General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - December 2014

Dec 2014

May 16, 2023

MEA Faces Tough Choice as Taliban Pick a New Ambassador for Delhi

The Taliban regime's decision to recall Afghan Ambassador Farid Mamundzay and appoint current Trade Counsellor Qadir Shah as the chargé d'affaires (Acting Ambassador) in his place has posed a tough decision for the government on the situation in Afghanistan and its engagement with the Taliban.
While rejecting the Taliban regime's appointment could see repercussions for India's technical mission in Kabul, accepting the Taliban's appointee would be seen as handing over the embassy in Delhi to the insurgent group that took power in Kabul in 2021, but has not received recognition from any country so far.
While most countries where Afghanistan ran missions have refused to accede to the Taliban appointments, Russia, China, Pakistan, the Central Asian states and Iran have allowed the Taliban-appointed diplomats to run the missions, and even raise the Taliban or "Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan" (IEA) flag rather than that of the democratically elected previous "Islamic Republic of Afghanistan" .
The tussle between the two became public, after Afghan media outlets published a letter from Afghans based in India accusing the existing Ambassador and other officials of corruption.

Government Makes Unique ID Mandatory for Doctors

Doctors will now have to get a Unique Identification Number (UID) to be able to practice medicine in the country, as per the new regulations by the National Medical Commission (NMC).
The UID will be generated centrally by the NMC ethics board and thereby grant the practitioner, registration in NMR and eligibility to practice medicine in India.
According to the new notification by NMC, there will be a common national medical register for all the registered medical practitioners of the country. The same will be maintained by the Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) under the NMC. This register will contain all the entries of the registered medical practitioners of all State Registers maintained by the various State Medical Councils and will have all relevant information regarding the medical practitioner.
The licence to practice medicine issued to a registered medical practitioner will be valid for a period of five years after which the medical practitioner will have to renew the licencing by making an application to the State Medical Council.

Govt. Appoints Ravneet Kaur as CCI Chairperson

The government appointed Ravneet Kaur as the Chairperson of the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
There has been no full-time Chairperson for the competition regulator since Ashok Kumar Gupta demitted office in October 2022.
CCI Member Sangeeta Verma has been acting as the Chairperson since October 2022.
The appointment of Ravneet Kaur, a 1988 Punjab cadre IAS officer, is for a period of five years or till the date of attaining the age of 65 years or until further orders, whichever is the earliest.

Himachal CM Sukhu Launches 'Him Data Portal'

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu launched the 'Him' data portal, a common digital platform to improve the delivery of welfare schemes by integrating real-time and accurate data of all government bodies.
Addressing a conference organised by the Bharti Institute of Public Policy of the Indian School of Business (ISB) on governance and technology in Punjab's Mohali, Sukhu said that state government agencies should collaborate, connect, and respond to the needs of the public more efficiently by accessing accurate and real-time data.
From July 2023, the Himachal Pradesh government would start the 'Him Parivar' project which will give a special digital identity to the people of the state.

FinMin Invites Applications to Appoint CEO and Chairperson of NLMC

The Finance Ministry invited applications for appointing Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and a non-executive chairperson to the board of National Land Monetisation Corporation (NLMC).
NLMC was incorporated in June 2022 as a wholly-owned government company to carry out monetisation of surplus land parcels held by various Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and government agencies.
The appointment of full-time CEO and chairman would accelerate the formulation of strategy for monetisation of the land assets of CPSEs.

May 15, 2023

Congress Registers Emphatic Win in Karnataka

The Congress scored an emphatic win in the Karnataka assembly polls, winning 135 seats. The victory vindicated the party strategy of contesting the election on local issues, especially those affecting people's lives, such as inflation and corruption, and keeping state leaders in the forefront rather than meeting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on its pitch of Hindutva or national issues.
The BJP was reduced to just 65 seats, down from 104 in 2018, while the Janata Dal (Secular) managed to win only 19 seats. It had won 37 seats in 2018.

