GS-II

Following the vote, the Speaker said he was sending a copy of the motion, signed by 122 MPs, to the President for further action. Responding to the Speaker, the President has reportedly said in a letter that Mr. Jayasuriya ignored parliamentary procedures and standing orders, and failed to get the …

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya declares it doesn’t have majority In a watershed floor test in the Sri Lankan Parliament, a majority of lawmakers on Wednesday voted for a no-confidence motion against disputed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. “I hereby declare that the appointed government has no majority in this House,” Speaker Karu …

‘Letter of Comfort’ given by Paris is good enough, says Attorney-General The Centre admitted in the Supreme Court on Wednesday that there was no sovereign guarantee from the French government on the deal for 36 Rafale jets in case the manufacturer, Dassault Aviation, defaults. Sovereign guarantee is a promise by …

In northeast China, temperatures have already begun to plummet, announcing the early arrival of winter. In Changchun, the capital of Jilin province, the sight of bare trees and grey skies is now routine. “It has already snowed once in October, and we expect many more snowfalls in the coming weeks,” …

This raises the prospect of Britain keeping up with the March 29 deadline The British Cabinet is set to have a crucial meeting on Wednesday, after U.K. and EU negotiators agreed on the text of a draft withdrawal agreement in Brussels on Tuesday. A Downing Street spokesperson confirmed that a …

Boris Johnson writes to government Calls to the U.K. government to offer asylum to Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian woman who was acquitted by Pakistan’s Supreme Court last month, have grown, as former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson wrote to the incumbent Sajid Javid, arguing that Ms. Bibi had an “overwhelming …

Express concern at delay in tabling audit reports in Parliament Sixty retired bureaucrats have written to the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) over the “deliberate delay” in tabling the audit reports on the Rafale deal and demonetisation in Parliament. They demanded that these be tabled in the Winter Session. The CAG’s …

Centre to reward high-performing States States may soon start receiving extra funding for the Agriculture Ministry’s flagship schemes on the basis of their performance in encouraging agri-business, especially with regard to marketing, land and governance reforms. The Centre expects to roll out a new Ease of Doing Agri-Business Index early …

“The Twitter representatives claimed that there may be anonymous accounts criticising the government’s policies and if identity trails are provided to the police or government agencies then it defeats the purpose of freedom of expression. We told them that if someone is verbally abused on the road, action is taken …

Khango Konyak group in India on expulsion from Myanmar A breakaway group of the outlawed National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) on Monday said that the outfit was keen on pursuing the Naga peace process that it had abandoned three years ago. The group led by Khango Konyak, an Indian …