General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - May 2015

May 2015

Mar 30, 2021

Heavy Turnout in Phase 1 of Assam and Bengal Polls

People in West Bengal and Assam voted in the first phase of state assembly elections, turning out in impressive numbers, 79.79% and 76.89%, respectively, in polls that will determine if the Trinamool Congress can stand up to the challenge by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is also trying to retain power in the Assam.
While the BJP has emerged as the primary challenger in West Bengal, where it won 18 of the 42 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, in Assam, a coalition of the Congress and Badruddin Ajmal's All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) is fighting against the Sarbananda Sonowal-led government.

India and South Korea Agree on Joint Production, Export of Military Hardware

In a significant move, India and South Korea have agreed to go for joint production and export of military hardware, enhance intelligence sharing and boost cooperation in cyber and space domains as part overall expansion of defence and security ties.
The decisions were taken during delegation-level talks between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his South Korean counterpart Suh Wook with both sides resolving to give a major push to ramp up ties in strategically key areas.

CJI Inaugurates New Bombay High Court Building

Chief Justice of India Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde inaugurated the new building of the High Court of Bombay at Goa in the presence of Union Minister for Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, at Porvorim.Speaking on the occasion, Justice Bobde said that the new building will give the State an opportunity for better administrational justice and some of the best arguments.

New Passenger Train between India and Bangladesh

A new passenger train connecting Dhaka and New Jalpaiguri on the Indian side was inaugurated jointly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina via a video conference.
This is the third passenger train after Maitree Express (Dhaka-Kolkata) and Bandhan Express (Khulna-Kolkata) running between the two neighbouring countries.
The new passenger train, 'Mitali Express', was jointly inaugurated by Modi and Hasina from the Prime Minister's Office in Tejgaon via a video conference.
The new inter-country passenger train was launched on the occasion of 'Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's birth centenary and golden jubilee of Bangladesh's Independence.

India, Bangladesh Ink five MoUs

India and Bangladesh signed 5 MoUs in the fields of trade, IT and setting up of sports facilities on the concluding day of the 2-day long official visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Wrapping up the visit, the delegation level talks were held between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Both the leaders discussed the progress achieved in areas of health, trade, connectivity, energy, developmental cooperation and many more.
Prime Minister Modi and Sheikh Hasina discussed bilateral issues covering areas of commerce and trade, water resources, security and defence, power and energy among others.

Prominent Kashmir Leaders Join Sajjad Lone's People's Conference

Prominent leaders from Kashmir joined Peoples Conference (PC) in presence of party Chairman Sajjad Gani Lone and other top leaders of the party.
Former Minister Syed Basharat Bukhari, former legislators Peer Mansoor Hussain and Khursheed Alam were the leaders who joined the PC.
Welcoming Basharat Bukhari, Peerzada Mansoor Hussain and Khursheed Alam into the party fold, PC Chairman Sajjad Gani Lone said that the party will immensely benefit from their experience in politics and public life.

Mar 29, 2021

J&K LG Inaugurates 73 AYUSH Health & Wellness Centres

Jammu and Kashmir, LG Manoj Sinha has e-inaugurated 73 AYUSH Health & Wellness Centres under Ayushman Bharat across the UT. These centres aim to promote good health and expanding the outreach of comprehensive primary healthcare services to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Lt Governor observed that AYUSH Health & Wellness Centres would be a game-changer in the UT of J&K, especially in promoting the AYUSH sector, so that comprehensive primary health care through AYUSH principles and practices is provided to the community for achieving the basic objective of holistic wellness model by advocating self-care and home remedies amongst the community.

Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Election

The Uttar Pradesh Election Commission announced the schedule for panchayat elections in the state.
Coming just a few months ahead of the Assembly elections next year, the panchayat elections are being seen as a test of the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government amid the ongoing farmers' agitation, especially in Jat-dominated regions of western UP.
The election to the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly are due around February-March next year. The polling for gram panchayats, kshetra' panchayats and zila panchayats will be held in four phases on April 15, 19, 26 and 29. The results will be announced on May 2 along with results of Assembly elections in four states (West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu) and UT Puducherry.

Mar 28, 2021

PM Modi Invites Bangladesh Entrepreneurs to Join Start Ups in India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended an invitation to 50 entrepreneurs from Bangladesh to visit India to join the country's start-up and innovation ecosystem and meet India's venture capitalists.
"On completion of 50 years of relationship between India and Bangladesh, I would like to invite 50 entrepreneurs of Bangladesh to visit India and join our start-up and innovation ecosystem and meet our venture capitalists. We will also be able to learn something from them and they will also get an opportunity to learn something from us," the Prime Minister said during an event celebrating 50 years of Bangladesh's liberation.
Modi who is on a two-day visit to the neighbouring country also announced the Swarna Jayanti scholarship for youths of Bangladesh.
The Swarna Jayanti Fellowship is a research fellowship awarded annually by the Department of Science and Technology of India. It is given for the notable and outstanding research by young scientists, applied or fundamental, in biology, chemistry, environmental science, engineering, mathematics, medicine and physics.

