General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - September 2015

Sep 2015

Jul 16, 2018

First Joint Tri-services Military Drill

India and the US are likely to hold their first tri-services military drill later this year.

The three wings of the armed forces of India and the US hold separate military exercises, but this will be the first time that the two countries will have a joint drill of their Army, Air Force and the Navy.

Liberal Visa Regime Agreement

Reiterating their commitment to strengthen the bilateral relation on the basis of friendship, trust and understanding, India and Bangladesh signed an agreement to liberalise the visa regime between the two countries.

The Revised Travel Arrangement 2018 (RTA 2018) amending the earlier RTA 2013 for further liberalizing the visa regime between the two countries, including enhanced duration for employment and student visas.

Anti-terror SCO Drill

Militaries of India and Pakistan will be part of a mega anti-terror drill in Russia next month which is being organised by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) with an aim to expand cooperation among the member countries to deal with terrorism and extremism.

The exercise will be joined by all SCO member countries including Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

India Becomes Regional Head of Asia Pacific Region

India has become the Vice-Chair or the regional head of the Asia Pacific Region of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) for two years from July 2018 to June 2020. The WCO has divided its Membership into six regions, each of which is represented by a regionally elected Vice-Chairperson to the WCO Council.

By becoming the Vice Chair, India will be able to take up the leadership role at the WCO.

INS Tarangini Sets Sail for Tall Ships Races

Indian Navy ship 'INS Tarangini' set sail as a participant in the Tall Ships Races from the UK's Sunderland Port.

The ship is on a Lokayan-18 voyage, which will take in 15 ports across 13 countries, and Sunderland marked the seventh, from where it set off for the annual races along with 13 other ships from the UK.

The ship is part of the first training squadron based at Kochi, under the Southern Naval Command of the Indian Navy.

Jul 15, 2018

Tirumala Temple to Close Doors

In a first, the temple of Lord Venkateshwara in Tirumala will remain closed for six consecutive days from August 11 to 16 for comprehensive cleaning.

Named "Ashta Bandhana Balalaya Maha Samprokshanam," the unique religious ceremony of cleansing of the entire temple complex including the sanctum sanctorum, takes place once in 12 years.

This is for the first time in the history of the TTD that the temple will be shut for pilgrims for six days for taking up the temple cleansing.

Assam's First Transgender Judge

Swati Bidhan Baruah has been appointed as a judge to mediate cases in Lok Adalat, becoming the first transgender judge in Assam judiciary.

Baruah has become the third transgender judge in India, with two others in West Bengal and Maharashtra judiciaries. India's first transgender judge is Joyita Mondal, who joined West Bengal judiciary in 2017. Later in February 2018, Vidya Kamble was appointed a judge in Maharashtra.

Jul 14, 2018

India, US 2+2 Dialogue

According to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, India will hold a top-level strategic dialogue with the United States in the first week of September, after the United States last month postponed the meeting for a second time this year.

The agenda will be to develop and strengthen strategic defence cooperation.

Missile Deal with Russia to Go Ahead

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the deal for S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems with Russia was "at an almost conclusive stage" and the US sanctions legislation won't affect it, brushing aside Washington's concerns about the Rs 39,000-crore purchase.

Pre-invite to Trump for Republic Day

India has handed over a pre-invite to the White House to find out if it is convenient for President Donald Trump to pay a visit in January to be chief guest at the Republic Day celebration.

If Trump accepts, he would be the second US president after Barack Obama to be the chief guest at Republic Day celebrations. Obama was the chief guest on Republic Day in 2015.

Pact on Facilitating Ayushman Bharat Scheme

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has signed an agreement with the Centre on facilitating implementation of Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM), even though differences over the package rates remain.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley in this year's budget announced annual insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh for hospitalisation for poor and vulnerable families, benefiting 10.74 crore families. As part of the implementation process, government will be empanelling hospitals, both public and private where people will be provided cashless treatment.

Jul 13, 2018

Mayawati Tapping Regional Parties across India

As per reports, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati is tapping regional parties across India for potential electoral alliances which could help her emerge a strong contender for the Prime Minister's post in the event of next year's general election throwing up a hung Parliament.

Action Plan Titled 'Breathe India' Proposed

Niti Aayog has proposed 15-point action plan named "Breathe India" for combating air pollution in ten most polluted cities in the country.

According to a recent WHO database (2018), Kanpur, Faridabad, Gaya, Varanasi, Agra, Gurgaon, Muzaffarpur, Lucknow and Patna are the top ten most polluted cities in India.

Model Villages in Border Areas

The Centre launched a scheme for developing 'Model Villages' in border areas that will be implemented in 61 settlements that have been identified for the first phase of the project.

As per a senior MHA official, the decisions were taken at a meeting to review schemes being implemented under Border Area Development Programme.

Each model village will provide all basic facilities like primary health centre, primary education, community centre, connectivity, drainage, drinking water, etc.

Jul 12, 2018

Ludhiana Vet Varsity No. 1

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has ranked Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) number one among all the state agricultural universities.

It has also been ranked third among all the component institutes of the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) in the country.

Quota in Promotions

The Supreme Court declined to pass an interim order on the issue of reservations in promotions for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) employees in government jobs, and said a seven-judge bench will be set up to re-examine its 2006 verdict.

The matter affects hundreds of thousands of people employed by the Railways and other services and the Centre contended that promotions were stuck due to confusion over the issue.

India and Korea Sign Pacts

India and Korea have signed agreements covering a broad spectrum of areas, including Internet of Things (IOT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data and anti-dumping. A joint statement on the Early Harvest Package of the Upgraded Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) was exchanged between Suresh Prabhu and his Korean counterpart Kim Hyun-chong.

The objective of the joint statement was to facilitate ongoing negotiations on upgrading the India-Korea CEPA by identifying key areas for trade liberalization.

TRAI's Recommendations on Net Neutrality Accepted

The Centre has accepted the telecom regulator's recommendations to introduce net neutrality protections, and licence agreements with service providers will be immediately amended.

Net neutrality requires service providers to treat all internet traffic equally and prohibits discrimination in treatment of content, including practices such as slowing down or granting preferential speeds.

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