General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - September 2015

Sep 2015

Jan 26, 2018

Toy train to run again from Neral to Matheran

State chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will relaunch the much-awaited Neral to Matheran toy train service on its full 21km stretch on Republic Day. He will also gift passengers a host of amenities along Central and Western Railway, which includes FOBs, wi-fi facilities, escalators, solar power plants, emergency medical rooms, booking offices, LED lighting at stations and 26 additional train services for CR commuters. He will also inaugurate the additional landing of the FOB at Elphinstone Road station, next to the landing of the bridge where 23 persons died in stampede on September 29. The toy train will commence at 10.30am from Neral station and reach Aman Lodge at 1.35pm, before culminating at Matheran station at 2pm.

State govt to develop helipads in all 358 talukas

The Maharashtra government has come up with a helipad policy and has decided to develop permanent helipads in all 358 talukas in the state's 36 districts. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has survived at least three helicopter mishaps last year. The state issued a government resolution directing all district collectors to identify and plan helipad spot in their respective talukas.

NCP chief to lead 'Save Constitution' rally

On the occasion of the Republic Day, NCP president Sharad Pawar will lead the 'Save Constitution' campaign from Dr Ambedkar statue in Nariman Point to the Gateway of India. The rally assumes political significance as, besides left parties, TMC, state Congress led by former chief minister Ashok Chavan has extended support to the campaign. Chavan and Pawar have indicated that they may join hands for the 2019 Lok Sabha and assembly polls to dislodge the BJP government at the Centre and in the state.

Last privately owned jumbo in city dead

The city's last privately owned elephant, Laxmi, died in Dahisar. Forest officials will conduct the post-mortem at Kora Kendra in Malad to ascertain the cause of death. Laxmi was ailing for quite some time, said Sunish Subramanian of the NGO Plant and Animals Welfare Society, Mumbai.

Jan 25, 2018

Bravery award for Yatra driver

Salim Gafur Shaikh, the driver who saved 52 Amarnath pilgrims during a terror attack, was given the Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak, the second highest civilian gallantry award. The Ashoka Chakra was awarded to IAF commando J P Nirala posthumously.

Boost for regional connectivity as Indigo, Jet join UDAN-2 plan

Affordable regional connectivity by air could soon be a widespread reality with India's biggest airlines joining the Modi government's ambitious UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme. IndiGo and Jet Airways are among the players who were awarded 325 routes in the second round of UDAN bidding. SpiceJet and Alliance Air, which had joined the regional connectivity scheme (RCS) in the first round, have got more routes.

After 9-year break, Elephanta Festival to resume in full swing over weekend

After a gap of nine years and over the coming weekend, the state government will resume hosting all the events for the Elephanta Festival at the historic island itself. The state government had stopped hosting the evening segment of the festival at the island following the 26/ 11 terror attacks of 2008; major evening events were shifted to the Gateway of India over security concerns. Elephants Caves are located 10km off the Mumbai coast. The Unesco world heritage site has a series of cave temples dedicated to Lord Shiva. The site can host 400 people at a time. This will be the 29th edition of the festival that started back in 1989.

Jan 24, 2018

Aaditya elevated as Sena 'neta'

Uddhav Thackeray's son Aaditya was elevated as Shiv Sena's 'neta', marking a generational shift in the party's dynastic set up. At 28, Aaditya, a law grad, has joined the league of party bigwigs like Manohar Joshi, Sudhir Joshi, Liladhar Dake and Subhash Desai. He will now be privy to confidential parleys on key policy issues. Union minister Anant Geete, Eknath Shinde, Chandrakant Khaire and Anandrao Adsul have also been promoted as 'netas'.

India is fifth most attractive market for investments, up one notch compared to previous year

India has climbed one spot to become the fifth most attractive market for investments and business optimism is at record high levels globally even as cybersecurity and climate change have become areas of concern for CEOs.
According to the annual global CEO survey by consultancy giant PwC, released in Davos, at the WEF annual meeting recently, India has bumped Japan as the fifth most attractive market in 2018. In 2017, India was at the sixth position.

India No. 177 out of 180 countries in green index

A day after being ranked 62nd among 74 emerging economies on the World Economic Forum's Inclusive Development Index, India found itself near the bottom of another index released in Davos, this time on the environment. Poor handling of air pollution abatement and forest protection measures has seen it slip to 177th position among 180 countries in green rankings this year from No. 141 two years ago. The biennial rankings noted that India and China (placed 120th), both of which fared badly on air quality parameters, "face public health crises". Switzerland tops in protecting the environment.

PM pitches India as new pole in globalised world

Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong pitch to investors and said the government had rolled out the red carpet and was removing red tape. He also showcased India as a sustainable counterpoise to the US and China on the global challenges of climate change, terrorism and protectionism.

Jan 23, 2018

India now 5th most attractive place to invest

India moved up a notch to overtake Japan and become the fifth-most attractive investment destination in a global CEOs' survey, even as the IMF said the country would again emerge as the fastest growing major economy in 2018, clocking 7.4% growth amid signs of an improving economic environment. In a survey conducted by Price water house Coopers, chief executives said excluding their home market, they were most likely to invest in the US, followed by China, Germany and the UK. The world's largest economy expanded its lead as corporate chiefs expect more rapid growth in the US.

'India's Osama' held after over 9 years

A top Indian Mujahideen figure and the alleged architect of the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts that claimed over 50 lives was arrested in East Delhi after a brief gun battle, the police said on Monday. After being on the run for over nine years — during which he lived in Nepal and Saudi Arabia — 46-year-old Abdul Subhan Qureshi, often described as "India's Osama bin Laden", resurfaced to revive IM cells in the country, they said. Qureshi, a software engineer-turned bomb maker who studied and worked in Mumbai before embracing extremist ideologies, is suspected to be involved in the July 2006 explosions aboard local trains. He has not been charged over the attacks that killed over 180 people, but the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad is now expected to seek his interrogation to ascertain his role. Qureshi has been also been linked to the July 2011 blasts in Mumbai.

Jan 22, 2018

Nexus Venture Partners Eyes $400 m in Fifth Fund

India’s largest homegrown venture capital firm, Nexus Venture Partners, is expected to raise its fifth fund which is targeting a corpus of $350-400 million, according to three people in know of the development. The firm, best known for its bets on online marketplaces like Snapdeal and ShopClues, will increase the share of investments in companies based in the US in the software space as several of its bets on the consumer-internet space have turned sour.

At Davos conference, PM Modi to hardsell 'new India'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday warned that emerging challenges to the international system and global governance architecture needed serious attention of stakeholders including governments, companies and civil societies groups and said he would outline his vision of India’s engagement with the international community in Davos. The statement came ahead of the PM’s maiden trip to the Alpine resort where he will showcase ‘New India’ and the opportunities for global investors in an economy which is expected to grow at close to 7% in the coming years.

India begins talks with Russia for Rs. 39k crore missile shield deal

India has now begun final contract negotiations with Russia for the Rs 39,000 crore (over $5.5 billion) acquisition of five advanced S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems, which can detect, track and destroy hostile strategic bombers, stealth fighters, spy planes, missiles and drones at a range of up to 400km and altitude of 30km. India wants to conclude the major deal in the 2018-19 financial year.

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