Norway’s Apex Court Upholds Oil Drilling in Arctic
The Supreme Court of Norway on December 22, 2020, upheld the plans of the Norwegian government for oil exploration in the Arctic. It dismissed the lawsuit by the campaigners, Greenpeace and the Nature and Youth group, who viewed the scheme as violative of people's...
The Attorney General and Contempt of Court
Introduction Recently the ‘contempt of courts’ issue has drawn widespread attention, debate, and discussion in the media, and among different politically conscious circles. But the matter is not a new one; earlier incidents involving the issue of contempt of courts...
Blockchain Method for Two-Way-Remote Voting
On the occasion of National Voters' Day, on January 25, 2021, the Chief Election Commissioner of India, Sunil Arora, announced that mock trials for remote voting facility for electors were slated to begin soon in India. The Election Commission of India has...
Jail Tourism at Yerawada
On the occasion of 72nd Republic Day, January 26, 2021 the Prison Department of Maharashtra launched its jail tourism initiative at the Yerawada Central Jail, which is 150 years old, situated in Pune. Under this initiative educational establishments as well as...
Patharughat Uprising
Patharughat is a small village in the Darrang district of Assam, north-east of Guwahati is often called as 'Patharighat' or 'Potharughat'. In January 1894, the British Army in Patharughat, massacred more than a hundred unarmed farmers for silently protesting against...
Uttarakhand Flash Floods
On February 7, 2021 massive floods washed away the Rishiganga hydroelectric power project and the Tapovan project on the Dhauli Ganga river (a tributary of the Alaknanda) near Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. The floods were most likely caused as a result of breaking...
FAO Advisory on La Nina 2020-21
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) released 2020-21 La Nina advisory—Potential impacts on agriculture and food security in high-risk countries, in December 2020. The advisory gives a general review of the historical effect of La Nina as well as an outlook of...
Direct Seeded Rice
Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) In the wake of the lockdown and the exodus of migrants in 2020, there were reports that farmers in Punjab and Haryana were being encouraged to resort to direct seeding of rice (DSR) in place of the method of transplanting. In the technique...
The Issue of Corporate Ownership in Indian Banks
On November 20, 2020, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the report of the Internal Working Group (IWG) that reviewed the existing licensing, regulatory guidelines, and corporate structure of Indian private sector banks and came out with certain recommendations....
India-Maldives Relations
The Foreign Secretary of India, Harsh Vardhan Shringla visited Maldives in November 2020 to further strengthen India’s relations with Male. The visit is significant as bilateral cooperation between India and Maldives, especially on the economic front, has prosporsed...
US Rejoins Paris Climate Agreement
On the very first day of assuming the office of the President of the United States (US), Joe Biden, on January 20, 2021 signed an executive order to have the US rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement. The rejoining of a country after its exit from Paris Agreement is...
Single Window Clearance for Coal Mining
The government on January 11, 2021 announced a single window clearance portal for commercial coal mining. This would enable successful bidders to get all mandatory clearances from a single portal. There will be no requirement to seek sanction from multiple...
Panel to Review TRP System
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting constituted a four-member committee on November 4, 2020, to review the guidelines on television rating agencies in India. The committee is headed by Prasar Bharati CEO, Shashi S Vempati, and its other members include Dr....
New Welfarism
An article titled 'New Welfarism of India's Right' written by Abhishek Anand (graduate student at the Havard Kennedy School), Vikas Dimble (Deputy Director, Ashoka Center for Economic Policy), and Arvind Subramanian (Professer, Ashoka University) was published in the...
Meteorite Mukundpura CM2
On June 6, 2017, Mukundpura village near Jaipur witnessed a bright trail in the sky, followed by a thunderous sound. Later, a burning object with a sulphurous smell was found on the soft agricultural land, broken into several fragments. It caused a pit of about 15 cm...
Extended Producer Responsibility
Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is a practice and a policy approach in which the responsibility for management of the disposal of products is borne by the producers after the products are used and are no longer useful. This responsibility may be fiscal,...
Statement on Climate of India 2020
The Climate Research and Services (CRS) of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a ‘Statement on Climate of India during 2020’ in January 2021. As per the statement, 2020 was the eighth warmest year on record since nation-wide records started in 1901, on...
CCPI Index 2021
The Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2021 was released on December 7, 2020 by Germanwatch, a non-governmental organisation. The index lists 57 countries and the European Union on the basis of four categories, i.e., greenhouse gas emission, renewable energy,...
UNEP Emissions Gap Report
On December 9, 2020, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) released its annual flagship Emissions Gap Report, which assesses the gap between anticipated emissions in 2030 and levels consistent with the 1.5 °C and 2 °C targets of the Paris Agreement. It warned that the...
Immunity from Prosecution on Declaring Exotic Pets
The Supreme Court, on November 22, 2020, upheld an Allahabad High Court order granting immunity from investigation and prosecution if one declared illegal acquisition or possession of exotic wildlife species between June and December 2020. Earlier, an amnesty scheme...