GS-II

U.S. makes announcement after top North Korean official’s visit; decision on location to be made soon U.S. President Donald Trump will meet for the second time with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un around the end of February, the White House said on Friday, after a top general from Pyongyang paid …

How important is the Test win? Cricketing jousts against Australia in its own backyard have always been a difficult proposition. India first sailed the seas, then gradually acquired air-miles but the results were eerily similar. Most games were lost, the odd triumph or draw was wrested and a Test series …

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has opposed a proposal to construct elevated roads over the Bandipur Tiger Reserve. The proposal had triggered outrage and protests from NGOs. The tiger reserve, spread over nearly 912 sq km, is located in Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka, constitutes an important …

Mamata Banerjee announcesfour-member panel on issue Several leaders of the Opposition who participated in the rally here on Saturday, raised concern on the use of electronic voting machines (EVM). At a press conference later in the day, a four-member committee was formed to look into the malfunctioning of these machines …

Shirtless rally in Tezpur, women’s march in Tinsukia Protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill showed no sign of waning in Assam on Saturday as agitators staged semi-clad protests in Tezpur, took out a women’s rally in Tinsukia, and organised a citizens’ meeting in Guwahati. In Tezpur town of Sonitpur district …

They were under detention for violation of the Passport Act The border police in Karimganj district of Assam on Saturday deported 21 Bangladeshis who had been detained for illegally entering India. Officials said the 21 persons, two of them women, were sent back from the Sutarkandi border checkpoint after approval …

President denied the House Speaker a military plane to visit American troops in Afghanistan She imperiled his State of the Union address. He denied her a plane to visit troops abroad. The shutdown battle between President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is playing out as a surreal game …

British Prime Minister Theresa May scrambled to put together a new Brexit strategy after MPs rejected her EU divorce deal, and insisted she could not rule out a potentially damaging “no-deal” split. The world’s fifth-largest economy is in political turmoil and grasping for solutions that could smooth its planned departure …

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Friday that the mode of access for Indian devotees headed for Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan was yet to be decided by the two countries. “Whether access will be given to them by passport or Visa will be applied, are issues that are to …

The Meghalaya government on Friday issued a modified order for allowing transportation of coal that “originated outside the State”. This followed an alleged misinterpretation of the Supreme Court’s January 15 order by Customs officials in Meghalaya, owing to which 28 coal trucks from Bhutan were prevented from delivering the consignment …

upta, Sanjay Vashisth, Jasdeep Singh Gill, Mansur Ali, Sunil Kumar Singh Panwar, Deepinder Singh Nalwa and Harsh Bunger — considered for appointment as judges to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Recalls recommendation The Collegium bowed to the wishes of the government and recalled its recommendation of advocate Amit Negi …

States are delaying allotment of land for landless beneficiaries, says Centre With two and a half months to go for the end of this financial year, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Grameen) scheme to provide housing for the rural poor has achieved only 66% of its target to complete one …

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Friday sought regulated mining with “utmost care on safety of miners and environment” to help the State tide over revenue loss and provide relief to people dependent on coal. “There is a need to have regulated mining in Meghalaya with utmost care on …

NATIONAL Gaganyaan top priority: ISRO SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI, JANUARY 19, 2019 00:00 IST UPDATED: JANUARY 19, 2019 05:37 IST SHARE ARTICLE PRINT A A A Spreading out:ISRO Chairman K. Sivan, right, addressing the media in New Delhi on Friday.R.V. Moorthy Spreading out:ISRO Chairman K. Sivan, right, addressing the media …

The Ministry of External Affairs will entertain suggestions and comments on the draft Emigration Bill, 2019, giving an opportunity for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to air their views till Sunday. These can be e-mailed to dsoia1@mea.gov.in and so2oia1@mea.gov.in. Official sources said the new Bill would ensure the overall welfare and protection …

Writes to the Prime Minister; lists ‘historical neglect, natural calamities’ as reasons for backwardness Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has again raised the demand for special category status for the State in view of the premise of “historical Central neglect and frequent natural calamities”. In a letter to Prime Minister …

India on Friday summoned a Pakistani diplomat and protested against a recent order of the Supreme Court of Pakistan that brought the region of Gilgit-Baltistan within its ambit. A press note from the External Affairs Ministry said the diplomat was told that the region was, and would remain, an integral …

It is best to avoid the pitfalls of a corporate battle, says Defence Ministry The Defence Ministry, which on Friday disputed The Hindu report on the steep price escalation in the deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets, said that “hidden deep in the article itself” was the statement that the …

Centre says it’s not the only region that hosts minorities from the neighbourhood Worried over the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill in the northeastern States, the Centre has decided to push a “region-specific” narrative to gain support. A senior official said the government was planning publicity material to push …

There have been 69 instances of engine failure of Airbus A320neo aircraft operated by IndiGo in 2018, according to the data available from the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation. The data, contained in a January 8 note issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, show there have been 12 instances of …