General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - September 2015

Sep 2015

Feb 10, 2019

India Set to Overtake Pakistan

According to Union Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, India is likely to overtake Pakistan in terms of the number of pilgrims sent for Haj pilgrimage this year.
There are two Islamic countries – Indonesia, from where around 2 lakh people participate and then there is Pakistan from where 1,84,000 people participate.
As of today, India already has over 1,75,000 participants and is aiming to supersede Pakistan this year.

NPP May Quit NDA

Amid widespread protests across the northeastern region over the contentious Citizenship Bill, National People's Party (NPP) president and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma threatened that his party would quit the BJP-led NDA if the proposed legislation was passed in Rajya Sabha.

BSP Calls Off Alliance with INLD

The Bahujan Samaj Party called off its nearly nine-month-old alliance with Haryana's main opposition INLD and announced to forge ties with LSP, an outfit floated by rebel BJP MP Raj Kumar Saini.
The development comes days after Om Prakash Chautala-led Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) suffered a humiliating defeat in the Jind bypolls, with party candidate Umed Singh Redhu forfeiting his security deposit.
Under the new arrangement, the BSP and the LSP will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and Haryana Assembly polls.
In Haryana, the BSP will contest on eight and the LSP on two Lok Sabha seats, Meghraj said.
He further said that his party would contest on 35 seats and LSP would on 55 seats during the Haryana Assembly polls.

Feb 09, 2019

Dial 1950 to Check your Voter Details

The Election Commission has launched a Voter Verification and Information Programme for citizens to cross-check their names, new registrations, changes in the voter details and corrections in the voter identity cards for the coming Lok Sabha election. The voter helpline number is 1950.
The Commission has enabled various channels for the programme and has also set up contact centres in all districts of India.

Three NE States on Alert

Assam Director General of Police Kuladhar Saikia said that the district police chiefs have been alerted for the possible entry of State-based extremists flushed out of Myanmar during an extensive raid on their bases in that country.
As per Mr. Saikia, the fallout of the operation in the neighbouring country has been discussed with his counterparts in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.
Indian security forces had stepped up vigil along the 1,643 km border with Myanmar — specifically the Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland stretch adjoining Myanmar's Sagaing Division, where the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) is based — after the Tatmadaw's crackdown on the bases of the extremists since January 29.
The Myanmar Army is called Tatmadaw.

Feb 08, 2019

Pension for Freedom Fighters to be Hiked

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced that the pension for freedom fighters would be increased to Rs. 25,000 and the medical allowance to Rs. 5,000 per month.
He said that the pension for soldiers and war widows of World War-II would be more than doubled, from Rs. 4,000 per month to Rs. 10,000.

JMM and Congress Seal Alliance

Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren sealed the alliance between both parties ahead of the Lok Sabha poll and for the next Assembly elections.
Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Babulal Marandi's Jharkhand Vikas Morcha and the Rashtriya Janata Dal will also be part of the alliance.
However, the parties had not finalised the number of seats to be contested by the alliance partners. There are 14 Lok Sabha seats in the State.

IAS Officers in Rajasthan

Nineteen IAS officers were transferred or assigned additional charge of other departments in Rajasthan. Bhaskar A. Sawant was shifted to Urban Development and Housing Department as Principal Secretary.
Hemant Gera, Navin Jain, Shuchi Sharma are among other officers who were transferred.

Airport Security May be Outsourced

As per reports, the Union Civil Aviation Ministry has commissioned a survey to find out what kind of security jobs at airports can be outsourced to private agencies in an effort to cut costs.
Security at 61 of at least 100 operational airports is provided by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which is the nodal force for aviation security.
However, most of the smaller airports under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) are secured by the local police which, experts say, compromises security.
The point of the study is to have clarity on which non-core jobs can be done by private guards, so the CISF can be withdrawn.

Feb 07, 2019

Centre Bans Kashmir Outfit

The Union Home Ministry has banned the Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen (TuM) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for promoting terrorism and radicalising and recruiting youth for terrorist activities in India.
Set up in the 1990s, TuM claims to be fighting for the liberation of Kashmir.
The TuM carried out a number of terrorist attacks besides subversive acts, namely grenade attacks, weapons snatching incidents, supporting other terrorist outfits such as Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), etc.

Feb 06, 2019

SC Raps Centre on NRC

The Supreme Court came down heavily on the Centre over the Assam National Register of Citizens (NRC) process and said that it is hell-bent on not allowing the work to continue.
The top Court rapped the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for its plea, seeking to stall the NRC work for two weeks, keeping in mind the role of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in the election duty.
Reiterating that the July 31 deadline for the completion of NRC exercise will not be extended, a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that the Centre is not cooperating in the NRC process and it seems the entire effort of the MHA is to destroy the NRC process.
The apex court asked the Election Commission to consider exempting certain state officers from election duty to ensure that the NRC process continues.

Anna Hazare Ends Fast

Terming the Centre's assurances over appointing a Lokpal and resolving farmer issues as satisfactory, anti-graft activist Anna Hazare finally ended his week-long fast following a closed-door meeting with Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and Union Ministers Radha Mohan Singh and Subhash Bhamre.
As per Mr. Hazare, the demand was that an ombudsman was not being appointed despite the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act being passed in 2013.
A letter from the Prime Minister's Office has assured that steps were being taken in this direction as per the Supreme Court's directives.
The activist further said that Chief Minister Fadnavis had assured that a new Lokayukta Act for Maharashtra would be passed by the time of the next Budget Session of the State Legislature and that a joint drafting committee would soon be constituted for the same.

India Obtains Consular Access

India obtained consular access to 117 of the 129 Indian students detained in the United States for enrolling in a fake university and legal assistance is being extended to them.
According to US government statistics, 129 Indians were administratively arrested as on January 31 in connection with their enrolment at the "university".
Efforts for consular access to the remaining 12 are continuing. Assistance is being extended to the Indian students in obtaining legal advice and connecting them to community support services.

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