General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - September 2015

Sep 2015

Jul 30, 2019

Goyal Backs Out of RCEP Meeting in China

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal backed out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Intersessional Ministerial meet in China in order to participate in the extended session of Parliament that would now run till August 7, 2019.

Goa Dy Speaker in Citizenship Row

Isidoro Fernandes, newly elected deputy Speaker of the Goa legislative assembly denied claims that he is a Portuguese citizen after a purported copy his birth certificate being registered in Portugal emerged online and sparked a controversy.
Fernandes said that there was no truth in the allegations and claims that he was a Portuguese citizen were false.
The deputy Speaker's denial came after lawyer-activist Aires Rodrigues produced a copy of the registration of Fernandes' birth in Portugal and alleged that he was a Portuguese citizen
As per Rodrigues, the current Canacona MLA had obtained Portuguese Nationality on 22nd April 2014 and demanded that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant should immediately drop Fernandes if he does not resign on his own.

Yediyurappa Wins Trust Vote

The three-day-old BJP government in Karnataka headed by Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa proved its majority with ease in the Assembly by winning the confidence motion by voice vote.
Soon after the trust vote and the passage of the Finance Bill for a period of three months along with the supplementary budget, Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar, who had disqualified 17 rebel MLAs of the Congress and the JD(S) over the last few days, tendered his resignation.

Karnataka Speaker Resigns

Karnataka Assembly Speaker K. R. Ramesh Kumar announced his decision to step down moments after the state's freshly-minted Chief Minister B. S. Yediyurappa cleared the trust vote by a voice vote.
Kumar's announcement came a day after he disqualified 14 more lawmakers from the assembly on petitions filed by the Congress and the Janata Dal Secular.
In all, Ramesh Kumar disqualified 17 rebel lawmakers who had attempted to exit the assembly which led to the collapse of the H. D. Kumaraswamy government.

New Governors Take Charge

Former Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel took oath as the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, replacing Ram Naik.
Lalji Tandon assumed charge as the new Governor of Madhya Pradesh.
Lalji, who was earlier the Governor of Bihar, vacated his position for Phagu Chauhan, who was sworn-in as the 40th Governor of Bihar.
Former BJP MP from Madhya Pradesh, Anusuiya Uikey assumed charge as the Governor of Chhattisgarh.
She replaced newly-appointed Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel who was holding additional responsibility of Chhattisgarh. Patel was given the charge of Chhattisgarh following the death of Governor Balram Das Tandon in 2018.
Seven-times MP from Chhattisgarh's Raipur Ramesh Bias took the oath as the 18th Governor of Tripura.

Farooq Abdullah Warned the Centre

Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah warned the Centre against any move to abrogate Articles 35A and 370 that accord special status to the state and its people.
The former CM and National Conference leader said that Articles 35A and 370 should not be removed. It forms our foundation. There is no need to remove it. We are Hindustani but they (Article 35A & Article 370) are important for us.
This comes days after another former CM Mehbooba Mufti warned that any attempt to tinker with the special status of Jammu and Kashmir would blow up in its face
The comments of top leaders come came after a central government order allowed additional 100 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) to be deployed in Jammu and Kashmir to reinforce counter-insurgency operations and maintain law and order.

Jul 29, 2019

Speaker Disqualifies 14 more Karnataka Rebels

Karnataka speaker KR Ramesh Kumar disqualified 14 rebel lawmakers whose decision to skip a trust vote last week toppled the state government, a ruling that came a day ahead of a floor test where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is widely seen to have the edge.
Kumar said that the 14 legislators, 11 from the Congress and three from its ally, the Janata Dal (Secular), stood disqualified until the term of the current assembly, due to end in 2023, and could not even contest bypolls. The decision also forecloses the possibility of any of the rebel legislators being named as ministers in the new government. He said, however, that they would be free to contest if fresh assembly elections were called.
The rebels said they would move the Supreme Court on Monday against this "unconstitutional" decision, and some constitutional experts said the ruling, including the decision to bar them from contesting in bypolls, was based on Kumar's interpretation of Article 164 1(b) of the Constitution, which deals with disqualification, and was bound to be challenged.
Kumar, who disqualified three other rebel MLAs last Thursday, stressed that he had been impartial but had to hurry because he was asked to preside over Monday's floor test.

