World Junior chess | Karthikeyan, Aravindh and Priyanka win.

Source – thehindu.com

Decisive battles proved to be the flavour of the day as medal aspirants fought relentlessly on the leading boards as the World junior chess championship inched towards the business end here on Tuesday.

Second seed M. Karthikeyan was the last to emerge triumphant after 82 moves in the eighth round that witnessed second to eight boards producing worthy winners. On the top board, seventh seed Evgeny Shtembuliak who drew before was joined at 6.5 points by Spain’s Miguel Ruiz Santos, who surprisingly outplayed R. Praggnanandhaa in just 28 moves.

For Praggnanandhaa’s sister, girls’ fifth seed R. Vaishali, too, it was time to learn a thing or two. After cracking the whip against N. Priyanka, Vaishali did not reckon with the fighting abilities of her lesser-rated rival. Priyanka displayed all her grit and came up with a desperate rook-sacrifice. Later, she cashed in on Vaishali’s misreading of the position to win in 46 moves.

On the second board, Divya Deshmukh escaped with a draw against Iran’s Mobina Alinasab and shared the third spot at six points. Fourth seed Russian Polina Shuvalova led with seven points.

Among the boys, the best show came from Karthikeyan. He came up with a patient display to defeat Russian prodigy Volobar Murzin, the lad who almost nailed Aravindh Chithambaram on Monday. Karthikeyan and three others share the third spot at six points, half a point behind the leaders.

Aravindh, playing black, scored over Rithvik Raja to be joint seventh with four others at 5.5 points.

The struggling girls’ top seed Zhu Jiner (4.5) agreed to a nine-move draw against USA’s Thaila Cervantes Landeiro, while an indisposed Vantika Agarwal (4) gave a walkover to teammate C. Lakshmi (5).

Important results (eighth round):

Open: Shant Sargsyan (Arm, 5.5) drew with Evgeny Shtembuliak (Ukr, 6.5); Miguel Santos Ruiz (Esp, 6.5) bt R. Praggnanandhaa (5); M. Karthikeyan (6) bt Volodar Murzin (Rus, 5); Aram Hakobyan (Arm, 6) bt Semen Khanin (Rus, 5); Viktor Gazik (Svk, 5) lost to Mihnia Costachi (Rou, 6); N.R. Visakh (5) lost to Or Bronstein (Isr, 6); Rithvik Raja (4.5) lost to Aravindh Chithambaram (5.5); P. Iniyan (5) drew with Stefan Pogosyan (Rus, 5).

Girls: Polina Shuvalova (7) bt Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kaz, 5.5); Divya Deshmukh (6) drew with Mobina Alinasab (6.5); Dinara Dordzhieva (Rus, 5.5) drew with Srishti Pandey (5.5); N. Priyanka (5.5) bt R. Vaishali (4.5); Rakshitta Ravi (4.5) lost to Aakanksha Hagawane (5.5); Li Yunshan (Chn, 5.5) bt Mrudul Dehankar (4.5); Arpita Mukherjee (5) drew with P. Supreetha (5).

Jharkhand: Activist Stan Swamy’s properties attached, civil rights group criticises police and state.

Source – scroll.in

Civil rights group Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha on Tuesday rebuked the state police for attaching a few items belonging to human rights activist and Catholic priest Stan Swamy the day before. The police took away two tables, three chairs, a cupboard and a mattress from his home at the Bagaicha campus in Namkum near Ranchi.

The police had filed a sedition case against Swamy and 19 other activists from Jharkhand in July 2018 for their Facebook posts questioning “state excesses in villages that conducted Pathalgadi and attack on Adivasi rights”, said the Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha. Pathalgadi is a practice adopted by some villages to declare their gram sabha as the only sovereign authority, not the state or central government.

“Father had posted an objectionable post,” said Khunti Superintendent of Police Ashutosh Shekhar, according to The Telegraph. “Following this an FIR was registered against him and others. Despite summons and warrant, when he did not appear in the trial court, an order to attach his property was issued.”

