Members of the European Union last week agreed in principle to implement a minimum tax of 15% on big businesses. Last year, 136 countries had agreed on a plan to redistribute tax rights across jurisdictions and enforce a minimum tax rate of 15% on large multinational corporations. It is estimated …

Facing a massive skilled labour shortage, Finland’s government is planning to double the number of work immigrants entering the country and triple international student placements by 2030, said the Finnish Minister of Economic Affairs and Employment, TuulaHaatainen, during a visit to India aimed at pitching the country as a work …

“We should not, directly or indirectly, criticise our jawans,” External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said in the Lok Sabha on Monday. They were standing their ground against the Chinsese at Yangtse and did not deserve the word pitaai (beaten), he added. The Minister was reacting to comments made by Congress leader Rahul …

Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Monday said that consistent efforts by the Union government had “weakened the ecosystem of terror” and had led to a “pronounced” reduction of violence in Jammu and Kashmir. It has also resulted in a 80% decline in insurgency-related violence in northeast India, he …

According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey 2021, India has about 100 million casual workers and 50 million salaried workers with no written job contract. This gives us an estimate of 150 million contract workers — or about 30% of the total labour force in the country. In the Annual …

A recent statement by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar that India can play a “stabilising” and “bridging” role, at a time when the world no longer offers an “optimistic picture”, is intriguing. He stated that India can contribute towards the “de-risking of the global economy” and in political terms, “in …

A month after the 27th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) in Egypt, diplomatic retinue went into a contentious huddle again to save the planet — in Montreal, Canada, this time, and as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). While both these conferences …

Disclosing this, the Deputy High Commission of Sri Lanka in Chennai, in its reply to a questionnaire sent by The Hindu, stated that the certificates were issued through 20 special consular camps held between February 23 and December 15. In addition, nearly 900 consular birth certificates were given to the Sri …

After four years of fractious talks, nearly 200 countries, including India, approved a historic Paris-style deal on Monday to protect and reverse dangerous loss to global biodiversity, following an intense final session of negotiations at the UN COP-15 summit here in Canada. Amid applause, Chinese Environment Minister Huang Runqiu, the …

The 7th edition of the India Water Impact Summit concluded on 17th December 2022 after 3 days of fruitful deliberations on important aspects of water conservation and river rejuvenation, with special emphasis on revival of small rivers for the protection of large basins. On the third and final day of the 7th India …

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addressed the meeting of North Eastern Council (NEC) in Shillong earlier today. The meeting marks the golden jubilee celebration of the North Eastern Council, which was formally inaugurated in 1972. Hailing the contribution of NEC in the development of the North East region, Prime Minister …