Author: ForumIAS

Across faiths, personal laws debated in courts and Parliament:  Context In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling that  ruled triple talaq to be illegal, the question of certain aspects of Muslim personal law being supposedly in conflict with the law and constitutional values has been much discussed recently. Article 25 Vs article 19? While… Continue reading Across faiths, personal laws debated in courts and Parliament: 

‘Finalise body for Cauvery water sharing’: Context The Cauvery river water dispute, primarily between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, dates back to the 19th century. Tamil Nadu government is insisting that the Supreme Court should appoint an authority and frame a scheme for sharing and management of Cauvery river waters among Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and… Continue reading ‘Finalise body for Cauvery water sharing’:

Business Of Cleanliness:  Brief overview The article talks about: The Swachh Bharat Mission Challenge of disposing fecal waste Fecal Sludge Management as a solution; FSM advantages Swachh Bharat Mission The Swachh Bharat Mission plans to achieve safe sanitation for all by 2019. The government has a clearly-defined progress path for achieving open defecation free cities… Continue reading Business Of Cleanliness: 

A ‘Boat Lab’ to study Brahmaputra: Context The Department of Biotechnology will commission a two-tiered barge that will roughly be the size of two large conference rooms and host scientists and a full-fledged lab that will allow those on board to collect samples from various stretches of the river, perform tests on water quality and… Continue reading A ‘Boat Lab’ to study Brahmaputra:

India joins quantum computing race: Context The Department of Science and Technology (DST) is planning to fund a project to develop quantum computers. What are quantum computers? A quantum computer employs the principles of quantum mechanics to store information in ‘qubits’ instead of the typical ‘bits’ of 1 and 0. Qubits work faster because of… Continue reading India joins quantum computing race:

Taxpayer rights and obligations: Context The tax structure of the country is making a paradigm shift both in terms of direct and indirect tax, but it still requires more clarity and fairness in the assessment and collection of the taxes,  so as to bring in more trust among the taxpayers. What is missing? Taxpayers are… Continue reading Taxpayer rights and obligations:

A big broom:  Context: The government’s decision to publicize the identities of entities involved in malpractices through shell companies. What are the reasons behind the government’s crackdown on shell companies? Fight against black money Create an atmosphere of confidence Improving the climate for ease of doing business What is the government’s latest decision on shell… Continue reading A big broom: 

Is FDI the new engine of growth?:  Context FDI from private equity funds have mainly financed e-commerce firms. These have drove import-led consumption boom. Discussion paper on Industrial Policy – 2017 The official discussion paper (DP), Industrial Policy 2017 sets down a list of known constraints, but it ignores serious analyses of poor industrial performance.… Continue reading Is FDI the new engine of growth?: 

Take reform to fuel:  Context Prices of petrol and diesel will come down if states agree on a mechanism to levy GST for oil products Why is the sale price of oil as high as it was when the crude price was twice as high? The government has subsidized the consumers while OMCs and upstream… Continue reading Take reform to fuel: 

Bound by Paris deal, says India: Background President Donald Trump in June announced that America was withdrawing from the Paris deal, arguing that it gave undue advantage to countries like India and China. Amid this uncertainty, India reaffirmed its commitment to the Paris climate change agreement. What happened? External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj attended UN’s… Continue reading Bound by Paris deal, says India: