General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - July 2015

Jul 2015

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.

May 11, 2023

Union Health Ministry Launches SAKSHAM Learning Management Information System

SAKSHAM, the Health Ministry's online learning platform for health professionals in the country, was launched in New Delhi.
Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary, inaugurated the dedicated and unified platform, which aimed to provide training and medical education to all health professionals in the country via digital mode.
Developed by the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW), New Delhi, the digital platform is envisioned to be utilised for all blended learning programmes in the future. Going forward, it will act as a central database of trained healthcare professionals in the country and will also serve as an enabler for case-based learning in the sector.
SAKSHAM stands for Stimulating Advanced Knowledge for Sustainable Health Management.
The platform currently offers 200 public health and 100 clinical courses in online mode.

Y20 Meet: Kashmir University Host Delegates from 10 Nations

The University of Kashmir hosted a two-day Youth20 event (Y20) on climate change that brought together delegates from 10 countries, including India according to Vice Chancellor Prof Neelofar Khan. It was a two-day event which concluded on May 11. It attracted about 17 delegates from nine foreign countries, with four delegates from Russia and Indonesia, two each from the US and Brazil, and one each from Turkey, Japan, South Korea, Nigeria and Mexico.
The theme chosen by the University of Kashmir was to address local issues of climate change and man-made disaster management.
The aim of the event was to generate new ideas for preserving the climate and mitigating the damage done to it.
The theme of the event was 'Climate change and Disaster Risk Reduction: Making Sustainability a Way of Life'.

Rathendra Raman New Chairman of Kolkata Port

Rathendra Raman, a 1995 batch Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) officer, took over as the new chairman of the Kolkata Port, now known as Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (SMP).
He previously served as the Chief Freight Traffic Manager (CFTM) in the South Eastern Railway.
Raman has been awarded the General Manager's medal four times and the Railway Minister's medal in 2006.
He also served as the Chief General Manager of the Eastern Region for Container Corporation of India, where he achieved several notable accomplishments, including the movement of the first container train to Bangladesh and the container movement to Nepal through Jogbani and Batnaha Rail Terminal.

May 10, 2023

Israel and India Ink Agreement to Allow 42,000 Indian Workers to Work in Jewish State

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, who was in New Delhi, for a three-day visit announced cutting it short because of the security situation arising out of Israel's operations in the Gaza Strip, held talks with his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar.
The ministers discussed ways to strengthen Indo-Israel ties by "adding direct flights, continuing cooperation in agriculture and water management, and expanding cooperation in the fields of artificial intelligence and cyber defence", according to a Hebrew press statement from the Israeli foreign ministry.
The ministers also signed agreements to allow the arrival of 42,000 Indian workers in the fields of construction and nursing.

May 09, 2023

Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy Inaugurates PM Jan Aushadhi Kendra

Union Tourism Minister G. Kishan Reddy inaugurated a PM Jan Aushadhi Kendra at Warasiguda in Secunderabad. Reddy said that these Jan Aushadhi Kendras provide affordable healthcare and generate self-employment opportunities for youth. The Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi scheme was launched to make quality generic medicines available to the common man at low cost.

Andhra CM Launches 'Jaganannaku Chebudam'

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy launched a toll-free helpline number 1902 as a part of the 'Jaganannaku Chebudam' programme.
The initiative aims at providing quality and prompt solutions to the grievances of people pertaining to welfare schemes and government services.
People can register their grievances round the clock and bring the issues to the notice of the Chief Minister through this programme. The programme also aims at creating awareness on government services and welfare schemes among the people.
The citizens, after registering their grievances, will be issued a YSR (Your Service Request) number. They will receive updates pertaining to the status of their grievances through IVRS and SMS-based communications. The people can also directly connect with the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) by dialling the helpline number, besides the Project Monitoring Units to get their grievances redressed.

ED Chief Sanjay Kumar Mishra's Tenure up till November, Centre tells Supreme Court

Defending the third extension given to Enforcement Directorate chief Sanjay Kumar Mishra, the Centre told the Supreme Court he would not continue in office beyond November.
"This officer is not some DGP of a state but an officer representing the country in a UN-like body and is in the midst of something. This court must not interfere with his tenure and from November onwards, he will not be there," Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a three-judge Bench led by Justice BR Gavai.
"Mishra was given extension as FATF peer review is taking place and there are some guidelines which needed to be followed," Mehta said. FATF is a global anti-money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog that sets international standards aimed to prevent illegal activities, including terror financing.

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