Jul 28, 2019

Panel to Frame RIIN Modalities

The Nagaland government constituted a commission to frame the modalities of creating the Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland.
The RIIN, a register of all the indigenous inhabitants of the State, is required to prevent issuance of indigenous inhabitant certificates to ineligible persons.
A notification on setting up of the panel to develop the modalities was issued, after the administration held meetings with tribal bodies, civil societies and non-Naga communities of the State.
It was decided that the policies and modalities of preparing the RIIN would be framed and made public before the actual enumeration begins.
The notification said the commission would recommend the eligibility criteria to be an indigenous inhabitant, the documents to be acceptable as proof for being an indigenous inhabitant, the manner in which the exercise is to be carried out and any other issue relating to implementation of the RIIN.
The panel would submit its report within three months.
The Commission would be headed by retired Chief Secretary Banuo Z. Jamir as chairman and T. Kiheto Sema and S. Chingwang Konyak as members. Justice (Retd.) Zelre Angami will function as the advisor to the Commission. The Home Commissioner and the Commissioner Nagaland will be ex-officio members of the panel.

Jul 27, 2019

Some JD(S) MLAs Want to Back BJP

A few JD(S) legislators have impressed upon HD Kumaraswamy to extend external support to the BJP government in Karnataka, party MLA and former minister GT Devegowda said but asserted that the former chief minister would take the final decision.
Barely four days after losing power, the JD(S) legislators were a divided lot over their next course of action.
The difference of opinion among the legislators surfaced in a meeting convened by Kumaraswamy on Friday night to decide the party's future course of action in the wake of upheavals in Karnataka politics.

Yediyurappa Takes Oath as CM

B.S. Yediyurappa took oath as the 31st Chief Minister of Karnataka, three days after the collapse of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government, and is set to take the floor test on Monday to prove his majority. This is Yediyurappa's fourth stint at the helm of the State.
Mr. Yediyurappa's first announcements after assuming office were sops for farmers and weavers. He said that an additional sum of Rs. 4,000 in two instalments would be given to farmers from the State government under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, which will take the total benefit to Rs. 10,000, including Rs. 6,000 from the Centre. He also announced, after the Cabinet meeting, waiver of about Rs. 100 crore loans borrowed by weavers before March 31, 2019. He hinted that he would take a re-look into all the programmes of the previous Kumaraswamy government.

Extra Security Forces for J&K

In an unprecedented move, the Home Ministry granted approval for the mobilisation of 100 additional companies of security forces in Jammu & Kashmir.
According to a senior government official, the movement of troops was necessitated as the security forces deployed in Kashmir Valley were stretched in securing the Amarnath Yatra route.
However, the move has raised speculation about the Centre planning to unroll fresh measures in Kashmir.
The move comes despite additional 40,000 security personnel stationed in Kashmir to maintain security of the Amarnath yatra, which concludes on August 15 and already more than two lakh pilgrims have visited the holy shrine in Kashmir.

Jul 26, 2019

Karnataka speaker Disqualifies Three Rebel Lawmakers

Karnataka speaker KR Ramesh Kumar disqualified three rebel lawmakers and said decisions on other dissident MLAs would be pronounced soon, adding to the suspense of government formation in the southern state days after the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition was toppled in a trust vote.
Kumar announced that Congress MLAs Ramesh Jarkiholi, Mahesh Kumathahalli and Ranebennur legislator R Shankar stood disqualified. Jarkiholi and Kumathahalli were part of the 15 MLAs who resigned as legislators earlier in July 2019, bringing the coalition government to the brink of collapse. Shankar has resigned as a minister and pledged support to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The speaker insisted that the disqualified lawmakers couldn't contest election until the term of the current assembly – due to expire in 2023 – is over.
There are disqualification petitions against 14 more MLAs – 13 rebels and one Congress lawmaker who didn't turn up for trust vote –pending before Kumar.
With this decision, the strength of the 225-member assembly comes down to 222. The BJP has 105 MLAs.

Speaker Forms Four House Committees

The Speaker Om Birla formed four parliamentary committees and their chairpersons for the 17th Lok Sabha.
The Public Accounts Committee has Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury as its Chairperson. BJP MP Kirit bhai Solanki has been made the chairman of the committee for welfare of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Ganesh Singh has been made chairman of the committee for welfare of OBCs while Meenakshi Lekhi is the chair of the committee on public undertaking.

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