Facing criticism, Govt withdraws new draft of broadcast Bill

THE MINISTRY of Information and Broadcasting is learnt to have withdrawn the new draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2024, which triggered a controversy and criticism over fears that the government was trying to exert greater control over online content. The draft Bill had raised several questions on the freedom of speech and expression, and the government's powers to regulate it.

At least three sources, including a senior government official and two industry executives, confirmed to The Indian Express that the ministry has now asked the stakeholders to return the draft Bill. The stakeholders received a call from the ministry to return their copies of the draft Bill, said sources. The ministry is expected to go back to the drawing board and work on a new proposal, said sources.

After five years, retail inflation falls below 4% - to 3.54% in July

AFTER REMAINING above the 4 per cent mark for nearly five years, retail inflation slipped to a 59-month low of 3.54 per cent in July mainly due to a high base effect, data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed. The last time retail inflation rate was below the 4 per cent mark - a key level in the 4+/- 2 per cent band of medium-term inflation target set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) - was in September 2019.

Food inflation rate also slipped to a 13-month low of 5.42 per cent in July, from 9.36 per cent in June. Food inflation has hovered between 8-9 per cent during the last eight months as prices of vegetables, cereals and pulses have stayed consistently elevated. On a month-on-month basis, how

ever, the Consumer Price Index (combined), on which retail inflation is based, gained momentum across the categories of food, clothing, housing and the overall index value. According to analysts, retail inflation is expected to breach the 4 per cent mark in August 2024, stoked by food inflation.

NIRF rankings out: IIT Madras at top for 6th year, IISc best university for 9th time

THE IITs continue to dominate the top 10 ranks in the National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF), with IIT Madras retaining the first spot for the sixth consecutive year, according to the latest edition released by the Government. 

The overall top 10 list is similar to last year's, comprising seven IITs, IISc Bengaluru, AIIMS Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). And just like 2023, IISc has again been placed in the second position and JNU at the 10th spot.

In the universities list, however, IISc has emerged at the top yet again - a position it has held since 2016, when the first edition of the NIRF rankings was released. While Delhi University has improved from the 11th spot to the sixth, the University of Hyderabad has slipped from 10th to 17th spot.

Western Ghats: States's submission on ESAS to Centre's committee based on old surveys

THE CENTRE'S expert panel - tasked with finalising the extent of eco-sensitive areas (ESA) in the Western Ghats - has received submissions broadly based on old ground truthing surveys carried out by states governments.

The Environment Ministry's expert panel headed by Sanjay Kumar, former Director General of Forest, is currently examining objections and submissions by six states to arrive at a consensus after the Centre reissued a draft notification demarcating ESAs in the Western Ghats across 56,825 sq km.

New mining projects, thermal power plants, sand mining, quarrying, township constructions are banned in villages proposed as ESAS. Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu carried out the surveys between 2013 and 2018 to physically verify the extent of villages declared as ESA by Centre in a draft notification based on the K Kasturirangan panel's report.

WHEN IT RAINS

Bumper kharif harvest and benign global prices with no fresh supply shocks could ease food inflationary pressures

THE SOUTHWEST MONSOON season had a poor start, with all-India rainfall in June 10.9 per cent below the long-period average ("normal") for the month.

The rains were subpar everywhere, save the South, Maharashtra, west Madhya Pradesh and east Rajasthan. But as El Niño ebbed and transitioned into a "neutral" phase, July recorded 9 per cent above-normal rains, with all regions, barring the North and East, receiving robust precipitation.

The current month has been even better 26 per cent above normal rainfall, taking the cumulative surplus for the season (June- September) to 6.3 per cent till August 12. The deficiency is now largely in Bihar, Jharkhand and parts of Northwest India where farmers have access to irrigation.

In short, the monsoon has been good so far, while also helping recharge groundwater tables and fill up the country's major reservoir dams to 64.7 per cent of full storage capacity - more than 60.8 per cent last year and the 53.7 per cent 10-year-average for this time.

FOR PATIENT'S SAKE

THE Centre waived the requirement of clinical trials for five categories of drugs if they have been approved by regulators in the US, UK, Australia, Japan, Canada and the EU.

