General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - September 2015

Sep 2015

Dec 23, 2019

Nitin Gadkari Addresses Valedictory Session of Regional Conference

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari stated that positive approach, transparency, corruption-free system, fast track decision making and social sensitivity are essential for good governance. He was addressing valedictory session of the regional conference organized in Nagpur on 'Improving Public Services Delivery - Role of Government'. The 2-day conference was organised by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) in collaboration with the Government of Maharashtra and the Maharashtra State Commission for Right to Public Services. Union Minister of State Dr. Jitendra Singh was also present on this occasion.

Dec 22, 2019

Jaypee Loses F1 Land

The Yamuna Expressway authority cancelled the lease deed of 1,000 hectares of land to Jaypee International Sports Company on which India's only Formula One motor racing circuit is built in Greater Noida over non-payment of dues. The decision was taken by the board of the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (Yeida) in a meeting.
Jaypee had built and opened country's first Formula One track — Buddh International Circuit (BIC) — in October 2011. Designed by German architect and racetrack designer Hermann Tilke, BIC was venue for the Formula One Indian Grand Prix from 2011 to 2013. The venue was taken out of the F1 calendar in 2014. Jaypee developed several other sports facilities, including a cricket stadium and other associated buildings for F1 races, on the plot along the 165km Yamuna Expressway, which connects Greater Noida with Agra.

Maharashtra Government to Waive Off Farm Loans

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government announced a loan waiver of up to Rs. 2 lakh for farmers.
Loans taken before September 30, 2019, will be waived off, the chief minister announced on the last day of winter session of the state legislature.
Opposing the move, Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis alleged the Thackeray government has not kept its promise of complete loan waiver.

Warrant against Shashi Tharoor

A Trivandrum court issued an arrest warrant for Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in connection with a case filed against him for allegedly defaming Hindu women in one of his books, 'The Great Indian Novel'. After Tharoor failed to present himself or through his lawyer at the court, Thiruvananthapuram Chief Judicial First Class Magistrate issued a warrant to arrest Tharoor. Tharoor is also an MP from Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency.
Belonging to the genre of satires, 'The Great Indian Novel' was first published in 1989. It presents the story of Mahabharata in the context of the Independence movement and the first 30 years after the country's independence.

Assam May Push Indigenous Rights

Amid protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the Assam Cabinet approved a slew of measures, including making Assamese language mandatory in all schools and a law to protect land rights of the indigenous people. In the coming Assembly session, the state government will bring in two new laws.

House Panel Likely to Assess Impact of Laws

An in-House panel may, for the first time, come out with a report on how to comprehensively assess the impact of a law before and after its roll-out. The Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances and Law decided to come out with a report on legislative impact assessment and way forward, following Rajya Sabha chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu's willingness to find out qualitative dimensions of Indian laws.
The study will take into account how a particular law may affect society and also formulate a comprehensive way to study its economic, social and administrative impacts. While policymakers regularly seek feedbacks on bills and policies from different quarters, this would provide a structured view covering all aspects of a law by a multi-party panel.

India and China to Intensify Efforts for Border Peace

India and China agreed to intensify efforts to find a mutually acceptable solution to their border dispute and work on more confidence-building measures (CBMs) to maintain peace and tranquillity along the frontier.
Against the backdrop of fresh irritants such as China's recent attempt to raise the Kashmir issue at the UN Security Council, the special representatives on the border issue agreed that both sides should respect each other's sensitivities and concerns to build trust.
The talks between the special representatives – national security adviser Ajit Doval and Chinese state councillor and foreign minister Wang Yi – in New Delhi were described by the ministry as constructive with focus on taking forward the India-China Closer Developmental Partnership as per the guidance provided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping" at their second informal summit in Mamallapuram in October.
The special representatives exchanged views on important bilateral, regional and global issues. Wang also called on vice-president M. Venkaiah Naidu.

Dec 21, 2019

Three Parties Agree to Finalise Chabahar Protocol

Days ahead of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar's visit to Tehran, India, Afghanistan and Iran agreed to finalise a protocol to streamline transit, customs and consular matters at the Chabahar Port.
This was decided at the second meeting in New Delhi of the committee formed by the three countries to oversee the Chabahar agreement. The panel also agreed to include Mormugoa and New Mangalore Ports, in addition to Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Mundra, Kandla and Cochin, in the designated route under the agreement.

India Holds Talks with Canada

The process of re-engagement between India and Canada commenced with a meeting between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his counterpart François-Philippe Champagne.
This was the first ministerial-level bilateral meeting in more than a year-and-a-half, as ties had come to a standstill since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's ill-fated visit to India in 2018.
Issues such as Kashmir and the revocation of the state's special status figured in the discussions. Trudeau met Jaishankar, who tweeted, "We agreed to raise the quality of our relationship and chart a path for the next 5 years."

Kerala Puts on Hold NPR Work

The Kerala government ordered a stay on all activities in connection with the National Population Register (NPR) in the state considering 'apprehensions' of the public that it would lead to NRC in the wake of the controversial Citizenship Act.
The step by the CPI(M)-led government came amid raging protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the state and in several other parts of the country.
Earlier this week, the West Bengal government stayed all activities relating to the preparation and updation of the NPR in the eastern state amid the furore over the CAA.

Pro-CAA Agitation in Central Park

Scores of people staged a demonstration in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act at Central Park in Cannaught Place.
The protesters raised slogans in favour of the Narendra Modi government and hailed the central government for bringing the law.
Slogans of 'Vande Matram' reverberated the venue as the demonstrators celebrated the enactment of CAA, terming it a great win for minority refugees from the neighbouring country.
The pro-CAA demonstrations come amid multiple protests against the new legislation in several parts of the national capital for the last few days. A similar rally was held in Rajghat.

