Author: Nivedita S

Former Union Law Minister and eminent jurist Shanti Bhushan passed away at the age of 97 on Tuesday following a brief illness. Bhushan was the Former Law Minister in the Morarji Desai cabinet from 1977 to 1979. He represented politician Raj Narain in his case against the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who was guilty of indulging in electoral malpractices leading to her disqualification and imposition of the Emergency in 1975. In his political career, Bhushan was an active member of the Congress (O) party and later the Janata Party. He was appointed the Law Minister in the Janata Party…

The Economic Survey has projected the GDP growth rate for the next financial year to be between 6% to 6.8%, which is lower than the 7% growth projected for the current year that will end on March 31. However, this growth rate will make India’s growth the fastest in comparison to other big economies amidst a global slowdown. THE ECONOMIC SURVEY 2022-23 The Economic Survey was tabled in the Parliament on Tuesday, a day before Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will unveil the government’s budget for the upcoming financial year. It reviewed the economy’s performance of the current fiscal year and…

Pakistan’s Finance Minister, Ishaq Dar, announced on Sunday that petrol and diesel prices would increase by 35 rupees ($0.1400) a litre. He also said that the prices of kerosene and light diesel oil would be raised by Rs. 18. The country is grappling with an economic crisis as the Pakistani rupee lost close to 12% of its value when it removed the price caps that were imposed by the government. Ishaq Dar in a press conference on Sunday said that the price hike was imposed on the recommendation of the oil and gas authorities as there were reports of artificial…

Incessant rains in Auckland caused flash floods resulting in four deaths and widespread evacuations. A local state of emergency has been declared in the region as record levels of rainfall have battered the area since Friday. Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand with 1.6 million people. The amount of rainfall that typically occurs in an entire summer hit the area in a single day with more than 150mm (6 inches) of rain falling in just three hours in some places. The downpour flooded the airport and there were power cuts that lasted for several hours in thousands of…

China reported a 70% spike in the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations till January 15 compared to the previous week according to the report published by the World Health Organisation. The number of people hospitalized rose to 63,307, the highest weekly number China has reported since the beginning of the pandemic. China said on Saturday that nearly 60,000 COVID-19-related hospital deaths have occurred since it abandoned the zero-COVID policy last month; a huge increase from previously reported figures. The WHO said it awaited “detailed provincial data disaggregated by the week of reporting” on these deaths. It is said that as these…

Trade unions organize nationwide strikes in France to derail Emmanuel Macron’s planned pension reform to raise the retirement age by two years from 62 to 64. The strikes come as a major challenge to what the Macron government can achieve in their second term after losing the parliamentary majority.  Inter-city and commuter train services have been disrupted. Schools and other public service institutions are shut down. At the Orly airport in Paris, one in five flights have been cancelled. Eight of France’s largest unions – covering transportation, education, police, executives and public sectors called Thursday to be the first strike…

At least 15 people were killed when a French-made Super Puma helicopter crashed on Wednesday morning near a nursery in the town of Brovary, outside of Kyiv. Ukraine’s Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyy, his deputy Yevhen Yenin and State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Yurii Lubkovych were among those killed in the helicopter crash, according to Ukraine’s National Police Chief, Ihor Klymenko. Nine people on board the helicopter and six people on the ground were killed, including three children. The regional governor said that 29 people were injured including 15 children. “There were children and … staff in the…

After four months of a deadly outbreak, Uganda declared itself Ebola-free on Wednesday. The country struggled to contain the spread initially but later swiftly brought it into control. There were 55 fatalities out of the 143 people who were infected according to the health ministry’s data. Out of the people who died, six were health workers. This was the country’s first Sudan ebolavirus outbreak and the country’s eighth since the first outbreak in 2000. The Sudan ebolavirus is one of the six species against which no therapeutics and vaccines have been approved yet. But, Uganda’s long experience in responding to…

The Supreme Court asked the Centre and state-level authorities to take into account the damage caused to the environment by unplanned urban development projects. The recommendation was made by a division bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and BV Nagarathna while hearing a plea by a residents’ welfare association against the practice of converting single residential units into apartments in Chandigarh. The petitioner brought to light how existing infrastructure was being overburdened because of this practice while also causing severe environmental degradation. The bench said, “it is necessary to strike a proper balance between sustainable development and environmental protection.”  They cited…