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GS:2
Indian Constitution and Polity:
Why don’t you trust PM, Law Minister asks judiciary (The Hindu)
In sharp criticism of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) judgment which revived the Supreme Court collegium, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Sunday that at the core of the verdict is the judiciary’s distrust in the capability of the Law Minister and the Prime Minister to appoint a “fair judge.”
Messy fix (The Hindu Opinion)
The amended insolvency code risks hurting the key aims of the original law
Social Issues:
A toolkit to think local (The Hindu)
The findings of the India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative will aid in decentralised health planning
WHO releases guidelines on responding to child sex abuse (The Hindu)
UN agency puts forward recommendations to be followed by frontline health care providers
Internal Security:
‘Greater Nagalim’ claims: As NSCN(IM) deal nears fruition, why three Northeastern states are agitated (Indian Express)
NSCN(IM) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah said a few months ago that “the historic Framework Agreement” signed with the government of India in August 2015 “recognises the legitimate right of the Nagas to integration of all Naga territories”.
Lessons unlearnt (Indian Express)
The systematic nuts and bolts work needed to secure India is not yet done, nine years after 26/11
GS:3
Economy:
Year after note ban, black money reborn as cyber-cash(Indian Express)
The surge is so powerful that the Niti Aayog has been been asked to study the possibility of following countries like Russia to issue its own, government-backed and regulated cryptocurrency
Understanding Bitcoin: fraud, or the future of money? (Indian Express)
Is the digital currency a liberating innovation that helps consumers free themselves from punishing government regulations globally? Or, flipping the Bitcoin, is the online currency a grand delusion — even a move that benefits the world of crime?
Memo to the World Bank (Indian Express)
India should be rated even higher in the ease of doing business rankings the next time
Environment:
Coral transplant raises Barrier Reef survival hopes (The Hindu)
Coral bred in one part of the Great Barrier Reef was successfully transplanted into another area, Australian scientists said on Sunday, in a project they hope could restore damaged ecosystems around the world.
Surge in oxygen levels led to explosion of life: study (The Hindu)
A boost in levels of oxygen may have caused a three-fold increase in biodiversity during between 445 and 485 million years ago, a study has found.
How a dust storm from 3,000 km away smothered Delhi this month (Indian Express)
It began as a giant swirl over Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in the last week of October, grounding aircraft and halting the war against the IS — and was then propelled eastward by a set of peculiar atmospheric conditions, covering all towns and cities in its path by a choking, blinding haze. The Indian Express explains.
‘Drought, heatwaves increasing in frequency’ (The Hindu)
Increase is most significant in parts of Maharashtra and Southern Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh
Smart- balancing China (The Hindu Editorial)
India must have a clear vision for a regional order, and nudge China towards it
Science and Technology:
IAF banks on Tejas, new fighter to bolster fleet (The Hindu)
It has a sanctioned strength of 42 squadrons and a projected requirement of 45 to face the threat of a two-front war