Must Read News Articles – December 31st, 2018

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Navtej Johar, a verdict for all times

Trapped in a frozen political process amidst heightened public passions, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was out of sync with contemporary values on gender orientation.

‘No agency has licence to snoop’

The Central government has not given ‘blanket power’ to any agency to intercept information from any computer, a senior Home Ministry official has said.

Pak. beefing up border armoury

Pakistan has drawn up an ambitious plan to procure close to 600 battle tanks, including T-90 tanks from Russia, primarily to bolster its military might along the border with India, intelligence sources said on Sunday.

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HIV reality check

Studies show that blood banks in India have a success rate of less than 50% in contacting donors who have tested positive for transfusion-transmissible infections.

Lifelines beyond farm loan waivers

A farm loan waiver was among the first steps taken by the three new governments in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and has understandably set off a debate about its usefulness.

Plan before making a bid

The Indian Olympic Association must consider several issues if it wishes to host the 2032 Olympic Games

Hard lesson: funds not enough to attract teachers to government schools

This despite States increasing their budgets for school education in the past three years, says a study conducted across six States by two NGOs

Of financial debacles and rating agency models

The spotlight is on credit rating agencies (CRAs) once again, this time triggered by the crisis at, and default by, Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (ILFS). In this, the ‘issuer pays’ business model of CRAs seems to have borne the brunt of criticism.

PT FACTS

Veteran filmmaker Mrinal Sen dead

Mrinal Sen, one of the towering figures of Indian cinema, passed away on Sunday at his south Kolkata residence. He was suffering from ailments related to old age. He was 95.

Pradhan launches sanitary pad-making initiative

The Ujjwala Sanitary Napkins initiative by three oil marketing companies – IOCL, BPCL and HPCL – was launched by Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan here on Sunday.

The return of the native rice variety

Having developed an interest in native varieties — specifically, ones that grow without the use of fertilizers — he went on a quest for almost a year looking for such paddy varieties.