General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - September 2015

Sep 2015

Nov 17, 2018

PM Modi calls for 'great wall of trust'

Ahead of his meeting with President Xi Jinping on the margins of the G20 Summit in Argentina this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of the need for contacts between India and China to build a "Great Wall of Trust and Cooperation". Modi's remarks came in the form of a message read out to participants of the China-India Youth Dialogue 2018 at the Chinese embassy. Chinese envoy Lou Zhaohui, in his speech at the event, spoke of the need to synergise India's 'Act East' policy with China's 'One Belt, One Road' (OBOR) initiative, which New Delhi doesn't endorse.

Modi and Xi are set to meet for the fourth time this year during the G20 Summit. They have met twice since Wuhan - on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Qingdao in June, and the sidelines of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, in July.

Railways to Set up Medical Colleges

The Indian Railways is planning to establish medical colleges to offer postgraduate courses for doctors at 10 of its existing hospitals across India.

As per reports, the process is in a very nascent stage right now and that the national transporter has already identified 10 hospitals with 300 or more beds across India, where there courses will be taught.

The official said that the proposal has been cleared by the Railway Board and now, the Railways is in the process of getting permissions from the Medical Council of India (MCI).

Acquisition Of Weaponised Predator Drones And Antimissile Shield For Delhi

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman will embark on a three-day bilateral visit to the US in December first week with the acquisition of weaponised Predator drones and antimissile shield for Delhi on top of the agenda with Pentagon as the two countries take their defence cooperation to the next level. Sitharaman will be the first NDA defence minister to visit Hawaii to honor the renaming of Pacific Command as Indo-Pacific command, recognising the salience of India in east and far east.

According to diplomats based in New Delhi and Washington, Defence Minister Sitharaman will be in the US from December 3 to December 6 and will be hosted by Secretary of Defense James Mattis even as the possibility of US President Donald Trump reshuffling his Cabinet remains a distinct possibility. Apart from her meetings in Washington, Minister Sitharaman will also visit the Mountain View headquarters of Pentagon's defence innovation unit (DIUx), which recently tied up with its Indian counterpart.

During her visit, Sitharaman will also re-pitch for a Presidential waiver on CAATSA for the Indian acquisition of S-400 missile system from Russia; there were some positive signals on this during her meeting with Secretary Mattis on October 19 on the sidelines of the ADMM plus meeting in Singapore.

The two defence ministers are expected to review bilateral defence cooperation and discuss regional environment particularly in context of Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the IndoPacific.

New Chief for Naval Dockyard

Rear Admiral Kiran Deshmukh has taken charge as the Admiral Superintendent of Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam from Rear Admiral Amit Bose.

He was commissioned into Indian Navy in March 1986. The Flag Officer is an alumnus of Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington and IIT, Chennai.

Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal Against CBI

The Andhra Pradesh government of N Chandrababu Naidu and the West Bengal government of Mamata Banerjee have both barred the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from exercising authority in their state without express consent in each case, making the point that they doubt the independence of the country's premier investigating agency.

The Telugu Desam Party government, until March an ally of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre, will not allow the CBI to conduct raids or investigations in Andhra Pradesh without its prior approval.

"In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, the government hereby withdraws the general consent accorded (in GO Ms 109) to all the members of the Delhi Special Police Establishment to exercise the powers and jurisdiction under the said Act in the state of Andhra Pradesh," a government order said.

CBI functions under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, which gives it complete jurisdiction over Delhi and allows it to enter other states with the 'general consent' of that state's government. In the absence of such consent, CBI cannot interfere in any case within the limits of states. The Naidu government has vested the state investigation agency with the responsibilities of CBI.

Details of what the Bengal government has done aren't available and it isn't clear whether an order was passed.

Nov 16, 2018

No More Marking Gorkhas as Foreigners

The Assam government has decided to stop marking members of the Gorkha community as suspected foreigners and referring them to foreigners' tribunals. The state government will also move the High Court for relief to members of the community whose cases are pending with the tribunals.

The move comes after a federal ministry of home affairs circular to the Assam government that members of the community who are citizens of India or who have Nepalese documents cannot be marked as suspected foreigners and referred to foreigners tribunals to prove their citizenship.

