GS-II

Emphasising that corporate governance standards being followed by public sector banks are much better than ever before, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said the government has stopped the “phone-call thing” coming in from Delhi to the banks. In an apparent dig at the previous UPA regime, Mr. Goyal said that not …

The textile industry has urged the Centre to push for negotiations with China to provide duty-free access to Indian cotton textiles. Sanjay Jain, chairman of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, said in a release that in 2017-2018, India exported textile goods worth $1,362 million to China. The Indian textile …

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has called for the rebuilding of 11 schools torched by suspected Islamic extremists in northern Pakistan. She tweeted about the attack, saying “extremists have shown what frightens them most: a girl with a book.” She was shot and injured by the Pakistani Taliban in …

Asian countries have voiced concern about the potentially devastating impact of a U.S.-China trade war, with Ministers calling for the acceleration of talks for a gigantic Beijing-backed free-trade deal that excludes the United States. Fear that a simmering trade spat between the world’s top two economies could spiral into a …

“National tragedy.” That is how Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera described the problem of prevalent household indebtedness in Sri Lanka, when he recently announced the government’s decision to write off debt of LKR 1 lakh or less, incurred by 75,000 women in 12 drought-affected districts across the country. The move, aimed …

At the stroke of midnight on July 3, 1954, members of the London Housewives’ Association held a ceremony in central London to mark the end of food rationing in Britain that had commenced 14 years before, after the start of the Second World War. Rationing covered goods from meat and …

Of the many delights of living in Paris is the ability to enjoy history, art and culture, thanks to the city’s outstanding museums. The Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay and the Centre Georges Pompidou are some of the world’s most popular museums located in the French capital. But there are others …

Venezuela’s controversial Constituent Assembly (CA) marked its first anniversary on Saturday as the embodiment of President Nicolas Maduro’s entrenchment in power despite an economic crisis that has crippled the country’s public services and destroyed its currency. The assembly’s very creation last year was largely responsible for four months of street …

North Korea has pressed ahead with its nuclear and missile programmes and continues to evade UN sanctions through increased illegal ship-to-ship transfers of oil products at sea, a UN report said on Friday. In a 62-page report sent to the Security Council, the UN panel of experts also listed violations …

the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on a Russian bank accused of helping North Korea with weapons-related activities. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo listed stringent preconditions for any engagement with Iran. And the administration’s top intelligence and law enforcement officials vowed to combat Russian interference in the midterm elections, while Senate …