The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 was enacted to provide for the constitution of a National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) and the Human Rights Courts for protection of human rights. The recent amendments to the act include: NHRC and SHRC will become more compliant with Paris Principals with … Continue reading Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Act, 2019

Important excerpts from The Hindu and NY Times (with inputs): Turkey invaded a Kurdistan held territory in northern Syria in October 2019. While Turkey has been active in the eight-year-old civil war in Syria, its recent military incursion significantly ups the ante on the conflict. Its egregiously named ‘Operation Peace Spring’ aims to create a … Continue reading Turkey-Syria Conflict.

Excerpts from The Hindu (with inputs): Indian soils are poor in organic matter content. About 59% of soils are low in available nitrogen; about 49% are low in available phosphorus; and about 48% are low or medium in available potassium. Indian soils are also varyingly deficient in micronutrients, such as zinc, iron, manganese, copper, molybdenum … Continue reading Soil Health in India

As defined by the UN,census is "the total process of collecting, compiling and publishing demographic, economic and social data pertaining, at a specified time or times to all persons in a country or delimited territory." Census provides an instantaneous photographic picture as it was of a community, which is valid at a particular moment of … Continue reading Challenges and Utility of Census

Important excerpts from The Hindu (with inputs): Some data – ‘Global Disinformation Order’ – a study by Oxford University shows evidence of organised social media manipulation campaigns that have taken place in 70 countries, up from 48 countries in 2018 and 28 countries in 2017. In each country, there is at least one political party … Continue reading Digital Space and Democracy

Important excerpts from The Hindu (with inputs): China-India relations assume “global and strategic significance” beyond just the bilateral dimension. Only two major developing countries with a population of over one billion and important representatives of emerging economies, China-India relations transcend the bilateral dimension and assume global and strategic significance. General Issues: China and India continue … Continue reading India-China – IR dimensions.

Important Excerpts from The Hindu articles: Madras HC has held that social media platforms can be held accountable for the spread of fake news through their platform; fake news can have psychological impact on the masses and can lead to unrest. There is a need to monitor the digital space to study the organised manipulation … Continue reading Media and Fake News

Important Excerpts from The Hindu articles: National Nutrition Mission - September, 2019 is being observed as ‘Poshan Maah’ (nutrition month) across the country to ensure mobilisation at the grassroots level to achieve the targets laid down under the ‘Poshan Abhiyaan’ or the National Nutrition Mission (NNM). Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, the … Continue reading Nutrition

Important Excerpts from The Hindu articles (with inputs): The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was passed by the Lok Sabha in January this year but lapsed as it was not tabled in the Rajya Sabha. It had proposed to amend the original Citizenship Act of 1955. The Bill had mandated that those who cross the border … Continue reading Citizenship Amendment Bill

Important Excerpts from The Hindu articles (with inputs): In late September 2019, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed restrictions on withdrawals from the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank, one of the largest urban cooperative lenders. Cooperative banks came directly under the RBI’s radar in 1966 but faced the problem of dual regulation. The … Continue reading Co-operative Banks.