The Evening Wrap: NCERT drops chapters on periodic table, democracy for Class 10

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has decided to omit the chapter on the periodic table from Class 10 Science textbooks as part of the “rationalisation” exercise. The council has also deleted chapters — Democracy and Diversity, Popular Struggles and Movements, Political Parties, and Challenges to Democracy — from the Political Science textbooks as part of the exercise. According to NCERT, it has been carrying out the exercise — “rationalisation of contents in the textbooks” — across all classes to “reduce content load on students”. “In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is imperative to reduce content load on students. The National Education Policy 2020, also emphasises reducing the content load and providing opportunities for experiential learning with creative mindset. In this background, NCERT has undertaken the exercise to rationalise the textbooks across all classes,” the NCERT said explaining the exercise. Earlier this year, the council had controversially dropped Darwin’s theory of evolution from its Class 10 textbooks. Among other controversial omissions, the NCERT had also deleted any mention of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, a freedom fighter and India’s first Education Minister, from a revised political science textbook published by the council. The authors of the revised Class 11 textbook had also deleted the fact that Jammu and Kashmir had acceded to India on the basis of a promise that the State would remain autonomous. Entire chapters on history of Mughal courts, references to the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, the Naxalite movement, and mention of Dalit writers were also omitted from the CBSE syllabus. IAF trainer aircraft crashes near Chamarajanagar in Karnataka An Indian Air Force (IAF) trainer aircraft Kiran crashed on the outskirts of Chamarajanagar town on June 1. However, the two pilots ejected safely before the crash. The incident took place at Bhogapura about 10 km from Chamarajanagar town and the pilots identified by the local police as Tejpal and Bhumika, who sustained injuries, were airlifted to Bengaluru for treatment. Citing defence personnel, the local police said they were out of danger. The cause of the crash is being investigated by the IAF which tweeted that the pilots were on a routine training sortie and a Court of Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident. The Chamarajanagar district disaster management personnel who rushed to the spot on receiving information said that a portion of the aircraft was engulfed by flames after the crash. There were no civilian casualties and the mangled remains of the aircraft were strewn on a barren portion of the land. The locals who first witnessed the air crash informed the police and the disaster management cell reached the spot for rescue and relief operations but the pilots had parachuted to safety. Amit Shah announces judicial inquiry commission for Manipur ‘ethnic violence’, warns Kuki groups to not violate Suspension of Operations pact Terming the ongoing tension in Manipur as “ethnic violence”, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on June 1 announced a judicial inquiry commission headed by a retired Chief Justice of a High Court. He appealed for peace from both sides and cautioned people against failing for rumours. The commission will “investigate the violence, its causes and fix responsibility” on the Centre’s behalf. He warned Kuki militant groups of stern action if the terms of the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement put in place in 2008 were violated. The SoO had been formalised with the two Kuki groups — the United Peoples’ Front (UPF) and the Kuki National Organisation (KNO), an umbrella of 24 insurgent groups — in 2008. There are 2,200 armed cadres among the two groups and as per the SoO pact their arms are to be surrendered in designated camps. The Kuki groups allegedly used these weapons against Meitei groups in the clashes began on May 3. “I want to send a strong message to SoO groups that any kind of violation of the SoO pact will be taken sternly. The terms of the agreement will be strictly monitored,” Shah said while addressing a press conference in Imphal. The Kuki groups have accused the Meitei groups such as the Aarambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun of looting arms from police armouries to attack tribal people. As many as 1,420 weapons have reportedly been looted after May 3. On Thursday, Shah appealed to insurgents that all weapons be surrendered to the police, failing which a combing operation would begin and strict action would follow. “I want to appeal [to] those who have the weapons to surrender them immediately. Police will start combing operation from tomorrow. [The offenders] should come forward and surrender the weapons to the police. If they fail to do so, strict action will follow. We know the people who possess the weapons,” Shah said. “Many arms have been recovered. When a mob comes, there is a hesitation to fire at them. Combing operation will start if arms are not surrendered,” he added. He said out of all the cases registered so far, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) would pick five cases and register a general case of conspiracy. “The special CBI team will probe the cases without any