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The legislation has stringent provisions against any individual or institution indulging in forcible religious conversion by marriage. The Gujarat High Court is hearing two petitions that have challenged the newly enacted amendment. What are the legal issues at stake?

CJI NV Ramana said there are misconceptions of a judge having an “easy life”. Judges have lots of work—reading pleas, hearing cases, recording evidence, writing opinions and keeping abreast with law. Here is an insider’s view.

Here are some sobering bits of information. Afghanistan has now endured two decades of horrifying war and brutality under the Taliban, followed by another two decades of American “occupation”, purportedly to the benefit of the common man, and to help set up a legitimate government. Yet, the country now descends into god knows how many years of complete chaos under the Taliban, again.

The Taliban sealed the fate of the democratically elected government in Afghanistan when it marched trium­phantly into Kabul on Aug­ust 15. The Latin phrase veni, vidi, vici (I came, I saw, I conquered) attributed to Julius Caesar following his victory at the Battle of Zela in 42 BC may well apply to the Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan.

The blame game for who “lost” Afghanistan is absurd. The real issue is why was America there in the first place? The US military adopted a pattern of deceiving the public about many facets of the war, including willful distortions or flat-out fabrications.

It is time to appoint a distinguished jurist as a judge in the Supreme Court. Professors of law who are engaged in high-quality teaching and research have considerable value in judicial adjudication.

While addressing the people at the inauguration of the Kollam bypass in January 2019, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, mentioned that the culture of wasting public money should end. However, the reality is different. A huge amount of public money is being utilised in paying income tax of cabinet ministers that accrue on their income.

The Sabarimala Temple is again in the news. Why is it on the table again and again for all the “wrong” reasons, wondered a practising advocate, a friend who has been religiously visiting Sabarimala for the past 25 years. But the moot point is—“Wrong” from whose perspective, and “wrong” from which point of view.

India is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol and does not have a national framework regarding refugees. But continues to grant asylum to a large number of refugees from neighbouring States and respects UNHCR’s mandate for other nationals, mainly from Afghanistan and Myanmar.

It was welcome news for those concerned with national security, especially the maritime one, that INS Vikrant 2, India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier had successfully completed its five-day sea trial or its maiden sea voyage. Built at a cost of Rs 23,000 crore, it finished sea trials ahead of its planned induction by August 2022.