General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - September 2015

Sep 2015

Jun 28, 2019

Rename West Bengal

The Trinamool reiterated the long-pending demand of the West Bengal government to rename the State as Bangla.
The matter has been pending with the Union government since July 2018.
Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Rajya Sabha member of the party, raised the issue during Zero Hour. Mr. Ray said no geographical territory known as East Bengal ever existed officially.
The word Bangla or the territory called Bangla is believed to have been derived from Banga, a Dravidian tribe that settled in the region in 1000 BCE.
In July 2018, the West Bengal Assembly passed a resolution recommending the name change. The Union Home Ministry, which is the arbitrator in this issue, has not taken any step on the issue.

Rehab Project for Manual Scavengers in City

The Delhi cabinet approved a rehabilitation programme for those identified as manual scavengers. Under the programme, those identified would be provided with a one-time cash assistance of Rs. 40,000, loans of Rs. 15 lakh at concessional interest rates and credit linked back-end capital subsidy up to Rs. 3. 25 lakh.
The manual scavengers would also be provided skill development training for up to two years with stipend of Rs. 3,000 per month.
The rehabilitation programme for manual scavengers, proposed by the social welfare department was approved in the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
About 45 manual scavengers were identified in the three districts of Shahadra, North East Delhi and East Delhi during the state monitoring committee meeting on September 24, 2018.

Jun 27, 2019

INLD's Lone RS MP Joins BJP

One more Rajya Sabha member from the Opposition joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after four did so earlier in June 2019, helping the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) steadily improve its position in the Upper House, where it is still in a minority.
Ram Kumar Kashyap, the lone Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) MP from Haryana, became the latest to join the BJP ranks in the Rajya Sabha.
He and two-time former MP from Kannur in Kerala, AP Abdullakutty, who was in the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress, joined the party in the presence of its working president Jagat Prakash Nadda.
The BJP now has 75 MPs in the Rajya Sabha, whose current strength is 235.

Jun 26, 2019

Election to Six Rajya Sabha Seats from Tamil Nadu

According to the Election Commission, Elections to six Rajya Sabha seats from Tamil Nadu would be held on July 18.
The term of office of six members, T. Rathinavel, V. Maitreyan, K. R. Arjunan, R. Lakshmanan (all belonging to the ruling AIADMK), D. Raja (CPI) and Kanimozhi (DMK), would expire on July 24, 2019.
Ms. Kanimozhi has been elected to the Lok Sabha.
Notifications for the elections wouold be issued on July , 2019. The last date for filing nominations is July 8, 2019 and counting would be done on July 18, 2019.
The Tamil Nadu Assembly currently has 232 MLAs against its sanctioned strength of 234 following the death of Vikravandi MLA K. Rathamani (DMK) and the resignation of Nanguneri MLA H. Vasanthakumar (Congress), who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kanyakumari.
To get elected to the Rajya Sabha, a candidate needs the support of 34 MLAs. Based on the individual strength of the parties, the AIADMK (123 MLAs) and the DMK (100) are likely to send three members each to the Rajya Sabha — the latter with the support of the Congress (7) and the IUML (1). T.T.V. Dhinakaran is the lone Independent MLA.

Punjab CM Slams Canada

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh lambasted the Canadian government for its overt and covert support to the Khalistani movement, warning that Toronto's failure to check anti-India activities being carried out from its soil would be detrimental to its own security in the long run.
Citing the findings of the John Major Commission into the 1985 Kanishka bombing as a clear endorsement of Canada's failure to act against the Khalistanis operating from its soil, the CM said that by allowing the conspirators of the mass murder, the Canadian government had exposed its true intent.
It was more than apparent that Canada had been extending its support to Khalistanis despite New Delhi's protestations.
Mr. Singh had been raising the issue with the Canadian government, Amarinder noted that he had in fact given a list of wanted terrorists in Canada to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the latter's India visit in 2018.
The lack of response from their government so far has exposed their intent.

Andhra Pradesh Disallows Bauxite Ore Mining

The YSR Congress party government in Andhra Pradesh decided not to allow mining of bauxite ore in the Eastern Ghats in Visakhapatnam district, in an attempt to check unrest among tribal communities that have been strongly opposing the mining.
Announcing this at a conference of IPS officers in Amaravati, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the controversial government order (GO No. 97) issued by the previous N. Chandrababu Naidu regime in November 2015 allowing the mining, would be scrapped immediately.
The GO had permitted AP Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC) to take up bauxite mining in 1,212 hectares spread over 13 stretches in Chintapalli and Gudem Kotha Veedhi revenue blocks in Visakhapatnam district.
But the government put the order in abeyance following protests by local tribals and environmentalists.

