-The Hindu India is a republic only when its laws result from free public discussion and pass open scrutiny The Preamble to the Constitution declares that India is a ‘Republic’. This self-description must be taken seriously: being a republic is integral to India’s political identity. Moreover, this is not just a descriptive but also a strong, ethical, normative claim. Being republican is an ideal to which we are meant to consistently aspire,...

-The Hindu Officers are the backbone as files, documents and orders are processed by them Nearly 30% positions are vacant in middle to senior management rank in various Central government Ministries as the Union government has not promoted officials of the Central Secretariat Service (CSS) in the past six years. The employees have petitioned the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to issue promotion orders as many officials have retired in these years,...

-RuralIndiaOnline.org Maharashtra police detained five traditional herders from Kachchh on January 7 suspecting these semi-nomadic pastoralists were smuggling camels to slaughterhouses in Hyderabad. Also detained: 58 camels “We have not confiscated these 58 camels,” asserts Inspector Ajay Akare, in charge of the Talegaon Dashasar police station in Amravati district. “We don’t have the powers to do so since Maharashtra has no specific law against cruelty to these animals.” “The camels,” he says, “are...

-Hindustan Times The ABC framework is part of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, and will allow higher education institutions to maintain a digital repository of credits earned by students; under ABC, students can choose to study one course in a year in one institution and switch to another one the next year The Centre has brought all recognised higher education institutions, irrespective of their accreditation or rankings, under the ambit of the...

-The Telegraph According to the annual reports, funding for the scheme has been declining over the past five years as it has been declared 'closed' The University grants Commission has stopped several research projects while some are lying dormant allegedly because of lack of funds from the Centre. The Major Research Project (MRP) of higher education regulator UGC is a case in point. According to the annual reports of the UGC, funding for the...