20th September 2025

Explanation – SLAPPs are meritless suits typically filed by influential and wealthy individuals or businesses to drag opponents through protracted litigation and drain their resources. They often target journalists, media, NGOs, academics, researchers, writers, and human rights defenders engaged in public discourse. India has no anti-SLAPP statute, unlike the USA, Canada, and UK which have enacted such laws. However, the Supreme Court of India has warned against 'SLAPP' suits and emphasized protection of journalistic expression in defamation cases, particularly in cases like Bloomberg v. Zee Entertainment and regarding Adani cases 

Explanation – The Harappan Civilisation was renowned for its advanced urban planning with well-planned grid layout streets, sophisticated drainage systems, and standardized fired bricks. It existed during the Bronze Age and made extensive use of bronze for tools, weapons, and artifacts. Lothal was a prominent port city known for its dockyard, considered one of the earliest known docks in the world. However, the Harappan script remains undeciphered with various hypotheses about its direction of writing (right to left, left to right, and boustrophedon), with no definitive evidence that it was primarily written from left to right. 

Explanation – Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid made entirely in laboratories with no natural ingredients. It is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin as an analgesic, making statement 2 incorrect (it's 100 times more potent than morphine, not 50). Only a few grains of fentanyl can be lethal, causing high rates of overdose deaths due to its extreme potency. 

Explanation – The Bonnard Principle originated from the 1891 UK case Bonnard v. Perryman. It relates to restrictions on granting injunctions in defamation cases, requiring courts to exercise exceptional caution. However, under this principle, courts should only issue injunctions when they are absolutely certain the statement is false and cannot be justified—mere suspicion of defamation is not sufficient. The principle requires that the impugned content must be manifestly defamatory and the defendant's defence must be certain to fail at trial.