-The Hindu “The Hindu”, in a query filed under the RTI Act, sought information on the expected date of the first phase of Census 2021 and an update of the NPR. The office of the Registrar General of India (RGI) has said the schedule or the questionnaire of the National Population Register (NPR) is “being finalised” and the information about the expected date of first phase of Census 2021 is “not available.” The...

-The Hindu Nagaland, Mizoram, Kerala and Karnataka rank high in the list Arunachal Pradesh recorded the best sex ratio in the country while Manipur recorded the worst sex ratio, according to the 2018 report on “vital statistics of India based on the Civil Registration System”. Sex ratio at birth is number of females born per thousand males. Arunachal Pradesh recorded 1,084 females born per thousand males, followed by Nagaland (965) Mizoram (964), Kerala (963)...

-Down to Earth The use of synthetic chemicals for agriculture was halted completely in 2005 by the Union territory Lakshadweep, after Sikkim, is on its way to become 100 per cent organic. The Union territory’s agriculture department had submitted a proposal to the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, seeking to declare its entire 32 square kilometre geographical land area as organic. The proposal was approved October 26, 2020 after receiving required certifications...

-The Hindu Chief secretaries, registrars general of High Courts will be liable for non-compliance. New Delhi: The Supreme Court has upped the ante on the States, Union Territories and High Courts which have not provided it with details of criminal cases pending against sitting lawmakers, warning that their Chief Secretaries and Registrars General will be made personally liable for non-compliance. The Centre informed the court that so far a dozen such courts had...

-India Climate Dialogue The meteorological department’s analysis of annual rainfall for the past 50 years has found significant increasing or decreasing trends in districts that could put a spanner into India’s food security scenario. Since June 13, there has been a hiatus in the advance of southwest monsoon in the country due to the weakening of its circulation pattern. This dry spell is expected to soon change as the monsoon is likely...