General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - September 2015

Sep 2015

Mar 02, 2020

Norwegian Minister Takes Part in Mithi River Clean-up

In an attempt to strengthen the Indo-Norway relations and tackle climate change and environmental pollution, Norway's Minister of International Development and Foreign Affairs, Dag Inge Ulstein, has invited state Minister of Tourism and Environment, Aaditya Thackeray to Norway in May to get a first-hand experience of his country's work in the area of waste management.
Ulstein, who is on a three-day tour in India to focus on Norway's agenda of sustainable development goals, shared his concern on the rising problems due to plastic waste with Thackeray. Ulstein participated in a clean-up drive at the Mithi River along with city-based environmentalists and local residents living at the adjoining areas of the river.
The 17.84 km river, which meets the Arabian Sea at Mahim creek, starts at the Vihar and Powai lakes and passes through several areas of the city's suburbs. However, the river has been reduced to an open drain full of garbage in the last few decades. When the river was not as polluted as it is today, it used to serve as an important stormwater drain for Mumbai.

PM Modi Lays Foundation Stone for Bundelkhand Expressway

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the 296-km-long Bundelkhand Expressway in Chitrakoot, Uttar Ptadesh.
To be built at a cost of Rs. 14,849 crore, the expressway will pass through Chitrakoot, Banda, Hamirpur and Jalaun districts.
The expressway will be supplementing the nodes of the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor announced by the Central government in February 2018.
This expressway will link Bundelkhand to the national capital Delhi through Agra-Lucknow Expressway and Yamuna Expressway as well as play a vital role in the development of the region.

Param Bir Singh Takes Charge as Mumbai Top Cop

Param Bir Singh, a 1988-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, was appointed as the new police commissioner of Mumbai. Singh, who was director general (DG) of the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), will replace Sanjay Barve who retired. Barve was given two extensions of three months each.
The state home department issued the concerning order, which also announced that Bipin K Singh, additional director general (ADG) of ACB, will take over as acting DG till further notice.

MoU between Indian Air Force and Savitribai Phule Pune University

As a unique initiative of Indian Air Force, the IAF and Savitribai Phule Pune University entered into an academic collaboration by signing a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a 'Chair of Excellence' at Department of Defence & Strategic Studies.
To pay tribute to the legend and commemorate the centenary birth year of the MIAF, the IAF named it as "Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh Chair of Excellence". The Chair will enable IAF officers to pursue Doctoral Research and higher studies in Defence & Strategic Studies and allied fields.
The chair will facilitate research and higher studies in the area of National Defence and allied fields of Air Force officers. The chair would facilitate inculcating astrategic outlook and building a pool of strategic thinkers.

Mar 01, 2020

Tribal Affairs Ministry Launches Capacity Building Programme of ST Representatives in LSG & '1000...

Arjun Munda, the Union Tribal Affairs Minister launched the "Programme for Capacity Building of Scheduled Tribe (ST) Representatives in Local Self Governments (LSG)" in Bhubhaneswar, Odisha in the presence of Chief Minister of Odisha Shri Navin Patnaik and Smt. Renuka Singh Saruta, Minister of State for Tribal Affairs.
Arjun Munda also launched "1000 Spring Initiatives" and an online portal on GIS (Geographic Information System)-based Spring Atlas with hydrological and chemical properties of the Springs during the event.

International Conference on Standardisation of Alternate Medicines, 'ICoSDiTAUS-2020' Held in New...

The two-day International Conference on Standardisation of Diagnosis and Terminologies in Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha Systems of Medicine, ICoSDiTAUS-2020, was held in New Delhi on 25^th and 26^th February 2020. The conference concluded with the adoption of the "New Delhi Declaration on Collection and Classification of Traditional Medicine (TM) Diagnostic Data".
16 countries came together for the cause of Traditional Medicine at this conference including Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Serbia, Curacao, Cuba, Myanmar, Equatorial Guinea, Qatar, Ghana, Bhutan, Uzbekistan, India, Switzerland, Iran, Jamaica and Japan.
ICoSDiTAUS-2020 is the biggest ever international event dedicated to standardisation of Diagnosis and Terminologies of Traditional Medicine in terms of the broad level of participation covering virtually all the continents.
The inaugural address was made by Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO – SEARO on 25^th February 2020.

NCAER Releases 1st Edition of Land Records and Services Index 2020: MP Emerges as Top Performer, ...