bias,” Shah said. He said a peace committee chaired by Governor Anusuya Uike, which will be comprised of eminent personalities and civil society groups, would be formed. He said many security agencies were at work in Manipur and to bring them to a common ground, an inter-agency unified command was immediately being set up under retired Central Police Reserve Force (CRPF) Director General Kuldiep Singh. Singh was appointed as security adviser by the Manipur government in the aftermath of the violence in May. He said the peace that had reigned in Manipur during the past six years had been disrupted in May due to a court judgment and that “there have been some misunderstandings” since then. The Manipur High Court had, on March 27, directed the State government to submit a recommendation for the inclusion of Meitis in the Scheduled Tribe list, seeking that the proposal be considered preferably within four weeks. This was opposed by the existing 34 scheduled tribes in Manipur who comprise 41% of the State’s population and predominantly live in the hill districts. A tribal solidarity rally was organised in Churachandpur and other areas on May 3, following which violence erupted. Many parts of the State remain under curfew. Meanwhile, senior IPS officer Rajiv Singh has been given charge of the post of Director General of Police (DGP) in Manipur. He replaces P. Doungel, who has been transferred to the post of OSD (Home), according to an official order by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Rahul Gandhi says his disqualification from Lok Sabha has given him huge opportunity Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said that he did not imagine his disqualification from Lok Sabha was possible when he joined politics but asserted that it has given him a “huge opportunity” to serve the people. Gandhi, who is in the U.S. for a three-city U.S. tour, made the remarks on Wednesday night in response to a series of questions from Indian students at the prestigious Stanford University Campus in California. The Wayanad (Kerala) Member of Parliament was disqualified from Lok Sabha earlier this year after he was convicted by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his “Modi surname” remark. In his remarks, Gandhi said that when he joined politics in 2000, he never imagined this is what he would go through. What he sees is going on now is way outside anything that he had thought when he joined politics. Referring to his disqualification from Lok Sabha as a Member of Parliament, Gandhi, 52, said he didn’t imagine that something like this was possible. “But then I think it’s actually given me a huge opportunity. Probably much bigger than the opportunity I would have. That’s just the way politics works,” he said. “I think the drama started really, about six months ago. We were struggling. The entire opposition is struggling in India. Huge financial dominance. Institutional capture. We’re struggling to fight the democratic fight in our country,” he said, adding that at this point in time, he decided to go for the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. “I am very clear, our fight is ours to fight,” he said. “But there is a group of young students from India here. I want to have a relationship with them and want to talk to them. It’s my right to do it,” he said during his interaction with Indian students and academicians of Indian origin at the University here. He also emphasised that in his frequent foreign trips like this, he is not seeking support from anybody. “I don’t understand why the prime minister doesn’t come here and do it,” Gandhi asked amidst applause from the audience who had packed the entire auditorium at Stanford. The moderator said that the Prime Minister is welcome to come to Stanford anytime and interact with the students and academicians. Gandhi later tweeted that it was a pleasure to engage with the learned audience at Stanford on ‘The New Global Equilibrium’. “We discussed the challenges and opportunities of a changing world order. Actions based on truth is the way forward,” he tweeted. Some of the students were denied entry as the auditorium was packed. Students started queuing up two hours before the event started. In the last one and a half years, several Indian ministers have interacted with Indian students. Wrestlers’ protest: TMC MPs walk out of parliamentary panel meeting TMC MPs on Thursday walked out of a parliamentary panel meeting after their demand to discuss the safety provisions for women athletes at various sports federations was rejected by its chairman and BJP MP Vivek Thakur, TMC MP Sushmita Dev said. Thakur said the issue was not part of the meeting’s agenda and was also subjudice, rejecting the demand for discussion by the TMC members. TMC MPs — Dev and Asit Kumar Mal — raised the issue of the safety of women athletes at the meeting of the Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports, and asked if internal complaints committees were formed at different sports federations and if they were active, sources said. “When West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is on the streets, as a member of this standing committee on women and children, I felt compelled to walk out of the meeting because the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs has failed to act. I could not have sat around as a mute spectator as the standing committee is a watchdog of