General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - September 2015

Sep 2015

Nov 02, 2020

UP Emerges as Top Destination in World for Investment

In a bid to create jobs across the state, the Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh announced that following the investments from several foreign companies in infrastructure and industrial development projects, over 1.35 lakh jobs will likely be generated.
The Infrastructure & Industrial Development Commissioner (IIDC) Alok Tandon said that 10 countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Germany and South Korea have proposed to invest in Uttar Pradesh. These companies will reportedly invest Rs. 45,000 crore.
These companies have already been allotted a 426-acre land for several projects.
The entrepreneurs are being provided 166 services through 'Nivesh Mitra' portal, which is a single-window system of the Uttar Pradesh government.

J&K Gears Up to Conduct Elections for Local Bodies

The Jammu and Kashmir administration is preparing to compress the election schedule for panchayats, urban local bodies and the recently formed district development councils between November last week and December 15.
Officials have been directed to formulate a plan and coordinate with the security grid to finalise the schedule of all the three elections, which would be conducted simultaneously.
The apex and divisional level committees formed last month to formulate the schedule of the district development councils' election will also submit their report.

Nov 01, 2020

CPM and Congress Join Hands for Bengal and Assam Poll

Ending months of specualtions, the Communist Part of India (Marxist) has decided to have electoral understanding with the Congress for the forthcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal and Assam, due for mid-next year.
In Kerala, the CPM will continue to contest election as part of the Left Democratic Front (LDF), and in Tamil Nadu it will be part of the DMK-led alliance.
In West Bengal, the CPM and the Left Front will have an electoral understanding with all secular parties, including the Congress, which seek to defeat the BJP and the Trinamool Congress.

Rajasthan Introduces 4 Bills to Counter Farm Laws

The Rajasthan government introduced four bills to counter the farm laws recently enacted by the Central government.
Parliamentary affairs minister Shanti Dhariwal tabled the Essential Commodities (Special Provisions and Rajasthan Amendment) Bill 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services (Rajasthan Amendment) Bill 2020 and the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation and Rajasthan Amendment) Bill 2020 during the special session of the Rajasthan Assembly.
According to the statement of objects, the bills seek to "protect the interest of farmers, farm labourers, those engaged in ancillary and incidental activities relating to production, sale and marketing of agricultural produce as also consumers and for adherence to the minimum support price mechanism".

Oct 31, 2020

India and Mexico Eighth Joint Commission Meeting

India and Mexico held the eighth Joint Commission Meeting. The countries appreciated the recent progress in the bilateral trade between them.
The bilateral cooperation includes areas such as trade, agriculture, investment, health and education. The meeting was presided by the foreign ministers of the countries. They agreed to add new momentum to the relations between the countries in the areas of science and technology, health, trade and commerce, energy, space.
The countries during the meet agreed to use their forthcoming term in United Nations Security Council to strengthen multilateralism.
Mexico enjoys "Privileged Partnership" with India since 2007. The countries in 2015, agreed to work on "Strategic Partnership". The countries have signed since then signed bilateral agreements on Extradition, Investment Promotion and Protection, Space Cooperation and Administrative assistance in customs matters.

Public Affairs Index 2020

The Public Affairs Index 2020 was released by Public Affairs Centre, a non-profit organisation. According to the index, Kerala was the best governed the state. The report was released by the committee headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation chairman Kasturirangan.
The states were ranked in the context of sustainable development. The governance of the states was analysed based on three pillars namely growth, equity and sustainability.
Kerala was awarded with the top most ranking and Uttar Pradesh with the bottom most ranking.
In large state category, Kerala topped the listing with an index of 1.388 followed by Tamil Nadu with 0.91, Andhra Pradesh with 0.5 31 and Karnataka with 0.468. The bottom most ranking was occupied by Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Bihar in the same category
In the small state category Goa topped the list followed by Meghalaya and Himachal Pradesh. The bottom most states in this category were Manipur, Delhi and Uttarakhand.
In the category of Union Territories Chandigarh was the top performing region followed by Puducherry and Lakshadweep. Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jammu and Kashmir were the least performing Union Territories.

Shiv Sena Likely to Nominate Urmila Matondkar to the MLC

The Shiv Sena is likely to get actress Urmila Matondkar to be the Sena nominee to the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC).
As per reports, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had called up Matondkar to seek her consent and Shiv Sena leaders say that she has agreed.
The Sena sounding out Matondkar to include her name in the list of four MLCs who would be nominated to the Legislative Council comes even as the equations between Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi have been frosty at best.
Twelve MLCs can be nominated under the governor's quota to the Legislative Council under the social, cultural and sports category. This rule is seldom followed by political parties in many states who send politicians to the Legislative Council.
However, sending politicians under the Governor's quota would be difficult this time as there are possibilities that Koshyari may reject the names if they don't come under the social, cultural and sports fields. Koshyari has been at logger heads with the MVA ever since the government was formed.

