CURRENT AFFAIRS

The provisional estimates of annual national income (2020-21), released recently by the National Statistical Office shows nothing encouraging in the numbers. Economic recovery and employment faces severe dent specially after second Covid wave.

The recent attempt of Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) to reintroduce into the wild an abandoned nine-month-old cub named Mangala after rearing it in ‘captivity’ for two years has once again brought the controversial concept of ‘re-wilding’ of abandoned or injured animals under the lens

Most schools in India have been closed since the national lockdown started in March 2020. Although it is risky to reopen schools, the costs of keeping schools closed also create wider socio-economic and psychological issues.

Signs of India’s growing centrality in the Indo-Pacific strategic architecture is reflected from its engagement with key western nations. Even countries which have been lackadaisical in their regional outreach so far have begun to approach the Indo-Pacific with a new seriousness and have been reaching out to New Delhi.

China’s developmental pathway over the last century has been spectacular and it successfully lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty. But India’s developmental progress shows mixed records.

Recently, a High Court suggested that homeless persons with health conditions be branded with a permanent tattoo, when vaccinated against COVID-19, since tracking a ‘floating population’ may be cumbersome.

The journey of urban development based on the belief that a select set of cities across the country could be ‘transformed’ and made smart, started six year ago as ‘Smart City Mission.

Recently, Amul has raised its milk prices for consumers by Rs 2/litre which has become a matter of debate. 

India’s school education landscape is facing daunting challenges as even before the Covid-19 pandemic, one in two children lacked basic reading proficiency at the age of 10.

Privatisation of the public sector, including banks, has been part of the wish list of economic reforms since 1991 and it was at the core of the ‘Washington Consensus’.