General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - September 2015

Sep 2015

Sep 03, 2020

Mission Karmayogi: Cabinet Approves National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building

The Union Cabinet approved Mission Karmayogi, a national programme for civil services capacity building. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said that officers and employees in government will get the opportunity to improve their performance with Mission Karmayogi.
Mission Karmayogi is constituted to build future-ready civil service with right attitude, skills & knowledge, aligned to the vision of New India. It focuses on competency led capacity building.
The programme will prescribe and monitor annual capacity building plans for all departments and services. The digital learning framework (IGOT-Karmayogi Platform) will provide anytime-anywhere learning to 2.5 crore civil servants.
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved launching of a National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB) with the following institutional framework:-(i) Prime Minister's Public Human Resources (HR) Council, (ii) Capacity Building Commission, (iii) Special Purpose Vehicle for owning and operating the digital assets and the technological platform for online training, (iv) Coordination Unit headed by the Cabinet Secretary.

Govt. Bans 118 Chinese Apps, Including PUBG, over Security Concerns

According to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), India has banned 118 more Chinese apps, including popular multiplayer game PUBG and search engine Baidu, citing them to be security threats. The government invoked its powers under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act and relevant provisions under IT Rules 2009 to block these apps,.
MeitY had received complaints regarding the misuse of apps available on Android and iOS for "stealing and surreptitiously" transmitting users' data to servers that were located outside India.
As per the government, the move would safeguard the interests of millions of Indian mobile and internet users. "The decision is a targeted move to ensure safety, security, and sovereignty of the Indian cyberspace.
Tencent-backed PUBG is a popular gaming app with over 40 million active users in India. It is classified as one of the two unicorn mobile games in India by AppAnnie. The other Chinese-origin apps to have been banned include Alipay, Ludo All Star, WeChat reading and Super Clean, among others.

India Demands Permanent Removal of Jammu and Kashmir Issue from UNSC

India in its statement in the Report of the Security Council for 2019 has demanded Kashmir's permanent removal from the United Nations Security Council's agenda, something Pakistan keeps on raking.
In the statement, India also hit out at Pakistan and said that a delegation keeps pushing for discussions on an outdated agenda item in the Council which for all matter needs to be removed from the Council's agenda permanently.
Since the abrogation of special status for the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcation into 2 Union Territories in August 2019, Pakistan along with China have tried to raise the matter three times.
The attempts have met with failure with informal closed-door discussions happening with no outcomes and other members of the council reiterating that Kashmir is a bilateral India-Pakistan issue.
India in its statement also highlighted how Islamabad has attempted to rebrand itself as contributing to international peace but unfortunately fails to recognize that it is globally known for being the fountainhead of international terror and the hub for terror syndicates.

Sep 02, 2020

Ahead of Bihar Polls, Jitan Ram Manjhi's Party Says it Will Join NDA

As per reports, former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi-led HAM(S) will join the NDA ahead of the Bihar elections.
HAM(S) national president Jitan Ram Manjhi will formally announce the party becoming a part of the NDA in Bihar in a day or two.
The party is firmly standing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for their development works.
Manjhi had on August 20 severed ties with the Grand Alliance after spending two-and-a-half years in the opposition coalition, comprising of RJD, Congress, RLSP and Bollywood set designer-turned-politician Mukesh Sahni's Vikasshil Insaan Party (VIP).
Manjhi is the lone member of his party in the assembly. But, his induction would help the NDA's outreach to Dalits, particularly other than Paswans which is the support base of the LJP.

Cabinet Approves Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill

The Cabinet approved Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill, 2020.
Urdu, Kashmiri, Dogri, Hindi and English to be official languages in Jammu and Kashmir under the new Bill approved by the Cabinet.
the Union Cabinet also approved Mission Karmayogi for bringing post-recruitment reforms in the government.

Sep 01, 2020

National Recruitment Agency will Bring Paradigm Shift in Recruitment System

As per Union Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh, the National Recruitment Agency (NRA) will bring a paradigm shift in the recruitment system and help meet the aspiration of the youth in finding the proper job. Speaking at the webinar on 'National Recruitment Agency and its role' organised in Kolkata, he said that the decision is a game-changer in the recruitment sector that brings recruitment to the villages and towns.
He said that the job opportunities to candidates is a transformational endeavour that would greatly enhance ease of living for the youth. Singh emphasised on better student recruitment process and on best practices in the recruitment sector adding that it is not only a governance reform but also a socio-economic reform.

Aveek Sarkar New Press Trust of India Chairman

Aveek Sarkar, the Editor Emeritus and Vice Chairman of the Ananda Bazar Group of Publications, has been elected Chairman of Press Trust of India, the country's premier news agency.
Sarkar's election was ratified by PTI's Board of Directors at their meeting. He succeeds Vijay Kumar Chopra, Chief Editor of the Punjab Kesari Group of newspapers.
Sarkar started training as a journalist while he was a student, just out of school. After graduating from the University of Calcutta, he went to Britain where he came under the tutelage of the legendary editor of The Sunday Times, Sir Harold Evans. He was schooled in journalism by such iconic figures as Edwin Taylor in design and Ian Jack in sub-editing.
As Chief Editor of the Ananda Bazar Group, Sarkar was the moving force behind the transformation of the group's publications, which include Bengali language daily Anandabazar Patrika and English daily The Telegraph, both of which he personally edited.
In addition, the Kolkata-based group also runs six television news channels in various languages, of which the most prominent is the Hindi-language ABP News. The group also publishes a large number of magazines.

