General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - September 2015

Sep 2015

Nov 18, 2019

Winter Session Of Parliament Begins

The Winter Session of Parliament began on 18th November 2019. The Session will have 20 sittings.
It will end on the 13th of December (2019). Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed hope that both Houses of Parliament will have constructive debates on ways to empower citizens and further India's development.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that Mr Modi urged the political parties to make Winter Session of Parliament productive, like the last one. He said Prime Minister stated that constructive discussions in Parliament keep the bureaucracy.
Mr. Joshi said the Prime Minister also talked about the Constitution Day to be observed on November 26, 2019. Mr. Modi said the Constitution and the democratic system of the country are unique and this should be branded. PM Modi said this time the Rajya Sabha will mark its 250th Session.

Kochi sets Guinness record in CPR training

A Guinness World Record was set in the city on Saturday, with 28,523 students being trained in eight hours to perform hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
The attempt broke two previous records of 9,000 and 28,015 people being trained in eight hours and 24 hours respectively. The attempt also set a record in the country and entered the 'Best of India' record book.
Students of classes 9 to 12 from around 350 schools in the district participated in the training program, 'Heart Beats', held at the CIAL convention centre at Nedumbassery.
The session was conducted by the Kochi chapter of the Indian Medical Association, district administration, Angels International Foundation, and the District Legal Services Authority to create awareness among children on performing CPR.

Nov 17, 2019

ECI To Set Up T.N. Seshan Chair At Its Institute

In honour of the former Chief Election Commissioner T.N. Seshan, who passed away on November 10, 2019 the Election Commission of India (ECI) will establish and fund a chair at the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM).
The visiting chair on interdisciplinary approach to electoral studies at the Centre for Curriculum Development, IIIDEM, from 2020-2025, will be mentored by former CEC N. Gopalaswami.

ITAT Orders Withdrawal Of Tax Exemption To Congress-Controlled Young Indian

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has ruled that the withdrawal of income tax exemption to Young Indian, an entity controlled by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her family and others, by the tax department is correct and it cannot be called a charitable organisation.
An appeal to restore the withdrawal of exemption from income tax was made by Young Indian before the ITAT.
The Delhi bench of the ITAT, in an order on November 15, 2019 said Young Indian's "entire move for acquiring the AJL (Associated Journals Ltd), which had stopped/suspended its publication activities and was holding large number of properties worth hundreds of crores with huge rental and lease income, was for acquiring control and interest in such properties for mere sum of Rs 50 lakh."

Nov 16, 2019

Delhi Polls: Postal Ballots for Senior Citizens and Disabled

According to chief electoral officer of Delhi, Ranbir Singh, Delhi in its upcoming assembly elections in 2020 would become the first state in India to allow Persons with Disabilities (PWD) and senior citizen voters above the age of 80 to cast their vote through postal ballots.
Singh said that the facility will first be rolled out on a pilot basis in a few constituencies in Jharkhand during the upcoming Assembly elections scheduled to be held between November 30 and December 20, 2019. At present, casting votes through postal ballots are available only to armed forces and officials assigned poll duties.
After the pilot project in Jharkhand, Delhi will be the first state to go hold elections in which the postal ballot will be made available in all 70 constituencies.

Centre Puts Citizenship Bill on Agenda of House

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government has officially informed Parliament that it wants to amend the Citizenship Act in the upcoming Winter Session of Parliament, a move that promises to trigger protests by many Opposition parties and make for a lively session.
The controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill, which accelerates the process under which non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan can get Indian citizenship, figures in the tentative list of 35 bills the parliamentary affairs ministry has sent to the legislative branch of the Lok Sabha.
The list, provided by the Lok Sabha secretariat, also includes the industrial relations code — one of the four key labour reforms the government wants to legislate — and laws replacing two ordinances, one banning e-cigarettes and the other lowering corporate tax rates.

