Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Urges Couples to Have Children Soon
NB, News Briefings, March 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, March 2025 Vishal Arora

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Urges Couples to Have Children Soon

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has urged the people of the state to have children immediately after marriage, arguing that the state’s success in family planning has put it at a disadvantage in terms of political representation. The call comes amid concerns over the upcoming delimitation exercise, which will redraw parliamentary constituencies based on population.

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Court Says Social Media Users Must Be Heard Before Blocking Posts
NB, News Briefings, March 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, March 2025 Vishal Arora

Court Says Social Media Users Must Be Heard Before Blocking Posts

The Supreme Court has sought a response from the central government regarding a petition challenging the practice of taking down social media posts without prior notice or a fair hearing for the content creator. The petition, filed by the Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC), argues that this practice violates principles of natural justice and the right to free speech under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.

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What’s Behind the BJP’s Interest in Sufism?
NB, News Briefings, March 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, March 2025 Vishal Arora

What’s Behind the BJP’s Interest in Sufism?

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has recently intensified its outreach to Sufi Muslims, following engagements with the economically and socially marginalised Pasmanda Muslims. The effort seemingly aims to counter the influence of other Islamic sects and to solidify political support within some Muslim communities. But one might ask why it hasn’t embraced a very similar spiritual tradition known as Bhakti.

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Punjab Chief Minister’s Plan to Eradicate Drugs in 3 Months
NB, News Briefings, March 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, March 2025 Vishal Arora

Punjab Chief Minister’s Plan to Eradicate Drugs in 3 Months

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has ordered a three-month deadline for law enforcement to eliminate drugs from the state. Given that Punjab has struggled with a deep-rooted drug problem for decades, the idea of “eradicating” it within such a short time is not only unrealistic but also risks leading to heavy-handed measures that could cause more harm than good.

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Sajjan Kumar Gets Life Sentence in 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots Case
NB, News Briefings, February 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, February 2025 Vishal Arora

Sajjan Kumar Gets Life Sentence in 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots Case

A Delhi court on Feb 25 sentenced former Congress party MP Sajjan Kumar to life imprisonment for the killings of a father-son duo during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi. Disappointed by the verdict after more than 40 years, many Sikhs insist that the death penalty was the only suitable outcome for a deliberate act of violence.

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Why Tamil Nadu Rejects Centre’s Three-Language Policy in Schools
NB, News Briefings, February 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, February 2025 Vishal Arora

Why Tamil Nadu Rejects Centre’s Three-Language Policy in Schools

A renewed language conflict has erupted between the DMK-led Tamil Nadu state government and the BJP-led central government over the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and its three-language policy. The DMK believes that enforcing a third language in Tamil Nadu’s education system is unnecessary, would burden students and would indirectly push Hindi.

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Rape in Kerala: Does Middle Class Overlook Dalit Women’s Safety?
NB, News Briefings, February 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, February 2025 Vishal Arora

Rape in Kerala: Does Middle Class Overlook Dalit Women’s Safety?

India’s middle class appears to care about women’s safety only when the woman in question belongs to a privileged caste or social class, leaving countless vulnerable women neglected. This may explain the absence of public outrage and the minimal reaction to reports of a Dalit teenager who suffered rape and abuse for five years in Kerala.

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‘$21 Million USAID Fund to India’: What’s the Controversy About?
NB, News Briefings, February 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, February 2025 Vishal Arora

‘$21 Million USAID Fund to India’: What’s the Controversy About?

U.S. President Donald Trump has claimed that the Biden administration allocated $21 million through USAID for “voter turnout” in India, now calling it a “kickback scheme” without providing evidence or elaborating on who really benefitted. He suggests that the funds were meant to influence India’s 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

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Is the Targeting of Ranveer Allahbadia, Samay Raina a Prelude to Censorship?
NB, News Briefings, February 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, February 2025 Vishal Arora

Is the Targeting of Ranveer Allahbadia, Samay Raina a Prelude to Censorship?

An op-ed in The Hindu by Apar Gupta, a lawyer and advocate for digital freedom, suggests that the central government might be leveraging controversies involving crude remarks made by YouTubers Ranveer Allahbadia and Samay Raina on their show, “India’s Got Latent,” to advocate for stricter regulation of digital media.

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Nepalese Student’s Death in Odisha Spurs Demands for Justice, Anti-Racism Protections
NB, News Briefings, February 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, February 2025 Vishal Arora

Nepalese Student’s Death in Odisha Spurs Demands for Justice, Anti-Racism Protections

A 20-year-old Nepalese engineering student, Prakriti Lamsal, at the private university Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, died in an alleged suicide on Feb. 16, sparking demands for justice for her family and enforce measures against racial mistreatment.

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Delhi Earthquake: Why a 4.2 Quake Felt Strong; What Comes Next?
NB, News Briefings, February 2025 Vishal Arora NB, News Briefings, February 2025 Vishal Arora

Delhi Earthquake: Why a 4.2 Quake Felt Strong; What Comes Next?

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck the Haryana-Delhi-Uttar Pradesh region early on Feb. 17, at 5.36 am, sending tremors across the National Capital Region. Occurring at a shallow depth of 10 km, the earthquake felt stronger than expected and led to concerns about the possibility of aftershocks, and whether it could be a precursor to a larger event.

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