Breast cancer, by the government’s estimate, is the leading cause of cancer in women in India. However, it does not qualify as a matter of “national” or “extreme” urgency in the Health Ministry’s reckoning, suggest court filings as part of an ongoing case in the Kerala High Court. The case …
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SUPREME COURT’S ROLE AS PROTECTOR OF CITIZENS’ RIGHTS
Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud has said the very purpose of the Supreme Court is to hear every little cry for personal liberty and protection of the Fundamental Rights. But pendency is a perennial drawback that affects the court’s role as the timely protector of citizens’ rights. Law Minister …
Read More »GODAVARI-KRISHNA-CAUVERY LINK
Tamil Nadu has reiterated its demand to shift the terminal point of the proposed Godavari-Krishna-Pennar-Palar-Cauvery link from the Grand Anicut to Kattalai barrage. Reiterating this at a meeting of a Special Committee on Interlinking of Rivers in New Delhi earlier this week, Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan argued that the change …
Read More »CRUDE OIL IMPORTS ROSE 52.6% TO $147 BN
India’s imports of crude oil rose by 52.6% to $146.57 billion during April-November period, according to Commerce Ministry data. Coal and coke imports increased by 97.7% to $37.25 billion in the same period, the data showed. Gold imports, however, dipped by 18.1% to $27.21 billion during the eight-month period. Oher …
Read More »JAPAN DEFENCE POLICY TO CHINA THREAT
Japan’s government approved a major defence policy overhaul on Friday, including a significant spending hike, as it warned China poses the “greatest strategic challenge ever” to its security. In its largest defence shake-up in decades, Japan vowed to increase security spending to 2% of GDP by 2027, reshape its military …
Read More »AIIMS RANSOMWARE ATTACK’
Based on current analysis by stakeholders concerned, about 1.3 terabyte data were encrypted in the recent ransomware attack on the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences’ (AIIMS) information technology network by unknown threat actors, according to the government. In a written response to the question of Rajya Sabha member John Brittas, …
Read More »COUNTERTERRORISM COOPERATION
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s listing of four hurdles to better counterterrorism cooperation, i.e., state support for financing terror; multilateral mechanisms that are opaque and agenda driven; double standards and politicisation of countering terrorism according to where terror groups belong, and the “next frontier” (the use of emerging technologies such …
Read More »WAYANAD RICE FESTIVAL PROMOTES CLIMATE-RESILIENT CROPS
At a time when climate vagaries are posing a serious threat to farming in the country, a Kerala-based organisation named Thanal has embarked on a unique conservation experiment, planting 300 climate-resilient varieties of traditional rice on 1.5 acre of land at its agroecology centre in Panavally in the Wayanad district. On December …
Read More »U.S. CREATED INDO-PACIFIC CONCEPT TO CONTAIN CHINA’
There “is no such concept as Indo-Pacific” which was “created by the United States” to bring in partners such as India to “contain” China, a Chinese diplomat has said, reflecting Beijing’s hardening opposition to both Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy as well as regional groupings such as the Quad. “In fact, there …
Read More »GREEN ECONOMY
As per IMF’s World Economic Outlook (WEO), October 2022, India is projected to grow at 6.8 per cent in the year 2022 which is one of the fastest among major economies. Major steps taken for reducing carbon emission and moving towards sustainable development goals inter-alia include: Permitting Foreign Direct Investment …
Read More »SURYA KIRAN -XVI
The 16th Edition of Indo-Nepal joint training Exercise “SURYA KIRAN-XVI” between India and Nepal will be conducted at Nepal Army Battle School, Saljhandi (Nepal), from 16 – 29 December 2022. Exercise “SURYA KIRAN” is conducted annually between India and Nepal with the aim to enhance interoperability in jungle warfare &counter terrorism …
Read More »KERALA’S UNIVERSITY LAWS (AMENDMENT) BILLS
The Kerala government has passed the two University Laws (amendment) Bills in the State Assembly to amend laws relating to the governance of State universities and to remove Governor Arif Mohammed Khan as the Chancellor of said universities. What do the Bills say? The proposed legislations will amend the statutes …
Read More »CURBING AIR POLLUTION IN INDIA -WB REPORT
India has six large airsheds, some of them shared with Pakistan, between which air pollutants move. While existing measures by the government can reduce particulate matter, significant reduction is possible only if the territories spanning the airsheds implement coordinated policies, says a report by the World Bank made public on …
Read More »PRINCIPLE OF NON-INTERVENTION
The President of India, DraupadiMurmu, and the Vice-President of India, Jagdeep Dhankhar, have weighed in on the surpassing significance of the separation of powers in the Indian Constitution. However, both did so in different ways, in substance and style. Wise counsel In her valedictory address on November 26 to the …
Read More »14 VILLAGES IN MAHARASHTRA WANT TO MERGE WITH BORDERING TELANGANA
Amid the boundary row between Maharashtra and Karnataka, the villages contiguous to Telangana in the Chandrapur district of the western State have also raised the demand for inclusion in the neighbouring Telugu State. At least 14 villages bordering Telangana demanded inclusion as they were ‘attracted’ to the development and welfare …
Read More »CONSTITUTION (SCHEDULED TRIBES) ORDER (SECOND AMENDMENT) BILL, 2022
The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022, to include the Narikoravan and Kurivikkaran tribes of Tamil Nadu in the Scheduled Tribes list of the State, through a voice vote after the discussion on the Bill was concluded and Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun …
Read More »SPACE INDUSTRIAL PARKS
The Tamil Nadu government will establish dedicated space industrial parks in the vicinity of the upcoming spaceport at Kulasekharapatnam, a small town panchayat in Thoothukudi. “Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. (TIDCO) is in discussions with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to enhance the efficiency of the spaceport through geographic …
Read More »CHINA BUILDS ROAD INDIA-BHUTAN-CHINA TRI-JUNCTION
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 …
Read More »SYSTEM FOR PENSION ADMINISTRATION RAKSHA (SPARSH)
The Defence Secretary, Shri GiridharArmane has urged the stakeholders of System for Pension Administration Raksha (SPARSH), an one stop solution to all pension related activities of Defence pensioners pioneered by Defence Accounts Department, to make it more user friendly. He underlined some problems in migration to SPARSH platform and technical …
Read More »MILITARY EXERCISE “KAZIND – 2022”
The 6th Edition of Indo – Kazakhstan joint training exercise “KAZIND-22” is scheduled to be conducted at Umroi (Meghalaya) from 15 to 28 December 2022. Joint annual training exercise with the Kazakhstan Army was instituted in 2016 as Exercise Prabal Dostyk, which was later upgraded to a company level exercise and …
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