GS-II

Pat for work on solar alliance and single-use plastic ban Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred the Champions of the Earth Award by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at a ceremony here on Wednesday. “In PM Narendra Modi, we have a leader who realises the issue of climate change and …

‘How can HC end house arrest when Supreme Court extended it for 4 weeks?’ The Maharashtra government on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court against a Delhi High Court order setting aside the transit remand of activist Gautam Navlakha in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case and releasing him from house arrest. The …

Alters norms for out-of-turn hearing “I am what I am. I cannot change.” This is how the new Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi, described himself at a felicitation function held on the Supreme Court lawns on Wednesday. However, his first day after being sworn in as the 46th Chief …

For allotment of judicial officers between AP and Telangana Nativity cannot be the predominant criterion for allotment of judicial officers between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the Supreme Court held on Wednesday. The judgment by a Bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and Ashok Bhushan was based on the issue of bifurcation …

Alliance to hold its biggest military exercises since Cold War U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis on Tuesday sought to reassure rattled European nations of America’s “iron-clad” commitment to NATO, as the transatlantic alliance announced its biggest military exercises since the Cold War. If U.S. allies have been unnerved by President …

Three scientists on Tuesday won the Nobel Physics Prize, including the first woman to receive the prestigious award in 55 years, for inventing optical lasers that have paved the way for advanced precision instruments used in corrective eye surgery. Arthur Ashkin of the U.S. won one half of the nine …

Tamil filmmaker Jude Ratnam says he is yet to get a ‘proper explanation’ from organisers A Sri Lankan Tamil filmmaker’s take on the country’s civil war, which was scheduled to be screened at the Jaffna International Cinema Festival later this week, has been removed from the list, raising questions about …

Under the new system, immigrants will be able to bring their immediate families only if they are sponsored by employers Indian citizens and other non-EU citizens will have the same immigration rights as EU citizens in the U.K., under a system that will give priority to high skilled workers. However, …

About one lakh refugees were to be accommodated in an islet in the Bay of Bengal Bangladesh has delayed the planned relocation of a part of the Rohingya refugees from Myanmar to an islet in the Bay of Bengal, sources said here on Tuesday. The Bangladesh Navy has been building …

Describing India as a ‘pillar of multilateralism’, UN Secretary-General urges it to play a bigger role in responding to the situation India must support Bangladesh in dealing with the Rohingya crisis and put pressure on Myanmar for their return, Antonio Guterres, on his first official visit to India as the …

President Donald Trump on Monday slammed India for imposing “tremendously high tariffs” on American products and said that New Delhi wanted to have a trade deal with America to keep him happy. At a press conference on the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement, Mr. Trump listed out the deals that are under …

Palestinians joined Israeli Arabs on Monday in a general strike against Israel’s controversial Jewish nation-state law, while commemorating the deaths of 13 people killed in clashes with the police in October 2000. In the Arab Israeli community of Jatt in northern Israel, 1,500 participated in the central march in memory …

Indonesia’s President formally invited foreign donors to contribute to rescue and recovery efforts on the quake-and-tsunami-struck-island of Sulawesi on Monday, but his government was at pains to stress the situation was under control. “The President has decided to accept aid from abroad,” said Army General-turned-Minister Wiranto. Giving a less than …

Offers to lift ties between the two nations to ‘a new level’ Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday congratulated Ibrahim Solih, Maldives’s President-elect. In his message, President Xi offered to “lift the comprehensive friendly cooperative partnership between China and Maldives to a new level”. Mr. Xi stressed that he “highly …

Lauded for their path-breaking research on cancer therapy Two immunologists, James Allison of the U.S. and Tasuku Honjo of Japan, won the 2018 Nobel Medicine Prize for research into how the body’s natural defences can fight cancer, the jury said on Monday. Unlike more traditional forms of cancer treatment that …

The agreement replaces the 25-year-old NAFTA, which Trump had threatened to cancel Canada and the U.S. reached a deadline deal on a new free trade pact that will include Mexico, the governments announced late on Sunday, after more than a year of talks to revamp a pact President Donald Trump …

UPSC allows candidates to withdraw from exams Claiming that only half of the over 10 lakh aspirants who apply for civil services exam actually write the test, the UPSC on Monday said it has, for the first time, decided to allow candidates to withdraw from the examination if they wish …

A petition has been moved in the Supreme Court to restrain the government from taking steps to deport Rohingya refugees lodged in jails or detention centres in Assam or other parts of the country. The plea has been made by Mohammed Salimullah, the lead petitioner in a PIL plea against …

Shortly before the Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, which defined adultery as a punishable offence, the Rajasthan High Court upheld a man’s conviction under the law. Last conviction This was probably the last conviction under the legal provision described by the apex …

Calls for setting up Rapid Response Teams to curb mobs Leaders of outfits who instigate a mob to an act of vandalism, which results in death or loss of public and private property, will personally face criminal action and are liable to compensate the victims of the violence, the Supreme …