General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - September 2015

Sep 2015

Jan 21, 2020

DPIIT launches paperless licensing process for petroleum service stations

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) launched paperless licensing process for petroleum service stations such as retail outlets storing and dispensing petrol/diesel for motor conveyances. It was launched through Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) under the Petroleum Rules, 2002.
Paperless application and grant of licence process for road tankers for transportation of petroleum under the rules has already been launched earlier this month.

IKEA launches online store in Pune

Swedish home furnishings retailer IKEA has launched its online store in Pune, its second market in India after Mumbai to have online presence first without a physical store.
This is in line with IKEA's plans to reach many more Indian customers faster and provide affordable home furnishing solutions. Per Hornell, market and expansion manager, IKEA India, "Maharashtra is a very important market for IKEA, and we see a lot of potential in Pune. IKEA's priority is to meet consumer expectations by being affordable, accessible and sustainable."
Customers can either assemble the product themselves or book IKEA's assembly services.

Govt names two new JS-ranked officers under CDS

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet cleared the appointment of two joint secretaries in the newly-created department of military affairs under the defence ministry. Rajeev Singh Thakur, a 1995 batch IAS officer from Rajasthan cadre, and Shantanu, a 1997 batch officer from Tripura cadre, have been posted to the DMA, headed by India's first Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat. Their appointments are among the 31 JS-level postings approved by the committee.
Apart from the two joint secretaries, the department will be staffed with two 13 deputy secretaries, 25 under secretaries, 22 section officers and a support staff of around 100 people.
The DMA is an addition to the four existing verticals in the defence ministry --- the departments of defence, defence production, defence research and development and ex-service welfare.
As CDS, Rawat is the principal military adviser to the defence minister on all matters related to the tri-services. He took over as the country's first CDS on December 31.
The DMA will oversee key matters relating to India's neighbouring countries including border disputes and incidents, development of infrastructure in forward areas and deployment of forces. These countries include China, Pakistan and Bhutan.

Jan 20, 2020

Mumbai to Get Back Mounted Police

Acccording to Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, Mumbai will get a mounted police unit for traffic and crowd control after a gap of 88 years, and the horses will be deployed on duty after taking part in the Republic Day Parade at Shivaji Park this year.
The mounted police unit, which would patrol the streets of the bustling metropolis, was disbanded in 1932 due to growing vehicular traffic.

Water, Power, Pollution Fight in AAP 'Guarantee'

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal released a "guarantee card" ahead of the February 8 state assembly polls, promising that the government's flagship schemes — free water, electricity and bus rides — will continue if the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is re-elected.
Kejriwal made at least eight new commitments, including deploying 'mohalla marshals' in residential areas, reducing pollution to a third, and making bus rides free for students.
Releasing the "Kejriwal ka guarantee" card, the party chief said that these would be distributed in every household in Delhi so that people did not fall for the "lies" that he alleged were being spread by opposition parties. "The opposition is saying many of our schemes will only last till March 31, so this is our guarantee that these schemes will continue for the next five years; 24-hour electricity will continue and 200 units of free power will continue. Free water for those who consume up to 20,000 litres a month will also continue. All schemes of the AAP government will continue.
He released the card, which bears his photo and the party's election slogan "Achche beete paanch saal, lagey raho Kejriwal", by signing it.

Panel To Study Impact Of Verdicts On Society

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice plans a study to assess the impact of legislations and court judgements on the society.
The study is being carried out months after Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu in October called for the need for a Legislative Impact Assessment (LIA), saying that it will help in realising the stated objectives of various laws. Naidu had said that a detailed assessment is required at both pre-legislation and post-legislation stages.
At a meeting last week, the Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker Bhupender Yadav-led 28 member panel unanimously agreed to start work on the study.

Mughalsarai Railway Division Renamed

Following the renaming of Uttar Pradesh's Mughalsarai railway station in 2018, the Centre in a notification issued changed the name of the railway division as well from Mughalsarai to Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Railway Division.
The names of other Railway offices in this Division, bearing the name "Mughalsarai", may also be changed accordingly.
The Mughalsarai railway junction station comes under the East Central Railway zone. It is one of India's busiest junctions catering to nearly 500 trains a month and home to the largest railway marshalling yard in Asia.

