Citizenship Bill likely next week
- BJP MPs were warned against absenteeism by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at the parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday.
- He said the presence of MPs was to be strictly ensured as the government would be tabling the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) next week. The Bill is expected to be cleared by the Cabinet on Wednesday.
GST revenues not enough for States’ compensation: Centre
- The Centre has written to all States voicing concern that due to the lower Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections, the compensation cess might not be enough to pay for losses arising out of the tax system.
- The communication comes at a time when several States, including Rajasthan, Kerala, Delhi, Punjab and West Bengal, have publicly urged the Centre to transfer pending compensation payments as they have not received the dues for several months.
Porting request will now be met in days: TRAI
- Mobile phone users will now be able to switch their telecom service provider while retaining their number in a maximum of five days, December 16 onwards, as the new regulations on number portability come into effect.
- The amended rules, which provide for a penalty of up to Rs. 10,000 per wrongful rejection of a porting request, also reduce the role of the telecom operators in the whole process.
Chennai skywatcher first to spot debris from Chandrayaan-2 lander, says NASA
- In the first authentic information from any source on the fate of Indian lunar lander Vikram, NASA late on Monday released the latest images of the lunar surface that point to the fact that the lander broke into many pieces after crash-landing on September 7.
- NASA credited Chennai-based freelance space observer and professional programmer Shanmuga Subramanian with discovering the first spot of debris from the Chandrayaan-2 mission’s lander and alerting it on October 3.
India tests Swedish technology to reduce stubble burning
- Pollution from stubble burning in winter is the key contributor to the sharp decline in air quality in Delhi. But stubble burning continues unabated. To find a solution to this issue, India is testing a Swedish technology — torrefaction that can convert rice stubble into ‘bio-coal’.