Ramaphosa Likely to Be R-Day Guest

As per reports, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa is likely to be the chief guest of the 2019 Republic Day ceremonies.

Mr. Ramaphosa had hosted Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the BRICS summit in Johannesburg in July. He is also expected to take part in the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, to be held in Varanasi from January 21 to 23.

Nov 15, 2018

India Votes against UNGA Draft Resolution

India has voted against a UN General Assembly draft resolution on the use of death penalty, saying it goes against the statutory law of the country where an execution is carried out in the 'rarest of rare' cases.

The draft resolution, taken up in the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, Cultural) of the General Assembly Tuesday, was approved with a recorded vote of 123 in favour, 36 against and 30 abstentions.

Parliament Winter Session

The next Winter Session of Parliament will be held from December 11, 2018 to January 7, 2019.

The winter session of Parliament usually starts in November. However, it will be the second year in a row when it will begin in December.

The session was been delayed this year due to assembly elections in five states.

Punjab Government Fined over Pollution in Rivers

The National Green Tribunal slapped a Rs. 50 crore fine on the Punjab government over pollution in Beas and Satluj Rivers.

The Punjab government has been given two weeks to submit the amount.

Members of AAP in the state had asked NGT to save the two rivers from pollution, primarily caused by sugar mills.

Andhra Pradesh's High Court

As per Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, the Andhra Pradesh High Court will start functioning from the state's new capital, Amravati from January 1, 2019.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi will be invited for inaugurating the high court complex.

The court is currently functioning from Hyderabad, the joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Nov 14, 2018

Nod for Faizabad Name Change

The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet approved a proposal to change the name of Faizabad district to Ayodhya, a week after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath made the announcement on the eve of Deepavali.

Along with the district, Faizabad division has also been renamed Ayodhya. The districts of Ambedkar Nagar, Barabanki, Amethi, Faizabad (now Ayodhya) and Sultanpur comprise the administrative division and the contours will remain the same.

Portfolios of Ananth Kumar

President Ram Nath Kovind on the advice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, re-assigned the portfolios held by former Union Minister Ananth Kumar.

Union Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Mines Minister Narendra Singh Tomar was given additional charge of Parliamentary Affairs, the Chemicals and Fertilizers portfolio was allotted to D. V. Sadananda Gowda, the Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation.

Exercise Indra 2018

A joint military exercise between Indian and Russia will begin on 18 November at the Babina Field Firing Ranges, Babina Military Station. The Exercise Indra 2018 will be focused on combating insurgency and will be held under the aegis of United Nations (UN).

Company sized contingents of the 5th Army of the Russian Federation and a Mechanised Infantry Battalion of India will participate in the training exercise which will continue for eleven days.

It is the tenth exercise in the series of Exercise Indra.

Nov 13, 2018

IIM Boards to be Reconstituted

The Boards of Governors (BoG) of the 20 prestigious Indian Institutes of Management would be reconstituted as required by the IIM Act passed last year by December 15, with the Union HRD ministry giving its nod to the process.

According to the ministry, the process was in accordance with the provisions of the IIM Act 2017 and was approved in consultation with the law and justice ministry.

The government has also decided to immediately withdraw government nominees who are in excess of the provisions of the Act. This will pave way for complete control of the institutions by reputed academicians and alumni.

Modi in Varanasi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated infrastructure projects worth over Rs. 2,412 crore, including two major national highways and an inland waterway project.

It was the PM's 15th visit to his constituency in the last four-and-a half years.

The projects inaugurated also included a multi-modal terminal on the Ganga near Ralhupur village as part of the Centre's Jal Marg Vikas Project.

Bilateral Exercise Samudra Shakti

INS Rana of the Eastern Fleet based at Visakhapatnam under the Eastern Naval Command is on deployment to South East Asia and arrived at the port of Surabaya to participate in the inaugural edition of Indian Navy - Indonesian Navy Bilateral Exercise 'Samudra Shakti'.

The aim of the exercise is to strengthen bilateral relations, expand maritime co-operation, enhance inter-operability and exchange best practices.

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