Gujarat Ranked Top For Water Efficiency, Delhi Among Worst Performing States

Gujarat has been ranked the best for parameters on efficiency targets in the review of state and Central government water departments by the ministry of Jal Shakti. Rajasthan is the third best and Delhi is among the worst performing states, according to the ranking for 2019 circulated to different state governments recently.
Among the seven Central departments reviewed, the Survey of India has got the top billing followed by the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH) and Central Water Commission. The Central Pollution Control Board, the country's pollution watchdog, has got the lowest rank, in the ranking for the year 2019.

Congress to Battle for Delhi in Alliance

Having announced the names of 54 candidates, the Delhi Congress only has one more day to release the list of remaining 16 contenders who will represent the party in the February 8 assembly elections.
Delhi Congress chief Subhash Chopra confirmed that the party has finalised an alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on four seats to woo Purvanchali voters. In Burari, Kirari, Uttam Nagar and Palam, the RJD contenders will seek votes under the Congress banner.
The Congress, which was in power in Delhi for 15 years till the 2015 defeat, will be contesting the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections in partnership with another party for the first time.

Jan 19, 2020

RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat Calls for Population Control Law

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat pressed for a law for controlling the burgeoning population of the country, reigniting a debate that the lawmakers should bring a legislation in Parliament in this regard.
The Sangh Parivar chief said at a meeting of about 40 senior RSS functionaries that this law will not have any relation to any particular religion and will be applicable to all.
Bhagwat's remark has triggered speculation that a law making the two-child norm mandatory, not temples in Varanasi and Mathura, are next on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's (RSS) agenda.
Addressing a gathering at the Moradabad Institute of Technology (MIT), Bhagwat said that RSS will support any law that calls for two children only.

Punjab Assembly Passes Resolution against CAA

Punjab Assembly passed a resolution against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act that was cleared by Parliament last month, the second assembly after Kerala to call for scrapping the law.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh later told that his government would also move the Supreme Court against the CAA. Kerala had earlier this week joined the 60-odd petitioners who have already approached the top court against the law that lets the government fast-track citizenship request of people on grounds of religion.

SC Clears Way for International Airport at Goa's Mopa

The Supreme Court gave the go-ahead for the construction of an international airport at Goa's Mopa by lifting the suspension it had imposed on its environmental clearance (EC) in March 2019. It ordered that the construction should be subject to strict compliance with the conditions recommended by the Union environment ministry's expert appraisal committee (EAC). The construction should be done under the supervision of the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI).
The work on the Rs. 3,000 crore project for building the second international airport in Goa over 2,131 acres at the foothills of the Western Ghats was halted for nine months. Officials are hoping the work would soon be resumed and say they can set a revised deadline of early 2022 for the completion of the project's first phase. The project was initially scheduled to be completed by September 2020.

Jan 18, 2020

Banned NDFB Unit in Assam Calls Truce

Banned National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB), an insurgent group active in Assam, signed an agreement with the government for suspension of operations.
According to the pact, the NDFB, under the leadership of its 'president' B. Saoraigwra, will abjure violence and join in peace talks with the government. The tripartite agreement was signed by representatives of the NDFB and the central and Assam governments.
Active members of the NDFB including Saoraigwra were brought back from Myanmar earlier in January 2020.

BJP Names 57 of 70 Candidates for Delhi Polls

The BJP announced the names of 57 candidates for the Delhi assembly elections that will take place on February 8, 2020.
Out of the 57 names, 11 are from SC community, while four are women. The AAP has already announced the names for all the 70 seats.
The BJP, however, did not name its candidate against AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Non-BJP States Object to Methodology of NPR

A few states that are not ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) objected to some aspects of the new National Population Register (NPR) at a meet convened by the Union home ministry to discuss the house-listing phase of Census 2021 and NPR.
While some states have protested the NPR, West Bengal and Kerala said that they will not participate in the exercise as it is a stepping stone to a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC). The states said that the combination of the proposed nationwide NRC and an amended citizenship law is divisive in nature. The government said that the objective of NPR is to create a comprehensive identity database of all usual residents.