Jun 25, 2019

Passports with Advanced Security Features

The government is on its way to integrate all the diplomatic missions and posts into the Passport Seva Project shortly. On the occasion of the Passport Seva Divas, External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar said that India would soon deliver passport booklets with advanced security features.
According to S. Jaishankar, the passport booklets with advance security features were being produced at the India Security Press, Nashik. They would have chips installed for security. The government proposes to pursue the manufacture of e-passports on priority so that a new passport booklet with advanced security features can be rolled out.

TN Urges Centre Not to Grant Green Nod for Mekedatu Dam

Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to grant the Terms of Reference (ToR) for environmental clearance for Karnataka's proposed dam at Mekedatu.
Karnataka's action of seeking environmental clearance for the Mekedatu project was in utter violation of the final order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and the judgment of the Supreme Court, dated February 16, 2018.
The T.N. government conveyed its strong objections to Karnataka's proposal and had asked the Centre to reject outright and return the detailed project report (DPR) for the Mekedatu Dam, which was not a designated reservoir for the release of water from Karnataka to Tamil Nadu in terms of the tribunal's final order, as modified by the SC.

BJP Gets First ZP in West Bengal

The BJP took control of the South Dinajpur Zilla Parishad in West Bengal from the Trinamool, its first in West Bengal, after a majority of the ruling party members, besides an MLA, switched sides.
In a jolt to the Trinamool in the district, veteran leader Biplab Mitra also joined the BJP.
Mr. Mitra, considered one of the architects of the Trinamool in the district in north Bengal, was shunted out as the party's district president after the Lok Sabha polls.
Besides Mr. Mitra and 10 of the 18 members of the South Dinajpur Zilla Parishad, Trinamool MLA Wilson Champramary joined the BJP in Delhi.

Jun 24, 2019

Mayawati Appoints Kin to Key Party Posts

BSP chief Mayawati tightened her family's grip on the party by appointing her younger brother Anand Kumar as vice-president and his son Aakash Anand as a national coordinator.
She informed her party leaders and MPs about the appointments at the BSP's national-level meeting.

Kartarpur Passenger Terminal Work

The work on 15-acre passenger terminal for Kartarpur corridor was kicked off in the presence of senior officials of the Land Port Authority of India (LPAI) at Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur.
Inaugurating the terminal, LPAI chairman Anil Kumar Bamba said that the terminal was being constructed as part of the first phase of the project and would be completed by October 31, 2019.
The first jatha (batch) would leave for Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur on November 11, a day before the 550th Parkash Purb of Guru Nanak.
In the second phase, hotels, sarais (night shelters) and hospitals, among other facilities, will be built on the 50-acre plot over a span of two years.

First Tryst with Scientific Waste and Sewage Management

Residents of northeast Delhi's Babarpur area, often characterised by its open, garbage-filled and stagnated drains, had their first tryst with scientific waste and sewage management.
Locals in the area, so far, had only seen their complaints about stinking open drains being resolved "occasionally" with the help of earth movers and manual cleaners.
This time, however, a set of unique machinery – booms and enhancers – was lowered into a 52-cusec drain that cuts through matchbox-like houses in Babarpur. The project was launched in the presence of Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Anil Baijal.
It (the drain) was an irrigation canal decades ago, which is now dead.
Sources of this drain have been reduced to rain, sewage and local waste. This will now be a part of the 10 sentinel locations across the country chosen for the Centre's Waste to Wealth mission.
The aim is to adapt available technology and methods to attend to these sites in inclusive partnership with city officials and other stakeholders.
The project which is being overseen by the Prime Minister's Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (STIAC) and is being executed by the east Delhi municipal corporation, the Centre's department of biotechnology (DBT) and a few private stakeholders is aimed at cleaning the drain and then creating energy and reusable water from the wastewater.

Jharkhand CM Sets 60-day Deadline

Chief Minister Raghubar Das set a two months deadline for district administrations to distribute free LPG connection to the remaining 14 lakh families to achieve 100% target under the ambitious Ujjawala Yojana.
Das fixed the deadline during a review meeting of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana at the state secretariat.
The meeting was attended by chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of the 20-point district and block programme.
As per Das, about 29 lakh women have been benefitted under the scheme. The state had only 27% LPG connections as on May 16, 2014.
This rose to 82.6% after four-and-half year.
The state has to achieve 100% target by distributing free LPG connections to remaining 14 lakh families under the expanded Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana-2 within next two months (till August 2019).

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