Offered Afghanistan Rs 10 bn to shift militants to western border: Pak Defence Minister

Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has slammed the Afghan Taliban-led government in Kabul for not taking action against militants along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, despite repeated requests made by Islamabad.

Asif made the comments in an interview with BBC in which he also said that Pakistan even offered to grant Rs10 billion to shift the militants towards the western border.

Curtains on old IPC, CrPC, Evidence law, and new codes come into effect

Effective Monday, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam will replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

Together, these three laws govern the criminal justice jurisprudence - from defining penal offences, prescribing processes for investigation and evidence gathering to governing the process of a trial in court.

Gen Upendra Dwivedi takes charge as 30th Army Chief

General Upendra Dwivedi took charge as the 30th Chief of the Army Staff at a time India faces a range of security challenges, particularly a spike in terror attacks in the Jammu region and the standoff with China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

Gen Dwivedi succeeds Gen Manoj Pande who retired Sunday after an illustrious four-decade career. The new chief brings with him around 40 years of operational experience which includes several command and staff appointments across the Northern, Eastern, and Western theatres.

Govt brings out checklist of 1.04 lakh animal species

The central government released a comprehensive fauna checklist covering 1,04,561 lakh species of animals. The list was released by Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Bhupender Yadav during the 109th foundation day of Zoological Survey of India in Kolkata. 

India is home to over 28,000 endemic species. "The faunal checklist will be an invaluable reference for taxonomists, researchers, academicians, conservation managers, and policymakers. It comprises 121 checklists of all known taxa covering 36 phyla.

Boosting a special bond

Nepal And India have a unique relationship. The open border, shared culture, economic interdependence and deep-rooted people-to-people relationship make bilateral ties special.

India is Nepal's largest trading partner, the top-source country for tourists, the only supplier of petroleum products and the largest source of total foreign investment. 

India also provides transit for almost all of Nepal's third-country trade and accounts for a significant share of inward remittances from pensioners, professionals and labourers working in India. 

It has always been the first responder during disasters and emergencies in Nepal. The country, in addition to the immediate rescue and relief package, provided a financial package of $75 million for the development of the recently earth-quake-hit areas of Nepal.

Govt approves ₹56 crore for next phase of conservation plan for Great Indian Bustard

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has approved ₹56 crore for the next phase of the conservation of Great Indian Bustard (GIB) and Lesser Florican.

The plan includes habitat development, in-situ conservation, completion of the conservation breeding centre, releasing captive-bred birds and habitat development among other things.

The executive committee of the National CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) had recommended the Wildlife Institute of India's (WII) proposal to the governing body, multiple sources aware of developments said.

Submitted in March, the WII proposal which outlines the plan to scale up the project for 2024- 2033 includes two components.

India's new criminal laws

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), passed in Parliament last December, will replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 respectively.

Since Independence, the colonial-era IPC (which provides the substance of criminal law), CrPC (which provides the procedure for law's enforcement), and Evidence Act have seen several revisions. 

But as Union Home Minister Amit Shah said during the new laws' passage in Parliament, the sanhitas represented laws that had been framed by Indians, for Indians.

How Government Is Preparing For The New Criminal Law Regime

Bar Council of India has mandated that the new laws be incorporated into curricula of universities and Centres of Legal Education from the 2024-25 academic year. Department of School Education will have special modules for Classes 6 upward between October and March.

Will end FY25 with over $800 billion in exports: Goyal

Healthy increase in the country's exports, improvement in the current account deficit (CAD) and focus on expanding manufacturing will help the Indian economy register a healthy growth rate, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said. He was here to participate in a programme of the gems and jewellery industry.

The minister expressed confidence that the country's goods and services exports would cross $800 billion this fiscal. It was $778 billion in 2023-24 and $776 billion in 2022-23. Goyal said that the mood amongst industry and exporters is "wonderful" and a "very great" sense of confidence is there among the investors.