Parliament's Monsoon Session to Commence from September 14

Rajya Sabha Secretariat issued a notification for the Monsoon Session of Parliament to commence from September 14.
The Rajya Sabha will be meeting at different times following the COVID-19 guidelines. The Parliament session is likely to continue for four weeks in total 18 consecutive sittings with no holiday or weekend break. Meanwhile.
The election for the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha is expected to be on the agenda of the House on the first day.

Aug 31, 2020

Kerala to Set up India's First International Women's Trade Centre

Kerala will set up India's first international women's trade centre (IWTC), in consonance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at Angamaly.
This initiative aims to accelerate women entrepreneurship and secure gender parity while providing women with a safe place away from home to start new businesses, set up or expand, and get their products marketed globally.
Besides serving as a facilitator to launch their own ventures, IWTC will enable women entrepreneurs to come forward and participate in international trade, enjoy greater economic benefits and enhance their competitiveness to tap market opportunities. REACH (Resource Enhancement Academy for Career Heights) is also aimed at empowering women with the required skills to ensure success in life.

SC Allows States to Grant Benefit of Reservation to In-service Doctors in PG Courses

The Supreme Court allowed states to grant the benefit of reservation of seats to in-service doctors in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) postgraduate degree courses.
A five-judge Constitution bench comprising of Justices Arun Mishra, Vineet Saran, Indira Banerjee, M. R. Shah and Aniruddha Bose said that the Medical Council of India (MCI) has no power to provide or not provide reservation for in-service doctors in admission to PG courses.
However, the Bench said the doctors must sign a bond for five years in service in remote/rural area.
The Bench asked states to formulate a scheme for rural/remote service by in-service doctors after completing PG degree.
The judgement came on a plea filed by petitioners, including doctors from Kerala, Maharashtra and Haryana, saying granting reservation benefits would encourage those working in government hospitals and in rural areas.

Census, NPR Unlikely in 2020

As per reports, the first phase of the Census and the exercise to update the National Population Register (NPR), scheduled for this year but deferred due to the coronavirus outbreak, may be delayed by a year as there is no sign of slowdown of the pandemic.
The Indian census is one of the largest administrative and statistical exercises in the world, with the involvement of more than 30 lakh officials who would visit each household across the length and breadth of the country.
The house-listing phase of the Census and the exercise to update NPR were scheduled to be carried out across the country from April 1 to September 30, 2020, but were postponed.
The census is the largest single source of a variety of statistical information on people of India which helps the State to chalk out various policies.
With a history of more than 130 years, this reliable, time tested exercise has been bringing out a veritable wealth of statistics every 10 years, including on the rich diversity of the people, and has become one of the tools to understand and study India.
The objective of the NPR is to create a comprehensive identity database of every usual resident in the country. The database would contain demographic as well as biometric particulars.
The demographic details required for every usual resident are name, relationship to head of household, father's name, mother's name, spouse's name (if married), sex, date of birth, marital status, place of birth, nationality (as declared), present address of usual residence, duration of stay at present address, permanent residential address, occupation and educational qualification.

India Grants 4th Tranche of $5mn to Myanmar

India granted the 4th tranche of $5 million to Myanmar for the development of the India-Myanmar Border Area. In this regard, the Indian Ambassador to Myanmar Saurabh Kumar handed over the ceremonial cheque to Lt-Gen Ye Aung, Minister for Border Affairs, Myanmar. This funding is on the lines of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by ex-Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in 2012 according to which India would grant a total of $25 million to Myanmar, divided into five tranches of $5 million each annually, starting 2017, for projects on India-Myanmar border.
The Myanmar-India Border Area Development Programmes include providing infrastructure and socio-economic development in Chin State and Naga Self-Administered Region.
Myanmar shares around 1600 km border with four Northeastern Indian states — Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram.
-Under border area development project 141 projects including 43 schools, 18 health centres and 51 bridges and roads have been constructed over the last three years in Chin State and Naga Self-Administered Zone.

Aug 30, 2020

Govt. Explores Possibility of Single Voter List for LS, Local Body Poll

After implementing one-nation-one-ration card, the government is now exploring the possibility of having a common electoral roll for the Lok Sabha, Assembly and local body elections to avoid discrepancies and bring uniformity in the voter list.
At present, the Election Commission prepares the electoral roll or voter list for the Lok Sabha and Assembly poll. The state election commissions, which are altogether separate bodies as per constitutional provisions, hold elections for local bodies such as municipalities and panchayats in their respective states based on their own voter lists.

PM Inaugurates College and Administration Buildings of Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural Univ...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated college and administration buildings of the Rani Lakshmi Bai (RLB) Central Agricultural University in Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi through video conferencing.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of State (MoS) for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Kailash Choudhary also attended the virtual event.
The RLB Central Agriculture University is located in Jhansi and is a prominent institute in the Bundelkhand region.

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