The regulatory relaxation covers drugs that provide "significant therapeutic advances over the current standard care, gene and cellular therapy products, medicines used to treat rare diseases, therapies that become necessary during a pandemic, and drugs used for special defence purposes".

Currently, a drug launched in developed economies takes between three to 15 years before becoming available in the Indian market. The waiver could be the first step in enabling doctors in the country to develop novel therapies for Alzheimer's, advanced stages of cancer and autoimmune disorders.

The global pharma majors will save on the costs of conducting local trials and incentivise them to pass on some of the benefits to Indian patients. However, more needs to be done to ensure that cutting-edge therapies become available in the country's pharmacies without imposing a high financial burden on the seriously ill.

Relook at Dhaka

THE OUSTER OF former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a mass upsurge of "people's power", and the assumption of power in Dhaka by an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is, doubtless, a watershed moment in Bangladesh's tumultuous history.

As many have pointed out, it is a moment that holds both peril and promise, calling for a measured and sagacious response from all those who have a stake in regional stability.

For close to 15 years, in stark contrast to the preceding years, the use of Bangladeshi territory was effectively denied to all manner of terrorist and insurgent organisations and their backers who were eager to do India harm.

This decisive transformation would not have been possible but for the concerted efforts of the government that was in power in Bangladesh during this period and the mutually beneficial cooperation between the concerned institutions of both countries.

These are incontrovertible realities that no government in New Delhi can be oblivious or indifferent to.

How Tungabhadra dam gate was swept away, why farmers are fearful

A FLOOD alert has been sounded downstream of the Tungabhadra dam in Karnataka's Koppal district after one of the 33 crest gates of the massive stone masonry dam across the Tungabhadra river was washed away late on Saturday evening.

Repairs can be carried out only after two-thirds of the dam is emptied, the Tungabhadra Board, which manages the project, said. Kamataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. 

Once thriving, now all but gone: a history of Kerala's Jewish communities

From boasting a population of 20,000- 50,000 in the mid-1940s, India's Jewish population today is estimated to comprise 4,000- 5,000 members.

Almost all belong to the Marathi-speaking Bene Israel community, settled on the Konkan coast for hundreds of years. They are not, however, the oldest Jewish community in India. That honour goes to one of Kerala's two main Jewish communities.

An ancient calendar found in Turkey may have documented a 13,000-yr-old disaster

A RESEARCHER at the University of Edinburgh has discovered what he believes is the earliest calendar of its kind at Gobekli Tepe, an archaeological excavation site in what is now southern Turkey that used to be an ancient complex of temple-like enclosures.

The researcher, Martin Sweatman, a scientist at the University of Edinburgh, said in research published last month that V-shaped markings on the lunisolar calendar, which combines the movements of the moon and sun, recorded a major astronomical event that had a huge impact on Earth - making the ancient pillar part of an ancient version of a memorial.

Factory output slows to 4.2% in June as manufacturing drops to a seven-month low

INDIA'S FACTORY output, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), eased to 4.2 per cent in June, the lowest level since January 2024, mainly due to a slower growth in manufacturing output. Manufacturing, which accounts for 77.6 per cent of the weight of the IIP, slowed to a seven-month low of 2.6 per cent compared with 5 per cent in May and 3.5 per cent in June 2023.

The overall industrial output recorded a growth of 4 per cent in June 2023 and 6.2 per cent in May this year. Cumulatively so far in the financial year 2024-25, industrial growth has been recorded at 5.2 per cent during April-June as against 4.7 per cent in the previous financial year.

Net direct tax mop-up rises 22.5%

THE CENTRE'S direct tax collections, net of refunds, as of August 11 in the current financial year stood at Rs 6.93 trillion, which is 22.5 per cent higher than the corresponding period of last year, an official release said.

Refunds from April 1- August 11 stood at Rs 1.2 trillion, which is 33.5 per cent higher than last year.

The direct tax data mop-up till August 11 accounted for 31 per cent of the total target for the current fiscal. Whereas, last year, collections in the same period accounted for 29 per cent of the target. This indicates robust tax collections and shows that the mop-up may surpass the full-year's target, say experts.