Madhya Pradesh is the best performing state in terms of digitising land records, followed by Odisha, according to the NCAER Land Records and Services Index.
Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, and Tamil Nadu are the other states in the top five. The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) released India''s first land records and services index.
From sixth to tenth positions, are West Bengal, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, respectively.
The index is based on data collected over 2019-20 on two aspects of the supply of land records-the extent of digitisation of land records and the quality of these land records, said an NCAER statement.
"The first component, which aims to assess whether a state has made all its land records digitally available to citizens, looks at three dimensions-the text of the land records (also called the record of rights), the official map associated with a land record (also called cadastral maps), and the property registration process," it said.
The second component of the index assesses if the land records are comprehensive and reliable are -- ownership details updated as soon as a sale occurs, the extent of joint ownership, type of land use, land area on the record and on the map, and whether encumbrances are being recorded, including other claims on the property such as mortgages and court cases.
Shekhar Shah, Director General, NCAER said that the index will help formulate state action plans to attain the goal of secure, assured land records that mirror ground realities and are generated by efficient titling services.

Maharashtra Legislative Council Passes Bill Making Marathi Compulsory Subject in Schools in the S...

The Maharashtra State Legislative Council unanimously approved a bill making Marathi compulsory subject in schools in the state. According to reports, there will be penalty levied on the schools which do not comply with the new rule.
The Maharashtra Compulsory Teaching and Learning of Marathi Language in Schools 2020 bill was passed in the upper house of the state. The same will be forwarded in the Legislative Assembly.
Although a bill is first introduced and approved in the Assembly first following which it is given to the Council In this case however the Council Chairman has allowed the concerned minister to introduce the bill in the Upper House first. As per reports, the legislation stated that the schools which do not comply with the provisions of the bill passed a penalty of up to Rs. 1 Lakh will be levied on the schools.
The bill has covered all the schools in the state irrespective of the boards they are affiliated to. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackrey while addressing the house said that he is happy that the bill has been passed by the council and he will also pursue the centre on the patter of granting Marathi the status of a classical language.

Feb 29, 2020

India to Attend Signing of US-Taliban Deal

India will be represented by its envoy to Qatar at the signing of a deal by the Taliban and the US at Doha on February 29 on the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.
Ambassador P. Kumaran's presence at the ceremony, however, should not be interpreted as a sign of India's involvement in any way with the negotiations with the Taliban or the planned deal.
India remains committed to an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled peace process that retains the gains and constitutional structures put in place in Afghanistan over the past 19 years," the person added.
However, this will be the first time India will be officially represented at an event involving the Afghan Taliban.

MP Tops the List for Outgoing Patients for Treatment under PM-JAY: NHA

According to the analysis carried out by the National Health Authority (NHA) on the portability feature of the Narendra Modi government's flagship insurance scheme, PM-JAY -Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (generally referred to as the Ayushman Bharat) availed by 81,254 patients. People can seek treatment in other states under the PM-JAY, and MP (Madhya Pradesh) tops the list for outgoing patients at a number of at least 11,765. It sends its patients to Gujarat, where People have been treated under 'portability' option, which allows patients to go to the best hospital in any state to avail of free treatment.
As per the analysis, MP is followed by UP (Uttar Pradesh), which has sent 4,288 patients to Uttarakhand, and 3,572 patients to Maharashtra. While Bihar, in turn, has sent 3,258 patients to UP. The states of MP and UP contribute nearly half of portability cases by volume and value.

Bihar Passes Resolution to Conduct Caste-based Census

The Bihar Legislative Assembly passed a resolution to conduct a caste-based census in the state.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was advocating conducting a caste-based census since a long time.
The Chief Minister had earlier proposed a caste-based census in the Assembly, which was passed unanimously on Thursday.
Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary announced the passing of the proposal in the House.
As per Road Construction Minister Nandkishore Yadav, the resolution would now be sent to the central government.

Feb 28, 2020

Sikhs and Muslims Resolve Decades-old Land Dispute

Sikhs will bear the cost of the construction of a mosque that Muslims in Saharanpur have agreed to shift to a new location to end a decade-long dispute over a plot of land near a gurdwara in the Western Uttar Pradesh city.
The two communities agreed to the amicable settlement of the dispute, which triggered riots in July 2014 and left three people dead in Saharanpur's Kutubsher area.
Shiromani Akali Dal's state president, Gurpreet Singh Bagga, said the Sikhs had purchased the land adjacent to the gurdwara from a Muslim family for the expansion of the place of worship. "When the construction work started for the extension in July 2014, a group of Muslims objected, claiming that a mosque existed on the land. Following the dispute, clashes broke out which soon turned into a riot.

India and Myanmar Sign 10 MoUs

India and Myanmar exchanged 10 agreements, four of which focus on the construction of water supply systems, distribution of electricity by solar power, as well as construction of roads and schools in Rakhine state, located on the western coast of the South Asian country.
The deals were signed in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Myanmar President Win Myint at the Hyderabad House.
Last month, India had extended relief assistance including noodles, toor dal, chana dal, soya oil, chili powder, and other edible materials, to Rakhine residents who were displaced in the ongoing conflict in Myanmar as part of its continued endeavour to support the socio-economic development of the region.
India and Myanmar had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in December 2017 on providing assistance to the socio-economic development of Rakhine state.
The other agreements called for cooperation for the prevention of trafficking in persons; rescue, recovery, repatriation, and the re-integration of victims of trafficking.

