China passes three-child policy into law
Context: For the first time China allowed couples to have a third child in a further relaxation of family planning rules five years after a “two-child policy” largely failed to boost birth rates. CHina formally amended the country’s family planning rules to allow couples to have three children, also announcing a number of policy measures […]
The many shades of religious intolerance in India
Context: The Pew Research Center launched its report ‘Religion in India: Tolerance and Segregation’. Relevance: GS-I: Indian Society (Demography, Social Issues, and Developments in Indian Society), GS-II: Polity and Governance (Constitutional Provisions, Fundamental Rights) Mains Questions: Does the concept of religious tolerance require the mixing of religious communities? Discuss. (10 marks) Dimensions of the Article: […]
Squaring up to India’s education emergency
Context: During the COVID-19 pandemic, India enforced among the strictest, most generalised and continuous school and university closures creating in the process the largest education emergency in the world. Relevance: GS-II: Social Justice (Government Interventions and Policies, Issues arising out of the design and implementation of Government Policies) Dimensions of the Article: What gave rise […]
India and 26 bilateral pacts to fight drug trafficking
Context: According to a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) reply in the Lok Sabha – India has signed 26 bilateral pacts, 15 memoranda of understanding and two agreements on security cooperation with different countries for combating the drug trafficking problem. Relevance: GS-III: Internal Security Challenges (Organized Crime and Terrorism), GS-II: International Relations (Important International Agreements […]
Accepting radical otherness
Context: The U.S.-based Pew Research Center’s survey has thrown up an interesting finding on religious tolerance in India: Indians of all faiths, paradoxically, support both religious tolerance and religious segregation. Most Indians (84%) surveyed said that respecting all religions is very important to them and all religious groups must be allowed to practise their faith […]
An unproductive idea: On UP Population law
Context: Incentives and penalties form an integral component of the measures to control population growth, announced by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in July 2021. These steps are aimed at reducing U.P.’s total fertility rate (TFR), recorded as 2.7 by the National Family Health Survey-4 in 2016, a figure only lower than that of […]
Challenging negative social norms
Context: It is important to focus on the challenges for India in terms of demographic management with the World Population Day coming up on 11th of July. Relevance: GS-I: Indian Society (Issues related to Population) Mains Questions: Discuss about India’s demographic dividend and throw light on the various roadblocks the remain in India’s population control […]
Survey on Religious Tolerance and Freedom in India
Context: Recently a nation-wide survey on religious attitudes, behaviours and beliefs in India was conducted by Pew Research Center, a non-profit based in Washington DC. Relevance: GS-II: Polity and Governance (Constitutional Provisions, Fundamental Rights), GS-I: Indian Society Dimensions of the Article: Fundamental Right to Freedom of Religion in India Secularism in India Religious Diversity in […]
LGBTQ+ community: Full equality still out of reach
Context: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month is currently celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. Relevance: GS-II: Social Justice (Social Empowerment, Issues Related to Transgenders, Government Interventions and Policies, Issues arising out of the design and implementation of Government Policies), GS-I: Indian […]
Assam’s two-child policy will stall development goals
Context: A coalition of civil society groups engaged in reproductive health has said Assam’s move to adopt a two-child policy for availing benefits under government schemes will hurt the poorest besides hindering the development goals of the State. Relevance: GS-I: Indian Society (Population and Associated Issues), GS-II: Polity and Governance (Government Policies and Interventions, Issues […]