Oust Dhankhar as RS Chairman, says INDIA

In an unprecedented move, nearly 60 Opposition MPs of the INDIA bloc on Tuesday submitted a notice at the office of the Rajya Sabha Secretary-General, P.C. Mody, seeking the removal of the Chairperson of the Upper House, Vice-President Jag deep Dhankhar. They alleged that Mr. Dhankhar had, since assuming office in August 2022, conducted the proceedings of the House in an "extremely biased" manner.The MPs have used Article 67 of the Constitution to move the notice. A motion for removal of the Vice-President from his office requires a 14-day notice of intent on the part of the members of the Council of States that are in support of the resolution, they noted.-

'Mindless splurge': Odisha govt's decision to seek external loan for PVTG development faces scrutiny

The Odisha government is planning to secure a 734.86-crore external loan from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a global financial institution, to implement Phase II of the Odisha Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) Empowerment and Livelihood Improvement Programme (OPELIP-II), the proposal of which is expected to be placed before the State Cabinet for approval soon.

With a substantial allocation of ₹24,104 crore for the 2023-24 to 2025-26 period, PM-JANMAN aims to ensure the holistic development of PVTGs in 18 States and Union Territories. Odisha, home to 13 of the 75 PVTGs identified across India, is likely to receive a significant portion of these funds.

Arvind Panagariya says issue of surcharges is complicated

Arvind Panagariya, Chairman, 16th Finance Commission, on Tuesday termed the grievance of States regarding the Centre's increasing reliance on cesses and surcharges as a "complicated issue."'Share of States'. Dr. Panagariya observed that the share of States in the divisible pool has risen from 32% in the 13th Finance Commission to 42% under the 14th. The Centre, he noted, is entitled to collect cesses and surcharges under a Constitutional provision.-

ISRO and Navy successfully carry out recovery trials for Gaganyaan mission

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) with the Navy successfully carried out the well deck trials of the Gaganyaan missions' crew module. The trials were carried out at Eastern Naval Command on Friday using well deck ship off the coast of Visakhapatnam. According to the ISRO, the well deck in a ship can be flooded with water so that boats, landing crafts, and recovered spacecraft can be taken inside to dock within the ship.-

Kerala among top States for employability in India: report

Kerala continues to lead as one of the most employable States in India, as indicated by the India Skills Report 2025. The report, published by talent assessment agency Whitebox in association with various agencies including the All India Council for Technical Education, Confederation of Indian Industry, and Association of Indian Universities, reveals that Kerala's workforce maintains a strong employability rate of 71%, placing it on the fifth position after Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Two to tango

Amidst fast-deteriorating ties between India and Bangladesh, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri's one-day visit to Dhaka provided a much-needed outreach to the interim government led by Professor Muhammad Yunus. The bilateral, and once model, relationship, with Bangladesh, has been unravelling ever since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India. These include India's concerns over attacks on minorities, particularly Hindus, Bangladesh's anger over 'unwanted Indian interference', and Ms. Hasina's continued stay in India as Bangladesh calls for her to stand trial over charges of police crackdowns and corruption.-

Sambhal and the perils of judicial evasion

The approach adopted by the Supreme Court of India in the Sambhal masjid case (Uttar Pradesh) is yet another instance of judicial deferment. The Court has refused to take an emphatic stand capable of giving the final answer to the issue. The Court ordered the civil court to freeze the matter and to put on hold the proceedings based on the survey conducted at the mosque and relegated the petitioner, the Sambhal Shahi Jama Masjid Committee, to the Allahabad High Court for a decision. Section 3 of the Places of Worship Act prevents conversion of places of worship of one religion or sect into that of a different religion or sect. Section 4 (1) declares that "the religious character of a place of worship existing on the 15th day of August 1947 shall continue to be the same as it existed on that day”.

Deepening India's steps as a key space-faring nation

India has set ambitious goals for its space programme in the next two decades. These goals hinge on powerful, reusable rockets such as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s upcoming Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV). In addition to the NGLV, India must tap into its private sector to develop more such rockets in order to secure strategic autonomy in its access to outer space.

ISRO's road map 

From an infant space programme in the 1960s, India has grown into a powerful space-faring nation. Preparations for the Gaganyaan mission are underway. Gaganyaan will take an Indian crew to space for the first time, demonstrating Indian human-spaceflight capability.

