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GS: 2
L-G bound by ‘aid and advice’ of Delhi govt., says Constitution Bench
A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court unanimously held on Wednesday that Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal is bound by the “aid and advice” of the Arvind Kejriwal government.
‘Delhi as capital belongs to the nation as a whole’
CJI quotes from the 1987 Balakrishnan report to conclude that Delhi is not a State‘Control of the Union over Delhiis vital in the national interest’‘Lieutenant-Governor has free hand in judicial, quasi-judicial functions’‘Administrator has to be more active than the Governor of a State’
L-G should not be an obstructionist: SC
The Lieutenant-Governor should act as a “facilitator” for good governance in the national capital and not as an “obstructionist”, a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court unanimously held on Wednesday.
Legal experts have hailed the Supreme Court’s judgment on Delhi government, saying it has unfolded the objective of election and the power of the elected representatives.
Union Cabinet clears DNA profiling Bill
The Union Cabinet has cleared a Bill that allows law enforcement agencies to collect DNA samples, create “DNA profiles” and special databanks for forensic-criminal investigations.
HEFA to allot Rs. 1 lakh crore for education
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday permitted the Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA) to mobilise Rs. 1 lakh crore to fund research and academic infrastructure in higher educational institutions by 2022. The funding will also be available to government-run schools Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas.
The inability in recent years to pass legislation relating to foreign branch campuses and other relationships with overseas universities is an indication of the problem. The Study in India initiative and proposals relating to relationships between Indian and foreign institutions are useful beginnings
The SC clarifies an elected government cannotbe undermined by an unelected administrator
NRC: 1.5 lakh names to be omitted
About 1.5 lakh people, whose names figured in the first draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC) published on December 31 last year, would not be included in the second and final draft scheduled to be published on July 30.
India braces for more U.S. pressure
The government is bracing for more “pressure” from the U.S. on Iran sanctions in the upcoming weeks, but hopes that there may be an exception made for its dealings on the Chabahar port, as officials meet with a U.S. delegation in the next few weeks.
SCS not feasible, Centre tells Supreme Court
The Central government filed a counter affidavit in the Supreme Court on Wednesday expressing its inability to give Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh and said all commitments under the A.P. Reorganisation Act (APRA), 2014 had been addressed.
Horrified by fake news: WhatsApp
Responding to the government’s letter on Tuesday asking it to prevent the misuse of its platform, WhatsApp has said it is taking a number of steps to tackle the issue of fake messages, including testing a new label that lets a user know if a message is a forward.
EC launches Braille-enabled Voter IDs
The Election Commission on Wednesday launched voter identity cards with Braille label to ensure greater participation of persons with visual impairment in the electoral process.
Freedom from being ‘India-locked’
In Nepal, after Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli returned from China last month, his second trip — but also his first as a leader of a coalition that commands a two-thirds majority in Parliament and has governments in six out of seven provinces — the visit was hailed as a great success.
GS: 3
MSP for paddy hiked by Rs. 200
In keeping with the promise made in this year’s Budget speech, the Union Cabinet has approved a hike in minimum support prices (MSPs) for kharif crops so that they are 50% higher than the cost of production, not including land costs.
Nipah transmission route unclear
The NIV recently found the Nipah virus in fruit bats in West Bengal and Assam, according to a report published in March in the Indian Journal of Medical Research .
MSP for paddy hiked by Rs. 200
In 2008-09 — also an election year — the UPA government had announced a 20.8% year-on-year hike in the MSP of paddy.
Between September 2017 and April 2018, says a CSO media release last week titled “Payroll Reporting in India: An Employment Perspective – April 2018”, the economy added 4.1 million new jobs in the formal sector.
According to one estimate, the city’s Mithi river, blocked by debris and garbage, has lost about 60% of its catchment to development.
In the past, the government has dithered several times on the National Policy on Biofuels (NPB). In 2003, the Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme (EBP) focussed on 5% blending of molasses-based ethanol with petrol.
On April 13, the new Breach Level Index, released by digital security firm Gemalto, reported a 783% increase in cases of data theft in India in 2017. Most compromised or stolen records belonged to the government, which was followed by the retail and technology sectors.
Stopping the rupee’s free fall
The rupee last week fell to an all-time low of 69.09 against the U.S dollar. The currency has fallen about 7.5% since the beginning of the year, making it the worst-performing currency in Asia.
Services PMI returns to growth in June
Following a marginal contraction in May, the services sector returned to growth during June and registered the fastest rate of expansion in a year, supported by a robust increase in new business orders, a monthly survey showed.
Moody’s survey shows oil prices as the main risk to India’s economy
Oil prices, pace of banks’ balance sheet clean-up and investment remain the key credit risks in India, according to an investor survey by Moody’s Investors Service.
Testosterone pushes men to luxury brands: study
A single dose of testosterone steers men towards luxury brands of cars, watches, pens or clothes which, like stag anglers and peacock tails, signal “status” to the female gender, scientists said on Tuesday.
Cosmic rays from star system may reach earth
Eta Carinae — the most luminous and massive stellar system within 10,000 light-years — is accelerating particles to high energies, some of which may reach the earth as cosmic rays, a study using data from a NASA telescope has found.
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