TODAY ON March 19, 2023
GK News Headlines

Invitations posted, Srinagar gears up for G-20 tourism meet
Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, is all set to host a working group meeting of tourism delegates from the G-20 nations in the last week of May. The city is undergoing a major makeover amid a stringent security plan for the high-profile event.

78 arrested in action against pro-Khalistan preacher Amritpal Singh, supporters
In a major crackdown against pro-Khalistan propagator Amritpal Singh and his supporters, the Punjab Police on March 18, 2023 arrested 78 persons and launched a hunt for him. While Internet services were suspended across the State till March 19 noon to prevent any incitement to violence, it was not clear whether the preacher has also been detained.

South Korea moves to ‘normalise’ military pact with Japan
South Korea will fully implement a key military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan, a Defence Ministry official told  AFP on March 18, as the two countries move to thaw long-frozen relations and renew diplomacy to counter Pyongyang.
At a fence-mending summit on Thursday, the neighbours agreed to turn the page on a bitter dispute over Japan’s use of war-time forced labour.

The return of the Net neutrality debate in India
Since November 2022, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Reliance Jio, the three major telecom operators in India, has been demanding that platforms such as YouTube and WhatsApp pay a share of revenue to make up for the network costs. This has reignited the debate around net neutrality.

Conman Kiran Patel, now in custody in J&K, cheated many in Gujarat too: police
Kiran Patel, who has been arrested by Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Police for impersonating being a top ranking official of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has apparently cheated many people in Gujarat promising government contracts or clearances. After his arrest by the Police in the Union Territory, several people went public accusing him of cheating and fraud in Ahmedabad, Vadodara and even North Gujarat.

Enforcement Directorate chargesheet recounts misery of victims in Chinese loan app case
The ED has charged seven entities and five individuals in the ‘Chinese loan app’ case, where the effective interest rate came to 2,233% per annum in one instance.

Serbia and Kosovo participate in high-stakes EU-mediated talks
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti arrived at North Macedonia’s lakeside resort of Ohrid for meetings with international envoys and rare head-to-head talks.

NIA files fifth chargesheet against PFI, its key functionaries and activists
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed the fifth chargesheet against the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) and 19 activists, including 12 members of its national executive committee (NEC). The agency has also frozen 77 bank accounts linked to the outfit and the accused persons.

Recruitment proposal for Eklavya schools leaves existing teachers in a bind
As the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs looks to finalise the recruitment rules for hiring over 38,000 teachers and support staff for 740 Eklavya Model Residential Schools across the country, the jobs of around 4,000 teachers are hanging by a thread — teachers who are already working at nearly 400 of these schools — with the Union government having calculated the staff requirement without considering those already working in these schools.

Kazakhs to vote in newly energized parliament elections
Voters in Kazakhstan will cast ballots Sunday after a short but active campaign for seats in the lower house of parliament that is being reconfigured in the wake of deadly unrest that gripped the resource-rich Central Asian nation a year ago.

‘Devine’ intervention keeps Royal Challengers alive
Devine, on Saturday night at the Brabourne Stadium here, played what should be one of the great knocks in women’s T20 cricket. It was power-hitting at its best. Her 99 off just 36 balls (9x4, 8x6) took RCB to an eight-wicket win against Gujarat Giants, with 4.3 overs to spare.

Rohit returns as Men in Blue look to seal series
Regular skipper Rohit Sharma will take over the reins from Hardik Pandya after missing the first game for personal reasons. His return will bolster the top order which struggled against Mitchell Starc’s fiery spell on Friday. Ishan Kishan is likely to make way.