India included in Ashgabat agreement

CURRENT GK

1.India included in Ashgabat agreement :-

India has joined the agreement on the international transport and transit corridor between Iran, Oman, Turkey and Uzbekistan. This Agreement was signed in April 2011 and its purpose is to establish a commercial road between the Central Asian and Persian Gulf. India was informed last year by the Turkish side that all participants were interested in joining India in this agreement. India will be considered to be involved in this agreement from February.

2.Afghanistan has evidence, says the attackers in Pakistan training :-

Afghanistan has shown neighboring Pakistan statements and other evidence that the recent series attacking terrorists were trained in Pakistan and Taliban leaders are allowed to roam freely, Afghan officials had said. Interior Minister Vaish Ahmad Burmak told a press conference that this evidence was presented in a meeting a day before the Pakistani capital Islamabad. The spy chief of Afghanistan, Masom Stanczai, along with senior Pakistani military and intelligence officials also joined the meeting. Addressing a press conference, Mr. Stankazai said that Afghanistan presented its evidence and asked Pakistan to take action to prevent further attacks. There was no immediate comment from Pakistan. Pak later expressed condolences over recent attacks.

3.India defeated South Africa by six wickets in the first one-dayer international match played at Durban :-

India defeated South Africa by six wickets in the first one-dayer international match played at Durban yesterday. Captain Virat Kohli’s brilliant century and the superb innings of Ajinkya Rahane helped India win 270 runs, with 27 balls remaining. Virat Kohli scored 112 runs. This is Kohli’s 33rd century in ODIs.

4.The Supreme Court sought the response from the Center on the petition of the Marxist Communist Party about the government’s decision to issue election bonds :-

The Supreme Court has sought a response from the Center on the petition of Marxist Communist Party and its general secretary Sitaram Yechury challenging the government’s decision to issue election bonds. Principal Judge Deepak Mishra and Judge A.M. Khanwilkar and D. Y Chandrachud Bench issued a notice on the petition. Challenging the Center’s decision, the Marxist Communist Party has said that the government’s decision reduces the importance of democracy and will lead to political corruption. Shri Yechury said that his party had no choice but to go to the Supreme Court. He said that he has raised this issue in Parliament and at the time of presenting the proposal, the government has sought amendment on this bill. The NDA government had announced election bonds in the last budget. The government had said that this plan will clear the process of funding political parties. The opposition parties had opposed this decision. The Election Commission had initially raised objections to it.

5.The Supreme Court entrusted the matters related to Jalilctu to the Constitution Bench :-

The Supreme Court has handed over the matters related to the sand control game to the constitution bench. The bench of Chief Justice Justice Deepak Mishra and Justice R. F. Nariman has prepared five questions for the consideration of Constitution Bench. The Supreme Court had said on December 12 last year that many petitions against the law of permitting the Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra governments to allow the Jalichaltu and bullock cart races to be handed over to the five-judge constitution bench.

6.The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court made public the roster system for the allotment of lawsuits to the judges :-

The Supreme Court will follow the roster system to allocate the cases to the judges. In this regard, the 13-page notification was released on the website of the Supreme Court yesterday. Chief Justice Deepak Mishra has decided to keep matters of public interest under his control. This system will be implemented from February 5.

7.Bharatiya Janata Party retreated from the joint declaration of boycott of Nagaland assembly elections :-

On the backdrop of the joint declaration of all the parties for boycott of Legislative Assembly elections in Nagaland, the Bharatiya Janata Party has announced that they will participate in the elections. The party’s state media coordinator K.James Vijos announced this yesterday. Nagaland Tribhuv Hohoj and civil organizations closed the block for 12 hours in protest in the state against the notification for the assembly elections. Tribal organizations requested the candidates not to fill the prescription for the upcoming elections. The Council has already appealed to the solution of Naga problem before the election. Additional Chief Electoral Officer yesterday said that interested candidates are taking forms from Returning Officer and this form can also be downloaded from the Internet. According to a joint declaration on January 29 not to participate in the elections, no political party in the state has so far issued tickets to any candidate. Although the Bharatiya Janata Party yesterday said that it will stand its candidate in the election.

8.The US asked Pakistan to take action on the terrorists’ bases there :-

The United States has asked Pakistan to take action against the places of terrorism present in its country. US Deputy Foreign Minister John J. Sullivan said in Washington that the US administration has made it clear to Pakistan that with the action against terrorists’ hideouts, they should cooperate in efforts to maintain a stable peace in the region. The US Deputy Foreign Minister said that US will continue to help Afghan allies to defeat ISIS, Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations in Afghanistan. At the same time, America will also provide adequate support to Afghanistan against the targets of those organizations. Mr. Sullivan, who returned from Afghanistan, said that he has talked on several important issues including security cooperation and parliamentary and presidential elections in the country, together with President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Dr. Abdullah Abdullah and other leaders.