public policy and not the ‘pet dog’ of the government,” Dev told reporters after the meeting. According to sources, Dev said parliamentary panels are supposed to analyse issues and policies, and as the government funds these federations they should be able to question them on policies such as forming of ICCs. Congress MP Akhilesh Singh, three others from the BJP and M Thambidurai of the AIADMK were present at the meeting. It was also attended by Secretary (Sports) Sujata Chaturvedi; Sandeep Pradhan, Director General, Sports Authority of India; Cdre (Retd) P K Garg, CEO, TOPS; R C Mishra, Vice Chancellor, National Sports University; Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, Patiala, among others. Sources said the Secretary (Sports) informed Dev that the government has no role in the functioning of sports federations and any interference by the dispensation in these federations will be against the spirit guiding sports administration globally. According to sources, Thakur said the issue is not part of the agenda for the meeting and the matter is subjudice so the committee cannot discuss it. He also pointed out that the agenda for Thursday’s meeting is India’s preparation for the next Olympics after which the TMC MPs walked out of the meeting. While Congress’ Singh supported Dev, sources said he did not follow them out. Dev had on May 9 written to Thakur on the allegations of sexual harassment by women wrestlers and said the committee should take review of the implementation of all statutory laws that applied to the sports federations and other bodies and the role of the sports ministry in this regard. She also requested that a meeting of the committee be held with a specific agenda that ensures a thorough review of this issue. Australia’s most decorated war veteran unlawfully killed prisoners in Afghanistan, judge says Australia’s most decorated living war veteran unlawfully killed prisoners and committed other war crimes in Afghanistan, a judge ruled Thursday in dismissing the claims by Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith that he was defamed by media. Federal Court judge Anthony Besanko ruled that the articles published in 2018 were substantially true about a number of war crimes committed by Roberts-Smith, a former Special Air Service Regiment corporal who now is a media company executive. Judge Besanko found Roberts-Smith, who was also awarded the Medal of Gallantry for his Afghan war service, “broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement” and disgraced Australia through his conduct. Proven allegations included that Roberts-Smith, the son of a judge, killed a prisoner who had a prosthetic leg by firing a machine gun into the man’s back in 2009. He kept the man’s prosthetic as a novelty beer drinking vessel. The accusations also included Roberts-Smith had kicked an unarmed, handcuffed farmer off a cliff into a riverbed where he directed a soldier under his command to shoot the farmer dead in 2012. On another occasion, Roberts-Smith pressured a “newly deployed and inexperienced” soldier to kill an elderly, unarmed Afghan to “blood the rookie,” the court found. Accusations that Roberts-Smith, who stands 6 feet, 7 inches tall, bullied soldiers and assaulted Afghan civilians were also found to be true. Two of six unlawful killings Roberts-Smith was accused of involvement in were not proven to the civil court standard of balance of probability, the judge found. Reports of domestic violence allegedly committed by Roberts-Smith were also found to be unproven and defamatory. But the judge found the unproven allegations would not have further damaged the veteran’s reputation. Had such war crime allegations been made in a criminal court, they would have had to be proven to a higher standard of beyond reasonable doubt. Roberts-Smith, 44, had denied any wrongdoing. The case’s legal costs have been underwritten by billionaire Kerry Stokes, executive chairman of Seven West Media where Roberts-Smith is employed. Roberts-Smith is one of several Australian military personnel under investigation from Australian Federal Police for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan. In Brief: State Assemblies across the country met for an average of 21 days in 2022 and the number of sittings of the State legislatures has been steadily declining since 2016, according to a report compiled by think-tank PRS Legislative Research. The report said the 28 State Assemblies met for 21 days on average in 2022. Karnataka met for the highest number of 45 days, followed by West Bengal (42 days) and Kerala (41 days). In most States, the legislature meets for two or three sessions in a year — a longer Budget Session held between January and March, followed by brief Monsoon and Winter Sessions. Twelve States, including five in the northeast, met for only two sessions in 2022. Around 61% of the sittings were held during the Budget Session. