General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - September 2015

Sep 2015

Sep 13, 2021

Bhupendra Patel Elected as New Chief Minister of Gujarat

Bhupendra Patel was elected as the new Chief Minister of Gujarat. Patel is MLA from Ghatlodia seat. Patel was unanimously elected BJP legislature party leader. His name was proposed by CM Vijay Rupani, whose resignation from the post surprised many.
Patel won the 2017 Gujarat Legislative Assembly elections from Ghatlodia constituency, defeating Congress candidate Shashikant Patel.

Lieutenant General Gurmit Singh is New Governor of Uttarakhand

Lieutenant General Gurmit Singh, who retired as the Deputy Chief of Army, was appointed the Governor of Uttarakhand, a post which fell vacant after Baby Rani Maurya tendered her resignation.
A highly-decorated officer, Lt Gen Singh superannuated from the Army in February 2016 after nearly four decades of service, during which he held prestigious appointments of Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Adjutant General and Corps Commander of Strategic XV Corps that overlooks the Line of Control in Kashmir.
Besides this fresh appointment, the President also ordered shuffling of governors of some states which includes shifting Banwarilal Purohit from Tamil Nadu to Punjab. He was earlier holding additional charge of Punjab.
IPS officer RN Ravi was shifted from Nagaland to Tamil Nadu as its new Governor. Jagdish Mukhi, at present Governor of Assam, was appointed to discharge the functions of the Governor of Nagaland in addition to his charge till a fresh appointment is made.

India and Australia Hold Inaugural 2+2 Talks

India and Australia held the inaugural foreign and defence ministerial dialogue to boost overall strategic ties in the backdrop of an unsettling phase of geopolitical flux in the region.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajath Singh held the 'two-plus-two' talks here with their Australian counterparts Marise Payne and Peter Dutton.
The talks took place at a time the global focus is on the situation in Afghanistan after its takeover by the Taliban last month, and it is understood that the issue figured in these deliberations.
The two sides held extensive talks on all key issues of strategic interests including the situation in the Indo-Pacific in the face of China's growing muscle-flexing in the region.
The dialogue between the Foreign and Defence Ministers was instituted as part of an overall goal to expand strategic cooperation between the two countries.

DMK Submits Demand to Vice-President Seeking Statehood for Puducherry

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam submitted a memorandum to Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu about granting Statehood to Puducherry.
In his representation, Opposition leader and DMK convenor R. Siva said that the demand for Statehood was the democratic right of the people of Puducherry.
During the time when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister, a committee headed by former Union Minister Sushma Swaraj had looked into the issue of Statehood for Puducherry.

Vijay Rupani Quits as Gujarat CM

In a surprising political development, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani submitted his resignation to Governor Acharya Devvrat. Rupani, who made the announcement but did not reveal what prompted Vijay Rupani to step down.
The unexpected move comes ahead of Assembly elections in PM Modi's home state early next year.
Vijay Rupani took the state's Chief Ministerial position on August 7, 2016, and is representing Rajkot West in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly.
Rupani is the fourth BJP Chief Minister to step down in recent months. In July, B. S. Yediyurappa resigned as CM of Karnataka and Uttarakhand witnessed two CMs' exit, where Tirath Singh Rawat quit barely 4 months after replacing Trivendra Rawat.

Shiv Sena to Contest UP Elections

The Shiv Sena has announced that it will field candidates for all 403 seats in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, scheduled to be held next year.
The party has not yet allied with any political party yet but has signalled the possibility of an alliance.
UP Shiv Sena chief is Thakur Anil Singh.
As per reports, the Shiv Sena is open to an alliance with the Congress since the latter is already its ally in Maharashtra.

Sep 12, 2021

Government Constitutes Task Force, Expert Committee on Coal-based Hydrogen Production

The Centre has constituted a task force and expert committee to prepare a road map for coal-based hydrogen production. This is aimed at contributing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's agenda of a hydrogen-based economy in a clean manner.
Ministry of Coal has constituted 2 Committees, one to oversee the program and another of experts to give guidance to the Ministry.
The task force has been constituted under the chairmanship of Coal Additional Secretary Vinod Kumar Tiwari. Its broad terms of reference include monitoring of activities towards achieving coal-based hydrogen production and usage and coordination with Coal Gasification Mission and NITI Aayog.

Centre Appoints G.S. Pannu as Officiating ITAT President

The Central Government has appointed G.S. Pannu as President of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. G. S. Pannu is presently a Vice-President, ITAT, New Delhi and will be Officiating President of ITAT with effect from September 6, 2021, till the appointment of regular President.
Mr. Pannu was born on 01 Aug 1962 at Hoshiarpur (Punjab), he is a C.A and joined Government Service 14 September 2000. Presently posted as Vice-President at ITAT, New Delhi. Before joining ITAT, practised as a Chartered Accountant at New Delhi from 1986-2000.

