Farm Acts and Concerns
Introduction Three farm bills, initially issued as ordinances in June 2020, were passed by voice-vote in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha in September 2020; they received presidential assent on September 27, 2020 and became acts. However, due to the massive protests...
No Anticipatory Bail during Constructive Custody
In the case concerning a plea for anticipatory bail by Manish Jain, the Supreme Court held on Nov 20, 2020 that an accused cannot move for anticipatory bail once his regular bail has been cancelled by court, because a person released on bail remains under the...
UN Population Award 2020
On December 10, 2020, Bhutan Queen Mother Guyalyum Sangay Choden Wangchuk was awarded the United Nations Population Award, 2020, in the individual category for her contributions to addressing the challenges of sexual health and gender violence. HelpAge India that...
SCO Online Exhibition on Buddhist Heritage
The first ever Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Online Exhibition on Shared Buddhist Heritage was virtually launched by the Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu during the 19th meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government in November 2020 in New...
Fake GST Invoicing: Issue and Suggestions
The Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGSTI) has initiated a crackdown on fake invoicing networks which have caused a huge loss of more than ` 1.19-lakh crore in the last three years. This amount is close to the deficit that the Centre owes...
Government Protocols for Open E-Commerce Platforms
In a move to standardise the process of onboarding retailers on e-marketplaces, and supply and delivery of products through online channels, India will soon set protocols for digital commerce. As reported on November 26, 2020, the Department for Promotion of Industry...
Bhutan and Germany Establish Diplomatic Relations
Bhutan announced on November 25, 2020 that it had established diplomatic relations with Germany. The announcement was made by Bhutan's Ambassador to India, Major General Vetsop Namgyel, and Germany's Ambassador to India, Walter J. Lindner during an 'Exchange of Verbal...
Kerala Government Revokes Amendments to Police Act
In a gazette notification, on November 9, 2020, the President of India Ram Nath Kovind gave his approval for the regulation of all the online news, social media, and major video streaming platforms by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (Ministry of I&B)....
Solar Powered Unmanned Survey Craft Developed
The Indian Maritime Sector, which is dominated by foreign technology, is finally on its way to become self-reliant. As per the news reports in November 2020, a research team at the National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways and Coasts (NTCPWC) from IIT Madras has...
Global Corruption Barometer: Asia 2020
Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer (GCB) is a survey of the general public on their experience of paying bribes. It also reflects their perceptions of corruption. The survey has been conducted since 2003 and considered to be the largest...
G-20 Summit
At the two day G-20 summit held virtually on November 21–22, 2020 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, leaders of the world’s 20 biggest economies pledged to pay for a fair distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, drugs, and tests across the world to include poorer countries, and to...
UAE Widens Golden Visa Eligibility Criteria
On November 15, 2020 the United Arab Emirates (UAE) extended the eligibility of the ‘golden visa’ system, which grants a 10-year residency permit, to attract and retain experts and talented professionals from various fields and scientific disciplines. The decision was...
WHO Initiative for Elimination of Cervical Cancer
On November 17, 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) launched a global initiative, Global Strategy to Accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer, to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer and adopted a resolution with the support of 194 countries at the...
India and US Extend MoU on Nuclear Energy
In October 2020, India and the United States extended the Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation on nuclear energy on the Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP) by 10 years. The MoU was originally signed between the two countries on November 7,...
Brain Fingerprinting
Brain Electrical Oscillation Signature Profiling (BEOSP), also known as brain fingerprinting, is a revolutionary scientific technology that has come into use in investigating crimes. The National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) says that the BEOSP is an...
GST Proposal Accepted by all States
All the 28 states and the three Union Territories with legislatures have chosen the Centre's ‘Option 1’ proposal to meet the revenue shortfall of Goods and Services Tax (GST). Jharkhand was the last state to give its acceptance to the Centre for Option 1, while the...
6000 Crore Equity Infusion into NIIF Approved
The union cabinet on November 25, 2020, approved Rs.6,000 crore capital infusion in the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) debt platform over the next two years to boost infrastructure creation in the country. This move is expected to help the entity...
58 Per cent Skilled Youth Get Employment
As per news reports in December 2020, the placement-linked skill development programme for rural youth launched in September 2014 under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) DeenDayalUpadhyayaGrameenKaushalyaYojana (DDU-GKY) has helped 6.27 lakh (58 per cent)...
Frog Species Named After Bengaluru
It was reported in November 2020 that a newly discovered species of burrowing frog has been named Sphaerotheca Bengaluru. The new species of the frog has been named after Bengaluru city to show that there exists a wide gap in documentation of amphibians from...
Pandemic Boosts Demand for PCs due to Work from Home and Online Education
As reported on November 11, 2020, data from research agency, International Data Corporation (IDC), the demand for personal computers (PCs) in India has registered strong growth, 9.2 per cent, in the July-September quarter of 2020 due to increased ‘work from home’...