Context: Recently, after the controversy over controversial remarks on the Prophet, India’s top political and bureaucratic functionaries emphasised India’s stronger credentials as a secular democratic polity. Recently, External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, National Security Adviser (NSA), Ajit Doval and Prime Minister made statements that emphasised India’s stronger credentials as a secular democratic polity. All these remarks… Continue reading Clear signals the ‘fringe’ ought to read
Tag: gs paper 2
Reset mode – on GST Council Meet
News: GST Council meeting was held recently. There are many takeaways from this meeting. GST Council meet, held recently, was its first ‘regular’ meeting after a nine-month break. It discussed recommendations of four ministerial groups’ to fix various aspects of the indirect tax regime. The council ratified 3 out of 4 reports by the groups. What were… Continue reading Reset mode – on GST Council Meet
Do not weaken the anti-defection law
News: The political crisis in Maharashtra again created the debate on anti-defection law. Further, the Supreme Court intervention gave undue advantage to the dissident legislators. What is anti-defection law? Read here: “Nominated members” and “Anti-defection Law” in India Supreme Court of India has described the anti-defection law as “constitutional correctives against a legislatively perceived political evil… Continue reading Do not weaken the anti-defection law
One recruit, one salary – Agnipath Scheme
News: Recently, the government of India introduced a new recruitment scheme for the armed forces, Agnipath. Must read: Agnipath Scheme: Need, Benefits and Challenges – Explained, pointwise What are the advantages of Agnipath Scheme? From the 10th year onwards, Agnipath will yield 31,250 soldiers each year (25 per cent of 125,000) for extended service tenures. The… Continue reading One recruit, one salary – Agnipath Scheme
Home and abroad: On PM Modi’s G-7 commitements and freedom of speech
News: PM of India attended the G7 annual summit meeting in Germany along with other special invitees from Argentina, Indonesia, Senegal, and South Africa. Most of the deliberations took aim at the twin challenges seen from Russia and China. What economic initiatives were discussed? G7 countries discussed the following economic initiatives: – the launch of… Continue reading Home and abroad: On PM Modi’s G-7 commitements and freedom of speech
A road safety quartet and the road ahead
News: In spite of several years of policymaking to improve road safety, India remains among the worst-performing countries in this area. The persistently high annual death toll brings into question the country’s ability to meet Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.6, which aims to halve the fatalities and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2030. Meanwhile,… Continue reading A road safety quartet and the road ahead
The worrying slowdown in India’s fight against poverty
Context: A new poverty estimate has been released by SBI Research. What do the findings of the recent estimates suggest? As per SBI Research, Poverty in India declined to 17.9% in 2020-21, compared with the last available official estimate of 21.9% in 2011-12. These new estimates suggest an annual decline of 2.75 million in our… Continue reading The worrying slowdown in India’s fight against poverty
Selfish rich inequality hypothesis: The selfishness and graft of the rich drive inequality
News: In recent days, a ‘Selfish Rich Inequality Hypothesis’ has been proposed based on an analysis of the Gallup World Poll of 2018. What is the selfish rich inequality hypothesis? It says that, whether the rich are richer than the poor because they have been more selfish in life than the latter. What are… Continue reading Selfish rich inequality hypothesis: The selfishness and graft of the rich drive inequality
On reproductive rights, India’s MTP and Surrogacy Acts don’t go far enough
News: Recently, reproductive rights were overturned in the US through the Roe V. Wade judgment. Bodily autonomy and reproductive rights must be viewed from legal, medical, and social lenses. What are the challenges associated with MTP Act? The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act 2021: The act is in reality far from ideal. (1)… Continue reading On reproductive rights, India’s MTP and Surrogacy Acts don’t go far enough
Amendment proposals for IT rules miss the main point
News: Recently, the Bombay and Madras high courts, ordered to stay the operation of the inter-ministerial appellate body that was to operate under the 2021 IT Rules. The body aims to monitor digital news publications and over-the-top (OTT) platforms. The court observed that this oversight mechanism threatens media independence or “rob the media of its… Continue reading Amendment proposals for IT rules miss the main point
