Author: ForumIAS

Sushma urges NRIs to come back Context Setting the tone for the government’s outreach to the Indian diaspora, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday urged people of Indian origin to take advantage of India’s projects for connectivity to Southeast Asian countries. Asks people of Indian origin to take advantage of connectivity projects Speaking in… Continue reading Sushma urges NRIs to come back

US couldntforsee North Koreas strides At the start of Donald Trump’s presidency, U.S. intelligence agencies told the new administration that while North Korea had built the bomb, there was still ample time — upward of four years — to slow or stop its development of a missile capable of hitting a U.S. city with a… Continue reading US couldntforsee North Koreas strides

Willing to talk to Kim, says Trump  Context U.S President Donald Trump said talks between North Korea and South Korea scheduled for next week was an outcome of his “firm stance” and he could talk to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on the phone. “Absolutely I would do that. No problem with that at… Continue reading Willing to talk to Kim, says Trump 

Data theft: on UIDAI exposé  Context The UIDAI exposé is another reminderof the need for a robust data protection law The UIDAI exposé is another reminder of the need for a robust data protection law Undercover investigations or so-called sting operations occupy a complex and problematical ethical space in journalism, but it is impossible to… Continue reading Data theft: on UIDAI exposé 

Amended companies act notified  Context The government on Monday announced that it has notified the Companies (Amendment) Act 2017, which is set to ease the implementation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 Changes to impact share issuance at discount, managerial remuneration The provisions of this Amendment Act shall come into force on the date… Continue reading Amended companies act notified 

Bharat Net covers 1 lakh panchayats Context The government on Monday said it had laid optical fibre in more than 1 lakh gram panchayats, completing the first phase of the BharatNet project that forms the backbone for the Digital India initiative. Govt. aims to lay fibre network by Dec. The delay-marred project aims to bring… Continue reading Bharat Net covers 1 lakh panchayats

The age of crypto- economics  Context The Finance Ministry recently issued a statement warning against investing in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies (CCs). Likening CCs to ‘Ponzi schemes’, it linked them to terror-funding, smuggling, drug-trafficking, and money-laundering. The stern advisory came after three other warnings issued by the Reserve Bank of India Why the distrust? Two… Continue reading The age of crypto- economics 

India unveils Pratyush, its fastest supercomputer yet  Context India’s supercomputing prowess moved up several notches Monday after it unveiled Pratyush, an array of computers that can deliver a peak power of 6.8 petaflops. One petaflop is a million billion floating point operations per second and is a reflection of the computing capacity of a system.… Continue reading India unveils Pratyush, its fastest supercomputer yet 

No material to probe Gandhi death again  Context There is no substantive material to justify a need to re-investigate the assassination of the Father of the Nation, amicus curiae AmarendraSharan said in his report to the Supreme Court on Monday British conspiracy Seventy years after the assassination on January 30, 1948, the Supreme Court had asked Mr.Sharan… Continue reading No material to probe Gandhi death again 

SC for larger warnings on cigarette packs  Context The Supreme Court on Monday stayed a Karnataka High Court order reducing the size of pictorial warnings on packages of tobacco products to 40% of the package space Citizens’ health paramount The court foregrounded the health of citizens over the concerns of the tobacco industry and favoured a… Continue reading SC for larger warnings on cigarette packs