The civil rights group condemned “the continuous harassment of activists and public intellectuals who are critical of the policies of BJP governments” and added that “the harassments are wholly unjustified and are part of the government’s growing attempts to stifle dissent and intimidate those fighting for justice”. The police’s attempts “indicate that it is an attempt by the BJP to invent a false enemy and engage in scaremongering in order to polarise the election in its favour”, said the Mahasabha.

The group sought the immediate quashing of the FIR against Swamy and asked the police to drop the charges against him. “Stan is an exceptionally gentle, honest and public-spirited person. Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha has the highest regard for him and his work,” it said, adding that it also sought action against the Khunti Police “for the repression unleashed by it in Pathalgadi villages and building a false case against Stan Swamy and others”.

The civil rights group said the police had used the Facebook posts as the activists’ endorsement of the Pathalgadi movement in Khunti. The movement, which had its epicentre in Khunti district, was a unique form of protest. It used the Adivasi practice of installing stone tablets – traditionally used to mark graves – in order to list out constitutional provisions that award vast powers to village councils in Adivasi-dominated Fifth Schedule areas. The movement has been tarred by linking it to Maoists, and branded secessionist and anti-national.

“Among other sections, they [the 20 people] have been booked under 66A of the Information Technology Act 2000, which was repealed by the Supreme Court in 2015,” the group said in its statement. It added that Swamy and three others – rights activists Aloka Kujur, Rakesh Roshan Kiro and Vinod Kumar – had challenged the FIR in Ranchi High Court.

But even though the hearing is on, the local police approached the district court and got an arrest warrant on June 19, the group said. “However, such a warrant can only be issued if it is proved that the accused is hiding or trying to evade arrest,” it added. “Before the warrant was issued, neither did the Khunti police visit the residences of Stan and others to inquire if they were present nor did it send them any notice. This raises questions on the legality of the warrant itself.”

The civil rights group pointed out that “just a week before the warrant was issued, Stan’s room was raided by the Maharashtra police, in the presence of Jharkhand Police, in the Bhima-Koregaon case”. Swamy’s presence at Bagaicha during the raid was reported widely reported in the media, “and yet, the Khunti Police got an arrest warrant issued in a week”, the group added.

The four activists filed an application to quash the warrant in the High Court but the Khunti court declared Swamy an absconder on July 22, said the Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha. Though Swamy appealed to quash this order as well, the notice to attach his property was issued on September 24.

“The irony of the Khunti police declaring Stan an absconder, even though he fully cooperated with the Maharashtra police in their investigations (and was available at his residence) in the same period was raised by his lawyer in the High Court,” the statement added. “The government lawyer asked for additional time when he was asked by the court to explain this paradox. He was asked to justify the state’s orders, regarding the arrest warrant and declaring Stan an absconder, on the next hearing scheduled for October 23.”

The attachment of Swamy’s belongings two days before the hearing “indicates an attempt by the police to ensure that Stan’s appeal for quashing of arrest warrant becomes infructuous”, the civil rights group added.

Mad rush among Congress, JMM MLAs in Jharkhand to join BJP.

Source – indiatoday.in

Speculations are rife that three MLAs from the Congress and three MLAs from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) camp may join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on October 23.

The reports come just ahead of formal announcement for Assembly elections in Jharkhand.

It may come as a jolt for the Congress and JMM. The list doing rounds in political circles includes the name of former state Congress president and MLA from Lohardagga Sukhdev Bhagat, formidable MLA from Barhi (Hazaribag) Manoj Yadav and Badal Patralekh from Jarmundi (Dumka).

The JMM is also said to face desertion.

MLA from Bahragora Kunal Sarangi (Jamshedpur), Chamra Linda from Bishunpur (Gumla) and MLA from Mandu (Ramgarh) JP Patel are likely to join the BJP on Wednesday.

The Congress had nine MLAs. The party will be reduced to six if the three MLAs make their way to join the BJP. Similarly, the JMM will also be left with 16 MLAs if the three MLAs say goodbye to the party.

Most of the MLAs could not be contacted. Their phones are either switched off or not reachable hinting at them joining a new party.