Sep 11, 2021

Baijal Approves Ravi Dahiya's Appointment as Assistant Director in Education Deparment

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal approved the appointment of Olympic silver medallist Ravi Dahiya as assistant director in education department of the Delhi government.
Dahiya, a native of Nahri village in Haryana, is only the second Indian wrestler to win a silver medal at the Olympic Games.

Election Commission Declares Bypolls to 7 Rajya Sabha Seats in 6 States

The Election Commission (EC) announced dates for bypolls to seven Rajya Sabha seats that have fallen vacant due to various reasons like resignations, death and end of tenure of members.
According to a notification issued by the EC, there are two such seats in Tamil Nadu and one each in West Bengal, Assam, Maharashtra, Puducherry and Madhya Pradesh.
The Madhya Pradesh Rajya Sabha (RS) seat got vacant after BJP leader and former Union cabinet minister Thaawarchand Gehlot was elevated as the Karnataka Governor in July.
The polls to all these seven seats will take place on October 4.

Sep 10, 2021

SC Recommends 10 Judges for Karnataka HC, Two for Kerala

The Supreme Court Collegium has approved the proposal for appointment of 10 additional judges of the Karnataka High Court and two additional judges of the Kerala High Court as permanent judges.
The collegium also approved the proposal for appointment of following additional judges of the Karnataka High Court as permanent judges: Justice Shivashankar Amarannavar, Justice M. Ganeshaiah Uma, Justice Vedavyasachar Srishananda, Justice Hanchate Sanjeevkumar, Justice Padmaraj Nemachandra Desai, Justice P. Krishna Bhat, Justice Maralur Indrakumar Arun, Justice Engalaguppe Seetharamaiah Indiresh, Justice Ravi Venkappa Hosmani and Justice Savanur Vishwajith Shetty.

Cabinet Approves Pact between Russia and India for Cooperation in Field of Geosciences

The Cabinet approved the signing of a pact between Russia and India for cooperation in the field of geosciences. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The main objective of this MoU is to extend mutual cooperation for technological collaboration on exploration for deep-seated and/or concealed mineral deposits, analysis and interpretation of the aero-geophysical data and joint development of the Indian Geoscience Data repository with the Russian state-of-the-art information technology.

Centre Signs Ceasefire Agreement with Nagaland's NSCN Niki Group

The central government entered into a Ceasefire Agreement with National Socialist Council of Nagaland (K) Niki Group for a period of one year.
More than 200 cadres of this group along with 83 weapons joined the peace process.
The government has already signed a "framework agreement" with NSCN (IM) and ceasefire agreements with other Naga groups namely, NSCN (NK), NSCN (R) and NSCN (K) - Khango.

Sep 09, 2021

India to Host G-20 Summit in 2023

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has been appointed as India's Sherpa for the G20, an influential grouping that brings together the world's major economies.
India will hold the G20 presidency from December 1, 2022, and will convene the G20 leaders' summit in 2023 for the first time.
The next G20 Summit is scheduled to take place from October 30 to 31 under the Italian presidency.
India will be part of the G20 Troika (preceding, current, and incoming G20 Presidencies) from December 1, 2021 till November 30, 2024.
G20 brings together 19 of the world's leading economies and the European Union, with its members accounting for more than 80 per cent of global GDP, 75 per cent of global trade and 60 per cent of the global population.
The G20 member nations are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.

BJP Makes Dharmendra Pradhan in Charge of Poll-bound Uttar Pradesh

Ahead of the scheduled Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections next year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appointed Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan as the election in-charge for the state.
Union Ministers Anurag Singh Thakur, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Shobha Karandlaje and Annpurna Devi, MPs Saroj Pandey and Vivek Thakur were appointed as the election co-in charge of the UP polls.
Further, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Pralhad Joshi has been appointed in charge of Uttarakhand for the upcoming Assembly election in 2022 and BJP MP Locket Chatterjee has been appointed as a co-in charge for the polls.
For the assembly polls scheduled in Punjab, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has been appointed as the election in-charge for the state, while Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and Meenakshi Lekhi has been appointed as co-in charges.

Uttarakhand Governor Baby Rani Maurya Resigns

Baby Rani Maurya resigned as Governor of Uttarakhand, almost two years before completing her term.
She is the second woman to be appointed Uttarakhand Governor after Margaret Alva.
Baby Rani Maurya took charge as Uttarakhand Governor in August 2018, succeeding Krishan Kant Paul, who was appointed Governor in January 2015. The only other woman governor of the state, Margaret Alva held the post from August 2009 to May 2012.
Before becoming the Governor of Uttarakhand, Maurya had served on many political and administrative posts. From 1995 to 2000, she was mayor of Agra. In 2001, she was a member of the State Social Welfare Board and a member of the National Women's Commission in 2002. In 1996, she was awarded Samaj Ratna, followed by the Uttar Pradesh Ratna in 1997 and the Nari Ratna award in 1998.

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