Author: ForumIAS

Tragedy of errors Context Kashmir is not one but two problems. There is the problem of Kashmir between India and Pakistan and the problem in Kashmir between the people and the Central government Basis of the problems The first is based on Pakistan’s challenge to the legality of the State’s accession to India The second… Continue reading Tragedy of errors 

Bond loss: RBI eases provisioning norms Context The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to ease the provisioning norms for bond losses for third and fourth quarters of 2017-18 Backdrop Rising bond yields What has happened? RBI has now allowed banks to spread bond losses, incurred in 3rd and 4th quarters, over four quarters… Continue reading Bond loss: RBI eases provisioning norms

Millets and wheat over rice and meat Context A shift to wheat, millets and maize from polished rice, to chicken and legumes from beef and eggs, along with leafy vegetables and coconut could reduce India’s micronutrient deficiencies and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a study titled ‘Healthy, affordable and climate-friendly diets in India’ suggests Data used… Continue reading Millets and wheat over rice and meat 

Cauvery again Context Cauvery matter is once again before Supreme Court Why another round of litigation in Cauvery dispute? Tamil Nadu has moved the court to initiate contempt proceedings against the Centre for not complying with the direction to frame a scheme to implement the water-sharing arrangement set out in the February 16 judgment The… Continue reading Cauvery again

Federalism and fairness What has happened? Federalism is once again the focus of political discourse in India. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah set the cat among the pigeons when he highlighted Kannada pride by unveiling an official state flag last month. Then in a Facebook post on “Regional Identity & Federalism”, he advocated the need for… Continue reading Federalism and fairness

Govt. tightens its grip on fake news What has happened? The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting headed by Union Minister Smriti Irani on Monday amended the guidelines for accreditation of journalists Accreditation can be cancelled Accreditation of a journalist (both television and print) can be cancelled/annulled if the news reported by them is found to… Continue reading Govt. tightens its grip on fake news

‘Court had no business to dilute Act’ What has happened? In its review petition filed before the Supreme Court on Monday, the Centre said the court had no business to dilute the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and make it easier for accused persons to escape arrest. SC’s view The… Continue reading ‘Court had no business to dilute Act’

Sharing data across borders A scenario: The need of data access from other countries Consider a scenario where a crime is committed in India and the suspect and victim are both Indian citizens. If the suspect used a U.S.-based messaging service to plan the crime, an Indian officer investigating would have to raise a request… Continue reading Sharing data across borders

Study sounds the alarm for Arctic ice What has happened? Even if humanity stops global warming in its tracks at two degress Celsius, long seen as the guardrail for a climate-safe world, Arctic sea ice will still disappear in some years, scientists have warned Odds better if held at 1.5 degrees though In a 2… Continue reading Study sounds the alarm for Arctic ice

NASA spots farthest star Context NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has discovered the farthest individual star ever seen — an enormous blue stellar body nicknamed Icarus located over halfway across the universe 9 billion years The star, located in a very distant spiral galaxy, is so far away that its light has taken nine billion years… Continue reading NASA spots farthest star