Amit Shah Inaugurates Training Programme on Legislative Drafting

Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated a training programme on legislative drafting.
The programme was organised by the Institute of Constitutional and Parliamentary Studies (ICPS) in collaboration with the Parliamentary Research and Training Institute for Democracies (PRIDE).
It is aimed at creating an understanding of the principles and practices of legislative drafting among officers of Parliament, state legislatures and various ministries, statutory bodies and other government departments.
Legislative drafting has a major impact on the interpretation of policies and the regulations implemented for the welfare of the society and the state.
Since legislative draftsmen are responsible for producing legislation which promotes democratic governance and gives effect to the rule of law, it is necessary that they are imparted training from time to time to sharpen their skills.

Ten Manipur MLAs Seek Separate Governing Body

In all, 10 tribal MLAs belonging to the Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Zomi group in Manipur urged the Centre to create a separate administration for their community in the wake of the violent clashes between the Meiteis and tribals.
Of the 10 legislators, seven belong to the BJP, two from Kuki People's Alliance (KPA) and one Independent.

May 14, 2023

Thennarasu Replaces Palanivel Thiaga Rajan as Tamil Nadu Finance Minister

The high profile Tamil Nadu Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan was shifted out of the key portfolio of Finance and Human Resources Management and given the Information Technology department.
The move came days after the BJP released two audio clips, claiming the voice in it was that of Thiaga Rajan, purported to be making some remarks about the assets of DMK's first family. Rajan had described the clips as "malicious and fabricated," and insisted they were digitally altered tapes.
Thangam Thennarasu, the soft-spoken DMK strongman from southern Tamil Nadu, is the new Finance Minister. Industries portfolio held by him was allocated to TRB Rajaa, the three time legislator from Mannargudi constituency who was newly inducted into the Council of Ministers.

May 13, 2023

World Bank Approves USD 82 Millions for Zoonotic Disease Prevention in India

The World Bank approved a USD 82 million loan towards the adoption of global best practices for animal health management and to prevent, detect, and respond to endemic zoonotic diseases in India.
The loan has a maturity of 11.5 years with a grace period of 4.5 years.
An infection or disease that is transmissible from animals to humans under natural conditions is called zoonotic.
Animal disease outbreaks globally continue to pose risks to public health systems and have enormous economic costs.
With India having the largest livestock population in the world, these risks are particularly high.

Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways Launches 'Harit Sagar' Green Port Guidelines 2023

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways launched 'Harit Sagar' Green Port Guidelines 2023 to achieve its vision of zero carbon emissions. The guidelines were launched by Union Minister for Ports, Shipping & Waterways and AYUSH, Sarbananda Sonowal, in the presence of other senior officials of the ministry in New Delhi. The guidelines aim to align with the 'Working with Nature' concept, minimise the impact on the biotic components of harbour ecosystems, and promote the use of clean/green energy in port operations.
The 'Harit Sagar' Guidelines 2023 provides a comprehensive framework for the major ports to create a comprehensive action plan aimed at achieving quantifiable reductions in carbon emissions over defined timelines. The guidelines focus on the use of cleaner fuels such as green hydrogen, green ammonia, green methanol/ethanol, and the development of port capabilities for storage, handling, and bunkering of these fuels. They also aim to minimize waste through reduce, reuse, repurpose, and recycle, promote monitoring based on environmental performance indicators, and adopt global Green Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards.

May 12, 2023

Ex-JD(U) President RCP Singh Joins BJP

Former Janata Dal (United) president joined the BJP in the presence of Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and accused Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, once his mentor, of compromising with crime and corruption in his pursuit of "kursi" (chair).
Once a close confidant of Nitish Kumar, Singh had a fallout with him last year (2022) as he was seen by his party to be veering closer to the BJP as the differences between the two parties grew leading to the subsequent severance in their ties.

Punjab Becomes First State to Enforce 'Right to Walk'

Amid consistent rise in deaths of pedestrians and cyclists, Punjab took the lead among the states and UTs to implement the 'Right to Walk' by making it mandatory for all road-owning agencies, including the NHAI, to provide footpath and cycle tracks in all future expansion of roads and construction of new ones.
The state government issued these directions following two court orders after PILs were filed at Punjab and Haryana High Court and another in the Supreme Court. The courts have sought the action taken reports on safety of pedestrians and cyclists.

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