GS-II

Move may lead to dispute with U.S. France on Thursday became the first major economy to impose a tax on digital giants, with its Parliament passing the legislation in defiance of a probe ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump that could trigger reprisal tariffs The new law aims at plugging …

It withdrew during Yameen’s tenure India has urged the Commonwealth to expedite readmission of the Maldives as a member country. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar conveyed India’s stand at the 19th Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting in London. “The External Affairs Minister… congratulated the member countries on the 70th anniversary …

‘We’ll have to test weapons to shoot them down’ North Korea on Thursday said South Korea’s planned deployment of new U.S. stealth fighter jets was an “extremely dangerous action” that would compel it to use “special armaments” to shoot them down. South Korea, a major U.S. ally, received its first …

Surendra Kumar Sinha fled Bangladesh in 2017 Bangladesh’s anti-graft office has charged the former Chief Justice with corruption nearly two years after he fled the country saying he was forced to resign, an official said on Thursday. Surendra Kumar Sinha, who had led the South Asian nation’s Supreme Court to …

JVP moved the vote, saying it failed to stop terror attacks A trust vote on the government presented by the Opposition Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in Sri Lankan Parliament was defeated on Thursday with a majority of 119 legislators in the 225-member House voting against it. The leftist JVP or …

House removes country-wise cap, increases annual limit of family-based cards The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed (365-65) the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019, which increases the annual limit of family-based green cards offered to citizens of each country and eliminates the country-wise cap on employment-based green …

Forced to back off by a British warship, Defence Ministry says; Tehran denies it A British warship forced three Iranian boats to back off after they sought to block a British tanker from passing through the Strait of Hormuz, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday, in the latest escalation of …

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi has said the U.S. Congress was, and continues to be, concerned about the treatment of Muslims in India. Ms. Pelosi’s comments came during a conversation with Chairman of the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) John Chambers at a Forum event in …

Comments invited till August 1 The Centre has proposed a model tenancy law that States and Union Territories can enact to regulate renting of premises, including setting a maximum of two months’ rent as security deposit, a three-months notice for raising the rent and appointment of rent authorities. The draft …

The court had fixed the July 12 hearing to be apprised of the Speaker’s decision on the resignations. In his application, the Speaker criticised the MLAs for casting aspersions on his dignity. The battle for power in Karnataka reached the Supreme Court first on July 9 when the Congress and …

SC to hear petition challenging quota The Supreme Court on Friday will hear a group of social workers, academics and representatives of the Muslim community who have appealed against a Bombay High Court decision upholding a “one-person or one-community” Maharashtra legislation providing reservation to the Maratha community in education and …

More than 900 people from over 50 villages of Madhya Pradesh staged a dharna outside the Narmada Control Authority (NCA) office in Indore on Thursday, fearing flooding of their villages if the Sardar Sarovar Dam was filled to its brim in September as per the schedule set in a meeting …

Amit Shah and Nadda welcome them into the party Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday met BJP president Amit Shah along with the 10 MLAs who had defected from the Congress to the saffron party. He later held deliberations with Mr. Shah over a reshuffle of the State Cabinet. …

200 to be set up in addition to the existing 100 to handle NRC cases after July 31 The Assam government will establish 200 Foreigners’ Tribunals (FTs) for handling cases of people to be excluded from the final National Register of Citizens (NRC). July 31 is the deadline for publishing …

The amended law will also apply to animated content depicting children and videos where adults pretend to be children Watching, possessing or circulating animations or cartoons that depict a minor engaging in a sexually explicit conduct could land you in jail. The Cabinet has approved a new definition for child …

They include MDMK leader Vaiko, PMK leader Anbumani; AIADMK front’s strength in House goes to 10 MDMK founder Vaiko, PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss and two candidates each from the AIADMK and the DMK were elected unopposed as Rajya Sabha members from Tamil Nadu on Thursday. The new AIADMK Rajya Sabha …

The two sides will discuss regulatory changes by India on data localisation, e-commerce and import curbs Visiting U.S. trade officials will meet Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday, after two days of talks with a “composite delegation” from the Commerce and External Affairs Ministries, the first formal effort …

The Supreme Court will on Friday hear a group of social workers, academics and representatives of the Muslim community who have appealed against a Bombay High Court decision upholding a “one-person or one-community” Maharashtra legislation providing reservation to the Maratha community in education and public employment. Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/maratha-quota-sc-to-hear-plea-today/article28394930.ece

Congress petitioned Assembly Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar seeking disqualification of eight rebel Congress MLAs for defection on Thursday. Three days ago, the Congress had revived an old petition to disqualify two MLAs — Ramesh Jarkiholi and Mahesh Kumthalli. However, the party is yet to seek disqualification of three other rebel …

Ramesh Kumar meets 10 Karnataka rebel MLAs following the Supreme Court’s direction Hours after the Supreme Court on Thursday asked Karnataka Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar to meet 10 rebel legislators from the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) and take a decision on their resignations, he held a meeting with …