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 01 June 2023 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( NCERT drops chapters on periodic table, democracy, political parties from Class 10 syllabus The [National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has decided to omit the chapter on the periodic table from Class 10 Science textbooks as part of the “rationalisation” exercise](. The council has also deleted chapters — Democracy and Diversity, Popular Struggles and Movements, Political Parties, and Challenges to Democracy — from the Political Science textbooks as part of the exercise. According to NCERT, it has been carrying out the exercise — “rationalisation of contents in the textbooks” — across all classes to “reduce content load on students”. “In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is imperative to reduce content load on students. The National Education Policy 2020, also emphasises reducing the content load and providing opportunities for experiential learning with creative mindset. In this background, NCERT has undertaken the exercise to rationalise the textbooks across all classes,” the NCERT said explaining the exercise. Earlier this year, the council had controversially dropped Darwin’s theory of evolution from its Class 10 textbooks. Among other controversial omissions, the NCERT had also deleted any mention of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, a freedom fighter and India’s first Education Minister, from a revised political science textbook published by the council. The authors of the revised Class 11 textbook had also deleted the fact that Jammu and Kashmir had acceded to India on the basis of a promise that the State would remain autonomous. Entire chapters on history of Mughal courts, references to the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, the Naxalite movement, and mention of Dalit writers were also omitted from the CBSE syllabus. IAF trainer aircraft crashes near Chamarajanagar in Karnataka An [Indian Air Force (IAF) trainer aircraft Kiran crashed on the outskirts of Chamarajanagar town]( on June 1. However, the two pilots ejected safely before the crash. The incident took place at Bhogapura about 10 km from Chamarajanagar town and the pilots identified by the local police as Tejpal and Bhumika, who sustained injuries, were airlifted to Bengaluru for treatment. Citing defence personnel, the local police said they were out of danger. The cause of the crash is being investigated by the IAF which tweeted that the pilots were on a routine training sortie and a Court of Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident. The Chamarajanagar district disaster management personnel who rushed to the spot on receiving information said that a portion of the aircraft was engulfed by flames after the crash. There were no civilian casualties and the mangled remains of the aircraft were strewn on a barren portion of the land. The locals who first witnessed the air crash informed the police and the disaster management cell reached the spot for rescue and relief operations but the pilots had parachuted to safety. Amit Shah announces judicial inquiry commission for Manipur ‘ethnic violence’, warns Kuki groups to not violate Suspension of Operations pact Terming the ongoing tension in Manipur as “ethnic violence”, Union Home Minister [Amit Shah on June 1 announced a judicial inquiry commission headed by a retired Chief Justice of a High Court](. He appealed for peace from both sides and cautioned people against failing for rumours. The commission will “investigate the violence, its causes and fix responsibility” on the Centre’s behalf. He warned Kuki militant groups of stern action if the terms of the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement put in place in 2008 were violated. The SoO had been formalised with the two Kuki groups — the United Peoples’ Front (UPF) and the Kuki National Organisation (KNO), an umbrella of 24 insurgent groups — in 2008. There are 2,200 armed cadres among the two groups and as per the SoO pact their arms are to be surrendered in designated camps. The Kuki groups allegedly used these weapons against Meitei groups in the clashes began on May 3. “I want to send a strong message to SoO groups that any kind of violation of the SoO pact will be taken sternly. The terms of the agreement will be strictly monitored,” Shah said while addressing a press conference in Imphal. The Kuki groups have accused the Meitei groups such as the Aarambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun of looting arms from police armouries to attack tribal people. As many as 1,420 weapons have reportedly been looted after May 3. On Thursday, Shah appealed to insurgents that all weapons be surrendered to the police, failing which a combing operation would begin and strict action would follow. “I want to appeal [to] those who have the weapons to surrender them immediately. Police will start combing operation from tomorrow. [The offenders] should come forward and surrender the weapons to the police. If they fail to do so, strict action will follow. We know the people who possess the weapons,” Shah said. “Many arms have been recovered. When a mob comes, there is a hesitation to fire at them. Combing operation will start if arms are not surrendered,” he added. He said out of all the cases registered so far, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) would pick five cases and register a general case of conspiracy. “The special CBI team will probe the cases without any bias,” Shah said. He said a peace committee chaired by Governor Anusuya Uike, which will be comprised of eminent personalities and civil society groups, would be formed. He said many security agencies were at work in Manipur and to bring them to a common ground, an inter-agency unified command was immediately being set up under retired Central Police Reserve Force (CRPF) Director