General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - May 2015

May 2015

Apr 09, 2021

India and Bahrain Agree to Bolster Defence and Security Cooperation

India and Bahrain agreed to strengthen bilateral defence and security cooperation, including through regular consultations in maritime security, combating piracy and counter-terrorism.
This was decided at a meeting of the India-Bahrain high joint commission that was co-chaired in New Delhi by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Bahraini counterpart Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani.
The Bahraini side expressed interest in setting up pharmaceutical and vaccine production units with Indian collaboration, and the Indian side agreed to facilitate dialogue on this issue between relevant stakeholders.
The Indian side also made a request for greater acceptance and market access for Indian pharmaceutical products in the Bahraini market.

Telugu Desam Party Loses its Presence in Telangana Assembly

The Telugu Desam Party, which hitherto had a nominal presence in Telangana, lost its existence in the state assembly completely, with both the MLAs of the party joining the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
The two lawmakers – Sandra Venkata Veeraiah from Sattupalli assembly constituency and Mecha Nageshwara Rao from Ashwaraopet constituency (both in Khammam district) – wrote a letter to assembly speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, stating that they were merging the Telugu Desam Legislature Party with the TRS.

Chintan Vaishnav New Mission Director of Atal Innovation Mission

Noted socio-technologist, Chintan Vaishnav has been appointed the mission director of Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), the government's flagship initiative under NITI Aayog. Vaishnav will take over from Ramanathan Ramanan later this month. Ramanan has been leading AIM as its first mission director since June 2017. Vaishnav is currently at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US. He holds a PhD in technology, management, and policy from MIT.
AIM's mission is to create and promote a vibrant ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship across the country. Over the past four years, since its inception, AIM's various initiatives have achieved notable successes. So far, AIM has established 72,59 Atal Tinkering Labs in schools across 650 districts, providing over 3.5 million students access to emerging technologies.

Apr 08, 2021

Former CS Named NGT Member

Former Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan has been appointed as an expert member of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Southern Zone in Chennai. The serving expert member in the Southern Bench Saibal Dasgupta has been sent to Eastern Zonal Bench in Kolkata.
When Girija Vaidyanathan had initially applied for the post, Chennai-based environmental advocacy group Poovulagin Nanbargal had filed a Public Interest Litigation before the Madras High Court challenging it. Admitting the petition, the first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy had directed the government and Girija Vaidyanathan to file their responses in six weeks.

Road in Ayodhya to be Named after Kothari Brothers

Uttar Pradesh deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said that he will construct a road in Ayodhya in memory of Kothari brothers, who were killed in police firing in Ayodhya on October 30, 1990.
At many times the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, amid the ongoing West Bengal assembly elections, exhorted the voters of the state to remember the sacrifice of Kothari brothers, who had lost their lives while agitating for the holy site in Ayodhya.

Apr 07, 2021

Bihar LJP MLA Raj Kumar Singh Joins JD(U)

The lone MLA of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) in Bihar Raj Kumar Singh has joined the Janata Dal (United).
Bihar Assembly Speaker gave the nod for the merger of LJP legislative party having Raj Kumar Singh (in maroon kurta) as the lone MLA into the JD (U).
The LJP did not contest the Bihar assembly election under the banner of NDA due to a last-minute seat-sharing arrangement issue and chose to contest the elections alone.
The only seat won by the LJP in last year`s assembly elections was Matihani, where Raj Kumar Singh had defeated the sitting JD(U) MLA Narendra Kumar Singh alias Bogo Singh by a razor-thin margin of 333 votes.

Tarun Bajaj Appointed New Revenue Secretary, Ajay Seth New DEA Secy

In a major bureaucratic reshuffle, the union government approved the appointment of Tarun Bajaj as new revenue secretary under the Ministry of Finance.
Bajaj was serving as secretary to the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) since April 30, 2020. Tarun Bajaj took additional charge of Secretary, Department of Revenue, after the superannuation of Ajay Bhushan Pandey.
The appointment committee of the cabinet has also approved the appointment of Ajay Seth, a 1987 batch Karnataka-cadre IAS officer, as new secretary for DEA. Along with this, there were also other changes in top bureaucracy notified by the Ministry of Personnel.

Justice N. V. Ramana Next CJI

Senior-most Supreme Court Judge Justice Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana was appointed as the next Chief Justice of India.
According to a notification issued by the government, Justice Ramana would take over as the 48th CJI on April 24 after incumbent CJI S A Bobde demits office a day before.
Justice Ramana would retire on August 26, 2022.
Justice Bobde had recently recommended Justice Ramana as his successor in keeping with convention and norms of seniority.

India and Russia Discuss Defence Ties, Afghan Peace Process, Indo-Pacific

Russia promised joint production of weapons systems in India as the two countries held extensive talks covering key areas of bilateral cooperation as well as pressing issues like the Afghan peace process and each other's outlook on the Indo-Pacific region.
In the talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, the Indian side apprised the Russian delegation of its views on China in the backdrop of the border row in Ladakh.
Referring to bilateral defence ties, Lavrov said that Russia was ready for transfer of cutting edge technologies and production of weapons systems in India.

