The land subsidence in Joshimath has become emblematic of a geological disaster that has in fact manifested across India, in the neighbourhood of several large resource-extraction projects. There have been reports of subsidence from the Jharia, Bhurkunda, Kapasara, Raniganj and Talcher coal mines; from Delhi and Kolkata due to the …
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BEYPORE BOAT FOR SWADESH DARSHAN PROJECT
The Kerala Tourism Department is likely to highlight Beypore ‘Uru’, the wooden dhows handcrafted by artisans and carpenters, and the water sports there in the detailed project report (DPR) to be submitted to the Centre for the Swadesh Darshan project. Beypore and Kumarakom are the only two tourism destinations from …
Read More »PARLIAMENT’S SOVEREIGNTY
● Amid a debate on the process of appointment of judges, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday made strong comments on “public posturing” or “one-upmanship” by the judiciary. ● Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla also spoke in a similar vein. ● Inaugurating the 83rd All India Presiding Officers conference, Mr. Dhankhar, who is the …
Read More »₹2,600-CR. INCENTIVE FOR BANKS TO PROMOTE DIGITAL PAYMENTS
● The Union Cabinet approved an outlay of ₹2,600 crore to promote payments using RuPay cards and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), said Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav on Wednesday. Banks will be provided this incentive money to promote such digital payments, an official press release said. ● The fund will be paid …
Read More »NORTHEAST MONSOON
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said the northeast monsoon is likely to withdraw from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on Thursday. Nippy weather may set in, especially over the interior parts of the State, where the minimum temperature is likely to drop by two or three degrees Celsius. On Wednesday, …
Read More »RBI’S REVISED GUIDELINES FOR LOCKER MANAGEMENT
In order to enhance the safety, transparency and effective management of safe deposit lockers provided by banks, apex banking regulator Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released a list of revised guidelines, which came into force from January 1, 2022. The guidelines followed observations made by the Supreme Court in Amitabha Dasgupta vs United Bank of …
Read More »THE STALEMATE BETWEEN TELANGANA AND AP
More than eight years after the bifurcation of the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh, division of assets and liabilities between the two States remain elusive as the States make their own interpretation of the provisions under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014. Several bilateral meetings between the two States as well …
Read More »‘PRE-POLL BUDGET REFORMS
The Union Budget of 2023-24, India’s final full-year Budget before the Lok Sabha polls in 2024, is unlikely to see any major reforms and could see higher allocations for welfare measures as well as capex along with cuts in defence expenditure, as witnessed in recent pre-election Budgets, Goldman Sachs said …
Read More »SECTION 6A OF CITIZENSHIP ACT
A Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Tuesday said it will first take up for preliminary determination whether Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 suffers from any “constitutional infirmity”. Section 6A was a special provision inserted into the 1955 Act in furtherance of a …
Read More »PURCHASING OF INDIGENOUS DEFENCE SYSTEMS
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for three capital acquisition proposals amounting to ₹4,276 crore. These include the helicopter-launched Nag (HELINA) anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM), very short-range air defence systems (VSHORAD), BrahMos cruise missile launchers, and fire control …
Read More »THE BEGINNING OF INDIA’S CULTURAL RENAISSANCE
The month-long Kashi Tamil Sangamam, which showcased Tamil culture, heralded a new era where ancient Indian traditions intermingle with one another and are revitalised with the help of modern practices so that they contribute to cultural and economic growth. It gave a rich cultural context to India’s mission to become …
Read More »LESSONS FROM RUSSIA’S UKRAINE WAR
Russia is “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma,” said Winston Churchill in 1939, referring to the West’s muddled understanding of Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union. The words of the Conservative leader, who led Britain during wartime, still ring true as the world, 10 months into Russia’s invasion of …
Read More »BLACKBUCK SURVIVE CHALLENGES
A new study conducted by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has shed light on how blackbuck in India have fared in the face of natural and human-induced challenges to their survival. The blackbuck is found only on the Indian subcontinent. While males have corkscrew-shaped horns and black-to-dark brown coats, …
Read More »EXPERT PANELS ON NEW ELEPHANT CORRIDORS
The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday informed the Madras High Court that it had constituted two expert committees to come up with a consolidated list of elephant corridors, comprising those that had already been identified as well as potential elephant corridors, in the State. A Division Bench of Justices N. …
Read More »INDO-AUSTRALIA TRADE RELATIONS
The Engineering Export Promotion Council of India (EEPC) on Tuesday organised an outreach programme to raise awareness among exporters from various sectors on Indo-Australia trade dynamics in light of the Australia-India Economic Co-operation and Trade Agreement (ECTA). The bilateral trade agreement came into force on December 29, 2022, and now, …
Read More »WORLD’S LONGEST RIVER CRUISE ‘GANGA VILAS’
The launch of world’s longest river cruise with MV Ganga Vilas by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 13 January, 2023 in Varanasi luxury cruise will cover a distance of more than 3,200 kms across 27 river systems in 5 states in India and Bangladesh. The huge untapped potential …
Read More »INDIA AUSTRALIA ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND TRADE AGREEMENT
It helps matters that Australia exports largely raw materials to India, while India exports finished goods. The ECTA builds on this complementarity, creating win-win opportunities for the two countries. The coming into force of Ind – Aus ECTA brings together two major economies of the world – India the 5th …
Read More »DIGITAL INDIA AWARD 2022
e-NAM, a flagship initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, has won the Platinum Award in the Digital Empowerment of Citizens Category in Digital India Awards 2022 held in New Delhi today. e-NAM is a digital platform integrating 1260 APMC mandis across 22 States and 3 UTs to …
Read More »HUMAN-ANIMAL CONFLICT IN WAYANAD
In the latest in a series of wild elephant attacks in Kerala, SubairKutty, a daily worker, was attacked by a rouge elephant at SulthanBathery town adjacent to the Wayanad wildlife Sanctuary in the early hours of January 6. Subair, who was taken to a hospital with injuries, had a miraculous …
Read More »THE DELAY IN THE DECENNIAL CENSUS
The decennial Census of 2021 has been pushed forward yet again and is unlikely to start till September 2023, at least. The Additional Registrar General of India communicated to States on January 2, without specifying a reason, that the date of freezing of administrative boundaries has been extended till June …
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