General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - September 2015

Sep 2015

Mar 11, 2018

Union Government makes passport mandatory for bank loans of Rs. 50 crore and above

The government has made providing passport details mandatory for taking loans of 50 crore rupees and above to ensure a swift action in case of fraud and prevent fraudsters from fleeing the country. Financial Services Secretary, Rajiv Kumar in a tweet for all existing loans of over 50 crore rupees, banks have been asked to collect passport details of borrowers within 45 days.The Passport details will help banks to take timely action and inform the relevant authorities to prevent fraudsters from fleeing the country.The Cabinet has approved the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill to impound and sell assets of escapees with a view to quickly recover dues.The proposed law will also apply to defaulters who have an outstanding of Rs. 100 crore or more and have escaped from the country.Several big defaulters like Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, Vijay Mallya and Jatin Mehta have fled the country putting the recovery mechanism in quandary.

India, France sign agreements on Defence, Space, Railways

India and France released a vision document to join hands to safeguard peace and stability in the Indian Ocean region and decided to strengthen defence cooperation, including logistics arrangement, besides a new momentum to the fight against terrorism and a civil nuclear arrangement. The two sides signed 14 agreements, including in the areas of space cooperation and high speed railways, following bilateral talks led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron here.

Telangana launches India's 1st state-led incubator for women

The government of Telangana launched Women Entrepreneurship Hub (WE-Hub), India's first state-led incubator for women entrepreneurs. The incubator will help women entrepreneurs establish their own enterprises by providing services including seed funding, mentoring, and business guidance. Deepthi Ravula is heading the incubator as its Chief Executive Officer.

Worlds Best Airport: Delhi And Mumbai Airports tie at no. 1

Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) and Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport have beaten 1,952 other airports from 176 countries to tie at number one for world's best airports, as per Airports Council International (ACI) ASQ 2017 rankings. The Airport Service Quality Awards 2017 was announced by the Airports Council International (ACI), which conferred the ranking on the basis of a worldwide programme in which passengers were surveyed across airports for their feedback on 34 key performance indicators.

India Gate opens its gate to unveil rich culture and heritage of Odisha

India comprises of rich culture and tradition time and again exhibited the rich talent and ethnicity. Owing to display the richness, a three festival has been organized to celebrate Odisha's culture, tradition, heritage, and cuisine have been commenced in the lawns of the India Gate. Filling up the streets, the programmes lined up for the festival include those on fashion, culture, dance, handicrafts. The Visitors are also being treated to the coastal state's mouth-watering delicacies. One of the highlights is an innovative fort-shaped food-court, reflecting the ambiance of 'Baarah Maasi Tera Parba', which reflects Odisha's passion for festivals in one calendar year. Denizens from every nook and corner of the National Capital will witness the unique culture, heritage, traditions, dance, melody, culinary delights, along with illustrious history and freedom struggle of Odisha under one spectrum. As per sources from the organizing committee, the entrance gate will be in the shape of 'Dola Bimana', which is a common sight in Odisha, during the festival of Holi. Intricate pattachitra designs will add colors to this decorum. To commemorate the life of brave-hearts who fought daringly against the oppression of British forces in Odisha, this edition of Odisha Parba shall highlight individuals and incidents which marked the remarkable struggle from 1804-1947. A Grand Stage will be set up with a backdrop of Barabati Fort to evoke the glorious past of Odisha. An exhibition, a coffee table book and a multi-projection film shall throw light on the rebellions which spread across Odisha in the 19th and 20th centuries. Apart from this, a sculpture gallery by internationally renowned sculptor Padma Shree Sudarshan Sahoo shall showcase the intricate stonework. The stalls will display the live demonstration of the making of Stone Art, Pattachitra, Paper Mache, Paddy Craft, Kotpad Sarees. A Fashion show woven around the beautiful handlooms and textiles from various parts of Odisha shall be the highlight of the mega event.

Karnataka to become 2nd state in country to unveil its own flag

The Karnataka government unveiled the State flag (nada dhwaja ) for the state. If approved by the Centre, Karnataka will be the second State to have a flag after Jammu and Kashmir. The yellow-white-red flag has the State emblem at the center. The proposal will be now sent to the Union Home Ministry for approval since a State has no powers to announce its own flag.

'Wings India 2018' event inaugurated in Hyderabad

Telangana IT and Industries Minister K T Rama Rao inaugurated the biennial event on Civil Aviation and Aerospace titled 'Wings India 2018' at the Begumpet Airport. The four-day event was jointly organized by the Civil Aviation Ministry, Airports Authority of India and the Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Mar 10, 2018

French President Arrives in India

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in the national capital on a four-day India visit.
Macron was accompanied by his wife Brigitte Marie-Claude Macron and senior ministers from his Cabinet.
He will hold delegation-level talks with PM Modi and will also take part in a Town Hall and have an interactive session, in which nearly 300 students from different levels and institutions are expected to participate.

India Willing to Work with China

As per reports, India is willing to work with China to develop relations based on commonalities, while dealing with differences on the basis of mutual respect and sensitivity to each other's interests.
During the meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping in Xiamen in September last year, the two leaders had agreed that sound development of relations between India and China were a factor of stability amidst today's global uncertainties, and that the two countries should not allow their differences to become disputes.
As per Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, despite some tests and difficulties, the China-India relationship continues to grow.

