UPSC Must Read News Articles – June 27th, 2019

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Buddhist relic unearthed in AP village

A Buddhist relic has been unearthed by a group of indologists on the right bank of the Gundlakamma river at Anamanaluru village, near Korisapadu, in Prakasam district.

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54 nations back India for UNSC non-permanent seat

India has won the unanimous support of all countries in the 55-member Asia-Pacific Group at the United Nations in support of its bid for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council (UNSC) for a two-year term in 2021-22.

India and USA resolve to work through their trade differences

India and the U.S. resolved to “work through” their differences which have led to an impasse on trade issues as External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar hosted U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Delhi

Police station in Satara tops SMART Police survey

Rahimatpur police station in Satara district in western Maharashtra has emerged as the State topper in a survey based on the ‘SMART’ policing concept.

Centre set to roll out Jal Shakti Scheme for water starved areas

The Centre is set to initiate the Jal Shakti Abhiyan to ramp up rainwater harvesting and conservation efforts in 255 water-stressed districts from July 1, in line with the government’s promise to focus on water.

US China trade war may reduce global growth rate

The ongoing U.S.-China trade war escalation could knock off 0.4 percentage points from world GDP growth by 2020, and possibly lead to the lowest growth since 2009, according to Fitch Ratings.

RCEP next steps: on India's free trade agreement

Leaders of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations have resoundingly committed to conclude negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership free trade agreement by the end of 2019. India cannot afford to fall out of the free trade agreement negotiations.

Scoring on health: on Health Index 2019

The Health Index 2019 released by NITI Aayog makes the important point that some States and Union Territories are doing better on health and well-being even with a lower economic output, while others are not improving upon high standards

Negotiating the forks in the road of diplomacy

India needs a substantive and defined account of its own objectives to steer its strategic course in the upcoming international summits

The education system needs change, not fine-tuning: Kasturirangan on the draft NEP

An interview with Dr. K. Kasturirangan, the chairperson of the drafting committee of NEP

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Payments data must be saved locally: RBI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has clarified that payment system providers need to store entire payments data in a system only in India.

Centre expands terms of reference of direct tax law body

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has expanded the terms of reference (ToR) of the task force set up to come up with a new direct tax law

RBI begins monitoring Housing Finance Companies

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has started monitoring the liquidity position, asset-liability gap and repayment schedules of housing finance companies (HFCs) on a daily basis after the liquidity crisis hit these firms, resulting in defaults.