General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - September 2015

Sep 2015

Apr 21, 2020

Ramesh Pokhriyal chaired the review meeting on SWAYAM and SWAYAM Prabha in New Delhi

Union Minister for Human Resource Development (MHRD) Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' held a detailed review of the National online education platform SWAYAM and the 32 DTH Television Education Channels SWAYAM PRABHA in New Delhi on 20 April, 2020.
During the lockdown, there occurred a tremendous increase in demand and the usage of SWAYAM Courses and SWAYAM PRABHA videos.
SWAYAM was launched in 2017 by MHRD, GoI. Currently, there are 1902 courses available in SWAYAM. It has been offered to 1.56 crore students. Over 26 lakh students are taking 574 courses on offer.

Rural Electrification Corporation Steps Up Relief Work Amidst Lockdown

Rural Electrification Corporation, REC, a public sector unit under Power Ministry has stepped up relief work amidst lockdown.
REC Foundation, the CSR arm of REC Limited is distributing cooked food, ration, utility packets, masks, sanitizers and shelter to the needy people. These efforts of the foundation have benefitted 76 thousand daily wagers and their families so far.

Reliance Foundation's 'Mission Anna Seva' biggest free meal program run by any corporate

Reliance Foundation's 'Mission Anna Seva' that aims to provide over 3 crore meals to marginalised communities and frontline workers facing hardships during the lockdown, is the largest free meal programme by any corporate foundation globally.
Reliance Foundation, the philanthropic arm of India's largest firm Reliance Industries, has pledged free meals, build country's first COVID-19 hospital and is supplying PPEs and masks as part of its effort to help help the nation fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Arunachal CM inaugurates Hangpan Dada Bridge over River Subansiri through video conferencing

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu inaugurated the revamped strategic bridge over River Subansiri at Daporijo in Upper Subansiri district albeit through video conferencing.
The said bridge was in a dilapidated condition and movement of vehicles over it was restricted owing to huge risk of it collapsing anytime. This bridge is the only line of communication to Daporijo and other villages located on the other side of Subansiri River. It also connects the Siang belt with Upper Subansiri.

Road Ministry launched dashboard containing list of Dhabas and Truck Repair Shops on its website

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has created a dashboard link on its website for providing list and details of Dhabas and Truck repair shops available across the country by various organisations like NHAI, States, Oil Marketing companies.
This is intended to facilitate the truck / cargo drivers and cleaners in their movement while traveling between different places of the country for delivering required goods in the present challenging times of lockdown announced to curb Covid-19 pandemic. A regular contact is being maintained with various stake holders particularly States/UTs, Oil Marketing Companies(OMCs), etc in providing information which is then updated on the dashboard link on MoRTH website

Apr 20, 2020

OIC Urges India To Take 'Urgent Steps' To Protect Rights Of Muslims

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) urged India to take "urgent steps" to protect the rights of its minority Muslim community and stop the incidents of "Islamophobia" in the country.
The OIC's Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission in a tweet also said the Indian media was negatively profiling the Muslims and subjecting them to discrimination.

Goa is now COVID-19-free

Goa is now COVID-19-free, all seven patients have tested negative. They will be quarantined at government facility and later at home. Goa has in all tested over 800 people of whom seven had come positive.
The Chief Minister said that from April 20, 2020 the government would scrutinise reports of its three-day door-to-door citizens survey done and decide on testing people for COVID-19 wherever felt necessary.

Apr 19, 2020

Procurement Operations Of Pulses And Oilseeds Directly From Farmers

The union government of India made Central Nodal Agencies like NAFED and FCI striving to assure better returns for the farmers. The Minimum Support Price (MSP) from the farmers in several States in the Rabi 2020-21 season has started. Procurement of Pulses & Oilseeds at MSP from farmers under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) scheme in Rabi 2020-21 season currently in progress in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan.
The quantity of 1,33,987.65 MT of Pulses & 29,264.17 MT of Oilseeds was procured by NAFED/FCI valued at Rs 784.77 Crores through which 1,14,338 farmers have been benefited. Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) scheme and Toor procurement under PSS/PSF Kharif 2019- 20 season is underway in the States of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka & Telangana.

IT services giant cognizant hit by 'maze' Ransomware

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., one of the
world's largest providers of IT services, said it became a victim of a ransomware attack that has caused disruptions to its clients.
The company, which has almost 300,000 employees, said it was hit by the "Maze" ransomware group and is engaging law enforcement authorities.
The anonymous hackers behind Maze have made headlines in recent months for publicly holding its victims hostage by threatening to leak company information if the target doesn't pay its ransom.

