The Buffer Stock

13/06/2021

Opinion| The Centre Flip-Flopped on Vaccine Policy |

On the 7th of June, PM Narendra Modi announced that India would revert to a system of centralised procurement of vaccines against COVID-19.

05/06/2021

The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed the FIR lodged against senior journalist Vinod Dua for sedition and other offences by a local BJP leader in Himachal Pradesh over his YouTube show with critical remarks against Prime Minister and Union Government. "Every journalist is entitled to the protection under the Kedar Nath Singh judgment(which defined the ambit of the offence of sedition under Section 124A IPC)", the bench observed.

The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed a sedition case registered against journalist Vinod Dua by the Himachal Pradesh police.

05/05/2021

Despite being the largest manufacturer of the vaccine, India is facing the spectre of a vaccine shortage. Many states, including BJP ruling states, are bellowing for the vaccine as India on May 1st set forth for the largest vaccination drive.
At the same time, India’s growing covid deaths have made things worse. The government’s diplomacy during the COVID-era has now come under the scanner.

Why is the government presently confronting criticism for its diplomacy? and why is there a vaccine shortage in the midst of the second wave of Covid-19? Read this to find out.
-19 wave

Despite being the largest manufacturer of the vaccine, India is facing the spectre of a vaccine shortage resulting in a surge in COVID cases.

03/05/2021

A forum of scientific advisers set up by the Union government warned officials in early March of a new and more contagious variant of the coronavirus taking hold in the country, five scientists who are part of the forum told Reuters. Despite the warning, four of the scientists said the Central government did not seek to impose major restrictions to stop the spread of the virus. India, world’s second-most populous country, is now struggling to contain a second wave of infections much more severe than its first last year.
INSACOG researchers first detected B.1.617, which is now known as the Indian variant of the virus, as early as February. It shared its findings with the Health Ministry’s National Centre for Disease Control before March 10, warning that infections could quickly increase in parts of the country. The findings were then passed on to the Health Ministry.
Around that date, INSACOG began to prepare a draft media statement for the Health Ministry. A version of that draft, seen by Reuters, set out the forum’s findings: the new Indian variant had two significant mutations to the portion of the virus that attaches to human cells, and it had been traced in 15% to 20% of samples from Maharashtra, India’s worst-affected State.
The draft statement said that the mutations, called E484Q and L452R, were of “high concern.” The Ministry made the findings public about two weeks later, on March 24, when it issued a statement to the media that did not include the words “high concern.” The statement said only that more problematic variants required following measures already underway — increased testing and quarantine.
The research centre director told Reuters the draft media release was sent to the most senior bureaucrat in the country, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, who reports directly to the Prime Minister. Reuters was unable to learn whether Mr. Modi or his office were informed of the findings.

19/04/2021

The Biden administration has announced that it will order the withdrawal of all American troops from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021.

The Biden administration has announced that it will order the withdrawal of all American troops from Afghanistan by September 11,

19/04/2021

The birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar was on 14th of April. Ambedkar Jayanti is observed as Equality Day in India. Fondly called Babasaheb, BR Ambedkar stood firmly for the rights of Dalits and untouchables. He also fought the rights of women and said that "I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved". BR Ambedkar, the 'architect of the Indian constitution', He was the force behind the Dalit Buddhist Movement in India. Babasaheb Ambedkar worked tirelessly towards a society where everyone is treated as equals. This article gives you an outline of his views about Hinduism and why he preferred Buddhism over Hinduism.

Many people are unaware of the fact that Ambedkar, towards the latter part of his life, renounced Hinduism and the tenets associated with it.

28/03/2021

What's happening in the Suez Canal? Swipe left to find out.

23/03/2021

The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network released the World Happiness Report 2021 in which Finland was once again crowned as the world’s happiest country.

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The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network released the World Happiness Report 2021 in which Finland was once again crowned as

21/03/2021

According to a media report, India’s Environment Ministry has admitted that it has been incapable to utilise about half the money allocated for reducing particulate matter concentration in a bid to control air pollution.

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India’s Environment Ministry has admitted that it has been incapable to utilise about half the money allocated for reducing particulate matter concentration.

