News: Recently, Afghanistan has faced a severe earthquake, which is supposed to have killed around 1,000-plus people in initial estimates. What are the major problems that are being faced in Afghanistan? Before Earthquake Afghanistan is already in the midst of a humanitarian crisis since Taliban’s takeover last year, Since Earthquake The earthquake has put Afghanistan… Continue reading Help Afghans
Tag: gs paper 2
OP Agarwal, Nitya Kaushik write: Training Karmayogis at all levels is a must for inclusive development
News: Recently, the Government of India’s Mission Karmayogi programme to build civil service capacity received a $47 million boost from the World Bank. History of Training programmes for capacity building of the Civil Servants? At Senior Level Before 1985: Higher civil servants received two-year induction training. It was done to equip IAS officers to be… Continue reading OP Agarwal, Nitya Kaushik write: Training Karmayogis at all levels is a must for inclusive development
Heal the nation before healing the rest of the world
News: News: The Centre is developing an exhaustive online repository of all categories of health-care professionals in the country, under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission and the “Heal by India” initiative About the move An online health-care professional repository will aid foreign stakeholders in finding their right choices. What are the reasons for such a… Continue reading Heal the nation before healing the rest of the world
NCERT’s textbook ‘rationalisation’ exercise raises questions of political intent, is at odds with progressive thrust of NEP
News: It is reported that the NCERT is going to introduce sweeping changes in social science textbooks for Classes VI to XII. It will involve deletion and modification of certain contents of the NCERT books The NCERT’s Rationale The changes are being introduced as a “rationalisation exercise”. This is aimed to reduce the curriculum load… Continue reading NCERT’s textbook ‘rationalisation’ exercise raises questions of political intent, is at odds with progressive thrust of NEP
India and Australia: Partners with shared interests and entwined
News: The Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister of Australia is going to make a visit to Japan and India. India-Australia relations In general (1) Both have a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership which is full of practical, and tangible actions. (2) Both hold annual leaders’ summits and biennial 2+2 talks involving foreign and defence ministers. (3)… Continue reading India and Australia: Partners with shared interests and entwined
A wish list for reform in India’s higher judiciary
News: There are rumours that the age of retirement of Supreme Court of India judges is to be increased to 67 years What should be the prioritized areas with respect to the reforms in the functioning of the Supreme Court of India? The disparity between the retirement ages of HC (62year) and SC judges(65year) should… Continue reading A wish list for reform in India’s higher judiciary
Sukanta Chaudhuri writes: Education plan for disbanded Agniveers is alarmingly vague
News: Recently, the government of India introduced a new recruitment scheme for the armed forces, Agnipath. What are the educational benefits provided to Agniveers? Two major plans have been mooted. First, those joining after Class X can proceed to a Class XII certificate through the National Institute of Open Schooling. Second, a special three-year degree programme… Continue reading Sukanta Chaudhuri writes: Education plan for disbanded Agniveers is alarmingly vague
India buys more coal from Russia, and urea from the US — diversifying supply sources is good policy
News: India’s imports of Russian coal in June are reportedly expected to be the highest in at least seven and a half years. This comes alongside Russia displacing Saudi Arabia to become India’s second-largest oil supplier after Iraq in May. Neither of these are unwelcome developments, nor the fact that India has, for the first… Continue reading India buys more coal from Russia, and urea from the US — diversifying supply sources is good policy
The complex world of regulators
News: Recently, there has been an important change in the working of the government. Nowadays, the statutory regulatory authorities (SRAs) have become important institutions of the government. What are the issues in SRAs? They face questions of accountability and excessive concentration of power. They seem to depart from the principles of the separation of power… Continue reading The complex world of regulators
Resurrecting a dead law
News: Recently, Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 is back in the news. India made a formal submission for criminalising “offensive messages” in the ongoing negotiations at the United Nations for a proposed international treaty on combating cybercrime. The language in the submission is similar to what was used in Section 66A. About… Continue reading Resurrecting a dead law