BJP Banks on Women Power

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants to leave no stone unturned in its bid to retain power at the Centre in the next Lok Sabha elections scheduled in 2019. To ensure a firm grip on a large chunk of voters, the party is planning to connect with women across the country. As per the plan, whenever PM Modi visits any state, he will make sure that he interacts with women in the area to gauge their mood.
The plan will be executed beginning with PM Modi's visit to his parliamentary constituency Varanasi later this month.
Experts view this as a measure to win the support of women across the country.

Mar 09, 2018

Diu becomes first UT to run 100% on solar power

Diu, a major tourist destination, has become the country's first and only solar-energy-efficient Union Territory, showing an effective way to people to harness this renewable energy source. In just three years, Diu has made rapid progress in solar power generation. Limited to an area of just 42 square kilometres, more than 100% of Diu's electricity demand is being met by solar power. Despite scarcity of land, solar power plants have been installed over more than 50 acres.

Stanford Graduate Plans to Open Social Impact Incubators

36-year old Standford Graduate in social entrepreneurship from Batala has plans to tackle social issues confronting Punjab and the country as a whole. Param Singh, founder of Monsoon Impact incubator and UDAY, intends to set up first-of-its- kind social impact incubators in the state. He has signed an MoU with Punjab government for setting up two incubators in Mohali and Amritsar. The incubator will select, support, and scale impact-driven entrepreneurs to solve society's most pressing challenges. The company intends to incubate 50 social impact entrepreneurs by 2020. Monsoon Impact Incubator will be the state's first-of-its-kind 'profit with purpose' social incubator.

Karnataka Government Unveils State Flag

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah unveiled the state flag, terming the move a historic decision that has been taken keeping in mind the history of the state and to promote the selfrespect of the people. The new flag is a departure from what was earlier used unofficially as the Kannada flag. While it retains the classic bands of yellow on top and red at the bottom, a strip of white, symbolising peace has been added. At the heart of the flag is the official emblem of the state, the coat of arms of the erstwhile state of Mysore.

Punjab Gets 'Nari Shakti Puraskar'

President Ram Nath Kovind presented the national 'Nari Shakti Puraskar' to Punjab for making outstanding contribution towards women empowerment. Social Security and Women and Child Development Minister Razia Sultana received the award. Tarn Taran has been selected among the best 10 districts of the country where sex ratio at birth has improved remarkably in a limited span of time.

National Nutrition Mission 2022 launched

PM Narendra Modi launched National Nutrition Mission - 2022 to provide the best nutrition to new-borns and expanded "Beti Bachao Beti Parhao" to every district of the country. It would be a comprehensive project involving Rs. 9,000 crore, covering not only nutrition but all issues related to children.

Neiphiu Rio Takes Oath as Nagaland CM

Nationalist Democrative Progressive Party (NDPP) leader Neiphiu Rio was sworn in as Nagaland's Chief Minister by the Governor PB Acharya. This is Rio's fourth term as the Chief Minister of the north-eastern state. BJP's Y Patton took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister. The first timers sworn into the Council of Ministers are Metsubo Jamir of the NDPP, Tongpang Ozukum, Temjen Imna and V Kashiho Sangtam.

Mar 08, 2018

TDP to Pull Out of NDA Government

The TDP decided to pull out of the NDA Government at the Centre and asked two of its ministers in the Narendra Modi government to tender their resignation. The two ministers in the government are Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju, and Minister of State for Science and Technology YS Chowdary.

Uttar Pradesh Switches for Jaitley in Rajya Sabha Polls

Finance Minister Arun Jaitely will be BJP's candidate for the March 23 Rajya Sabha election. The BJP has repeated seven out of eight ministers whose term is ending in April. Jaitley is currently a member of the upper house of Parliament from Gujarat.

Prakriti to be the First Combat Officer in ITBP

In another first for women, Prakriti has been inducted as the first direct entry combat officer in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. She hails from Bihar's Samastipur, and is currently based in an ITBP unit at Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh.

Mar 06, 2018

IAF Short of Jets and Pilots

As per reports, the Indian Air Force is short of not only fighter jets but also pilots to fly them in the event of a war. The IAF on February 1, 2018, had 3,855 pilots against a sanctioned strength of 4,231.
The Indian Navy and Indian Army, too, face a shortage of pilots.
IAF is also well below the 42 combat squadron strength to tackle the scenario of a two-front war. At present, the IAF has an effective strength of just 34 combat squadrons but three of those are of the older MiG-21BIS, MiG-21M and MiG-27 which are on the verge of being phased out.

Close Watch on Rising Chinese Ships

In recent years we have seen a significant rise in presence of Chinese ships and submarines in the Indian Ocean region.
As per Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba, the Indian Navy is keeping a close watch on Chinese activities in the Indian Ocean. Chinese ships are in the Indian Ocean since 2008 and they have a lot of ships and submarines deployed here.
The Indian Ocean is the only ocean named after a country.
The Indian Navy monitors all movements and is fully capable of ensuring its maritime security.

India A Defence Manufacturing Hub

India is all-set to showcase its capability as a major defence manufacturing hub at the DefExpo 2018 which is scheduled to be held in Chennai next month.
As per reports from the Defence Ministry, the expo will project India's ability to manufacture and export several defence systems and components for all three Services - Army, Navy and Air Force.

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