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The governments of India and the U.K. marked PravasiBharatiya Divas on January 9 by kicking off the Young Professionals Scheme, which will permit up to 3,000 of their degree-holding citizens aged between 18 and 30 to live and work in each other’s countries for a period of two years. The …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Residents of Joshimath, the Himalayan pilgrim town that appears to be sinking, are blaming major power and road infrastructure projects for their plight and are demanding that the government resettle and give new homes for all those who have lost their properties in the town. Members of the National Disaster …

Negotiations for bilateral free trade agreements with several countries are “well on track” and India is also looking at some multilateral pacts that are fair and equitable for all member countries, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday. India had implemented a free trade agreement (FTA) with the …

Access to clean and drinkable water has now not only become a local problem but global as well. Water contamination is one of the world’s leading causes of death and the problem is only getting worse. To tackle this, our team at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), …

The XBB.1.5 Omicron recombinant variant that was first detected in the U.S. (New York and Connecticut) in late October 2022has now spread to at least 29 countries. It is rapidly increasing in number to become the dominant variant in the U.S., particularly in the northeast part of the country. The …

In 1911, Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovered superconductivity in mercury. He found that at a very low temperature, called the threshold temperature, solid mercury offers no resistance to the flow of electric current. The BCS theory Scientists later classified mercury as a conventional superconductor because its superconductivity could be …

The extremist groups of Manipur operating from their hideouts across the International Border are increasingly feeling the heat of the civil war in adjoining Myanmar. Officials of the security forces manning the India-Myanmar border said the once-tolerant local people have been turning on the members of extremist groups in Manipur, …

They know it is an inhuman and demeaning job rooted in caste-based discrimination and passed on to successive generations, but the sanitary workers continue to undertake manual scavenging as employers exploit them, and at times are cruel as well. The workers, the women especially, continue to do so to sustain …

For the next 8 months, there will be Pre summits on the five Y20(Youth 20) themes along with various discussions and seminars at different Universities across states in India in a run up to the final Youth-20 Summit India’s key focus is to bring young leaders from all across the …

Taming inflation is the top priority for South Asian countries as risks to growth and investment outlook could rise if price pressures persist at high levels, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Friday. Speaking at an event organised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the RBI …