First Govt. Entity to Adopt Centralised Invoicing Platform, TreDS

Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), an industrial organisation, functioning under the Department of Defence Production of Ministry of Defence, Government of India (GoI), became the 1st government entity to adopt centralised invoicing platform,TreDS (Trade Receivables electronic Discount System), under which a total of 41 OFBs adopted this platform, which would help smaller MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) vendors access working capital easily.
Under this platform, MSME vendors will get financing facilities from OFB by collateralizing the receivable invoices under sovereign guarantee. These vendors sell products that go into making tanks, complex artillery pieces, or day-to-day use items such as helmets or gloves.
At present, the government departments such as the Defence Ministry transact only through a treasury account with the State Bank of India (SBI). NACH (National Automated Clearing House) mandates are not enabled in these accounts & preventing the onboarding of such departments onto TReDS.
The adoption of TreDS by OFBs will help government departments such as the Ministry of Defence and Railway with limited MSME procurements to bring their whole vendor network on the single platform.

UP Govt. to Rename 'Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Urdu, Arabi-Farsi University' in Lucknow

The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet approved a proposal to change the name of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Urdu, Arabi-Farsi University in Lucknow. The Cabinet decided to rename the university as Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Languages University.
For this, the State University Act - 1973 will be amended. State governor Anandiben Patel had suggested that the varsity be renamed as Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti University.
The Urdu, Arabi-Farsi University was rechristened four times in the last 10 years under the successive regimes in the state.
The institution was established on October 1, 2009 during the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) rule.

Feb 27, 2020

High-level Committee Submits Report on Clause 6 of Assam Accord

A high-powered committee headed by retired former Gauhati High Court (HC) Justice Biplab Kumar Sarma formally submitted its report on implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord of 1985 to Assam Chief Minister (CM) Sarbananda Sonowal in the presence of state's finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and other officials. The report will now be submitted to the Union Home Minister (HM) Amit Shah.
The Clause 6 of the Assam Accord of 1985 ii.Assam Accord was signed between the All Assam Students Union (AASU), Union government and Assam government on August 15, 1985, in the presence of then Prime Minister (PM) Rajiv Gandhi.
Under this, the centre agreed to accept all the migrants that entered before 1966 & also affirms to provide constitutional, legislative and administrative measures to protect and preserve the cultural, social, linguistic identity of the Assamese people.
The Central Government on July 16, 2019 setup a high-level committee for recommending measures to implement the Clause 6 of the Assam Accord.

Cabinet Approves Amendments to Give Occupancy Rights to Scheduled Tribes in Lakshadweep

The union cabinet approved amendment of the Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindivi Islands Land Revenue and Tenancy Regulation, 1965 to confer occupancy rights to the Scheduled Tribe (ST) population in Lakshadweep.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said that the Lakshadweep Island mostly comprises ST population and they did not have occupancy rights.
This decision has been taken to give them occupancy rights. The decision is important from the point of view of the tribal community. It happened as part of good governance initiatives of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The gap came to light due to continuous review.

Session of Joint Ministerial Commission between India and Australia

The 16^th Commission of the Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) was held between India and Australia in New Delhi. The meeting was co-chaired by Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, Government of India and Senator Simon Birmingham, Minister of Trade, Tourism and Investment, Government of Australia.
India & Australia acknowledged the growth of economic relationship in strategic, trade and people-to-people links since the last JMC held in June 2018.
Both the countries agreed to enhance bilateral trade & investment through revival of the bilateral CECA (Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement) negotiations, harmonise standards and regulations on important products.
India and Australia agreed to work on market access issues to increase trade and mutual recognition of educational qualifications of the 2 countries.
They agreed to increase the direct flights between India and Australia. India sought early resolution of the issue on taxation of off-shore income of Indian firms through the use of India-Australia Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA).

G. K. Reddy Inaugurates National Cyber Research and Innovation Centre

The Minister of State for Home Affairs Ministry, Mr. Gangapuram Kishan Reddy inaugurated the National Cyber Research, Innovation and Capacity Centre at Central Detective Training Institute (CDTI) in Hyderabad, Telangana State (T.S). The objective of the centre is to help the nation to combat cyber threats.

Cabinet Okays Adaptation of Central Act in J&K

The Union Cabinet approved issuance of an order for adaptation of Central Acts in the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir under Section 96 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 by the Central government.
After coming into force of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir has been reorganised into UTs of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on October 31, 2019.
The Central laws, which are applicable to whole of India except the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir before appointed date October 31, 2019, are now applicable to UT of Jammu and Kashmir with effect from October 31, 2019.
As per Section 96 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the Central government has powers to modify the existing laws through repeal or amendment within one year of the constitution of the UTs.
The Cabinet also approved the exemption of the India Ports Global Ltd (IPGL) from the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) Guidelines, except reservation and vigilance policies.

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