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Reclaiming the Indo-Pacific narrative
At the 34th summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Bangkok in June, its member states finally managed to articulate a collective vision for the Indo-Pacific region in a document titled “The ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific”.
Crimes that India’s statute books have failed to define
Neither ‘crimes against humanity’ nor ‘genocide’ has been made part of India’s criminal law, a lacuna that needs to be addressed urgently.
Quota politics: on U.P.’s move to confer SC status on 17 backward castes
The Uttar Pradesh government’s latest attempt to extend the benefits available to Scheduled Castes to 17 castes that are now under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) list has no legal basis and appears to be aimed at making political gains.
Economic Survey has based Aadhaar impact on MGNREGS on false assumptions, say researchers
Researchers and activists studying the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) data have refuted the argument made in this year’s Economic Survey regarding the positive causal impact of Aadhaar-linked payments (ALP) on the scheme
Indo-Afghan trade chokes on U.S. curbs
The government’s decision to slash its allocation for Iran’s Chabahar port by two-thirds, as announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the latest Budget will be a further blow to India-Afghan trade
Outlay for child welfare sees a meagre increase
The outlay for children in the Union Budget has shown a marginal increase of 0.05%, going up from 3.24% in the last fiscal to 3.29% in the current fiscal with a grant of Rs. 91,644.29 crore
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Production of Vande Bharat Express comes to a grinding halt
The production of India’s first semi high-speed train has come to a grinding halt at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai.
No easy answer to economic slowdown
The most keenly watched number in the Union Budget is, perhaps, the ratio of fiscal deficit to GDP. A decline in the ratio is cheered by commentators and the markets. An increase is a seen as a setback to reforms.
Plan for district eco-panels draws fire
State-level officers tasked with environmental assessment have objected to several clauses in a draft law that proposes the creation of district-level environment impact assessment authorities.
Nepal is turning Everest trash into treasure
In a bid to save Mount Everest from trash, Nepal conducted a month-long cleaning campaign and collected around 10,000 kg of rubbish from the region.
