Check on fraudulent appointments

17/01/2021
The dilly-dallying approach on the part of the administration in fraudulent appointments made in the Technical Education Department and Autonomous Bodies/ Corporationsis notwithstanding the fact that complaints about fraudulent appointments were received by none else than the Raj Bhawan. In early 2019 a number of complaints came to the notice of the then Governor of erstwhile State regarding fraudulent and illegal appointments made during the period between 2010 and 2018 in different department...

Big day today

16/01/2021
The biggest ever vaccination drive will kick off in Jammu and Kashmir today after launch of COVID-19 vaccine by Prime Minister Narendra Modi countrywide and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha here as the administration has increased number of vaccination sites which will be active from Day one from 27 to 40 and shortlisted three Corona warriors, one of whom could get a chance to inter-act with the Prime Minister. The Union Health Ministry hasdirected that healthcare workers of the Central Governme...

A consultative process

15/01/2021
So the top court reminded the Government, which washed its hands of the impasse with farmers over new agricultural laws, that it could not ignore its role in what was essentially a matter of policy. In a stinging rap, the judges re-emphasised the need for a consultative process to resolve the vexed issue, asking the Government whether it would pause the implementation of the farm laws, or else the court would. It further drew attention to dialogue as the only way out, asking "What's the ego her...

Unprecedented avian flu crisis

14/01/2021
Migratory birds from faraway countries in the northern hemisphere are said to have brought the virus to India in the 24th such instance since 2004. More than half of the world’s bird flu incidents take place in the Central Asian Flyway (CAF) that covers almost the entire Indian subcontinent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Close to 90% of birds, migrating through the flyway, visit India’s wintering sites and some of them may be carriers of various avian diseases. The bird flu ...

Passing the buck

13/01/2021
In a stinging rap, the judges re-emphasised the need for a consultative process to resolve the vexed issue, asking the Government whether it would pause the implementation of the farm laws, or else the court would. It further drew attention to dialogue as the only way out, asking "What's the ego here?" and if the Government was "part of the problem or solution?" Considering that it had earlier highlighted the importance of setting up a mediatory committee, the court rightly took umbrage at the ...

Understanding the backdrop

12/01/2021
For years, governments have neglected the agricultural sector, failing to recognise the abysmal conditions under which a majority of our farmers work. The ongoing protests must be understood in the backdrop of the levels of poverty they face. Approximately 55% of the total workforce in India was employed in agriculture and allied sectors (2011 Census). This has declined to 42.5%, according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey 2018-19. The Economic Survey 2019-20 states that the share of agricult...

Growing despondency

11/01/2021
Mussolini defined fascism as the marriage between a corporation and the State (political power). But in just a little over a month, the farmers have exposed the robber-barons and their political pawns. Neo-con elite and lazy economists may think that there is still hope for Modi and that the farmers will be routed, but people with ears on Chilla or Singhu borders know the tide has turned. With the failure of the 7th round of talks between the agitating farmers and the Narendra Modi Govern-ment,...