GS-III

India’s first six-tonne-class ‘big bird’ in space, advanced communication satellite GSAT-11, was put into orbit in the early hours of Wednesday from the European spaceport in Guiana in South America. Its mission is to enable high-speed satellite-based Internet services to users in rural and remote areas and to businesses down …

In a bid to minimise the damage caused to forests and wildlife due to infrastructure projects, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday directed all implementing agencies of proposed projects to hold a joint meeting and check whether a single, consolidated and elevated road can be constructed instead of multiple ones. …

Study says 26% of global premature death and disease burden by air pollution occurs in India India, with 18% of the world’s population, has a disproportionately high 26% of the global premature deaths and disease burden due to air pollution. Moreover, one in eight deaths in India was attributable to …

Centre expects receipts to exceed the budgeted target this year, says chairman Demonetisation was beneficial in terms of increasing the tax base as well as increasing direct tax collections, Central Board of Direct Taxes Chairman Sushil Chandra said on Tuesday. The government expects to exceed the budgeted target for direct …

Facing a public outcry, J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik on Tuesday said “the word Public Sector Undertaking (PSU)” for the J&K Bank had no legal connotation. Former State Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu, however, said the Governor’s statement reflected “utter ignorance”. “J&K Bank is registered as a Government company under the …

Winter is likely to be warmer than average, with fewer ‘cold wave’ days between December and February, according to a forecast by the India Meteorological Department. The forecast suggests that ‘above normal’ seasonal minimum temperatures (>0.5° C) are most likely over most of the subdivisions of the country. However Jammu …

Cooperation in Mangdechhu power project a sign of strong ties: Vijay Gokhale India is expected to commission a major hydropower project in Bhutan in the coming weeks, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said on Tuesday. Delivering a speech on India-Bhutan relations, the top diplomat said cooperation in the hydropower sector was …

Only 12% of pledges have materialised: Ministry paper The Finance Ministry has issued a ‘discussion paper’ that has criticised the accounting methods used by developed countries to report how much money they have given, so far, to developing countries to address climate change. Accounting procedures, regarding the flow of climate …

A committee of wildlife experts warned on Monday that Canada’s largest land predator, the polar bear, was at risk of disappearing from its vast Arctic landscape as melting Arctic sea ice makes hunting prey a challenge. “It is clear we will need to keep a close eye on this species,” …

While their manoeuvre in the legislature proved inadequate to oust Mr. Rajapaksa’s disputed government, Monday’s appeal court order delivered a legal blow to the legitimacy that the Rajapaksa camp claims. On November 13, the Supreme Court stayed Mr. Sirisena’s dissolution of Parliament and restrained the Election Commission from preparing for …