GS-II

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan thanks Abu Dhabi Crown Prince; Centre releases Rs. 600 crore The UAE government has promised Rs. 700 crore assistance for Kerala’s post-flood reconstruction effort even as the State on Tuesday sought a Rs. 2,600 crore special package from the Centre to cope with the deluge that …

Passes interim order to allay fears among people of being dispossessed In an attempt to allay fears among people whose lands are to be acquired for the Rs. 10,000-crore eight-lane Chennai-Salem expressway, the Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the Centre, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the …

Suggests the production of “green crackers”, community cracker bursting to curb pollution .The Centre on Tuesday ruled out a national ban on firecrackers and suggested the production of “green crackers”, community cracker bursting in major cities and a freeze on the production of series crackers or laris as alternative measures …

Tweets support for Sidhu, who slams BJP’s ‘double standards’ Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Imran Khan has said Islamabad and Delhi “must dialogue” to resolve their conflicts, including that of Jammu and Kashmir. His comments came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for constructive engagement with Pakistan. In two …

Consortium lending often led to inordinate delays in loan appraisal and resulted in swelling non-performing assets (NPAs) in the banking system, according to Rajnish Kumar, Chairman, State Bank of India. Consortium banking, as it was called till mid-90s, later became multiple banking following complaints of delay in appraisal process but …

Southern States are outshining the rest of India in mobile banking adoption in savings accounts, according to a report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The report was prepared in association with FICCI and Indian Banks’ Association. Telangana tops the table with 10% of savings bank accounts having at least …

American lawmaker Carolyn Maloney on Sunday said that she will introduce a legislation to posthumously award Mahatma Gandhi a Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award in the U.S., for inspiring peaceful movements for civil rights around the world. In 2016, she had led the successful effort to create the …

Russia on Monday said it was preparing international peace talks on Afghanistan on September 4 and has invited the Taliban. “We are preparing it for September 4,” Zamir Kabulov, special representative of the Russian President on Afghanistan, said in an Interfax news agency report. Asked whether the Taliban was invited …

A Special Bench monitoring the CBI investigation into the alleged extrajudicial killings in Manipur will hear a petition filed by 355 Army officers in the Supreme Court, alleging “persecution” by agencies such as the CBI for doing their duty in the insurgency-hit areas of Jammu and Kashmir and the north-eastern …

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said on Monday that Parliament could enact a law to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya, but the government would do so only after exhausting two other options. The first was a Supreme Court decision and the second mediation. Mr. Maurya said …

The Supreme Court on Monday gave the Rajiv Gandhi assassination convict A.G. Perarivalan a fortnight’s time to place on record a copy of his application made to the Tamil Nadu Governor two years ago seeking grant of pardon. A three-judge Bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi, Navin Sinha and K.M. Joseph …

The Centre has said that the Kerala floods were a “calamity of severe nature for all practical purposes”, keeping in view the intensity and magnitude of the floods and landslides. Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said the Kerala floods were being treated as natural calamity of severe nature …

Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Monday urged Members of Parliament to generously contribute from their MPLADS funds for relief and rehabilitation works in flood affected Kerala besides considering donating a month’s salary. Both the Presiding Officers of Parliament took the lead by …

A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday suggested that the government evolved a clear plan to deal with the environmental issues arising during the implementation of relief and rehabilitation measures. The Bench of Chief Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar observed that the plan could …

Observing that the people of Sikkim are “living in fear” because of the stand-off in Doklam between India and China, Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling on Monday said the Centre had kept the border State in the dark on the issue. “Nobody has consulted us, neither the Centre nor the …

The Union government has declared the Kerala floods a “calamity of severe nature”. Here is a look at what this means, whether the State can expect additional help from the Centre and how the various disaster relief funds in the country are funded and deployed. What are the classifications of …

BIMSTEC suffers from a “lack of visibility” in the region, said the envoys of seven member countries who form the “Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation,” who also called for the speedy conclusion of a Free Trade Agreement within the group comprising Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, …

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the Principal Secretary (Home) of Rajasthan to clarify the Vasundhara Raje government’s position and “every aspect” of the action taken against officials in the aftermath of the lynching of Rakbar Khan by cow vigilantes and his subsequent death at Alwar district in July. The …

Major political parties and the Hurriyat in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday expressed support for a Kashmir-centric dialogue between India and Pakistan, welcoming the intent for “constructive engagement” expressed by the former and “uninterrupted dialogue” by the latter. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, described Prime …

The United Kingdom has confirmed to the Indian agencies that the Rs. 13,578-crore Punjab National Bank case fugitive Nirav Modi is staying there. The Central Bureau of Investigation has sought his detention and initiation of extradition proceedings. “In response to our diffusion notice, issued through the Interpol, we received a …