Vizag Recommended as Andhra Capital

A six-member expert committee formed by the Andhra Pradesh government recommended that Visakhapatnam be the main capital of the state instead of Amaravati.
In its report submitted to Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, the committee headed by retired IAS officer G Nageshwar Rao said Visakhapatnam would be the seat of state administration – secretariat, department offices and the chief minister's office, besides a separate high court bench and the assembly complex for the budget session. Amaravati will have Raj Bhavan and the assembly complex that will host the monsoon and winter sessions, besides the Amaravati bench of the state high court.
The committee also recommended that the Raj Bhavan and the assembly building be relocated between Mangalagiri and Nagarjuna University area in Guntur which is not flood-prone.

AAP Kicks Off Election Campaign with a New Slogan

'Acche beete paanch saal, lage raho Kejriwal (The last five years went well, keep going, Kejriwal)' will be the Aam Aadmi Party's campaign mantra for the Delhi assembly elections, scheduled to be held early next year (2020), as the party kick-started its campaign to seek a re-election for Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Besides the new slogan, the party also introduced a new colour scheme — a black background to accompany the party's conventional white and blue — for its election advertisements with poll strategist Prashant Kishor's I-PAC being given the charge of designing the AAP's poll campaign.
The party's slogan in the 2015 elections, in which it won 67 of the 70 seats, was 'Paanch saal Kejriwal (Kejriwal for five years)'.

Dec 20, 2019

Meghalaya House Adopted ILP Resolution

The Meghalaya Assembly passed a unanimous resolution for implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime in the state amid demands and protests by local groups. In neighbouring Assam, protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) continued and mobile internet services remained blocked throughout the state, even as the Gauhati High Court directed the state government to lift curbs.
Deputy Chief Minister of Meghalaya will now impress upon the Centre to consider the implementation of ILP in Meghalaya.
The resolution was passed in a special session called amid demands of ILP in the state which became louder after the CAA was passed by Parliament. Most of the state comes under Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, hence, exempted from the CAA.

Delhi CM Launched Free Wi-Fi Scheme

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched the city's long-awaited WiFi scheme, which will offer free internet access to residents in 11,000 WiFi hotspots.
Under the free WiFi plan, 11000 hotspots would be installed across Delhi and these hotspot connections would support 22 lakh users simultaneously. Out of these 11000 hotspots, 4000 hotspots will be installed at bus stops and 7000 hotspots.

Gumnami Baba Not Netaji: Commission

The Justice (retired) Vishnu Sahai Commission concluded that the mysterious Gumnami Baba alias Bhagwanji was not freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, but a follower of his voice resembled that of Bose..
The commission's report, tabled in the assembly also observed that Gumnami Baba's voice was very similar to that of Netaji's.
Gumnami Baba, who many believed was Bose, died on September 16, 1985, and was cremated at Guptar Ghat (Ayodhya) a couple of days later.
From items recovered from the part of Ram Bhawan (Faizabad, now Ayodhya) where Gumnami Baba lived till his death, it cannot be ascertained that he was Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, observed Justice Sahai in the concluding paras of the 130-page report.
Vishnu Sahai gave 11-points to show that Gumnami Baba was Netaji's follower.

Formation of Trust to Construct Ram Temple by January

The final announcement on setting up a trust, as ordered by the Supreme Court, for construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya will be made by January.
Discussions are also being held with some prominent saints of Ayodhya on setting up the trust. They are also likely to get a place in the trust panel.
The top court gave the government three months' time to set up a trust for the temple construction, the deadline which will end in February.

Amaravati Farmers against Three Capitals

Twenty-nine villages in Amaravati, the capital region of Andhra Pradesh, observed a voluntary shutdown in protest against the YSR Congress Party government's proposal to create three capital cities for the state. Schools, businesses, government offices and hotels remained closed in the wake of farmers' bandh call in 29 villages in the capital. Restrictions under Section 144 of Cr PC and Section 34 of the Police Act were imposed in the capital region. Farmers took to the streets to protest against chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's statement that the executive capital would be shifted to Visakhapatnam and judiciary to Kurnool, while the legislative assembly will remain in Amaravati. The protesters were demanding that Amaravati be retained as the full-fledged capital. The protesters would form an action committee and scale up the agitation.

Dec 19, 2019

Goa Welcomes Govt. Decision on Mahadayi Diversion

The Centre held in abeyance the go-ahead given to Karnataka for the diversion of interstate Mahadayi River waters for the Khalsa-Banduri Dam, which had provoked angry reactions in Goa.
The opposition Congress in Goa insisted that the move proves that the permission for diverting the waters was granted ahead of bypolls in Karnataka this month to influence voters in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s favour.
Goa has been involved in a 15-year dispute with Karnataka and Maharashtra over the sharing of the river waters.

Ministers Hold 2+2 Dialogue

India and the US are set to deepen their strategic relationship with the Pentagon in favour of increased engagement between the Tampa-based Central Command and South Block, besides ongoing cooperation with the Hawaii-based Indo-Pacific Command.
The Central Command's area of responsibility includes West Asia, Central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met their US counterparts Mark Esper and Mike Pompeo for the 2+2 ministerial dialogue, with both sides exchanging notes on developments in West Asia, the Af-Pak region, and the growing shadow of China over the Indo-Pacific.

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