General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - September 2015

Sep 2015

Aug 14, 2019

SC Rules Out Reopening NRC

The Supreme Court ordered maximum security for National Register of Citizens (NRC) data and ruled out any re-verification or future reopening of the exercise that is currently underway in Assam to identify illegal immigrants.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justice RF Nariman directed NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela to adopt a security regime as provided for protection of Aadhaar data.
The judges ordered that the list of exclusions from the list shall be published on August 31, 2019 only online and family-wise.
The bench said only after an "appropriate security regime" for NRC data is in place, the list of inclusions and exclusions shall be made available to the state and central governments and the registrar general of India.

Chhattisgarh Recognises Forest Rights Claims

Chhattisgarh has become the second state in the country after Odisha to give recognition to forest lands acquired by scheduled tribes and other traditional forest dwellers.
So far, 400,000 individual and 24,000 community forest rights certificates have been distributed in the state while according recognition to 342,000 hectares of land in individual claims and 950,000 hectares of land in community claims.

NGT Stalls Andhra Lift Irrigation Schemes

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed that the Andhra Pradesh government stall the existing lift irrigation schemes of Pattiseema and Purushottapatnam on the Godavari river, constructed by the previous TDP government, pending completion of the Polavaram major irrigation project.
The principal bench of NGT headed by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, acting on a petition filed by former Congress minister Vatti Vasanth Kumar and 12 others, also ruled that another lift irrigation scheme at Chintalapudi on Godavari river also be stopped forthwith.
It further directed the state government not to proceed with the Rs. 84,000-crore GodavariKrishna-Penna river inter-linking project proposed by the TDP regime.

Metro Ropes In Celebs For 25th Anniversary

As part of the Delhi Metro's 25 year anniversary celebrations, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has roped in celebrities, social activists and healthcare experts in an effort to encourage citizens to ditch private vehicles for the Metro.
A series of video messages are being circulated via the DMRC's Twitter and Facebook pages as part of its #25YearsOlderAndWiser initiative, which includes quizzes, games and facts about the metro.
Padma Shri awardee and president of Heart Care Foundation of India, Dr KK Aggarwal, fashion designer Ritu Beri, senior journalist Rahul Dev, noted athlete Deepa Malik, rally driver Bani Yadav and actor Aparshakti Khurana are part of the video series.

10 SDF Legislators Switch Over To BJP

Ten legislators of the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Delhi. The SDF, a former ally of the BJP, ruled Sikkim for 25 years until it was ousted from power by the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) .
The ruling SKM is part of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance. The SDF won 15 seats while SKM won 17 in the 32-member assembly in the elections.
Two of its leaders got elected from two seats and now, they have to vacate one seat each.

RFID Tags Must For Vehicles To Enter Capital

From August 16,2019, commercial vehicles not equipped with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags will have to pay fines to enter the national capital from the 13 high tech toll plazas, according to a Supreme Court-appointed panel on air pollution.
Commercial vehicles without the tags will have to shell out twice the Environment Compensation Charge and the toll tax.

Aug 13, 2019

Mewar Royals Claim To Be Ram Descendants

Former Mewar royals have claimed that they are descendants of Lord Ram's son Luv, after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker and member of the erstwhile Jaipur royal family Diya Kumari made a similar claim.
Lakshyaraj Singh of the erstwhile Mewar royal family said Luv had established "Luvkote" and his ancestors had come to Ahad (Mewar), and established the Sisodia dynasty.
BJP MP from Rajsamand Diya Kumari had tweeted that her family is a descendant of Lord Ram's son Kush, a day after a Supreme Court bench headed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi had asked, out of curiosity, whether anyone from the Raghuvansha (Lord Ram's dynasty) was still residing in Ayodhya.
The SC is hearing the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case on a daily basis.
Now, the former Mewar royals claim themselves to be descendents of Lord Ram, citing experts and historians like Col James Todd. Quoting content from the "Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan" written by Todd, Singh said while Lord Ram's capital was Ayodhya, his son Luv had established Luvkote or the present-day Lahore.
The sun is the emblem of the Mewar royal family. Lord Ram was a worshipper of Lord Shiva and the Mewar royals worship Eklingnath or Lord Shiva.

UP Govt Creates World Record By Planting Over Crore Saplings

Uttar Pradesh(UP) chief minister(CM) Yogi Adityanath launched the mega greenery plantation drive called "Vriksharopan Mahakumbh" sets a world record by planting over 22 crore saplings in a day.
The state entered the Guinness World Records' for distributing 76,823 saplings simultaneously in six hours across the state.
The 2nd record was made for planting 1.1 lakh saplings in Kasganj in presence of UP governor, Anandi Ben Patel.
The 3rd record was made in Prayagraj for distribution of a record of 66,000 saplings at the same place in a certain time frame.
The 4th record was made for planting 22 crore saplings in a day.
The state announced to plant 25 crore saplings in the Van Mahotsav in 2020. Adityanath unveiled the logo of 'Vriksharopan Mahakumbh' and handed saplings of 'Sahjan' (Drumstick) to 5 rural women.
The CM launched the drive by planting Harishankari, a combination of three sacred trees (peepul, pakar and banyan) at Jaitikheda area in Lucknow.