Kunal Sarangi has confirmed that he will join the BJP. He said that he has no differences with Hemant Soren and will continue to enjoy a very good personal rapport with him in future.

The MLAs and many leaders aspiring for a good career in politics see prospects and a bright future for themselves in the BJP.

Bihar floods: How Delhi, Kolkata, and Dhaka betrayed Patna.

Source – hindustantimes.com

The 2019 monsoon season, which continued till late September, has been disastrous for Bihar. There has been large-scale inundation, leading to loss of lives and property and displacement. Moreover, in the last four months, the Bihar government has spent nearly ~130 million to provide relief to those affected by floods, which were caused by torrential rains in Nepal in mid-July, and flooding in the basins of the Kamla, Bagmati, Gandak, and Kosi rivers that originate in the neighbouring country. The state has urged the Centre to provide ~2,700 crore as compensation.

If Bihar has to get out of this annual cycle of flooding and destruction, the state has to reclaim its riparian rights over the Ganga. One of the key reasons why the destruction could be contained somewhat in the September round of flooding was the timely decision taken by the Bihar government of requesting the release of 19 lakh cusec of water via the Farakka Barrage across the Ganga in West Bengal. The discharge through the barrage, which was built in 1962, was increased to decongest the floodwaters in the Ganga and save the riverine areas along the river in Bihar.

The Farakka Barrage has been a controversial project since inception. The first landmark publication against the Nehruvian penchant for large dams was authored in 1961 by the then superintending engineer of the West Bengal government, Kapil Bhattacharya. He warned that the construction of the barrage would lead to heavy flooding and siltation in Malda and Murshidabad districts of West Bengal, and to floods in Bihar. Bhattacharya was hounded for criticising the project, which was originally conceived by the British in 1853 to “flush out silt from the approach channel” to their key trading port, Calcutta. After Independence, the Centre and the Bengal governments pursued the project, disregarding criticisms.

At that time, there were three key arguments against the building of the barrage. First, the designed discharge of 27 lakh cusec was way below what’s needed during floods; second, it will increase siltation in Ganga owing to reduced flow during the lean months; and, third, that the barrage would reduce water flow into Padma (East Pakistan).

All three apprehensions have been proved right in the later years.

Either due to deft diplomacy by the Bangladesh government or the weakness of the HD Deve Gowda-led government, in the 1996 (lean season) water-sharing treaty between India and Bangladesh, Dhaka was able to wrest the desired discharge from Delhi. Bihar, a key stakeholder, was neither included as a participant in the negotiations, nor was its protest on the treaty’s provisions ever considered. Moreover, both the Indian and Bengal governments could never work out any alternative for the much-hyped 40,000 cusecs of discharge throughout the year into the Hoogly channel, which was, allegedly, required to keep the Kolkata port operational.

So, who has been bearing the brunt of these commissions and omissions? Bihar. While the state suffers from annual flooding, a series of dams and barrages over the Ganga, and its tributaries in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, are denying Bihar its due share of the river’s water.

To honour the Indo-Bangladesh treaty’s commitment of ensuring 1,500 cusec of discharge at Farakka, Bihar has to provide this from the state’s other rivers. This means Bihar only gets 400 cusecs of water from the Ganga during the lean months (January to May). This low water volume and the resultant placid flow year after year have dried up the river’s channels, leaving enormous silt deposits in its lower reaches. The gradually ascending river beds abet inundation during the high volume flooding periods because the choked discharge at Farakka restricts free flow. It is a double whammy for Bihar.

It defies logic how the Central Water Commission (CWC) has persisted with its stand on the issue despite several submissions by the Bihar government and expert group estimations pointing to the need for a rethink on Ganga water sharing and decommissioning of the Farakka barrage.

Repeated submissions by the Bihar government for a review of international and inter-state water-sharing arrangement, and optimising the Farakka barrage’s discharge capacity to meet the changed hydrology of the river, have been systematically downplayed by CWC. The momentum generated by two high-level expert meetings in Patna and Delhi in 2017 has not produced anything productive. Reviving the discourse has become imperative once again.

