General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - September 2015

Sep 2015

May 20, 2019

Hill State Records Highest Turnout

According to the Voter Turnout app of the Election Commission (EC), as many as 70.62% voters turned out to vote, as Himachal Pradesh's all four Lok Sabha seats – Kangra , Shimla, Mandi, and Hamirpur, went to the polls in the last phase of national elections.
The turnout surpassed the highest ever polling percentage of 65.3% recorded in the state in 1998. A 64.5% turnout was recorded in 2014 elections.

Last Phase of Voting

The fate of political parties and their candidates for the 542 Lok Sabha seats was sealed, with the conclusion of the last phase of polling in 59 constituencies across seven States and one Union Territory, which recorded a tentative turnout of 64.23%, compared with 64.63% in 2014.

May 19, 2019

India Voices Concern over Delays in Reimbursement

India, which is owed $38 million by the UN for peacekeeping operations, has voiced concern over the unjustifiable and inexplicable delays in reimbursement to countries providing peacekeeping troops.
It underlined that recurrent delays in payments had turned the troop contributing countries into de facto financers.

NPF to Pull Out of BJP-led Coalition Government

The Naga People's Front (NPF) decided to pull of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition government in Manipur after the Lok Sabha election gets over.
Senior NPF leader and former Nagaland Chief Minister T. R. Zeliang announced the decision.
The decision is unlikely to affect the state government. Currently, the BJP has 31 of the 60 MLAs in the state assembly.
It also has the support of four National Peoples Party legislators and one Lok Janshakti Party MLA, putting it well clear of the halfway mark.

Anti-BJP Alliance Talks

Opposition leaders moved to try and stitch up an alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, with a few days left for the declaration of the Lok Sabha election results.
Telugu Desam Party leader and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu revived his attempt to put together an anti-BJP coalition, meeting an array of opposition leaders.
N. Chandrababu Naidu met Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati who are fighting the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh together in a bid to not split the anti-BJP vote.
Naidu has already held several rounds of discussions with Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury.

Government Rejects Verma's Plea

The defence ministry has rejected a statutory compliant filed by Vice Admiral Bimal Verma challenging the appointment of his junior Vice Admiral Karambir Singh as the next Navy Chief.
Rejecting his April 10 complaint, the ministry said that while seniority plays an important role in the appointment of service chiefs, it is not the sole determining factor.
There have been instances of seniority being ignored in the past as well.
Verma, who heads the Andaman and Nicobar Command in Port Blair, would have been the senior-most officer in the navy on May 31 when Admiral Sunil Lanba retires.
The government, however, decided against appointing him the next navy chief and opted for Singh.

May 17, 2019

Re-polling in Four Kerala Booths

The Election Commission has decided to conduct a re-poll in four polling booths, three in the Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituency and one in the Kannur Lok Sabha constituency, where bogus votes were cast in the April 23 election.

India and Iran Discuss Visa Extension

Two days after the visit of Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, India held the 11th Consular Committee Meeting with Iran which dealt with smoothing visa and legal matters essential for bilateral ties.
Both sides went ahead with the talks, even as Saudi Arabia blamed Tehran for a drone attack on Saudi oil installations.
Both sides discussed issues of mutual interest, including early conclusion of Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance on civil and commercial matters, extending longer duration of e-Visa for each others' nationals on reciprocity and visa facilitation for greater people-to-people contact.

May 16, 2019

Govt. to settle retirement age of CAPF men by May-end

The retirement age of CAPF personnel is set to be fixed at 60 years after the Supreme Court recently dismissed a special leave petition (SLP) filed by the government against the direction of the Delhi High Court to resolve an existing anomaly.
The order will be issued after final approval of the Ministry of Home Affairs. After few rounds of consultations by the ministry with all the forces, it is analysed that the age of retirement for all the personnel, from jawan to senior officers, should be settled at 60 years as compared to 57 in certain cases at present.
The six CAPFs are the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the Assam Rifles.
These forces are deployed to undertake a variety of security tasks in the country, ranging from guarding borders to conducting anti-Naxal operations and combating terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the present policy, all personnel in the CISF and the Assam Rifles retire at the age of 60 while in the rest four forces, personnel in the ranks of constable up to commandant (senior superintendent of police equivalent) retire at the age of 57, while those above them superannuate after attaining the age of 60.

MP Govt May Amend Money Lenders Act

The Madhya Pradesh government is considering amending the 84-year-old Money Lenders Act to define the payment schedule and caps on interest rates in an attempt to help farmers who have borrowed from moneylenders.
The move comes against the backdrop ta suicides by at least four debtridden farmers in May; all four had borrowed from moneylenders.
The decision was taken after a meeting of the state's chief secretary with bankers, officials of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), the state's finance, agriculture, and other relevant departments.
The changes being considered include: caps on the interest that can be charged; a written agreement between the lender and borrower; and penalties for moneylenders charging more interest than mandated.
Legislations for regulation money lending are state-specific in India. Maharashtra defines interest rates as MP plans to do.
Section 31 of The Maharashtra Money-lending (Regulation) Act, 2014, says, "The State Government may by notification in the Official Gazette, fix the maximum rates of interest to be charged by a moneylender in respect of secured loan and unsecured loan...".
The current legislation is largely focused on licensing of moneylenders. Although bank credit is available to farmers, many still prefer to take small unsecured loans from local moneylenders, usually at a high interest rate.

Congress to Move Manmohan from Assam

Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, whose tenure as a Rajya Sabha member from Assam ends in June, is unlikely to be sent to the Upper House from the State again.
The Congress does not have the numbers in the Assam Assembly to secure a win for Dr. Singh and would not like to take a risk.
The Election Commission has announced June 7 as the day of election. The last day for filing nominations is May 28.
In the 126-member Assam Assembly, the Congress has only 25 MLAs, while the party needs first-preference votes of at least 43.
Even if the Congress gets the support of 13 MLAs of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), it falls short of 5 MLAs.

Online Writing of Appraisal Launched

The online writing of Annual Performance Appraisal Report (APAR) in SPARROW (Smart Performance Appraisal Report Recording Online Window) was launched for over 46,000 group B and group C officers of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), ministry of finance, working in its various formations all across the country.
Online writing of APARs in SPARROW for Indian Revenue Services ( C and CE) officers has already been implemented with effect from 2016-17.
The project was inaugurated by PK Das, chairman, CBIC from the oard office at north block in New Delhi. It is being implemented in over 400 formations of CBIC.

May 15, 2019

Chandrababu Naidu Holds Last Cabinet Meeting

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu held a cabinet meeting to review the drinking water crisis in the state and drought conditions after the Election Commission gave him the clearance.
This was the last cabinet meeting conducted by Naidu in his current tenure, as a new government will be formed after May 23 when the results of the state assembly elections will be declared.
If the TDP comes back to power for a second term, Naidu will be able to conduct the cabinet meetings again.

Government Extends Ban on LTTE

The ministry of home affairs issued a notification extending the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a militant outfit that fought for Tamil independence in Sri Lanka until its defeat in 2009, for five more years.
India had banned the LTTE after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
The ban on the group was last extended for five years in 2014.
The LTTE, a terror outfit based in Sri Lanka, came up in 1976 with a demand for a separate homeland (Tamil Eelam) for Tamilians.

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