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Villagers of Markadwadi, a small village in Solapur of Maharashtra holding a mock poll for “re-electing” their representative using ballot papers on December 3, apparently might be construed as expression of distrust over the functioning of electronic voting machines (EVMs) but in reality this exercise exposed the dubious election exercise of Rajeev Kumar’s Election Commission, it also makes the Supreme Court to have a relook at its month old order justifying use of EVM.

KOLKATA: Uncertainties over receipt of proceeds are now being factored in by India’s exporters regularly servicing the Bangladesh market. India-Bangladesh trade, a very large chunk of which is carried through some half-a-dozen land ports, was not seriously affected even after the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina regime and the former Prime Minister fled to India on August 5 last. For about two weeks thereafter, bilateral trade saw some disruptions but thereafter, it has been generally okay. But, of late, pointers are no more as reassuring, export trade sources told IPA.

Unless paid and formal employment is guaranteed, a woman’s economic activity in India is associated with a higher risk of intimate partner violence(IPV).However, household and other characteristics, such as higher agency within the household, higher education of the husband, lower social acceptance of IPV, and normalization of reporting incidences of violence counter this association. At the state level, the presence of more female leaders, better reporting infrastructure for victims of IPV, and higher charge-sheeting rates are associated with a lower risk of IPV.

Who is afraid of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991? A parallel can be drawn with ‘Who is afraid of Islamophobia?’ which sounds like somebody with a genuine phobia of Islam. But ask a Muslim and as far as he is concerned, ‘Islamophobia’ is casting all sorts of accusations and slurs against the “peaceful religion”, therefore, genuinely anti-Islam and anti-Muslim.

Pollution from stubble burning from neighbouring areas visits Delhi every year. Health hazards apart, schools have to be closed, government organisations and private firms find little alternative but to ask their employees to work from home.

Much has been written about Sambhal, a town in Uttar Pradesh, where a week back, violence had erupted. A team had conducted a second survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid, to establish that the Masjid was built on the debris of a temple. This is similar to the claim in Gyanwapi mosque in Varanasi, the Shahi Idgah in Mathura, and the Kamal-Maula Mosque at Dhar in Madhya Pradesh. In Sambhal, it took hardly any time to flare up and soon situation turned explosive. Four persons were killed though police was firmly repeating that they used only tear gas and rubber pellets. According to reports, 31 persons have been arrested.

SEOUL: They said it wouldn’t happen again in South Korea — not after more than four decades during which hundreds of thousands of people were beaten, tortured, jailed, and killed while defending democracy against one strongman after another.

As the year 2024 is ending and India is on the threshold of beginning a New Year 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his senior officials in both PMO and the external affairs ministry are relaxed and looking for positive developments in the coming year for Indian diplomacy. Narendra Modi has reasons to be politically upbeat after the BJP’s big success in the latest assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana as also in by polls in Uttar Pradesh but his real reason for relief is the coming appointment of the PIO Kashyap Patel to the post of the Director of FBI under the Trump administration.

Impartiality in decision-making is regarded as the cornerstone of a fair and just legal system. Judges are expected to set aside personal beliefs, biases, and prejudices in order to apply the law objectively, ensuring that their decisions are based solely on the facts presented before them. The decision by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna to recuse himself from hearing petitions challenging the exclusion of Chief Justices of India (CJIs) from the panel selecting the Chief Election Commissioner must lead to a debate on the nature of judicial recusal and the impact of personal beliefs on court decisions. While recusal is a necessary and sometimes unavoidable mechanism to preserve the integrity of the judicial process, it raises important questions about the role of personal biases and judicial conscience in high-stakes cases.

It was symbolic of France. Victor Hugo’s story of Hunchback of Notre Dame, in which the hunchback swings on the great bells of the eponymous cathedral to send its sounds through the City of Lights, Paris.