Apr 18, 2020

Central Drug Research Institute Inks An Mou With King George's Medical University To Sequence Vir...

Central Drug Research Institute has inked an MoU with King George's Medical University, Lucknow to sequence the virus strains obtained from COVID-19 patients in Uttar Pradesh.
Initially, the Lucknow-based lab will sequence the virus strains from the samples of a few patients. As of now, eight different variants of the virus are known to be causing the COVID-19 infection.
A team has been put into place for analyzing whether changes to the viral sequences, if any, will impact the proposed treatment strategies.

AIIB To Lend Usd 500 Mn To India To Help Fight COVID-19 Pandemic

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has announced that it is to finance $500 million projects in India to help the country improve its health care systems. With this, AIIB has doubled its funds under the COVID-19 Crisis Recovery Facility.
The aim of the move is to help reduce health care pressures in pandemic preparedness and health infrastructure in India. It will also provide liquidity, fiscal and budgetary support.
The funding is to be used for the purchase of equipment and for detection capacity.

Government Extends Regular And E-Visas Of All Foreigners Stranded In India Till May 3

The Home Ministry extended regular and e-visas of all foreigners who are stranded in India due to the coronavirus lockdown till May 3, 2020 on gratis basis.
The Home Ministry also said the visa granted to those foreigners, except diplomats and UN officials, who are supposed to come to India, will remain suspended till May 3.
Exit to such foreign nationals, if requested during this period, will also be granted up to 14 days beyond May 3, i.e. May 17, without any overstay penalty

Apr 17, 2020

India Is World's Most Digitally Dexterous Country

Sixty-seven per cent of digital workers in India said emerging technologies such as machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) are increasing their effectiveness at work, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc.
The Gartner 2019 Digital Workplace Survey found that India is the most digitally dexterous country in the world - followed by the UK and the US, due to having the largest Gen Z workforce along with the desire to learn new skills using digital technologies in the workplace.

NIRDPR and UNICEF Training Community Leaders Online To Combat COVID-19

More than 28.33 lakh community leaders are being trained through online programmes to practise social behaviours required to control the transmission of COVID-19 cases in villages, the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR).
The programme is being conducted in collaboration with UNICEF Hyderabad Field Office.

Govt Waives Off 4-Months Rent For IT Units And Startups In STPI Centers

The government has decided to provide relief from payment of rent for small IT units operating out of Software Technology Parks of India or STPI for four months as the firms face challenging times due to the spread of COVID-19.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has decided to provide rental waiver to the IT units/startups operating from 60 STPI centers across India from 01.03.2020 till 30.06.2020.

Narendra Singh Tomar Addressed The 2020 National Conference On Kharif Crops

The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar addressed the "National Conference on Kharif crops 2020" through a video conference.
All States were directed to achieve the Kharif target as doubling of farmers' income should be taken up in mission mode.
The Central govt. assured the States that the Government of India will remove any obstacles that the States are facing.
The main aim of the National Kharif Conference was to discuss various issues and list out steps in consultation with the States about preparedness for Kharif cultivation in view of the lockdown situation.

CIL To Hold A Meeting On Mine Development On 18 April

State-owned Coal India Limited (CIL) is to deliberate on model bid documents for the development and operation of underground mines. CIL has decided to augment its dry-fuel output to coal through mine operators.
A Pre-NIT Meet will be convened on 18 April, 2020 with the stakeholders on the model bid documents comprising of Request for Bid (RFB) and Model Contract Agreement (MCA) for 'Development and Operation of Underground mines' of CIL on Mine Developer-cum- Operator (MDO) model.

Spitting In Public Now An Offence Under Disaster Management Act: MHA

Spitting in public without caring two hoots for regulations may not be so easy now with the Union Home Ministry making the act a punishable offence under the strict Disaster Management Act in its revised guidelines for lockdown issued to contain COVID-19. The guidelines issued by the ministry also make wearing of face masks in public places mandatory.
Spitting in public is an offence under municipal laws in various cities, but it is hardly by the people in the country.
Bihar, Jharkhand, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Haryana, Nagaland and Assam have already issued orders on the ban of use of smokeless tobacco products and spitting in public places amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
Under the consolidated revised guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in the wake of the extension of lockdown till May 3, 2020 spitting has been made punishable with a fine under Section 51 (b) of the Disaster Management Act.

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