General Kuldiep Singh. Singh was appointed as security adviser by the Manipur government in the aftermath of the violence in May. He said the peace that had reigned in Manipur during the past six years had been disrupted in May due to a court judgment and that “there have been some misunderstandings” since then. The Manipur High Court had, on March 27, directed the State government to submit a recommendation for the inclusion of Meitis in the Scheduled Tribe list, seeking that the proposal be considered preferably within four weeks. This was opposed by the existing 34 scheduled tribes in Manipur who comprise 41% of the State’s population and predominantly live in the hill districts. A tribal solidarity rally was organised in Churachandpur and other areas on May 3, following which violence erupted. Many parts of the State remain under curfew. Meanwhile, senior IPS officer Rajiv Singh has been given charge of the post of Director General of Police (DGP) in Manipur. He replaces P. Doungel, who has been transferred to the post of OSD (Home), according to an official order by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Rahul Gandhi says his disqualification from Lok Sabha has given him huge opportunity Congress leader [Rahul Gandhi has said that he did not imagine his disqualification from Lok Sabha was possible when he joined politics but asserted that it has given him a “huge opportunity”]( to serve the people. Gandhi, who is in the U.S. for a three-city U.S. tour, made the remarks on Wednesday night in response to a series of questions from Indian students at the prestigious Stanford University Campus in California. The Wayanad (Kerala) Member of Parliament was disqualified from Lok Sabha earlier this year after he was convicted by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his “Modi surname” remark. In his remarks, Gandhi said that when he joined politics in 2000, he never imagined this is what he would go through. What he sees is going on now is way outside anything that he had thought when he joined politics. Referring to his disqualification from Lok Sabha as a Member of Parliament, Gandhi, 52, said he didn’t imagine that something like this was possible. “But then I think it’s actually given me a huge opportunity. Probably much bigger than the opportunity I would have. That’s just the way politics works,” he said. “I think the drama started really, about six months ago. We were struggling. The entire opposition is struggling in India. Huge financial dominance. Institutional capture. We’re struggling to fight the democratic fight in our country,” he said, adding that at this point in time, he decided to go for the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. “I am very clear, our fight is ours to fight,” he said. “But there is a group of young students from India here. I want to have a relationship with them and want to talk to them. It’s my right to do it,” he said during his interaction with Indian students and academicians of Indian origin at the University here. He also emphasised that in his frequent foreign trips like this, he is not seeking support from anybody. “I don’t understand why the prime minister doesn’t come here and do it,” Gandhi asked amidst applause from the audience who had packed the entire auditorium at Stanford. The moderator said that the Prime Minister is welcome to come to Stanford anytime and interact with the students and academicians. Gandhi later tweeted that it was a pleasure to engage with the learned audience at Stanford on ‘The New Global Equilibrium’. “We discussed the challenges and opportunities of a changing world order. Actions based on truth is the way forward,” he tweeted. Some of the students were denied entry as the auditorium was packed. Students started queuing up two hours before the event started. In the last one and a half years, several Indian ministers have interacted with Indian students. Wrestlers’ protest: TMC MPs walk out of parliamentary panel meeting [TMC MPs on Thursday walked out of a parliamentary panel meeting after their demand to discuss the safety provisions for women athletes at various sports federations was rejected]( by its chairman and BJP MP Vivek Thakur, TMC MP Sushmita Dev said. Thakur said the issue was not part of the meeting’s agenda and was also subjudice, rejecting the demand for discussion by the TMC members. TMC MPs — Dev and Asit Kumar Mal — raised the issue of the safety of women athletes at the meeting of the Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports, and asked if internal complaints committees were formed at different sports federations and if they were active, sources said. “When West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is on the streets, as a member of this standing committee on women and children, I felt compelled to walk out of the meeting because the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs has failed to act. I could not have sat around as a mute spectator as the standing committee is a watchdog of public policy and not the ‘pet dog’ of the government,” Dev told reporters after the meeting. According to sources, Dev said parliamentary panels are supposed to analyse issues and policies, and as the government funds these federations they should be able to question them on policies such as forming of ICCs. Congress MP Akhilesh Singh, three others from the BJP and M Thambidurai of the