03/03/2021

Opinion | The new legislative pattern of bypassing the Upper House violates the virtues of Bicameralism|

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It has become a new legislative pattern to bypass the constitutionally envisaged legislative process of bicameralism.

27/02/2021

The Central government has notified the Information Technology (Guidelines for intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 to regulate the functioning of online media portals and publishers, OTT platforms and social media intermediaries. The new guidelines require social media intermediaries like Whatsapp, Signal, Telegram etc. to enable “identification of the first originator of the information”. However, a problem arises here that goes against privacy policies of these intermediaries.

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The new guidelines require social media intermediaries like Whatsapp to enable “identification of the first originator of the information”.

18/02/2021

A report commissioned by the Ministry of Social Justice has recommended that caste surnames or any details that reveal religious or social backgrounds of candidates should not be disclosed in civil services and other central or state-level examinations during interviews, as it increases chances of discrimination

The Ministry of Social Justice commissioned draft report, according to ThePrint, has recommended that caste surnames or any details, which

16/02/2021

Chinese apps were posing a threat to the national security. But India is either willfully or unknowingly ignoring a potentially bigger threat to its national security by using Chinese surveillance systems.

With increasing border conflicts with China, India cannot afford to share information with the CCP and potentially with the Chinese Army.

06/02/2021

This year's annual budget is primarily structured, segmented and compartmentalized into six different pillars. First is the Health and Well-being, second is the Physical, Financial capital and Infrastructure, third is the Inclusive Development for aspirational India, fourth is Reinvigorating Human Capital, fifth is about Innovation, Research and Development and sixth is about Minimum Government and Maximum Governance. We have already dealt with most of the things in our previous Budget analysis. This part deals with the remaining portion of Budget.

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Now, the next topic to focus on is the Disinvestment. In this particular case, the government will sell each stake

05/02/2021

This year's annual budget is primarily structured, segmented and compartmentalized into six different pillars. First is the Health and Well-being, second is the Physical, Financial capital and Infrastructure, third is the Inclusive Development for aspirational India, fourth is Reinvigorating Human Capital, fifth is about Innovation, Research and Development and sixth is about Minimum Government and Maximum Governance. We have already dealt with Health & Well-being and Physical & Financial capital and Infrastructure in our I and II part of Budget analysis respectively. The third part deals with two points, viz "Inclusive Development for the Aspirational India" and "Human Capital."

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Let’s look into the third pillar. The third pillar speaks about Inclusive Development for the Aspirational India. The first broad

03/02/2021

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2021-22 in Parliament on Monday, 1st February, 2021. It is primarily structured, segmented and compartmentalized into six different pillars. First is the Health and Well-being, second is the Physical, Financial capital and Infrastructure, third is the Inclusive Development for aspirational India, fourth is Reinvigorating Human Capital, fifth is about Innovation, Research and Development and sixth is about Minimum Government and Maximum Governance. These focused point of government will be discussed in different parts. The first part deals with the Health and Well-being.

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2021-22 in Parliament on Monday, 1st February, 2021. This is for the

30/01/2021

India has slipped six places to rank at the 86th spot in the 2020 Corruption Perception Index. For 2020, Transparency International Corruption Perception Index (CPI) was released on January 28.

India has slipped six places to rank at the 86th spot in the 2020 Corruption Perception Index published by Transparency International.

27/01/2021

A recent research report published by OXFAM International highlighted how the coronavirus pandemic has increased inequality manifolds around the world.

It took just nine months for the fortunes of the top 1,000 billionaires to return to their pre-pandemic highs, while for the world’s poorest, recovery could take more than a decade.

25/01/2021

Within hours of moving into the White House, the 46th United States President, Joe Biden has signed many executive orders reversing many of his predecessor’s decisions.

Within hours of moving into the White House, Joe Biden has signed many executive orders reversing many of his predecessor’s decisions.

21/01/2021

Opinion | The path to Dictatorship |

Yoweri Museveni, the president of Uganda, won another five-year term. He has been in power since 1986. But, the recent ruckus over the contested result has pushed the country into its worst political crisis in decades.

Yoweri Museveni, the president of Uganda, won another five-year term in the January 14 presidential election. He has been in