GS-II

Chinese experts have blamed the volatile organic compounds in hair spray, perfume and air refreshers for the recurring air pollution in the country as the dreaded smog returned to haunt Beijing on Monday. The air quality index in the city climbed to 213, which is categorised by the WHO as …

The rupee snapped its three-session gaining streak to end 26 paise lower at 73.83 against the dollar on Monday after crude prices rose amid intensifying geopolitical tensions. Dealers said a spurt in dollar demand from importers dragged down the domestic currency. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex), the rupee opened …

Outgoing Maldives President Abdulla Yameen has told the Supreme Court that disappearing ink and specially treated ballot papers were to blame for his heavy election defeat last month. The comments came as the court considered a petition by Mr. Yameen to have the September 23 election result annulled due to …

Bangladeshi newspapers’ editors on Monday staged a protest demanding sweeping amendments to a newly-enacted digital law that journalists and rights groups say will curb freedom of expression. Critics say the measures — including prison sentences for spreading “negative propaganda” — are an attempt by an increasingly autocratic Prime Minister Sheikh …

The status of Britain’s Brexit talks with the EU continue to be governed by uncertainty as Prime Minister Theresa May stood by her rejection over the weekend of a deal being negotiated with the EU by her own officials. Speaking in Parliament on Monday, the British Prime Minister insisted that …

The Himalayan nation of Bhutan, often described as a “Shangri-La” where happiness is equated to wealth, is holding elections this week. But the Lhotshampa people, brutally driven out of the small kingdom in the 1990s, won’t be voting. The Nepali-speaking Lhotshampa were branded as immigrants and stripped of citizenship rights …

Britain’s Brexit talks with the EU took another dramatic turn over the weekend as — faced with growing opposition from within her own party ranks, some Cabinet ministers and Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party — Prime Minister Theresa May rejected terms of a deal being negotiated by her own officials …

Trump speaks to Saudi King; says he denied any knowledge on missing scribe Turkish investigators were to search the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Monday for the first time since journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared, as King Salman denied any knowledge of his fate in talks with U.S. President Donald Trump. …

Chinese Army men made a brief incursion in July A group of Chinese Army personnel briefly came to the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control in Dibang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh on July 25 but returned after Indian security personnel objected to it, official sources said. They said …

The Supreme Court has upped the ante on the States, Union Territories and High Courts which have not provided it with details of criminal cases pending against sitting lawmakers, warning that their Chief Secretaries and Registrars General will be made personally liable for non-compliance. The Centre informed the court that …

To forge ties and make developed nations keep promises Ahead of the December climate talks in Katowice, Poland, India is having discussions with 40 countries, including China, to forge alliances and compel developed countries to make good on promises, made over the years, to provide enough finance and technology to …

Women in agriculture face multiple challenges due to lack of land entitlements, recognition Shahjahan Begum Mehboobani grows corn, onions, tomatoes and vegetables on her three-acre plot in Dharwad district of Karnataka. She’s also a responsible member of her local gram panchayat. But without a land patta in her name, it’s …

Mahesh Sharma says it will have no connection to NMML on Teen Murti Estate The Union Culture Ministry will construct a museum on Prime Ministers on the Teen Murti Estate here within a year, Minister Mahesh Sharma said on the occasion of the project’s ground breaking ceremony here on Monday. …

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, has topped the first-ever standalone ranking of Indian higher education institutions by QS, a think tank that is famous for bringing out world rankings of institutions. Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, which tops Indian institutions in almost all rankings, stands second. The top 10 Indian …

Protests, both from the student community and the political parties, grew in Kashmir on Monday over the Aligarh Muslim University’s move to suspend at least three Kashmiri students and lodging of cases against them. Scores of students at Kashmir University in Srinagar held a demonstration on campus. “We have assembled …

India and France are in discussions for a bilateral tri-service military exercise to take forward the strategic cooperation while also exploring ways to operationalise the logistics agreement. These issues were discussed during the visit of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to Paris last week. “We have agreed on a bilateral tri-service …

Accusing the State government of utterly failing in providing employment to youth, actor and Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan on Monday said employment generation would be accorded top priority once his party voted to power in the ensuing elections. “We promise jobs to the eligible, scrapping the contributory pension …

Will take appropriate measures if strongman does not leave office quietly: U.S. Maldives’ judges on Sunday heard a petition by strongman President Abdulla Yameen to have his recent election defeat annulled, potentially triggering U.S. sanctions and plunging the Indian Ocean archipelago into fresh turmoil. Mr. Yameen lost heavily in the …

Beijing’s central bank head calls for ‘constructive solutions’ to end trade spat U.S President Donald Trump said on Sunday that China, under pressure due to Washington’s policies, wanted to have a trade deal with him, but he told them a week ago that they were not ready yet. “I told …

Rejects threats of economic sanctions over Khashoggi case even as Riyadh stocks take a plunge Saudi Arabia warned on Sunday that it would retaliate against any sanctions imposed on it over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as the Riyadh stock market plunged on growing investor jitters. From tech tycoons …