Ends without means

The Draft UGC (Minimum Standards of Instruction for the Grant of Undergraduate Degree and Postgraduate Degree) Regulations, 2024 propose significant changes to India's higher education landscape. These include bi-annual admissions to undergraduate (UG) and post- graduate (PG) courses, enabling students from any stream to pursue any discipline in UG and PG if they pass a relevant national qualifying examination, and allowing for the extension or acceleration of courses. Students can pursue multiple degrees simultaneously. Higher educational institutions will have the autonomy to determine student attendance requirements.-

The significance of ANI versus OpenAI

In the evolving landscape of digital news dissemination, there is a symbiotic yet contentious relationship between news publishers and technology companies. Publishers depend on these platforms for hosting content and traffic referrals, which they monetise through advertising. Technology platforms, such as Meta, act as intermediaries, driving traffic to news websites and taking a share of the advertising revenue. The latest frontier of this struggle over the distribution of money between platforms and publishers is the field of Generative AI (GenAI). GenAI platforms utilise vast datasets drawn from the open Web to train their models

Share who spent more rose amid dip in share who earned more

In November, 88.6% respondents in urban households said that their spending on essential items had increased from a year ago, the highest such share in the last nine years. In the same month, 30% of respondents said that their spending on non-essential items too had increased from a year ago, the highest in the last five years and six months. 

These responses are a consequence of the consistent rise in prices. Close to 95% of urban respondents continued to feel in November this year that prices of commodities have increased from a year ago.

While a higher share of respondents felt that the prices and as a consequence, their expenditure had increased, less than 25% of them said that their income levels had increased compared to a year ago. This is the lowest such share in over a year and seven months. 

The code of conduct judges need to follow

The comments made by Allahabad High Court judge, Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav, against the Muslim community at an event organised by the legal cell of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in the High Court premises on December 8, has drawn public flak.

The 'Restatement of Values of Judicial Life' is the primary code of ethics governing judicial behaviour adopted by the Supreme Court on May 7, 1997. 

The very first rule of the code is that the behaviour of a judge must "reaffirm the people's faith in the impartiality of the judiciary". It underscored that "any act of a judge of the Supreme Court or a High Court, whether in official or personal capacity, which erodes the credibility of this perception has to be avoided"

What is the extent of the global share of solar energy?

On November 5, the World Solar Report 2024 by the International Solar Alliance (ISA) was released. From 1.22 GW in 2000, the world's solar capacity has surged to 1,419 GW in 2023, charting a CAGR of about 36%. 

What are new solar technologies? 

Quantum dot solar cells have achieved a record-breaking efficiency of 18.1%, offering a promising approach to enhance solar energy capture and power atmospheric water harvesting technologies. Researchers are creating self-healing solar panels to extend the lifespan and reduce the maintenance of existing solar cell technologies.

Behind the great Indian Internet shutdown

On January 10, 2020, the Supreme Court of India held that access to information via the Internet is a fundamental right under the Indian Constitution. This was in the case of Anuradha Bhasin vs Union of India, where the top court also ruled that any restriction on Internet access by the Government must be temporary, limited in scope, lawful, necessary and proportionate. 

The year following the decision, India saw more instances of Internet shutdown than the year preceding it. India's Internet restrictions also accounted for more than 70% of the total loss to the global economy in 2020, and India remains infamous as the Internet shutdown capital of the world.

New scheme to triple those with access to top journals

The Centre's One Nation, One Subscription (ONOS) scheme will more than triple the number of State-affiliated colleges and individuals who can access research papers in the sciences and humanities from the world's top publishers. 

While this will double the Centre's annual spend on subscriptions, it will mean a 62% increase in the number of journals - that make up 95% of published research students.

The expected outlay from 2025 to 2027 for the scheme is ₹6,000 crore. At present, the Centre spends 1,000-1,500 crore annually on journal subscriptions, according to data shared by officials

Researchers develop Al-based platform to rapidly find age-defying molecules

Researchers at IIIT-Delhi have developed Age Xtend as a tool to efficiently cut down the time taken to identify viable molecules with geroprotectors, or age defying properties, through conventional research. 

The authors who have published the experiment in a recent issue of Nature Aging, have said that they screened over 1.1 billion compounds, over a period of two years, and the platform had uncovered several promising candidates validated through experiments on yeast, worms (C. elegans), and human cell models. A fraction of them, less than 1%, have been identified with anti-ageing proper ties.-

PM POSHAN: Centre to bear additional cost of 425.62 cr. due to food inflation

The Centre has announced that it will bear the additional cost of ₹425.62 crore on account of inflation in food material cost under the Centrally sponsored PM POSHAN Scheme in the financial year 2024-25. 

Under the scheme, one hot cooked meal is served to 11.7 crore students studying in Balvatika and Classes 1 to 8 in 10.24 lakh government and government-aided schools.

Each Balvatika and primary school student is eligible for 20 grams of pulses, 50 grams of vegetables and five grams of oil. Similarly, each upper primary student is eligible for 30 grams of pulses, 50 grams of vegetables and seven grams of oil.

The Lipstick Effect: Skincare, Cosmetics market growing faster

India is the fourth largest beauty market in the world in terms of purchase volumes, and is expected to grow steadily in the coming years to hit $46.6 billion by 2032, industry players reckon. 

While personal care, make-up and skincare are the fastest-growing categories with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.5%, the fragrances category (perfumes and deodorants) are increasing as a proportion of total sales.

Immense potential 

After COVID-19, the industry had seen a sharp resurgence, driven by rising urbanisation and disposable incomes, as well as higher consumer awareness about personal care.-