Merger Plan of RSTV and LSTV in Final Stages

The merger of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha Television is in its final stages, with the six-member Committee expected to submit its final report in two weeks time, i.e. by Febrauary. There has been overwhelming demand that live transmission of the proceedings of the two houses should not be disrupted.
The Committee was constituted on November 7, 2019 and consists of Prasar Bharati Chairman Surya Prakash; Additional Secretary to the RS Secretariat A. Rao; the Lok Sabha Secretariat's Ganpati Bhatt; Financial Advisor to RS TV Shikha Darbari; and CEOs of RS TV and LS TV, Manoj Kumar Pandey and Aashish Joshi, respectively. The mandate laid down for the Committee was "to work out the modalities and prepare the guidelines for pooling resources, manpower and technology for the merger of the two channels".

CAT Quashes Appointment of Dinkar Gupta as Punjab Police Chief

The central administrative tribunal (CAT) quashed the appointment of Dinkar Gupta as the Punjab Director General of Police (DGP).
The CAT directed the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and empanelment committee to prepare a list of three officers strictly in accordance with the Supreme Court judgment in Prakash Singh's case and complete the exercise.
A 1987-batch IPS officer, Gupta succeeded Suresh Arora as the Punjab DGP in February 2019, superseding five senior officers.

Jan 17, 2020

Limit Time to Apply Under CAA: Assam

The Assam government requested the Union Home Ministry to impose a three-month time limit to apply under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, and not keep it open ended.
As per a government source, since the CAA rules are yet to be framed, the Assam government asked the Centre to consider relaxing the norms and introducing a three-month period, beyond which no one could benefit under the Act.

IUML Plea to Stay CAA Implementation

Indian Union of Muslim League (IUML) moved a plea in the Supreme Court to stay the operation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 which got notified on 10 January this year.
It has also moved a separate application to direct the Union of India to clarify as to whether the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) are linked and to further clarify as to whether a pan India NRC will be prepared and its exercise be implemented across India.
If the operation of the Amendment Act is not stayed, the issue will become 'fait accompli' as once the citizenship is given to a person under the legislation, it cannot be taken away.
Therefore since the Amendment Act is pending adjudication before this court, it would be in the interest of justice, that the operation of the Amendment Act, including such procedures under the Amendment Act for granting citizenship to illegal migrants be stayed until the matter is decided by the court.

Agreement Signed to End the Bru-Reang Refugee Crisis

Union Home Minister Amit Shah presided over the signing of an agreement between the central government and the governments of Tripura and Mizoram and Bru-Reang representatives under which around 34,000 internally displaced people will be settled in Tripura.
Shah said that around 34,000 Bru refugees will be settled in Tripura under the new agreement and the state would be given a package of around Rs. 600 crores for their rehabilitation.
They would get all the rights that normal residents of the states get and they would now be able to enjoy the benefits of social welfare schemes of Centre and state governments.
The agreement was signed in front of Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb, Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga and Bru refugee representatives.

India to Invite Imran for Shanghai Council Meet

There could be a fresh beginning between India and Pakistan at diplomatic level later this year when India plays host to Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that India will extend invitation to all heads of state including Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan for the SCO meet.
The meeting is held annually at the prime minister's level and it discusses the SCO's program and multilateral economic and trade co-operation," Raveesh Kumar told mediapersons in New Delhi.
The SCO head of state meeting is expected to be held in the second half of the year. This is the first instance when India will be hosting the meeting of the council of heads of government of the SCO.
Dominated by China, the SCO has emerged as a significant grouping of emerging economies. It was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001. Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are the founding members.
India became part of the SCO as "observer" in 2005 and got full membership of the grouping in 2017.

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