The annual agony of flooding is a demonic drain on the national resources and not just that of Bihar. Given its political and diplomatic clout, the National Democratic Alliance is best poised to redeem Bihar and its 130 million people from this scourge.

Chhat rush in Bihar bound trains.

Source – dailypioneer.com

It’s the Chhat season, and people of Bihar from all over the world like to come back to their roots to celebrate the festival.

The reservation lists of three Bihar-bound trains — Tata-Chhapra Express, Tata-Danapur Express and Tata-Patna South Bihar Express — show zero availability of seats on October last week to November first week.

For the convenience of the travelling passengers and to clear extra rush during Diwali, Chhath and Winter holidays, South Eastern Railway has decided to temporarily augment  Rourkela-Bhubaneswar Intercity Express by attaching four extra general chair car coaches during the period from  October 21  to  December 31.This is in addition to one AC-3 Tier Coach already attached on temporary basis till December. Meanwhile, officials at the computerised ticket-booking centre at Tatanagar revealed that Puri-New Delhi-Purushottam Superfast Express, Neelanchal Express and other long-distance trains that travel via Bihar had also long waiting lists. “Trains plying between Tatanagar and various destinations of Bihar are already packed to capacity because of the heavy passenger rush and the waiting list of the two popular Bihar-bound trains, South Bihar Express and Tata-Chhapra, has already crossed the 150 mark,” said an official at Tatanagar.

Even so, many passengers are unable to reserve seats and were stuck in serpentine queues in front of booking counters. The waiting lists on the important trains had crossed the 200 mark, railway sources said.

 “We are aware that  the trains are running full and some of the passengers are facing problems. But the railways are trying to cope. We want everyone to come down to their families in Chhath,” noted the official. He said that that adequate arrangement at the platform is being made to deal with the rush and avoid commotion and trouble. “Announcements are made continually, asking passengers to remain calm and maintain order. Moreover, we are not changing the platform for train arrivals. Once the announcement about a particular train arriving at a particular platform is made, trains are not switched to alternative platforms, even if it leads to trains being late. Changing platforms, may lead to confusion and stampede as the platforms are so overflowing,” the official said.

He went on to add that Chhath is an important festival for the people of Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. “Every year people in large number visit their native places.

Plans are there to add coaches to several Bihar bound trains to clear the extra rush of passengers. We are expecting a notification in this regard from Garden Reach, headquarters of South Eastern Railways in a day or two,” he said.

India blow away South Africa in Ranchi for 3-0 clean sweep.

Source – tribuneindia.com

A formidable Indian team ticked all boxes with ease as they deservingly completed a 3-0 rout of an out-of-sorts South Africa with a comprehensive innings and 202 runs victory in the third and final Test here on Tuesday.

With another 120 points, India now sit pretty on top of the points table with 240 points as the formalities were completed within the first two overs of the day.The score line was not only an indicator of India’s absolute dominance but also the decline in standard of South African cricket as they couldn’t handle the might of India’s batting and the fiery India pace attack led by Mohammed Shami (13 wickets in the series).

Debutant Shahbaz Nadeem (2/18 in 6 overs) wrapped it up in the second over of the day as South Africa were all out for 133 in their second innings, 30 runs short of their  dismal first innings score of 162.This is India’s sixth clean sweep at home in a three-Test series and India didn’t put a foot wrong during the three-match series winning the first Test by 203 runs and the second by an innings and 137 runs.

If Rohit Sharma’s coming of age in his new role as an opener with 529 runs turned out to be a masterstroke in home conditions, Mayank Agarwal also consolidated his place in the side with a double century and a ton, easing India’s long-time opening woes.

“I was very happy to make my debut in Australia and make little contributions to the team,” Agarwal said after the match. 

Ranchi Test: Virat Kohli breaks Mohammad Azharuddin record as India bully South Africa.

