General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - September 2015

Sep 2015

Jan 30, 2019

Ten North-East Parties Join Hands Against Citizenship Bill

Ten Northeast political parties, most of which are members of BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), came together on a common platform to jointly oppose the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 "in the interest of the NE people".
They also decided that a delegation, comprising their representatives, would call on the President and the Prime Minister to apprise them of their opposition to the bill that seeks to provide Indian citizenship to minorities who fled religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan and entered India before December 31, 2014, after six years of residence in the country.
Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma, on whose initiative the meeting was called, and his Mizoram counterpart Zoramthanga attended the meeting. The Asom Gana Parishad, which pulled out of Sonowal-led BJP government in Assam over the issue, was also associated with the convening of the meeting.
The 10 parties were Mizo National Front, United Democratic Party, AGP, Naga People's Front, National People's Party, National Democratic Progressive Party, Hill State People's Democratic Party, People's Democratic Front, Indigenous People's Front of Tripura and the Khnam.

Jan 29, 2019

EC Wants Ban on All Party E-Ads 48 hrs Before Polls

The Election Commission has sought an amendment to the law to prevent social media and other digital platforms from carrying political advertisements in the final 48 hours before elections.
While Section 126 of the Representation of People Act prevents electronic media from airing political advertisements in the 'silent period' before elections, the EC in 2015 brought in rules that made pre-certification mandatory for campaign material to be published in newspapers during the 48 hours.
Social media platforms, which are under scrutiny the world over for how they influence election outcomes, however, have been completely out of the purview of the pre-screening and prohibition rules.
The EC has written to the law ministry, suggesting to extend the provisions under Section 126 to digital and print media as well, keeping in mind the differential approach to print and electronic media, and the rising impact of social media on elections.
While Section 126 expressly bans television channels from broadcasting "political matter" during the period, lack of any backing by law has led to print media carrying political advertisements during the silent period despite the curbs imposed by the EC.
Accordingly, the EC suggested inclusion of 'print media' and 'other entities' within the ambit of Section 126 (1) (b). Other entities will pertain to all social media formats.

Lokpal Panel to Conduct its First Meeting on Appointments

The panel set up to recommend names for appointments to anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal will hold its first meeting on 29 January 2019.
The government had in September constituted the eightmember panel to recommend names for the top anti-corruption ombudsman. Former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai is heading the panel.
The committee also includes retired bureaucrat Lalit K Panwar, former Allahabad high court judge Sakha Ram Singh Yadav, ex-State Bank of India chief Arundhati Bhattacharya, Prasar Bharati chairperson A Surya Prakash, Indian Space Research Organisation head A S Kiran Kumar, former Gujarat police chief S S Khandwawala and ex-solicitor general Ranjit Kumar.
As per the guidelines, the search committee would recommend the names for selection to a Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led panel.
According to the Lokpal Act, the Prime Minister's panel has the Lok Sabha speaker, leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, chief justice of India or an apex court judge he nominates as its members.
The Lokpal will have a chairman and eight members. It can inquire into offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act including against the Prime Minister with specified safeguards.
Sitting and former Union ministers as well as current and former Parliament members also come under its purview.
The Lokpal can look into allegations of corruption against government employees and those of companies, societies or trusts set up by acts of Parliament or financed or controlled by the central government. Employees of associations of people receiving funding from the government or having received public donation or foreign funding up to Rs 10 lakh annually, too, come under the Lokpal's purview.

Jan 28, 2019

Train 18 to be called Vande Bharat Express

India's fastest train, Train 18, will be known as Vande Bharat Express.
The 16-coach train will run between Delhi and Varanasi at a maximum speed of 160 kmph and will be flagged off by PM Narendra Modi.
The train was manufactured in 18 months at a cost of Rs 97 crore by Integral Coach Factory, Chennai. The train received all statutory clearances for commercial operations.
The fully air-conditioned train will stop at Kanpur and Allahabad and will have two executive chair cars and and 14 non-executive chair cars. The train fare is likely to be higher than what is charged in Shatabdi trains, which will include food as well.

Jan 27, 2019

MP Becomes First State to Map Trees

In a move that will make wood poachers think twice before felling a tree in a protected reserve, for the first time in the country, Madhya Pradesh' s Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary has started collecting DNA samples of standing trees, stumps and logs.
This smart use of technology will not only discourage wood poachers from felling trees in reserved forests, but also fix responsibility of conniving officials.
Wood mapping has been used in the United States and elsewhere in the world to identify and prosecute wood smugglers with success but Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary.
The samples will be sent to State Forest Research Institute (SFRI) Jabalpur, where DNA will be extracted. Then, a DNA data bank of all trees will be prepared and the samples preserved.
Whenever a forest team catches wood smugglers or spot protected wood made into furniture or other products, their DNA samples will be taken and matched with those in the data bank.
A match of samples will make it easy to book the accused in a court of law, because it will be possible to trace back the origin of the smuggled wood to the source.
Officials say that wood smugglers usually chop off the tree bark at the point where there are markings by the forest department, cut the wood and sell it as jungle wood for furniture and other products. When forest teams encounter anyone carrying wood, it is difficult to prove that it has indeed been sourced from a protected reserve.
The DNA technique is now giving forest officials fresh hope.
Nauradehi is Madhya Pradesh's largest wildlife sanctuary. It was created in 1975 and consists of forest spread over 1,197 square km across four districts of the state.
In addition to precious trees like teak, saja, dhawda, sal, tendu, bhira, mahua and sandalwood, the sanctuary is also home to the keystone species of the Indian wolf, the Bengal tiger, the Indian leopard, the striped hyena, crocodiles and many other wild animals and rare birds.

Citizenship Bill Creates a New Identity

The northast's most-populous state, Assam, is a veritable museum of competing tribes, sub-tribes and ethnicities. Bablu Nandi, a Hindu Bengali young man whose community is now staring at a looming identity conflict, has added one more community to that simmering list: "Assamese Bengali."
The birth of this new identity can be attributed to the Centre's push to the Citizenship Amendment Bill, which seeks to give citizenship to any non-Muslim from Bangladesh, Pakistan or Afghanistan who wishes to settle in India.

Jan 25, 2019

Metro line to G Noida Opens

Three years after work began on Metro's Aqua Line that will connect Noida with Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath formally inaugurated the much awaited corridor.
At 29.7 kilometres, this line is the longest Metro corridor in the country to be inaugurated at one go. At 29km, the Hyderabad Metro held the earlier record.
Work on the Aqua Line started in May 2015 and was completed in a record time of three-and-a-half years. It has been constructed at a cost of Rs. 5,503 crore.

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