Ganga and Microplastics
The Ganga might have stood witness to many stages of India’s civilisation, as Mahatma Gandhi once noted, but in recent decades it has become a conduit for sewage, solid waste, industrial effluents and other pollutants. […]
South Asia lightning Report ,2020
Important Points 1. According to South Asia lightning Report ,2020 by Earth Networks, a global weather intelligence agency -West Bengal received the highest number of lightning strikes per square kilometer in 2020, followed by Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh,Tamil Nadu. […]
Gross Environment Product in Uttarakhand
Context The Uttarakhand government recently announced it will initiate valuation of its natural resources in the form of ‘Gross Environment Product’ (GEP), said to be along the lines of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). […]
[Geopolitics] India and China Border Dispute
The British organised a conference in Shimla in 1914, which the representatives of China and Tibet attended. The conference’s objective was to negotiate a treaty that would demarcate the border between Tibet and British-ruled India. The British plan was to put pressure on the weak Chinese central government to grant [...]
[History] 1806 Vellore Mutiny – Forerunner of 1857 Revolt
After the fall of Tipu Sultan (1799), the East India Company government restored the Mysore kingdom to the Wodeyar dynasty. It decided to pay a stipend to Tipu’s sons and intern them in two palaces, Hyder Mahal and Tipu Mahal, specially constructed for them in the Vellore Fort. Along with [...]
Supreme Court Strikes Down parts of 97th Constitutional Amendment
In a major boost for federalism, the Supreme Court recently struck down parts of a Constitution amendment which shrank the exclusive authority of States over its cooperative societies. […]
[Environment] Mangroves, Mumbai and Climate change
THE occurrence of two cyclones in consecutive seasons—Cyclone Nisarga in 2020 and cyclone Tauktae in 2021—is highly unusual for the west coast of India but fits in with the warnings of experts. […]
[Policy] India’s Arctic Policy (In-Depth
Context The Arctic region has recently assumed considerable strategic significance as it has been underlined by the policies enunciated by major powers. The interests and concerns of the Arctic states are vast and varied. India, being an observer in the Arctic Council, has legitimate interests in the region and has, [...]
[Polity] The Juvenile Justice Bill, 2021 (In-Depth)
Highlights of the Bill 1) The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 states that adoption of a child is final on the issuance of an adoption order by the civil court. The Bill provides that instead of the court, the district magistrate (including additional district magistrate) [...]
[Environment] Case Study-From Poachers to Protectors
Several residents of villages around Odisha’s Chilika lake have turned a new leaf in the past few years. They hunted and poached birds in the area before. But today, they are their guardians. […]