Source – indiatoday.in

Virat Kohli on Monday went past Mohammad Azharuddin as the Indian captain who has enforced the follow-on most times in Test cricket after the hosts asked the South Africans to bat again on Day 3 of the Ranchi Test.

Kohli enforced the follow-on for the 8th time as captain of India, Azharuddin had done it 7 times while MS Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly enforced it 5 and 4 times, respectively.

India, who had declared on 497 for 9 on Sunday, took a first-innings lead of 335 after bowling South Africa out for 162 by the second session on day 3. This is the second biggest first innings lead for India against South Africa after the 347-run lead they took in the Kolkata Test in 2009-10.

Umesh Yadav was the pick of the Indian bowlers as he finished with 3 for 40 while Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami and debutant Shahbaz Nadeem bagged a couple of wickets each.

Umesh’s performance saw him become only the second fast bowler to pick 3-plus wickets in five successive innings on home soil after West Indies legend Courtney Walsh.

The struggle for the Proteas continued on Monday with captain Faf du Plessis getting out in the first over of the day, thanks to an unplayable delivery from Umesh.

The wickets kept on tumbling from there on as the visitors lost 4 in the first session to reach lunch at 129 for 6.

Zubayr Hamza (62), Temba Bavuma (32) and George Linde (37) offered some resistance but it was still not enough as the Indian bowlers hunted in packs and kept putting pressure on the batsmen in overcast conditions.

Earlier on Sunday, India had declared their innings on 497/9 and had picked the wickets of both the South African openers before play was stopped because of bad light.


Today GK Current Affairs Quiz for Banking, Railways, SSC, UPSC and All Competitive exams.

Source – versionweekly.com

GK Current Affairs Quiz 2019 for competitive exams are available here. General Knowledge section can be the simplest section in all state-level, banking, SSC, railways exams when it is followed at a regular basis. Candidates of competitive examinations such as IBPS, UPSC, SSC, Bank PO, Railways, Government Jobs, UPPSC, Bank Clerk, IBPS, MPSC, etc can learn the general awareness questions and answers from this clause, in English. Here, we will help you in answering any competitive exams you will come across shortly such as RRB NTPC, SSC, IBPS, SBI, RBI, etc. The most reliable way to examine your General knowledge is by trying a quiz based on the affairs. Read the complete article and get multiple quizzes to solve.

The questions here are provided here with complete answers so that candidates can test themselves how many questions they have answered correctly. The questions here are based on all the levels such as state, nationals and some international. 

GK Current Affairs Quiz 2019

Here the best general awareness questions and answers of 2019. Candidates who are appearing for competitive exams this year, should practice this questionnaire to get confident of writing the examination and score more than cut-off marks in the respective section. Here we have provided the links for general awareness questions of each month. Click on the respective links to check your knowledge and try to solve the queries without seeing the answers. Crosscheck your answers with the provided answers here and conclude the results. This practice will help you to get ready for the competitive exams.

Monthly Current Affairs 

Get the monthly basis of current affairs here for 2019.

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Basic General Knowledge Questions

This part is the most prominent one in all competing exams. You will surely get at least 5 questions from this segment. Here, basic GK subdivision includes important topics such as Capital and Currencies of different Countries, Awards and Honours, Famous Persons in Current News, National Animals, National Birds, National Flowers of all Nations. Take advantage of this amazing source for your forthcoming Exams and Interviews.

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GK Questions For India

India GK includes all latent insight details about Indian states, Central Government Schemes, Revolutions in India, Indian Culture and more. This segment covers all the main data about India with the exam point of view like: List of Indian Presidents since Independence, List of Prime Ministers of India, List of Union Cabinet Ministers, Banking Awareness matters along with Taglines, Office of many Banks in India. Details of Five Year Plan in India, Highlights of Union Budget for the current year,  National parks, Airports, Tiger Reserves, Major Industries, Famous Temples in India, List of Major Cities in India along with their Nicknames, List of Nuclear Power Plants in India, List of Indian Satellite Launched From 1975, everything about Indian States and Union Territories. Use this most useful resource for your efficient GK preparation.

