National Minority

The entitlement of religious and linguistic minorities to constitutional protection in India often gives rise to questions about how an institution's 'minority character' is determined. 

A seven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India, by a 4:3 majority, has laid down the 'indicia' required for identifying a minority institution. 

Much of the focus has been on the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), which stands to gain by dint of this verdict in its efforts to vindicate its minority character, but it will only be a regular Bench that would take a call on its status.

States and the Centre's fetter of 'net borrowing ceiling'

The central government, in 2023, imposed a 'Net Borrowing Ceiling' (NBC) on the State of Kerala to restrict the maximum possible borrowing that the State can make under the law. 

This ceiling is 3% of the projected Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) for FY2023-24. 

The NBC now encompasses all borrowing avenues, including open market loans, financial institution loans, and liabilities from the public account of the State. 

Furthermore, to stop States from circumventing the borrowing cap through State-owned enterprises, the ceiling has been extended to cover certain borrowings by these entities as well.

Calling out exploitative labour dynamics on platforms

In the midst of the continuous evolution of the concept of "gig workers", there was a groundbreaking movement in India recently a nationwide digital strike this Deepavali that was organised by women gig workers. 

This was a call made by the Gig and Platform Services Workers Union (GIPSWU), India's first union that is dedicated primarily to women gig workers. 

The strike sought gig worker and service user solidarity across the country and the world on the issue of exploitative and abusive labour practices. 

On improving wind energy generation

The National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) says that India has wind power potential for 1,163.86 GW at 150 metres above ground level, and is ranked fourth in the world for installed wind energy capacity. 

Among the wind energy generating States, the repowering potential is the highest in Tamil Nadu with over 7,000 MW of installed capacity that can be replaced or refurbished. 

Wind turbines that are more than 15 years old or have less than 2 MW capacity, can be completely replaced with new turbines, which is known as repowering. 

What is the status of NEP's implementation in Odisha?

The Odisha government has announced the roll-out of the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020 in the State's higher education sector. 

Odisha has partnered with NASSCOM to provide digital skills to students and to also help students with internships. 

France evaluating India's Pinaka rocket system for its use

France is considering India's Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launch (MBRL) system for its requirements and is soon going to carry out a detailed evaluation of the system, according to a senior French Army officer. 

"Indians presented to my Chief of Army Staff last February the Pinaka. It is very interesting for us. We are organising an evaluation of the three or four best providers of this system,

Armenia's first customer Armenia became the first export customer for the indigenously developed Pinaka with interest expressed by several countries for the system. 

The Pinaka Mk1 has a range of 38 km and it can fire a variety of ammunition. Several extended-range ammunition are under development. 

Parliamentary panel to review mechanism to curb fake news

After the Bombay High Court struck down a key provision of the amended Information Technology (IT) Rules, 2021, which empowered the government to identify "fake news" on social media platforms through its fact-check unit (FCU), the Parliamentary Panel on Communications and Information Technology has called for a review of mechanism to curb fake news.

In April 2022, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology promulgated the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023, which amended the Information Technology Rules, 2021. The amendment to Rule 3(1)(b)(v) of the IT Rules, 2021 expanded the general term "fake news" to include "government business". 

In Assam, 'comics commandos' join the fight against child labour

The fight against child labour and child marriage has a new breed of warriors in Assam comics - commandos.

An organisation conducting an educational programme to reduce school dropout rates has prepared a team of 30 local youth in the Balijan block of Assam's Goalpara district. 

These young men and women have been taught to draw caricatures and doodles to campaign against social evils and rights violations.

Armed with pencils and other drawing materials, they have been tasked with telling comic book-style stories to convey their message.