The Haryana government on Friday ordered culling of at least 1.66 lakh poultry birds from five poultry farms in a 1-km radius of two farms in Panchkula samples of which tested positive for bird flu. The culling will start Saturday. Adequate arrangements including digging of pits, gunny bags to be used for packing the dead birds, PPE kits for the workers, bleaching powder for burying the dead birds etc were made. The state government has decided to compensate the affected ...
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On the economic front, the biggest news this week will be the release of the First Advance Estimates (FAE) of national income (read GDP) for the ongoing financial year (2020-21) on January 7th. As the name suggests, these are just the advance estimates — because the year hasn’t ended as yet — and that too the “first” such advance estimates. The second advance estimates (SAE) will be made available on February 26th. After the financial year is over on 31st ...
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India started the calendar year by recording the slowest GDP growth rate in six years and ended it by entering a technical recession. Here's how it all unfolded. Since the Union Budget is now presented on February 1st, much of January’s focus was on understanding the Budget-making exercise. Providing a context was this piece on why the poor in India remain poor. According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Social Mobility report, in India, it would take 7 generations for a member of a poor family ...
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In its judgment, the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague said Cairn Tax Issue was not just a tax related issue but an investment related dispute, and therefore under the jurisdiction of the international arbitration court. Akin to the ruling in the Vodafone arbitration case, the PCA at The Hague has once again ruled that the Indian government’s retrospective demand was “in breach of the guarantee of fair and equitable treatment”. It has noted that Cairn UK’s argument that ...
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The latest National Family Health Survey data shows that in several parts of India, children born between 2014 and 2019 are more malnourished than the previous generation In 2004, the Copenhagen Consensus, which is a think tank devoted to finding the most efficient ways to solving the world’s biggest problems, tossed this very compelling question before an expert panel of scientists and economists, which included four Nobel winners. “If you had $75 billion for worthwhile causes, where should you start?” ...
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They are all the same thing: tropical storms.But they are known by different names in different locations. In the North Atlantic Ocean and Northeast Pacific, they are called hurricanes. But if the same type of disturbance takes place in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, it is known as a typhoon. And in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean, cyclone is the correct term. How storms form? Air rises quickly when it is heated by warm sea water. As the air cools down again it is pushed ...
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The amendments allow non-agriculturists to buy agricultural land in the state. Successive governments have in recent years gradually diluted land ownership norms under the Land Reforms Act to facilitate industrial growth and agricultural land ownership by non-farmers. The opposition Congress has called amendments to the Karnataka Land Reforms Act 1961 — which were passed in the state legislature last week by the BJP government with the support of the opposition Janata Dal (Secular) — a “death warrant” for farmers. The amendments allow non-agriculturists to ...
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French Prime Minister Jean Castex has said it is “not a text against religion, nor against the Muslim religion”, but against radical Islamism, whose objective, he said, is “to divide French people from one another.”   French cabinet presented a draft law that targets “radical Islamism” — although the word “Islamist” is not part of the text. Called a law “to reinforce Republican principles”, the Bill will go to the National Assembly, the lower chamber of Parliament, in January. Prime Minister Jean ...
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Eco-ducts or eco-bridges aim to enhance wildlife connectivity that can be disrupted because of highways or logging. Ramnagar Forest Division in Nainital district, Uttarakhand, recently built its first eco-bridge for reptiles and smaller mammals. What are these, and why are they important? Why eco-bridges matter Eco-ducts or eco-bridges aim to enhance wildlife connectivity that can be disrupted because of highways or logging. These include canopy bridges (usually for monkeys, squirrels and other arboreal species); concrete underpasses or overpass tunnels or ...
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The government's intention is to put Tharu villages on the tourism map, and to create jobs and bring economic independence for the tribal population. The Uttar Pradesh government has recently embarked upon a scheme to take the unique culture of its ethnic Tharu tribe across the world. The intention is to put Tharu villages on the tourism map, and to create jobs and bring economic independence to the tribal population. What is this scheme about? The state government is working ...
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