Nation's First Elevated Rail Track

Having missed several deadlines in the past one year, the Railways have now fixed December 5 as a new deadline to complete the entire work of the nation's first elevated railway track in Rohtak City.
As per reports, electrification work was underway and it was likely to be completed by November 20. Thereafter, the final trial of electric train on this 4.8 km long track would be conducted while the track would be ready for operation by December 5.
The foundation stone of the Rs. 350-crore ambitious project was laid by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in March 2018 and a deadline of 18 months was fixed to complete it.
The project missed the first deadline in November 2019 due to encroachment on the one side of the track. The work could not also be completed before the second deadline on April 30 and third on June 30. The deadline was extended twice thereafter.

Oct 30, 2020

India's Concern over Depiction of Jammu and Kashmir in Bank Note

India conveyed its serious concern to Saudi Arabia over the incorrect depiction of the country's borders on a new Saudi currency note, which shows almost the whole of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir as a separate entity.
The twenty-riyal bank note was issued by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority earlier this month to commemorate the country's presidency of the G20 ahead of the grouping's virtual summit during November 21-22.
The Indian Government has asked the Saudi side to take urgent corrective steps in this regard.
The Saudi bank note has also irked Pakistan because it depicts Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Gilgit-Baltistan as part of the separate entity. One side of the note features Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and the G20 logo while the other features a world map showing the members of the G20 in a darker shade.

MoU Signed Between India and Cambodia Gets Approval

The union cabinet approved the Memorandum of Understanding signed between India and Cambodia on cooperation in the field of medicine and health.
The MoU will increase the cooperation between the countries through joint initiatives and technological developments in health sector. It will also strengthen bilateral ties between the countries.
The main areas of cooperation included in the MoU are family planning, mother and child health, technology transfer, HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis, Epidemiology and Public Health, Disease Control, medical education, training in clinical, management skill and para-clinical, health manpower development and drugs and pharmaceuticals.

Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project Gets Approval

The Union Cabinet chaired by PM Modi approved the Phase II and Phase III Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP). These two phases are to be implemented with financial assistance from the World Bank and AIIB (Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank).
The overall cost of the project is Rs. 10,211 crore. It is to be implemented in 10 years duration. The external funding of the project is Rs. 7,000 crore. The rest of Rs. 3,211 crore is to come from the implementing agencies. The Government of India is to contribute Rs. 1.024 crore.
These phases aim to improve safety and performance of dams. Also, it aims to strengthen dam safety institutional setup. Also, the project will explore alternative incidental means to generate incidental revenue at selected dams. The revenue will then be used for sustainable operation and maintenance of the dams.
The project originally aimed to improve 223 dams in India. Later the count was increased. More than 80% of dams in India are 25 years old.

Oct 29, 2020

Five BSP MLAs Join Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party

In an unprecedented development, five legislators of Bahujan Samaj Party have withdrawn their support to the BSP`s official candidate, Ramji Gautam, for the Rajya Sabha biennial elections.
The five legislators informed the returning officers that their signatures as proposers for Gautam were forged.
Later the five legislators - Aslam Chaudhary, Aslam Raini, Muztaba Siddiqui, Hakam Lal Bind and Govind Jatav - went to the Samajwadi Party office to meet Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav.

Feni Bridge Joining Sabrum in India with Ramgarh in Bangladesh

The Government of India announced that the bridge construction of the 1.8 km long Feni Bridge joining Sabrum in India with Ramgarh in Bangladesh is to be completed by December 2020.
The bridge is to be built over Feni River. It will link Tripura with Bangladesh. The construction of the bridge began in December 2010.
After completion, the bridge will be the only land link between India's eastern states and its western states other than Assam.
The key stone for the bridge was officially laid by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in June 2015.

Share on

TCY Analytics (View Subscription Plans)

Subscribe to GK Updates

I want to receive

GK Tags

October GK, September GK, August GK, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, ENVIRONMENT, BUSINESS AND ECONOMY, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, SPORTS, NATIONAL AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, PERSONS IN NEWS, DAYS AND EVENTS, AWARDS AND HONOURS, GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES, GENDER/ HEALTH/ EDUCATION, ART AND CULTURE, BOOKS AND AUTHORS, TOURISM AND HOTEL INDUSTRY AWARENESS, ART AND CULTURE, LAW AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Start Discussion

On any topic

Take Tests

Compiled from GK updates

Login

Sign Up

Forgot Password

Download TCY App

Unlock All Services and Enjoy The Premium Benefits

US$ 10

US$ 13

US$ 15

US$ 17

US$ 19

US$ 20

US$ 21

US$ 22

US$ 23

US$ 24

US$ 25

US$ 26