9 PM Current Affairs Brief – April 2, 2019

LS polls: EC ropes in community radio stations to educate voters The Election Commission has organised a workshop for training and capacity building of the community radios for voter education and awareness. The workshop was organised under the EC’s Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation(SVEEP) programme. Further, Community radio stations have assured the EC to… Continue reading LS polls: EC ropes in community radio stations to educate voters

Call for poll boycott in Mizoram An umbrella organisation of major civil societies and student associations in Mizoram have decided to boycott the April 11 election to the lone Mizoram Lok Sabha seat and organise a State-wide indefinite bandh from April 8. This decision was taken after the Election Commission of India has decided to… Continue reading Call for poll boycott in Mizoram

Facebook purges pages for ‘coordinated’ fake behaviour Facebook has announced that it has removed over 700 pages, groups and accounts from India. The accounts taken down includes those which are associated with different political parties. Facebook said it has removed these accounts after detecting coordinated inauthentic behaviour ahead of the upcoming elections in India. It… Continue reading Facebook purges pages for ‘coordinated’ fake behaviour

GST revenue hits a record high in March Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection in March rose 15.6% from a year ago to hit Rs 1.06 lakh crore. It is the highest collection since the new indirect tax system took effect on July 1,2017. However, it is still short of the Union government’s target for… Continue reading GST revenue hits a record high in March

India gets surveillance satellite ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), in its 47th mission (PSLV-C45) has launched EMISAT, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota in coastal Andhra Pradesh. EMISAT is India’s first electronic surveillance satellite. EMISAT is a satellite built around ISRO’s Mini Satellite-2 bus weighing about 436 kg. It has been jointly developed by… Continue reading India gets surveillance satellite

Kuki militants to cast vote by postal ballots The Election Commission (EC) has notified that the cadres of Kuki militant groups who signed Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with both the Centre and the Manipur government will cast their votes in postal ballots. The Suspension of Operation (SoO) agreement is a pact to ensure peace… Continue reading Kuki militants to cast vote by postal ballots

Core sector growth quickens in February According to the Government data,India’s eight core industries grew by 2.1% in February 2019.It is due to fall in output of crude oil and refinery products. The eight core sectors which include (a)coal, (b)crude oil (c)natural gas (d)refinery products (e)fertilizers (f)steel (g)cement and (h)electricity had recorded a growth of… Continue reading Core sector growth quickens in February

Election Commission takes steps so that the disabled can ride to vote The Election Commission has taken steps to help differently-abled voters reach polling booths. The EC has decided to provide pick-up and drop facility to disabled voters in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The commission has developed a mobile application named as PWD, using… Continue reading Election Commission takes steps so that the disabled can ride to vote

How will you trace the ‘undeclared foreigners’ in Assam, SC asks State govt. The Supreme Court has rebuked the Assam government on its failure to come up with a future course of action to track down absconding illegal foreigners and thousands other undeclared ones in the state. An illegal foreigner is declared so my Foreigners… Continue reading How will you trace the ‘undeclared foreigners’ in Assam, SC asks State govt.

Forest fires threatening Odisha’s flora and fauna As per statistics generated by SNPP (Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership) satellite, there has been an increase in forest fires in Odisha. The SNPP is a weather satellite operated by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), India defines forest fire… Continue reading Forest fires threatening Odisha’s flora and fauna

Fugitive Offenders Act won’t help banks: Mallya Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya has told the Bombay High Court that confiscation of his properties under the newly-enacted Fugitive Economic Offenders Act (FEOA) was draconian and it will not help the creditors. Earlier, he had approached the high court challenging a January 5 order of a special court… Continue reading Fugitive Offenders Act won’t help banks: Mallya

Coronary stents to cost more Drug price regulator, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has approved hike in prices of coronary stents by 4.2%. It was increased after taking into consideration the inflation of the previous year. As per the new prices notified by the NPPA, a bare metal stent (BMS) would now cost Rs. 8,261… Continue reading Coronary stents to cost more

India, Pakistan scramble jets after UAV sighting The Indian Air Force deployed two Sukhoi-30 fighters from an airbase in Punjab after a Pakistani unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) was spotted close to the border. This resulted in Pakistan also deploying two of its F-16 fighter aircrafts close to the border. However, no side violated the air space,… Continue reading India, Pakistan scramble jets after UAV sighting