Panel to Divide Assets between J&K and Ladakh

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on home affairs was informed that situation in the newly-created Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir was returning to normal and though assured that the detained political leaders, which includes three former Chief Ministers, would be released, no deadline for it was specified.
The Centre has also constituted a three-member committee for division of assets between the two UTs, the committee was told.
The committee has been constituted under Section 84 of the J-K Reorganisation Act for division of assets, rights and liabilities between the two UTs. While former defence secretary Sanjay Mitra would be the chairman of the committee, retired IAS officer Arun Goyal and retired Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) officer Giriraj Prasad Gupta would be its members.
The 14th Finance Commission award was apportioned between the two UTs in the ratio of 70 per cent for J&K and 30 per cent for Ladakh for the remaining five months of the 2019-20 fiscal. Recommendations of the Seventh Central Pay Commission have been approved for government employees of the UTs of J-K and Ladakh.

Punjab Farmers Compensated for Not Burning Stubble

The Punjab government has disbursed Rs. 19 crore among 29,343 non-basmati cultivating small and marginal farmers who did not burn paddy residue.
The government has decided to give Rs. 2,500 per acre as compensation to small and marginal farmers who have refrained from burning paddy straw, a major contributor to air pollution in the region.
Agriculture secretary Kahan Singh Pannu said that the compensation was released directly to the bank accounts of the farmers as per the list supplied by the field officers.
As many as 85,000 applications have been received till now, the last date for submission of these applications is November 30, 2019.

India and US Close to Signing Initial Trade Deal

India and the US are set to finalise an initial trade agreement soon in what could pave the way for a larger deal, including a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), at a later stage.
An American delegation is scheduled to travel to India in November 2019 to put the final touches to the deal, following productive conversations between commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal and his US counterpart Robert Lighthizer.
The two countries are looking at a near-term deal and a long-term version later, according to Indian and US officials.

Nov 15, 2019

UP Govt Launches e-Ganna App, Web Portal

Uttar Pradesh government has launched a dedicated web portal and a mobile application, e-Ganna App, for sugarcane farmers of the state. Cane supply slip will now be issued to the farmers by sugar mills online.
Launching the facilities at a function in Lucknow, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said his government is relentlessly pursuing the goal set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to double farmers' income.

Rajnath Singh To Inaugurate Sisseri River Bridge In East Siang

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is on a two-day visit to Arunachal Pradesh, will inaugurate the Sisseri River Bridge on the Pasighat-Ranaghat-Roing Road in East Siang District.
Mr Singh attended the Maitree Diwas celebration at strategically important Tawang District along the Indo-China Border.

Nov 14, 2019

Andhra Sand Shortage

The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet decided to impose a fine of Rs 2 lakh coupled with two-year imprisonment to those found guilty of hoarding sand in the state.
The cabinet also approved a 'Sand Week' program which began on November 14, 2019 to ensure availability of at least two lakh tonnes of sand per day in the state.
Apart from this, a decision to set up ' Andhra Pradesh Environment Management Corporation' to curb pollution and to declare 2000 of the 9000 industries in the red category was also taken.

6th World Congress on Rural and Agricultural Finance held in New Delhi

The 6th World Congress on Rural and Agricultural Finance was held in New Delhi on November 12 and 13, 2019.
The Congress was jointly hosted by Asia-Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA), National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and Ministry of Agriculture Farmers Welfare and Cooperation.
The headquarter of APRACA is at Manila, Philippines.

Chief Justice of India's office under RTI Act

The Supreme Court has held that office of the Chief Justice of India is a public authority under the transparency law, the Right to Information Act.
"Transparency doesn't undermine judicial independence," the Supreme Court said in a unanimous verdict as it upheld the Delhi High Court judgment which ruled that office of the Chief Justice comes under the purview of RTI.
The five-judge constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi who retires on November 17, 2019, also dismissed the three appeals filed by secretary general of the SC and the Central Public Information officer of the apex court.
Other members of the bench included Justices NV Ramana, DY Chandrachud, Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna.

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