Government of India has announced the launch of the pilot phase of Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) in five cities in April 2022 with an aim to “democratise” the country’s fast growing digital e-commerce space that is currently dominated by the two U.S.-headquartered firms — Amazon and Walmart.   Details – As per the… Continue reading Open Network for Digital Commerce

‘Dak Karmayogi’, an e-learning portal of the Department of Posts was launched by the Union Minister of State for Communications.   What is it? ‘Dak Karmayogi’ portal will enhance the competencies of about 4 lakh Gramin Dak Sevaks & Departmental employees by enabling the trainees to access the uniform standardised training content online or in… Continue reading Dak Karmayogi

The Department of School Education and Literacy has released the Performance Grading Index for Districts (PGI-D) for 2018-19 and 2019-20 which assesses the performance of school education system at the District level by creating an index for comprehensive analysis.   What is ‘Performance Grading Index’ (PGI)? First published in 2019 with reference year 2017-18, Performance… Continue reading Performance Grading Index

The government is considering transferring the administration of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) and Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PITNDPS) Act, 1988 from the finance ministry to Ministry of Home Affairs to bring all issues related to narcotics under one department.   Background – Currently,… Continue reading Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act

Union Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs has launched an innovative project for skill training of construction workers called ‘NIPUN’ i.e. National Initiative for Promoting Upskilling of Nirman workers.   What is it? The project NIPUN is an initiative of the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) under its flagship scheme of the Deendayal… Continue reading NIPUN Initiative

The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has published draft guidelines to regulate child protection within the entertainment industry.   What are the guidelines? Increases the scope of the guidelines — The Guidelines to Regulate Child Participation in the Entertainment Industry were issued by the Commission in 2011. However, the recent draft… Continue reading Protection of children working on OTT platforms

Recently, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRT&H), Government of India, published a draft standard car assessment programme – Bharat New Car Assessment Programmes (NCAP). Under Bharat NCAP, which is proposed to be rolled out from next April, automobiles in India shall be accorded ‘Star Ratings‘ based on their performance in crash tests.  … Continue reading Bharat NCAP

Assam has become the 36th State/UT to implement One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC).   Details – With this, the ONORC plan is successfully implemented in all the 36 states/UTs, making food security portable throughout the country. Another dimension under ONORC plan is the ‘MERA RATION’ mobile application which has been rolled out to take… Continue reading ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ Scheme

Gujarat becomes first State in the country to launch Balika Panchayat.   Details – The country’s first-ever girl Panchayat, “Balika Panchayat”, which was started in several villages of Gujarat’s Kutch district, aims to promote the social and political development of the girls and ensure their active participation of girls in politics. This is a unique… Continue reading Balika Panchayat

The debate surrounding the comments by BJP spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal have put the spotlight on the law that deals with criticism of or insult to religion.   Details – India does not have a formal legal framework for dealing with hate speech. However, a cluster of provisions, loosely termed hate speech laws,… Continue reading Section 295A of IPC