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World General Knowledge

World GK segment shows the fundamental truths about World Organisations and Headquarters, Name of Presidents, Worldwide Festivals, Important Places in the World, World Leaders, and Prime Ministers of various Countries, Famous Personalities around the world along with Daily affairs updates which are useful for your exam preparation.

  • Countries – Capital & Currencies
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Current Affairs Questions 2019

This part includes the most advanced events and updates on International News, National News (ie. Indian Current Affairs), Bills & Acts Passed by Government, Science and Technology, Environment, Defence News, About important Persons, Banking & Economical News, Places,  Awards & Honours, Sports News, Obituary, Revolutionary Updates on Arts & Culture, Summits & Conference, Important Committee, Important Days & its Theme for Current as well as upcoming Year, Schemes, Appointments, Books & Its Authors, Visits by World Presidents, Agreements & MoUs, Budget, Taxes, Various Important Lists & Indexes, Prime Ministers, Political affairs and all Current News. These News are delivered on Monthly and Daily basis under GK Current Affairs 2019 section.

UPSC Releases Circular For Consultant Posts, Form Submission Till Nov 15.

Source – odishatv.in

Union Public Service Commission has released a notification inviting applications for the positions of Consultant (PA Level). Interested and eligible candidates can apply for the positions till November 15, 2019.

“Union Public Service Commission invites applications from the Govt. servant’s from any Ministry/Department of Central Govt. or its Attached or Subordinate Offices or any other organization of Central Govt., who have retired or will retire by 31.12.2019, from the grades of PA or above, for preparation of panel for engagement as Consultant at PA level in the Office of UPSC… ”

UPSC Vacancy Detail

Level of Engagement: Consultant(PA level)

Vacancies: 15 Posts

Age Limit: Should not have attained the age of 63 years as on closing date

Remuneration Per month: Rs 28000

Eligibility Criteria

Candidates should have retired from not below the rank of Personal Assistant i.e not below the post carrying GP of Rs 4600/- (Pre-revised) in PB-2 on regular basis or Level-07 of the revised pay Matrix.

Also, should possess working knowledge of computer applications in day to day functioning of Office with proficiency in typing in English and Hindi.

Preference shall be given to the English medium candidates.

Period of Engagement

The engagement shall be initially for a period of six months which may be extended/curtailed depending upon the performance of the Consultant or functional requirement of the Office with the approval of the Competent Authority.

NOTE: No Extension will be granted beyond the age of 65 years.

Selection Procedure

The engagement will be purely on contract basis. Application received in response to this advertisement will be shortlisted on the basis of experience and qualification of applicants. Consultants will be selected from shortlisted candidates.

NOTE: UPSC reserves the right to reject any application without assigning any reason.

Interested candidates, who fulfill the eligibility criteria, may submit their application in the prescribed proforma in sealed cover super-scribed “Application for engagement as Consultant PA level on contract basis in UPSC” which should reach this office latest by 15/11/2019,” the notification said.

For more details, you can visit the official website of UPSC.

Civil Services Exam Details To Be Announced In February.

Source – ndtv.com

NEW DELHI: 

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) would release the exam details of the Civil Services recruitment 2020 in February. The exam would be held on May 31. This is for the first time in six years UPSC is conducting civil services preliminary exam in May. The last time it was held in May was in 2013. Civil Services exam is held annually for selection to Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian Police Service and other services and posts.

More than 10 lakh candidates register for the exam every year.

Selection to Civil Services is through a preliminary test and main exam (written test and interview). Candidates who qualify the preliminary test are eligible to appear for the main exam. In the main exam, the written test will carry a total of 1750 marks and the interview will be of 275 marks in total.

The scores obtained in the preliminary test will not be included while deciding the final merit list.

Graduates are allowed to sit for the Civil Services exam six times. The restriction limit is different for candidates belonging to reserved categories. Candidates belonging to scheduled castes and scheduled tribe category have no restriction on the number of attempts. Candidates belonging to other backward class category are permitted nine attempts at the exam. Candidates under persons with benchmark disability category will get as many attempts as available to their respective categories.