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The Election Commission of India (ECI) has introduced some new rules and revisions, including a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar before the Assembly polls. This exercise will then take place across the country. In Bihar, the SIR exercise, aimed at removing duplicate entries in electoral rolls, started on June 25. … Read more
“Lasting peace in West Asia will remain hostage to an indelible sense of injustice and moral outrage” | Photo Credit: AP In an era of global conflicts and democratic decline, the question of political leadership in the democratic world has acquired a heightened significance. Intensified rivalries in several parts of the world represent a failure … Read more
The intensifying impacts of climate change are reshaping India’s coastline resulting in an environmental phenomenon and also profound social and economic rupture. Across the eastern and western seaboards, communities that are historically dependent on agriculture, fishing, and coastal ecosystems are being displaced by rising seas, saltwater intrusion, and the cumulative effects of unregulated development. This … Read more
With two cases of Nipah virus detected in Kerala — including one fatality owing to the infection — the attention is rightfully, once again, on a preventable infectious disease that could leave havoc in its trail. An adolescent girl from Malappuram succumbed to the virus on July 1, and a 38-year-old woman from Palakkad is … Read more
In childbirth in India, why should 93 women lose their life while one lakh women have a safe delivery? For the time period 2019-21, the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) estimate for India was 93, in other words, the proportion of maternal deaths per 1,00,000 live births, reported under the Sample Registration System (SRS). “Maternal death … Read more
The remarks by Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar criticising the inclusion of the word “secular” in the Preamble to the Constitution have led to controversy. “Addition of these words in the Preamble during the Emergency signals betrayal of the mindset of the framers of the Constitution,” he said. Mr. Dhankar’s remarks came in the wake of statements … Read more
The Election Commission of India’s (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral Rolls in Bihar, while touted as a smooth process with significant form submissions, is riddled with contradictions and poses a serious threat to voter enfranchisement. Despite claims of progress, with over 11% of the estimated electorate submitting forms, conflicting statements from the ECI … Read more
In 1994, residents of Greater Bombay in Maharashtra and those of Paharganj and Matia Mahal in Delhi found their names deleted from the electoral rolls. The apparent reason was the respective electoral registration officers’ suspicion that they were non-citizens and therefore ineligible to vote. When the matter reached the Supreme Court, a three-judge Bench said … Read more
Plight of the poor Are we a police state? In Tamil Nadu, the brutality unleashed by the police on Ajith Kumar, who was finished off on mere suspicion of being linked to an incident of some jewels missing, defies all imagination. He was just a poor man working as a security guard in a temple. … Read more
(This is the latest edition of the Political Line newsletter curated by Varghese K. George. The Political Line newsletter is India’s political landscape explained every week. You can subscribe here to get the newsletter in your inbox every Friday.) The attempt by the BJP-led State government to promote Hindi has opened up new space for the cousins. It … Read more