Author: ForumIAS

Centre not for SC/ST creamy layer What has happened? The government on Wednesday opposed the idea of a “creamy layer” within the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes category. Background The court was hearing a petition filed by Samta Andolan Samiti, representing the poor and downtrodden strata of the SC/ST community in Rajasthan, which contended that… Continue reading Centre not for SC/ST creamy layer

Indus Commission talks today What has happened? India and Pakistan will go ahead with talks on the Indus Waters Treaty on Thursday despite an upsurge in tensions over the LoC crossfire and allegations of harassment of diplomats in Delhi and Islamabad, External Affairs Ministry sources confirmed on Wednesday PIC meeting 114th meeting of the Permanent… Continue reading Indus Commission talks today

Sending the wrong signal Context Recent judgment of SC to protect public servants and private citizens from arbitrary arrests under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 Stats on crime against dalits India has over 180 million Dalits A crime is committed against a Dalit every 15 minutes Six Dalit women… Continue reading Sending the wrong signal

Govt. implements SC order on seniority list What has happened? In a move that implies major shifts in bureaucracy, the State government has asked its departments to implement the seniority list as directed by the Supreme Court. This would mean that while thousands of general category employees will be promoted, many employees belonging to the… Continue reading Govt. implements SC order on seniority list

Trade on agenda of Tokyo talks What has happened? India and Japan will discuss cooperation in the Indo-Pacific in the first high-level meeting since the Quadrilateral and iron out growing worries over bilateral trade as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj meets Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono in Tokyo on Thursday. Background The two sides are… Continue reading Trade on agenda of Tokyo talks

Curbing the khaps Context Recent SC guidelines against Khaps (Refer to the article in yesterday’s brief for the guidelines) Other factors contributing towards honour killings besides caste system Entrenched social prejudices, feudal structures and patriarchal attitudes Measures taken by courts against these feudal bodies 24 hour helplines The High Courts of Punjab and Haryana and… Continue reading Curbing the khaps

Himalayas warmest on record: researchers What has happened? Recent decades have been the wettest and warmest on record in the Himalayas, say researchers who are alarmed that a “warming signature” has led to an overall rise in mercury level ‘Global warming impacting glaciers’ Rising temperatures in western Himalayas:They warn that the impact of global warming… Continue reading Himalayas warmest on record: researchers

GSAT-6A gives India bigger eye in the sky Context Launch of GSAT-6A by ISRO What has happened? The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully placed a communication satellite GSAT-6A in a geosynchronous transfer orbit. It was carried on board the GSLV F-08 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre A Communication Satellite Vikas Engine:The GSAT-6A is… Continue reading GSAT-6A gives India bigger eye in the sky

Major initiative to control BP, diabetes What has happened? The Health Department of Kerala is launching a major initiative as part of a national programme for developing a registry for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) with focus on management of diabetes and hypertension The State government has now chosen to integrate this programme, announced by the Ministry… Continue reading Major initiative to control BP, diabetes

‘Bharatmala to hit 25 toll projects’ Context The 44 new economic corridors (EC) proposed to be built under the Bharatmala network, designed on the shortest possible route connecting the origin and destination, would impact the existing highway networks by directly competing with a few stretches, including some existing Build Own Transfer (BOT) (toll) road projects,… Continue reading ‘Bharatmala to hit 25 toll projects’