CURRENT AFFAIRS

The 13^th BRICS summit is set to be held on September 9 in digital format under India’s chairmanship. India also held the chair in 2012 and 2016. This plurilateral grouping comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa is chaired by turn.

Recent amendments in the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Act nullify the tax clause provision that allows the government to levy taxes retrospectively.The 2012 amendment overturned the Supreme Court’s decision in Vodafone International Holdings v.

Earlier this month, Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana expressed concern at the degree of human rights violations in police stations in the country. He said that “the threat to human rights and bodily integrity is the highest in police stations”.

In a recent judgment, a Supreme Court Bench fined eight political parties for being in contempt of the Court’s directions to inform citizens about the criminal antecedents of their candidates. In 2004, 24% of the Members of Parliament had criminal cases pending against them.

Delhi University has approved a four-year undergraduate course from next year as part of the new National Education Policy. The New Education Policy (NEP) proposes several reforms for higher education and if implemented in letter and spirit, the NEP can change the classroom experience.

Following through on the Budget’s plan to monetise public assets in order to fund fresh capital expenditure on infrastructure, the Government has released an exhaustive list of projects and facilities to be offered to private investors.

The severe cyclones, Tauktae and Yaas, which battered India earlier this year, made landfalls on the country’s western coast, Gujarat, and the eastern coast, Odisha, on May 17 and May 26, 2021, respectively.

The term ‘Industry 4.0’ was coined by the German government in 2011. Additive manufacturing, Internet of Things, Cyber Physical Systems, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality and data analytics are some of the technologies associated with Industry 4.0.

For the first time ever, the Supreme Court Collegium led by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) recommended/selected as many as nine persons at one go to be appointed to the apex court. With the appointment of the judges, the highest court in the country having its near full strength will ease the pressure on it considerably.

The fall of Kabul in the wake of the American withdrawal from Afghanistan will prove to be a defining moment for the region and the future shape of its geopolitics. For New Delhi, the fall of Kabul is a moment of reckoning and it must rethink its regional strategies and options.