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GS: 2
International relations:
39 Indians, abducted by IS in Iraq, are dead: Sushma(The Hindu)
DNA tests on remains from mass grave confirmed identities, Minister tells RS
Indian Constitution and Polity:
Criterion for giving minority tag to educational groups tweaked(The Hindu)
Making it easier for educational institutions to get the minority tag, the Department of Primary and Secondary Education has tweaked the eligibility criterion to set up minority education institutions.
SC gives State a month to submit revised seniority list(The Hindu)
The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied the Karnataka government six months to implement its February 9, 2017, judgment to revise the promotion list of employees after invalidation of a law granting reservation in promotion to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe employees.
Separate freedoms(The Hindu Opinion)
Last year, before a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court in K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India , the Central government posited a frightening thesis. The Constitution, it argued, does not recognise a fundamental right to privacy. One of the main planks of this submission revolved around a notion that privacy was a purely elitist concern, that a liberty of this kind, whenever and wherever it can be promised, will always be overridden by the government’s duties in a welfare state.
Centre wants ‘humane’ AFSPA(The Hindu)
In a first admission that Centre was keen to water down the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958, Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir informed the Lok Sabha that it was considering a proposal to make the Act more “operationally effective and humane.”
SC/ST Act being used for blackmail, says top court(The Hindu)
The anti-atrocities law, which protects Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes from casteist slurs and discrimination, has become an instrument to “blackmail” innocent citizens and public servants, the Supreme Court observed in a judgment on Tuesday.
GS: 3
Economy:
Centre clears Rs. 1,400 cr. for Polavaram(The Hindu)
The Union Ministry of Finance has directed NABARD to release Rs. 1,400 crore from the Long Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF) to fund the Polavaram Project, State Water Resources Principal Secretary Shashi Bhushan Kumar has said.
India to take up U.S. tariffs bilaterally(The Hindu)
India will take up the issue of the U.S. imposing tariffs on steel and aluminium imports on a bilateral level, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Tuesday.
New telecom policy almost ready: Sinha(The Hindu)
Union Minister Manoj Sinha said on Tuesday that the new telecom policy (NTP) was almost ready and would be brought in the next session of Parliament after Cabinet nod.
‘Move out, move up approach could ease India’s farm crisis’(The Hindu)
Indian must adopt policies that facilitate sections of farmers to ‘move out’ of rural areas to urban areas and the remaining ones to ‘move up’ in the farming sector to tackle the current agrarian crisis, the head of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) said.
Environment:
Rajasthan loses two tigers in two days(The Hindu)
Rajasthan has lost two male tigers in separate incidents in the Ranthambore National Park and the Sariska Tiger Reserve since Monday. A 13-year-old tiger died when it was tranquillised near Ranthambore on Tuesday, while a four-year-old died after it was caught in a snare in Sariska on Monday.
Awash in water crises(The Hindu Opinion)
As World Water Day draws closer (March 22), this year’s World Water Development Report makes it clear that nature-based solutions — which are also aligned with the principles and aims of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — can offer answers to our most pressing water-related challenges. Business-as-usual approaches to water security are no longer viable.
World’s last male northern white rhino dies in Kenya(The Hindu)
Sudan, the last male northern white rhino, has died in Kenya at the age of 45, after becoming a symbol of efforts to save his sub-species from extinction, a fate that only science can now prevent.
Science and Technology:
India joins Europe’s satellite data sharing pool(The Hindu)
India has joined Europe’s mega global arrangement of sharing data from earth observation satellites, called Copernicus.
Yesterday’s current affairs material by Forum IAS
7 PM Editorial: India’s healthcare system in crisis
