GS-II

Onus on Parliament to bar persons facing charges from polls The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed political parties to publish online the pending criminal cases of their candidates and urged Parliament to bring a “strong law” to cleanse political parties of leaders facing trial for serious crimes. Rapid criminalisation of …

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that he expects to soon hold a second summit with Kim Jong-un as he returned to the United Nations with warm words for the North Korean leader whom he eviscerated last year. Mr. Trump used his début address to the UN General Assembly …

Statehood movements have gathered momentum across the Northeast, with a renewed push for Bodoland, a proposed State comprising areas beyond the four districts under the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). On Sunday, organisations such as All Bodo Students’ Union, Peoples’ Joint Action Committee for Bodoland Movement, and two factions of the …

Indian diplomats are very smart, and we have learnt a fair bit from them, says exiled former Maldivian President Following the upset victory of the joint Opposition candidate, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, in the Maldivian presidential elections, exiled former President Mohamed Nasheed , among the fiercest critics of outgoing President Abdulla …

Petitions had sought a ban on practice by Dawoodi Bohras The Supreme Court on Monday referred to a five-judge Constitution Bench petitions seeking a declaration that the practice of female circumcision or ‘khafz,’ prevalent in the Dawoodi Bohra sect, amounts to “female genital mutilation (FGM)” and is a violation of …

Joint Opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih gets 58.3% of votes Much to the surprise of his critics and political rivals, Maldives President Abdulla Yameen on Monday conceded defeat in Sunday’s presidential election, making way for the joint Opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. Senior parliamentarian of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) …

The Right Livelihood Award, also known as the Alternative Nobel, was awarded on Monday to three jailed Saudi human rights defenders and two Latin American anti-corruption crusaders. The prize foundation said the 1 million kronor ($113,400) cash award for 2018 would be shared by Abdullah al-Hamid, Mohammad Fahad al-Qahtani and …

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj kicked off her week-long diplomatic engagements at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Monday morning, attending a special meeting on drugs convened at the instance of U.S President Donald Trump. Ms. Swaraj will attend several bilateral and multilateral meetings over the next few days. …

What seemed a like a crazy idea turned out to be just that: a 1980s experiment that saw 25,000 car tyres dumped into the crystal-clear waters of the Mediterranean to create a sanctuary for sealife off the French coast is being cleaned up after it was found to be polluting. …

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday appeared to blame Arab separatists for a deadly attack on a parade, accusing an unnamed U.S.-backed Gulf state of supporting them. Tehran also summoned diplomats from Denmark, the Netherlands and Britain for allegedly hosting members of the group suspected of links to Saturday’s attack …