Category: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL & SOCIAL

Context India will be hosting the next steering committee meeting of the proposed 1,814 kilometre-long Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. The meeting The decision has come during the sixth joint Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) meeting on trade, economic, scientific and technological cooperation. The meeting was followed by a meeting between visiting Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister… Continue reading New Delhi to host the next panel meet for TAPI gas pipeline

Context: The Supreme Court sets up panel to prepare common working plan to rehabilitate widows in India by November 30, 2017. Current scenario: As per recent census, 0.45% of total widows are child widows in the age group of 10-19 years. 9.0% are in the age group of 20-39 years, 32% in the age group… Continue reading Reinstating security to widows in the country

Context: India is the largest importer of defence equipment in the world Introduction: India has the third-largest armed force in the world. India is one of the largest importers of conventional defence equipment and spends about 40 per cent of its defence budget on capital acquisitions. In 2015, the budgetary allocation for defence was Rs… Continue reading India’s approach to reorganizing national security

Context With time China’s increasing aggressive policy is hurting its neighbours especially India. Chinese aggressive policy The increasingly aggressive Chinese foreign policy is chiefly driven by two factors: A build-up of nationalistic fervour in domestic politics and the Chinese economy’s hunger for new markets. In the year 2012, Xi Jinping spoke of the “Chinese dream,”… Continue reading Rising Chinese Aggressive policy

Context S. President Donald Trump’s harsh rhetoric against North Korea and equally strident counter-threats by Pyongyang have made the situation in the Korean Peninsula drastically worse. Recent developments New reports signaling that North Korea has developed a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can fit inside its missiles, U.S replied back with the same aggressiveness. America’s nuclear… Continue reading Need for the US to wind down war talk with North Korea

Context: The death of over 30 children within a span of 48 hours at the government-run Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College hospital in Gorakhpur, Uttar pradesh, isn’t merely about oxygen cylinders and unpaid bills but it is a consequence of many deeper problems. The tragedy: 60 deaths have been reported in the children’s department… Continue reading Gorakhpur Hospital Tragedy: insufficient oxygen supply not the sole reason

Context: The Health Ministry and the NITI Aayog have developed a Public Private Partnership (PPP) framework to let private hospitals run services within district hospitals, on a 30-year lease for three non-communicable diseases i.e. cardiac disease, pulmonary disease, and cancer care. Explanation: First in the world, the Aayog is all set to push states to privatise… Continue reading A strange amalgamation: Privatizing Public health care

Context: With several popular anti-corruption movements fading out, it is hard to bring a culture of honesty in the country all by law alone. Explanation: As India prepares to celebrate its 70th year of independence, it will do so as a nation that has achieved a lot of socio-economic dimensions over the decades—first with its… Continue reading India’s crusade against anti-corruption seems to be everlasting

 Context Two months after the India-Afghanistan air corridor was inaugurated with great expectations, news that it has been hit by a shortage of cargo planes is a cause for concern. Rising concerns It is astounding that the initiative has been hit by logistical problems within weeks of its initiation. It left traders in Afghanistan with… Continue reading India needs to carry more weight in seeing through its connectivity plans

Context Venezuela, a country with enormous oil is currently facing rapid declining foreign exchange reserves, poverty and hyperinflation projected at 720% this year and 2069% next, according to the International Monetary Fund. Major crisis Under President Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela has been experiencing an acute shortage of food, medicine and other vital supplies. Venezuela is in… Continue reading Venezuela faces rapid decline in Forex reserves