Draft Agricultural Policy Released By Odisha Government

The Odisha government released a Draft Agricultural Policy 2019 for the agriculture sector and to focus on increasing the income of farmers.
Main Aim: To strengthen the social as well as the economic well-being of the farmers, sharecroppers and landless laborers.
Naveen Patnaik Government claimed that Odisha farmers' incomes grew more than seven times over a span of 13 years.
The draft policy states that comparing the CAGR with other Indian States, Odisha's growth rate emerges as the highest in the country during that period.
Odisha is largely a rural-agrarian economy. Close to 83% of its people live in rural areas and about 61.8% of its 17.5 million work-force is employed in agriculture.
In the 16 years since the beginning of this century (2000-01 to 2016-17), Odisha's agricultural GDP nearly doubled in real terms, clocking an average annual growth rate of about 4.5%, higher than the India average of 3.1%.
The State accounts for 3% of India's agricultural GDP.

Ravidas Temple Demolition In Tughlaqabad, Delhi

Members of the Dalit community held protests and blocked highways, hours after the Supreme Court orders over the demolition of Guru Ravidas temple in Tughlaqabad area in Delhi.
Amid the State-wide protest by Ravidas community over the alleged demolition of a temple in New Delhi on the purported direction of apex court, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention to pacify the community leaders.
Mr. Singh made the appeal to the Prime Minister as community members holding demonstrations under the banner of Guru Ravidas Jayanti Samaroh Samiti called for a nationwide shutdown on August 13, 2019.
It has also decided to observe Independence Day as a 'Black Day' to protest the demolition of the temple in New Delhi's Tughlakabad area.
Historic temple of Shri Guru Ravidas located in Shri Guru Ravidas Marg, New Delhi's Tughalaqabad Village was demolished by the Delhi Development Authority on orders of the Supreme Court inciting intense protests and agitation.

Aug 12, 2019

JJP, BSP Form Alliance For Haryana Elections

The Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) — an offshoot of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) — and the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have joined hands for the Haryana assembly elections, due in October in 2019.
BSP general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Satish Chandra Mishra said that the people of Haryana are waiting for a new and "clean government" and this alliance will provide an alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in the state.
Haryana sends 90 members to its state assembly.
The Jannayak Janata Party will contest on 50 seats while the BSP will field its candidates in 40 seats on Haryana.

Aug 11, 2019

IIS Officers Attend All India Annual Conference

The second All India Annual Conference of Indian Information Service Officers was organised at Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra in New Delhi.
The conference was organised with a view to attain greater integration of all media units under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in order to further amplify government communication.
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar conveyed his message to the delegates of the conference wherein he highlighted the importance of feedback along with communicating the programmes and policies of government, stating that the IIS officers are the eyes and ears of the govt.

NDTV Plans Legal Recourse Against CBI

New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV) is planning a legal challenge against the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for stopping its co-founders Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy from flying abroad.
The Roys were stopped at the Mumbai airport from catching an overseas flight on a request by the CBI, which had filed a lookout circular against them over a case filed by the agency.
A lookout circular is a notice issued to airports, seaports and immigration authorities to check whether a traveller going abroad is connected with an offence in India.
CBI officials said the circular against Prannoy and Radhika Roy was preventive in nature and there had been no effort to detain them.

President Nod To Increase Number Of SC Judges

President Ram Nath Kovind has signed into law a Bill which seeks to increase the sanctioned strength of judges in the Supreme Court from 30 to 33 besides the Chief Justice of India.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill was passed by Parliament.
The present strength of the court is 31, including the chief justice of India.
After the law takes effect, the sanctioned strength of SC will be 33.

Aug 10, 2019

Konark Sun Temple To Get CISF Cover

The 13th century Sun temple at Konark in Puri district of Odisha will be the first national monument from Odisha to get security cover from Central Industrial Security Force.
Superintending Archaeologist of Bhubaneswar circle of Archaeological Survey of India, Arun Mallik said a little more than 100 CISF jawans would be deployed at the temple.

Govt Campaign On Solid Waste Management From August 15

The Delhi government will launch a campaign on solid waste management across the city.
To make the drive effective, the government has directed all the district magistrates to strategise and roll out the campaign in their respective zones.
The campaign will be launched from August 15, 2019 on Independence Day. It will include door-to-door awareness drives, workshops, competitions involving residential welfare associations and schools.
The campaign intends to involve residents, students, teachers and markets to spread awareness of waste segregation and disposal.

DMK Wins Vellore LS Seat With a Slender Margin

Tamil Nadu's opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam won the Vellore Lok Sabha seatby a slim margin, wresting the constituency from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in a closely fought election that had been cancelled in April 2018 after the discovery of a large cash hoard.
DMK nominee DM Kathir Anand, son of the party's principal secretary S Duraimurugan, defeated AIADMK candidate A C Shanmugam with a margin of 8,141 votes in the election.

Guidelines Laid Down For Name Change In Goa

Fears that people from outside the state were changing their names to Goan ones to presumably impersonate dead people or lay claim to inheritances, the Goa Legislative Assembly passed a law restricting people from changing their names and which prescribes jail terms of up to three months for violators.
The bill says that a person can change his or her name only if it is wrongly spelt in their birth certificates or has an "unpleasant or distasteful" meaning. The current law is that people can change names without having to state reasons for the same.

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