General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - September 2015

Sep 2015

Feb 21, 2019

Special Status to Goa

The BJP is willing to include the demand to grant special status to Goa in its manifesto for Lok Sabha elections.
Many groups in the coastal state have been demanding special status for Goa, which has been facing challenges from in-migration, scarce land resource and a resultant dilution of its identity.
According to BJP national vice president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, BJP will implement the demand.
The BJP's assurance came at a time when Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has been demanding special category status for the southern state which was bifurcated to create Telangana in 2014.

Congress to Contest 9 LS Seats from TN

Congress will contest nine Lok Sabha seats and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) will field its candidates along with smaller parties for the remaining 30 constituencies in Tamil Nadu, as the two parties sealed an alliance for this summer's general elections a day after the Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) returned to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fold for the electoral battle.
The Congress will also contest the lone Lok Sabha seat in Puducherry. The DMK, a key constituent of the Opposition's 'mahagathbandan' formed to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is in talks with the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) to finalise the seat-sharing pact for 30 seats.

Feb 20, 2019

Regional Rapid Transport System

The government approved the construction of a Rs. 30,274 crore Regional Rapid Transport System (RRTS) to connect the national capital with Meerut through Ghaziabad.
According to the government, the 82 km stretch will be covered in less than 60 minutes by high-speed and green public transit.
The RRTS is a first-of-its-kind, rail-based, high-speed regional transit system to be implemented in India.
Once operational, it will be the fastest, most comfortable and safest mode of commuter transport in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Islands Identified for Seaplane Operations

According to Home Minister Rajnath Singh, four islands in the Andamans and three in Lakshadweep have been identified for seaplane operations, while private sector participation has been invited for tourism-based projects.
The 5th meeting of the Island Development Agency, chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, also reviewed the progress made towards the programme 'Holistic development of islands'.
The six islands are Swaraj Dweep, Shaheed Dweep, Hutbay and Long Island in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Kavaratti, Agatti and Minicoy in Lakshadweep.

Feb 19, 2019

Cyber Crime Facilities

Boosting the country's efforts in tackling cyber crimes, Union home minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a state-of-the-art national cyber forensic lab (NCFL) and the Delhi Police's cyber crime unit 'CyPAD' in the national capital.
Both cyber crime fighting units are in Dwarka, Sector 16C.
With this initiative, law enforcers will be able to proactively address cyber threats in coordination with other law-enforcement agencies, and national and international cyber security organisations.

Bhopal to Host Indian History Congress

After Savitribai Phule Pune University allegedly backed out, the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh has decided to host the 79th Indian History Congress in Madhya Pradesh beginning February 26.
The 79th session was earlier supposed to be held at the SPPU from December 28.
This cancellation was unprecedented in the history as the only time Congress session was not held was in times of national need like 'Quit India' movement in 1942 and the wars in 1962 and 1971.
In the moment of crisis, the Madhya Pradesh government has come forward to support the IHC. Bhopal's Barkatullah University will be hosting the event.
Over 1,000 delegates, including prominent historians, are expected to participate in the IHC in Bhopal.

Schedule for MLC Elections

The Election Commission announced the schedule for biennial elections to the Legislative Council as the term of five members, P. Sudhakar Reddy, Mohd. Ali Shabbir (both Congress), T. Santosh Kumar, Mohd. Saleem and Mohd. Mahmood Ali (all TRS), under the Legislative Assembly quota is set to expire by March-end.

Shiv Sena Makes U-turn

Barely 13 months after the Shiv Sena passed a resolution at its national executive to go it alone in all future polls, it made a U-turn by announcing an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
As per the agreement, the BJP will contest 25 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats, while the Sena will contest 23.
Both parties have been together for over 25 years, and even though there have been some misunderstandings in recent times, the original ideology of both parties is the same — Hindutva.

Feb 18, 2019

J&K Withdraws Security of Separatist Leaders

The Jammu and Kashmir administration has withdrawn the security of five separatist leaders including Hurriyat Conference chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
The orders come three days after the Pulwama attack in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed in a suicide bombing.
Apart from Mirwaiz, the Jammu and Kashmir administration has also removed the security cover of Abdul Ghani Bhat, Bilal Lone, Hashim Qureshi and Shabir Shah.
The order said that no security forces or cover should be provided, under any pretext, to them or any other separatists.

Names for 26 Maharashtra Seats

The Congress Maharashtra unit has sent a final list of possible candidates for 26 Lok Sabha constituencies in the State to the All India Congress Committee.
On the list, Milind Deora (Mumbai South), Sushil Kumar Shinde (Solapur), Charulata Tokas (Wardha), Mukul Wasnik (Ramtek), Rajeev Satav (Hingoli), Manikrao Thakre (Yavatmal) and Amita Chavan (Nanded) have no competitors. Latur (Scheduled Caste reserved) has the highest number of ticket aspirants with the selection committee receiving 31 names.

India and Iran Agree to Join Forces

India and Iran, after suffering from two heinous terrorist attacks in the past few days, have agreed on close cooperation to combat terrorism in the region as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met the country's Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi in Tehran.

Commercial Run of Vande Bharat Express

India's first semi-high speed train, Vande Bharat Express, began its first commercial run, a day after it broke down on its way to Delhi from Varanasi.
Vande Bharat Express left Delhi for Varanasi on Sunday on its first commercial run.

Sikkim Opposition Party Demands Seat Reservation

Sikkim's main opposition party, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) has threatened to call the state's first general strike in 26 years on February 28 if its demands for reservation of seats in the state Assembly for Limboos and Tamangs, sub-communities of the Gorkhas and other benefits for different communities are not met by February 25.
Sikkim is ruled by Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) led by Chief Minister Pawan Chamling, India's longest serving chief minister. The SDF has 23 members while the SKM has nine.
The key demand in the list of 35 is the restoration of Sikkimese Nepali seats in Sikkim legislative assembly, reservation of Limboo, Tamang tribal seats in the state assembly, granting scheduled tribe status to 11 Nepali communities and regularisation of temporary jobs recently given by the state government under the one family, one job scheme.

President Kovind Lauds Farmers of Haryana

President Ram Nath Kovind praised the farmers of Haryana for adopting new methods to manage stubble and crop residue as he honoured some of them with 'Kisaan Ratna' and 'Krishi Ratna' Awards.
Stubble burning by farmers in many States has been one of the major causes for air pollution for years, prompting the governments to ban the practice and encourage the growers to adopt alternative ways to manage crop residue.
He said that the people and the government of Haryana were making efforts for the overall development of the State, including enhancing ease of doing business and improving social indicators such as the child sex ratio.

Feb 17, 2019

Rajinikanth will Not Contest LS Polls

Superstar Rajinikanth has announced that he will not contest Lok Sabha polls and added that his party Rajini Makkal Mandram (RMM) will not be fielding candidates in the general elections. RMM said that it will not support any party and added that its focus will be on next assembly elections.
Appealing to his fans, he said that he wants them to vote for a party which will solve Tamil Nadu's water issues. He also warned the media not to use his photograph or party symbol for any propaganda.

Ex Gratia for CRPF Jawans' Families Hiked

The Congress government in Rajasthan revised its ex gratia to the next of kin of five CRPF jawans from the State, who were among the 40 killed in the Pulwama terror attack, from Rs. 25 lakh to Rs. 50 lakh each.
The family members of the slain CRPF personnel will also get government jobs. The bodies of the deceased were cremated with full State honours in their villages.

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