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Expressing concern about timber logs floating in floodwaters in Himachal Pradesh, the Supreme Court has said that “illegal” felling of trees appears to be rampant in the Himalayan region. “If this goes on, we will not have any forests left,” remarked Chief Justice BR Gavai.

The court sought responses about this from the Centre and the governments of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, amid the recent cloudbursts, flash floods and landslips in these states.

Rain-related disasters have claimed approximately 500 lives in the northern states this monsoon.

In Himachal Pradesh alone, the toll reached 182 on Tuesday. Punjab has reported 37 deaths amid the worst floods in the state in the last four decades. In Jammu and Kashmir, 132 persons have died and 33 are missing. Read more.

The Centre and the Manipur government have signed an agreement with Kuki-Zo groups to renew the Suspension of Operation pact with revised rules. The Kuki-Zo groups have agreed to maintain the territorial integrity of Manipur under the re-negotiated rules and also open National Highway-2.

Under the Suspension of Operations agreement, the security forces as well as the militant groups are prohibited from launching operations. The militant groups must abide by the laws of the land and are confined to designated camps identified by the central government.

National Highway-2 has been blocked for Meiteis for more than two years since the ethnic clashes broke out in the state on May 3, 2023. The Kuki-Zo groups had earlier demanded a separate administration for the community as a condition for peace talks.

The development comes amid reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Manipur in September for the first time since the ethnic clashes broke out. Read on.

A day after the Goods and Services Tax council cleared a new slab structure, Opposition parties on Thursday questioned the delay in the reforms. The Congress said that the measures came after eight years of economic strain on small traders, micro, small and medium enterprises, farmers, women entrepreneurs and the middle class.

The GST system took effect in July 2017, replacing several indirect taxes such as the Value Added Tax, the Central Excise Duty. On Wednesday, the Centre revamped the structure into a primarily two-rate system from the current four-tiered one. The new GST system will comprise two slabs of 5% and 18%.

Party leader Manickam Tagore on Thursday questioned the timing of the reforms, noting that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had previously refused to acknowledge problems with the current GST framework. Read more.

The Supreme Court has filed a suo motu case about the lack of functional security cameras in police stations across the country. The court took the action based on a report by Dainik Bhaskar, which stated that 11 persons had died in police custody in Rajasthan in the past eight months.

In December 2020, the court directed all states and Union Territories to install security cameras with audio, video and night vision capabilities at all police stations. However, despite these directions, police have frequently cited missing footage or non-functional cameras as reasons for not providing recordings. Read on.

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