Opposition is creating a ‘North South ‘ divide : PM
Speaking at the President thanks motion in
Rajya Sabha, PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday alleged that the opposition was
creating a “ North South “ divide and asked the Congress to stop divisive
politics .
He was “ apparently reacting “ to the protest
by Karnataka Government against the alleged “ step motherly “ treatment of the
center .
PM Modi speaking his agony said .
“ Stop these new narratives “ , “ An entire
state is speaking this language , nothing can be worse for a country than this
… .and it is very painful that such language is emerging from a national
party ….it is very sad . “
Karnataka
CM Protest
Currently Karnataka CM is protesting at
Delhi’s Jantar Mantar . The Karnataka CM alleged that Karnataka and other South
Indian states were not given due
share of taxes in GST . And South Indian
states were being discriminated against .
Currently the Supreme Court is hearing Kerala
Govt’s petition that the center has held
more than ₹20,000 crore that needed to be disbursed to the state .
No discrimination in tax sharing with states says finance
minister
Nirmala Sitharaman termed Karnataka govt’s
allegation charges about inadequate tax
devolution , mischievous ; she says center has followed the fifteenth
finance minister recommendation to the tax sharing with states to “ the last
word “ .
Sharad Pawar faction gets a longer name day after Ajit
retained NCP symbol
The election commission has given the name and
symbol of the Original Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP ) to Ajit Pawar ,
nephew of Sharad Pawar.
Sharad Pawar
group has got a new name Nationalist
Congress Party – Sharad Chablndra Pawar
( NCP – Sharad Pawar ) , The party has got a new symbol as Banyan
tree .
In July 2023 , at least 37 members out of a total 55 members defected from NCP
joining Eknath Shinde govt .
Uttarakhand assembly passes Uniform civil code
Uttarakhand assembly passed the Uniform Civil
Code on Wednesday . CM Pushkar Singh Dhami termed it “ historic moment “ , Congress
MLA say they are not against the bill , but it’s provisions need to be examined
in detail so that flaws can be removed .
AIMPLB
criticized :
All India Muslim Personal Law Board ( AIMPLB )
the body that governs personally laws of Muslims , dismissed the bill as “ mere
eyewash and nothing more than political propaganda “ .
“ The bill is inappropriate , unnecessary ,
and against diversity . It’s real target
is only Muslims “
Under UCC “ halala “ and “ iddat “ are made
punishable . Also daughters have been given equal rights in property as son .
All these are against Muslim personal laws .
Can’t treat SCs as homogenous group , observes CJI led bench
A seven Judge constitutional bench headed by
Chief Justice of India D.Y Chandrachud on Tuesday observed that scheduled
castes cannot be treated as a “ homogeneous group “ for granting reservation as
some may have advanced in society while others continue to remain “
particularly underprivileged “ .
The court said that diverse groups , clubbed
together in the Presidential list under Article 341 ,can not be treated “ alike
“ .
The SC issues hearing a petition in which
states want its say in recognising subcastes .
Under Article 341 and Article 342 the
President has been given power to recognise castes and subcastes for SC and ST
community .
Satellite based toll collection may roll out before LS polls
The plans to implement a satellite based toll
collection on highways before the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha election kicks in .
“ We are trying to implement a satellite based
toll collection system very soon .Perhaps before the Lok Sabha Election kicks in .”
Mr Gadakari said that Photos of the registration
plate of the vehicle will be captured and and toll amount will be debited based
on the actual length of the Highway traversed by the vehicle .
This will replace the Radio frequency
identification based FASTags system , Till now 8.13 crore Fastag has been
issued , and a penetration of 98% has been achieved .
World
30 killed in twin blast on the eve
of Pakistan elections
At least 30 people were killed and more than
40 people injured on Wednesday in twin blasts targeting election offices in
Pakistan’s Balochistan province , a day before the general election .
In the first blast , outside the office of
independent candidate Asfandyar Khan Kakar in Pishin district killed 20 and
wounded 30 . Less than one hour later a blast in the Kila Abdullah area claimed
the lives of 10 people , and injured 22 .
No group or individual claimed responsibility
for the two blasts .
No Israel ties without independent
Palestinian state , says Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia foreign ministry said on
Wednesday that it will not establish ties with Israel until an independent
Palestinian state “ is recognised “ in the Gulf . The statement also said that
Israeli “ aggression “ in Gaza must also stop and Israeli forces must withdraw
from the seized territory ,Riyadh said .
Saudi Arabia does not recognise Israel . The
USA has been trying to mend ties between Israel and SaudiArabia for quite a time . Recently statements came
from the US side that Saudi Arabia was showing positive signs to recognise
Israel .
Many Arab countries used not to recognise
Israel . In 2020 , the Abram Accord was signed through which UAE , Bahrain and
Morocco established formal ties with Israel .
These countries used not to recognise Israel
earlier .
Despite post pandemic growth ,
Maldives at high risk of debt distress , warns IMF
Despite strong post – pandemic growth ,
Maldives remains at higher risk of debt distress , the International Monetary
Fund ( IMF ) has warned .
“ Without significant policy changes , the
overall fiscal deficit and public debt are projected to stay elevated , and the
Maldives remains at risk of external and overall high risk distress . “ the IMF
said . The IMF suggested Maldives go for “ urgent policy adjustment “ .
Currently Maldives Debt to GDP ratio is 115% ,
which is on a higher side .
During the visit to China Mr. Muizzue had
sought Beijing’s assistance in the second phase of airport expansion.
China is the Maldives largest bilateral
creditor .
EU and Hungry at odds once again over country’s new ‘sovereignty ‘
law
Hungry recently passed a law , by which
Hungarian authorities will be able to use Intelligence services , to
investigate individuals and organizations involved in democratic and electoral
processes , and allegedly receiving foreign funds .
Violation
of EU values
The EU commission said the law , which came
into effect in December , violated the democratic values of the EU and right of
privacy of its citizens , and freedom of association among other concerns .
Hungary recently had held 54 billion dollar
funding by the EU to Ukraine which was
later passed after Hungry removed its veto .
Hungry still is holding Sweden Membership in
NATO
Sports
Bumrah
becomes first Indian pace bowler to top
the ICC Test rankings
Text/
Context
A
history of the Northern Ireland conflicts
On February 3 , Pro Irish Unity politician
Michelle ‘O’ Neil from the Sein Fien party made history by becoming the first
nationalist first minister of Northern Ireland .
Governance
of Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is governed by a power
sharing agreement which believes that power should be shared equally between
various sectarian groups in the state ,
in this case between pro Irish Unity faction and , called they Nationalist or
Republicans , and the Pro UK faction which is called Loyalist or Unionist .
History
of Northern Ireland
Ireland
got Independence from the UK IN. 1916 . However out of 32 counties in Ireland
six remain with the UK forming Northern Ireland .
North Ireland was the site of a 30 year civil
war between 1968 and 1998. This was because the Nationalist and Loyalist were at
confrontation with each other . The civil war killed about 3500 people .
Good Friday
Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement was to end the civil
war .
Key points in the Good Friday Agreement is : –
●
Northern Ireland Govt would be
formed on wishes of both Republicans and Unionists and that they would share
governance equally .
●
Citizens of Northern Ireland can
seek reunification with Ireland any time subject to a referendum
●
Citizens of Northern Ireland can
seek Irish or British Nationality or both .
Michelle ‘O’ Neil recently became the first
Nationalist. ( Pro Irish ) first minister on February 3 . In elections her
Party Sien Fihn got the highest 29 % of votes while second was DUP with 21.3%
votes .