AIADMK were present at the meeting. It was also attended by Secretary (Sports) Sujata Chaturvedi; Sandeep Pradhan, Director General, Sports Authority of India; Cdre (Retd) P K Garg, CEO, TOPS; R C Mishra, Vice Chancellor, National Sports University; Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, Patiala, among others. Sources said the Secretary (Sports) informed Dev that the government has no role in the functioning of sports federations and any interference by the dispensation in these federations will be against the spirit guiding sports administration globally. According to sources, Thakur said the issue is not part of the agenda for the meeting and the matter is subjudice so the committee cannot discuss it. He also pointed out that the agenda for Thursday’s meeting is India’s preparation for the next Olympics after which the TMC MPs walked out of the meeting. While Congress’ Singh supported Dev, sources said he did not follow them out. Dev had on May 9 written to Thakur on the allegations of sexual harassment by women wrestlers and said the committee should take review of the implementation of all statutory laws that applied to the sports federations and other bodies and the role of the sports ministry in this regard. She also requested that a meeting of the committee be held with a specific agenda that ensures a thorough review of this issue. Australia’s most decorated war veteran unlawfully killed prisoners in Afghanistan, judge says [Australia’s most decorated living war veteran unlawfully killed prisoners and committed other war crimes in Afghanistan, a judge ruled]( Thursday in dismissing the claims by Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith that he was defamed by media. Federal Court judge Anthony Besanko ruled that the articles published in 2018 were substantially true about a number of war crimes committed by Roberts-Smith, a former Special Air Service Regiment corporal who now is a media company executive. Judge Besanko found Roberts-Smith, who was also awarded the Medal of Gallantry for his Afghan war service, “broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement” and disgraced Australia through his conduct. Proven allegations included that Roberts-Smith, the son of a judge, killed a prisoner who had a prosthetic leg by firing a machine gun into the man’s back in 2009. He kept the man’s prosthetic as a novelty beer drinking vessel. The accusations also included Roberts-Smith had kicked an unarmed, handcuffed farmer off a cliff into a riverbed where he directed a soldier under his command to shoot the farmer dead in 2012. On another occasion, Roberts-Smith pressured a “newly deployed and inexperienced” soldier to kill an elderly, unarmed Afghan to “blood the rookie,” the court found. Accusations that Roberts-Smith, who stands 6 feet, 7 inches tall, bullied soldiers and assaulted Afghan civilians were also found to be true. Two of six unlawful killings Roberts-Smith was accused of involvement in were not proven to the civil court standard of balance of probability, the judge found. Reports of domestic violence allegedly committed by Roberts-Smith were also found to be unproven and defamatory. But the judge found the unproven allegations would not have further damaged the veteran’s reputation. Had such war crime allegations been made in a criminal court, they would have had to be proven to a higher standard of beyond reasonable doubt. Roberts-Smith, 44, had denied any wrongdoing. The case’s legal costs have been underwritten by billionaire Kerry Stokes, executive chairman of Seven West Media where Roberts-Smith is employed. Roberts-Smith is one of several Australian military personnel under investigation from Australian Federal Police for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan. In Brief: [State Assemblies across the country met for an average of 21 days in 2022 and the number of sittings of the State legislatures has been steadily declining since 2016, according to a report compiled by think-tank PRS Legislative Research](. The report said the 28 State Assemblies met for 21 days on average in 2022. Karnataka met for the highest number of 45 days, followed by West Bengal (42 days) and Kerala (41 days). In most States, the legislature meets for two or three sessions in a year — a longer Budget Session held between January and March, followed by brief Monsoon and Winter Sessions. Twelve States, including five in the northeast, met for only two sessions in 2022. Around 61% of the sittings were held during the Budget Session. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [Sign up for free]( Today’s Top Picks [[Franco Mulakkal resigns from post of Jalandhar bishop] Franco Mulakkal resigns from post of Jalandhar bishop]( [[Data | Antarctic sea ice cover hits record lows on many days of 2023] Data | Antarctic sea ice cover hits record lows on many days of 2023]( [[Argentine meteorologist becomes first female head of UN weather agency] Argentine meteorologist becomes first female head of UN weather agency]( [[We are used to the Dukes ball having practised with it during IPL, says Axar ahead of WTC final] We are used to the Dukes ball having practised with it during IPL, says Axar ahead of WTC final]( Copyright @ 2023, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. If you are facing any trouble in viewing this newsletter, please [try here]( If you do not wish to receive such emails [go here](