UIDAI, FCI Get New Heads in Govt. Reshuffle

The Modi government appointed Saurabh Garg as the CEO of Unique Identification of Authority of India (UIDAI), Sanjeev Kumar as Chairman of Airports Authority of India and Atish Chandra as CMD of Food Corporation of India (FCI) in a large-scale reshuffle.
Mukhmeet Singh Bhatia was appointed Director-General of the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), Prashant Kumar Singh as CEO of Government e-Marketplace (GeM) special purpose vehicle for procurement in the Ministry of Commerce and Talleen Kumar as Member (Finance) in the Space Commission.
The reshuffle involves over 20 senior officials from IAS except one Chandrashekhar Mohapatra, who is from the Indian Economic Service (IES) and made Additional Secretary, GST Council Secretariat.

Mar 27, 2021

Rajnath Singh Inaugurates Indo-Korean Friendship Park

An Indo-Korean friendship park was jointly inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister of National Defence of South Korea Suh Wook at Delhi Cantonment.
The park has been built to commemorate the contribution of Indian peacekeeping force during the Korean war of 1950-53.
Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Army Chief General M M Naravane, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria were present on the occasion.

US, India Agree to Revive High-level Trade Talks

India and the US resolved to bolster a neglected leg of their bilateral cooperation by agreeing to hold a meeting of the Trade Policy Forum (TPF), which will be chaired by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and newly confirmed US Trade Representative Katherine Tai.
The Indian readout of the meeting described the meeting as "productive" and the US readout underlined the importance of cooperation on a broad set of issues, including digital trade, intellectual property, agriculture, labor, and climate and the environment. It said both sides resolved to resolve the pending legacy issues through mutual dialogue and discussion.
They also agreed to work constructively to resolve key outstanding bilateral trade issues and to take a comprehensive look at ways to expand the trade relationship.

Mar 26, 2021

DU Inaugurates Bhagat Singh Smarak

Delhi University organised a programme to commemorate 90 years of martyrdom of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru at which Minister of Education Ramesh Pokhriyal "Nishank" paid homage to Bhagat Singh in the chamber located in the basement of the Viceregal Lodge of the University where he was imprisoned.
Shaheed Bhagat Singh Smarak was inaugurated by the Minister virtually and an existing collection of books on freedom fighters has been converted into "Shaheed Smriti Pustakalaya" to be accessed by students and teachers of the university.
The Bhagat Singh Smarak shall remain open to students and the university community to inculcate values of freedom and sacrifice.

US Govt. to Resume Homeland Security Dialogue with India

The US President Joe Biden administration has decided to re-establish the Homeland Security Dialogue with India which was earlier discontinued by the former President of US Donald Trump.
The decision comes a day after the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas spoke to the Ambassador of India to US Taranjit Singh Sandhu. The Homeland Security Secretary expressed his desire to further strengthening the partnership between the department and India.
The first Homeland Security Dialogue between India and the United States took place in 2011 while the second one was held in Washington DC in 2013, between the then Home Minister of India Sushil Kumar and Ms. Napolitano.

Ten Addl. Judges Made Permanent Judges of Allahabad High Court

The Law Ministry notified the elevation of 10 additional judges of the Allahabad High Court as permanent judges while another seven new additional judges were appointed to the country's biggest High Court.
The Ministry also appointed two additional judges to the Karnataka High Court that has a strength of 62 including the additional judges.
The latest appointments are aimed at addressing the issue of large number of vacancies in higher judiciary that is often cited as one of the primary reasons for the delay in judicial decisions.

India Justifies Designs of Pakal Dul, Lower Kalnai Hydro Projects in J-K

Pakistan raised objections to the designs of Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai hydropower plants in Jammu and Kashmir and sought more information on the projects in Ladakh sanctioned after the abrogation of Article 370 as the Indus Commissioners of the two countries.
On its part, India justified its stand on the designs.
The Pakal Dul Hydro Electric Project (1,000 MW) is proposed on the Marusudar River, a tributary of the Chenab River, in Kishtwar district in Jammu and Kashmir. The Lower Kalnai project is proposed in Kishtwar and Doda districts.
The Indian delegation was led by PK Saxena, India's Indus Commissioner, and his team from the Central Water Commission, the Central Electricity Authority and the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation.
The Pakistani delegation was led by its Indus Commissioner Syed Muhammad Meher Ali Shah.

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