The fertility rate in Muslims has witnessed a massive dip among all religious communities in India over the past two decades, shows data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. According to a report by Indian Express, the community’s fertility rate dipped to 2.3 in 2019-2021 from 2.6 in 2015-16. While all religious communities have shown a decline in fertility, contributing to a dip in the nation’s total fertility rate, the fall has been sharpest in the Muslim community, from 4.4 in NFHS 1(1992-93) to 2.3 in NFHS 5(2019-2021). In NFHS 5, the country’s overall fertility has shown a dip below the replacement level of two children per woman, falling from 2.2 in NFHS 4. The Muslim community’s fertility rate, however, remai...

The Supreme Court of India Wednesday said that it will not be appropriate to continue using the sedition law until the reexamination of Section 124A dealing with the offence of sedition is complete. According to a report by India Express, The apex court stated that it expects the Centre and states to not register any FIRs under provisions of Section 124A till then. This came after the central government informed the apex court that staying provisions of sedition, upheld by the Constitution, may not be the “correct approach”. The Centre was responding to the Supreme Court, which had sought to know if it will direct states to keep cases under the provision in abeyance until the reexamination of the law is completed.