CURRENT AFFAIRS

With a reduction in COVID-19 infections as the second wave weakens in India, it is important to focus on the pandemic’s disruptive impact on the food security and livelihoods of the poor and marginalised.

The recent Supreme Court verdict holding the 97^th Constitutional amendment unconstitutional to the extent it applied to cooperative societies under the control of the States is a reminder that even well-intentioned efforts towards reforms cannot be at the cost of the quasi-federal principles underlying the Constitution. 

The Great Indian Bustard, a gravely endangered species, with hardly about 200 alive in India today, came under the protective wings of the Supreme Court of India in a recent judgment. The Court said, in M.K. Ranjitsinh & Others vs Union of India & Others, that in all cases..

Recently,  World Youth Skills Day was observed on 15 July which yet again shows the importance of a skilled workforce in India for achieving the goal of becoming Atmanirbhar Bharat. Indian administration runs many schemes and programmes such as the Skill India Mission and the ‘Going Online As Leaders’ (or Goal) etc.

Recently, a report emerged from a collaborative investigation by journalists from around the world titled the ‘Pegasus Project’. Reports say that over “300 verified Indian mobile telephone numbers, including those used by ministers, opposition leaders..

It has been six years now that the Supreme Court struck down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.However, recently the Supreme Court termed its continued use by law enforcement agencies of various states as “a shocking state of affairs” and sought a response from the Centre.

G-7 leaders finally came around with the proposed Build Back Better World (B3W) to counter China’s rising influence across 100-plus countries through Belt Road Initiative (BRI) projects. 

As the Taliban push ahead with military offensives across Afghanistan, preparing to take over after the exit of US and NATO forces, India faces a situation in which it may have no role to play in that country, and in the worst case scenario, not even a diplomatic presence.

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