Apr 06, 2021

SC Appoints Two Judges to Conduct Trials in Coal Scam Cases

The Supreme Court appointed two judicial officers, Arun Bhardwaj and Sanjay Bansal, as special judges to conduct trials in the sensational coal scam cases pending since 2014 here.
Earlier special judge Bharat Parashar was conducting trials in around 40 coal scam cases and has been replaced by two judges after the apex court recently took note of a letter from the Delhi High Court's Registrar General that permission be granted to nominate or post another suitable presiding judicial officer as special judge in place of Parashar.

India Completes Arch of World's Highest Railway Bridge

The Indian Railways achieved a major milestone by completing the arch of the Chenab Bridge, the world's highest railway bridge.
The 5.6-metre steel arch is part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project (USBRL) and a key segment of the 111-km-long stretch from Katra to Banihal in Jammu and Kashmir.
The last piece of metal was fitted at the highest point, joining two arms of the arch that stretched towards each other from both banks of the river. The arch now looms over the Chenab that flows some 359 metres below.

PIL for Raising Judges' Retirement Age to 65

As almost one-third of the 1,079 posts of judges in 25 HCs remain vacant, a PIL was filed in the SC on Monday seeking to raise judges' retirement age from 62 to 65 years. Filed by Delhi BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, the PIL demanded uniform retirement age for judges of HCs and the SC. The retirement age of judges of the top court is already 65 years.

PM Narendra Modi to Address Party Workers on BJP's Foundation Day

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers across the country on the occasion of the 41st foundation day of the party.
BJP national president JP Nadda will also address the meeting which will be held through video conferencing.
The 41st foundation day coincides with the ongoing Assembly polls in four states and one Union Territory.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was founded as Bharatiya Jana Sangh by Syama Prasad Mookherjee in 1951. Later it was merged with several parties in 1977 to form the Janata Party.
In 1980, the National Executive Council of the Janata Party banned its members from being 'dual members' of the party and the RSS. Consequently, the former Jana Sangh members left the party and floated a new political party. Thus, the BJP came into existence on April 6, 1980.

Dilip Walse Patil Named New Home Minister of Maharashtra

Maharashtra Minister for Labour and Excise Dilip Walse Patil's has been declared as the Home Minister after the resignation of Anil Deshmukh.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Anil Deshmukh's resignation from the post has triggered a fresh wave of turmoil in the ruling party. However, the NCP already had a leader lined up to replace Deshmukh.
Deshmukh, who is facing allegations of corruption levelled by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, had tendered his resignation to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Apr 05, 2021

Only 7.8% Women Candidates in Assam Electoral Battle

Only 7.8 per cent women candidates are among the total 946 contestants in fray for the 126-member Assam Assembly elections, leading to discontent among female activists and writers.
According to the state's Chief Electoral Officer Nitin Khade, of the total 946 candidates, 74 are women, while, out of the overall 2,33,74,087 voters, 1,15,50,403 are females.
He said that out of the 33,530 polling stations set up for the three phases (March 27, April 1, and April 6) of the polls across the state, 1,351 are all managed by women.

No Lokpal Report in 2 Years, Annual Submission to President Must

Though two years have passed since the Lokpal chairperson and its members were selected, the anti-corruption body is yet to submit any report to the President and Parliament.
The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act was passed by Parliament in December 2013, received assent from the President on January 1, 2014, and came into force on January 16, 2014.
The initial delays in the functioning of the ombudsman arose from the fact that the selection process was halted due to the absence of a Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The Act was subsequently amended in 2016 to make place for the leader of the single largest party in the Lok Sabha as a member in the Lokpal selection committee.
The government in its recent Budget session of Parliament informed the House that Section 48 of the Lokpal Act required the Lokpal to present annually to the President a report on the work done by it, which is then to be laid in both the Houses of Parliament. "No such report has been laid.
Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose had been appointed chairperson and Justice Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale, Justice Pradip Kumar Mohanty, Justice Abhilasha Kumari and Justice Ajay Kumar Tripathi as members, judicial. The other members were Dinesh Kumar Jain, Archana Ramasundaram, Mahender Singh and Indrajeet Prasad Gautam.

NSO Report: Men and Women in India 2020

The National Statistical Office operating under Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) recently released the Women and Men in India report. The report consolidates the crucial socio-economic indicators that portray gender situation in the country. This is the twenty second issue in its series. The report is published annually by the MoSPI.
The projected population of India in 2021 is 136.13 crores.
Sex ratio has increased from 933 in 2001 to 943 in 2011.
Delhi recorded the highest increase in sex ratio followed by Chandigarh, Arunachal Pradesh.
On the other hand, Daman and Diu had the highest decline in sex ratio.
The Age Specific Fertility Rate for the females belonging to the age group 25-29 years was the highest at 146.4.
The Infant Mortality Rate decreased from 39 in 2014 to 32 in 2018.
The literacy rate of India increased from 73 in 2011 to 77.7 in 2017.
The gender gap in literacy rates was the highest in Rajasthan, Bihar and UP.

West Central Railway Becomes First Fully Electrified Indian Railways Zone

Indian Railways' West Central Railway zone gets fully electrified, after CCRS Inspection and Commissioning of electrification of Kota – Chittaurgarh railway section (Srinagar – Jalindri) in the state of Rajasthan. West Central Railways has become the first fully electrified railway zone in the country. The zonal railway now boasts a 3012 Route Km electrified network.
According to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, trains passing through this railway section can now be operated at a faster speed. Electrification of this railway section will provide various benefits such as saving fuel, reduction in travel time, as well as environmental protection.

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