General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - September 2015

Sep 2015

Nov 22, 2018

Formal Request for Multi-role U.S. Copters

India made a formal request to the U.S. for the purchase of 24 MH-60R Multi-Role Helicopters (MRH) for the Navy in a deal estimated at $2bn. This is among a series of defence procurements and inductions from the U.S. and Russia in the last two months.

The Navy is presently facing a critical shortage of helicopters and several frontline warships are plying with empty helicopter decks. These helicopters are being procured as replacement for 15 Sea King ASW helicopters de-inducted from service in 1991 and one Sea King 42B MRH lost in accident.

Jammu & Kashmir Assembly Dissolved

Jammu & Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik dissolved the state assembly in a contentious decision that may well be challenged in the courts.

The dissolution came after Mehbooba Mufti's Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its arch-rival National Conference (NC) teamed up with the Congress for a shot at government formation with the support of 56 legislators in the 87-member assembly. The People's Conference led by Sajjad Lone, later staked a rival claim, saying it had the support of 25 legislators belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and "more than 18" others.

Nov 21, 2018

Kolkata Mayor Resigns from Cabinet

Sovan Chatterjee, one of the key Ministers of the West Bengal government and a close confidant of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, tendered his resignation from the portfolios of Housing Department and Department of Fire and Emergency Services. Mr. Chatterjee, who is also the Mayor of Kolkata, is also expected to relinquish the post.

Reservation for Women

The Odisha Assembly passed a resolution by unanimous voice vote for providing 33% reservation for women in Legislative Assemblies and Parliament.

There are 12 women legislators in the 147-member State Assembly at present.

Sushma Swaraj Not To Contest 2019 Polls

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has announced that she will not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Swaraj, the BJP's most prominent woman leader, is a four-time Lok Sabha MP, and has been member of the Rajya Sabha for three terms. She won from Vidisha for the second time in a row in 2014.

Swaraj entered the Haryana assembly in 1977, and became a minister in the state cabinet at the age of 25. She is a former chief minister of Delhi and has been part of every BJP government at the Centre.

Nov 20, 2018

Land Rights to Enclave Dwellers in Bengal

The West Bengal Assembly passed a Bill to give land rights to enclave dwellers in north Bengal, ending an era of uncertain future of the people residing in those enclaves.

Bangladesh and India had exchanged a total of 162 enclaves on August 1, 2015, ending one of the world's most complex border disputes that had lingered for seven decades since Independence.

As per Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, this historic Bill would help the enclave dwellers to get full-fledged status as citizens of India, along with all civic amenities and citizenship rights.

Draft Witness Protection Scheme

The Supreme Court said that it would direct all the states to implement the draft witness protection scheme framed by the Centre in consultation with the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA).

The issue of witness protection scheme had cropped up earlier when the top court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking protection for witnesses in rape cases involving self-styled preacher Asaram Bapu.

Emergency Landing Airstrips on NHs

The Centre has decided to develop 11 emergency landing airstrips on the national highways in different states to operate airplanes when road or rail traffic gets disrupted.

The spots selected were mostly located near sea coasts which get cut off in case of heavy floods or tsunami consequent to earthquakes.

CBI Feud Turns Murkier

A senior Central Bureau of Investigation officer supervising the probe against the agency's special director Rakesh Asthana moved the Supreme Court against his sudden transfer to Nagpur with an explosive petition that levelled charges against high-ranking government officials, two of his seniors, a minister and even the country's top vigilance officer.

Manish Kumar Sinha, deputy inspector general (DIG) of anti-corruption branch, Nagpur filed his application demanding a court-monitored probe by a special investigation team (SIT) into the corruption allegations against Asthana.

Chandan Kumar Sarkar Passes Away

Former Assam minister and senior Congress leader Chandan Kumar Sarkar died at a hospital at Bongaigaon.

Sarkar was elected to the legislative assembly thrice, 1991, 2001 and 2011, from Abhayapuri South constituency and served as the irrigation minister in the third term of the Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government.

India and Russia to Sign Navy Deal

India and Russia will hammer out a $500 million contract to build two stealth frigates in Goa that are expected to be delivered by 2027.

Russia's state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport and India's Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) will sign the contract in New Delhi to build the Grigorovich-class 'Project 1135.6' frigates with technology transfer from Russia, which is India's top arms supplier.

India is in talks with the US to secure a waiver from the Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions Act (Caatsa), arguing that its military is heavily dependent on Russian equipment and the two countries share a unique, time-tested relationship.

Nov 19, 2018

World's Largest Display of Bonsai Trees

Pune-based Bonsai master Prajakta Giridhari Kale has made an entry into the Guinness world record with the world's largest display of Bonsai trees. Kale became the first woman in the world in the field of Bonsai art to have established a new Guinness world record.

With her collection of 3,333 Bonsai trees, Kale broke Swami Ganapathy Sachchidananda's world record of a collection of 2,649 Bonsai trees which was created on December 21, 2016 in Mysuru.

Reservation in Jobs and Educational Institutes for Marathas

The Maharashtra government has accepted the State Backward Class Commission's report and decided to give quota in jobs and educational institutes to the Maratha community.

The reservation will be granted to the community under a new category called 'Socially and Educationally Backward Class' (SEBC) as per the recommendation of the commission. The politically dominant Maratha community constitutes over 30 per cent of the state's population.

Northeastern States Agree to Implement RERA

Nearly two years after the Real Estate Regulation Act (RERA) was enacted by the Parliament, six northeastern states have finally agreed to implement the law, paving way for protecting the interest of home-buyers in these states.

Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim had failed to notify RERA due to land and other issues.

The development comes after a team of the Union Housing and Urban Affairs (HUA) Ministry visited the northeastern states in October and held a workshop with their representatives and discussed the issues coming in the way of notifying the Act.

104-year-old Kalyan Bridge

The central railway dismantled the 104-year-old Patripool Bridge in Kalyan in five hours, taking an hour less than the expected time. The previous demolition, Hancock Bridge near Sandhurst Road station in 2016, took 18 hours.

Motorists from Kalyan use the bridge, which is on the 21-km Kalyan-Shilphata stretch, to reach Dombivli, Thane, Bhiwandi and Navi Mumbai.

Nov 18, 2018

Relief for Gujarat Farmers

The Gujarat government announced a special relief package of Rs. 1,300 crore for approximately 20 lakh farmers in 45 talukas that received less than 400 mm rain in the current year. These talukas have been declared scarcity-hit.

India's First Dedicated Elephant Hospital

India got its first dedicated elephant hospital near the Taj Mahal, complete with wireless digital X-Ray, laser treatment and dental X-ray facilities. The 'jumbo' hospital is the result of a collaboration between the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department and conservation NGO Wildlife SOS.

The veterinary hospital has modern medical facilities for the treatment of elephants in distress.

Located near Agra, the facility is in the Farah block of Mathura, near the Elephant Conservation and Care Center (ECCC) run by Wildlife SOS.

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