General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - September 2015

Sep 2015

Aug 05, 2017

First Private Missile Sub-system Manufacturing Hub Opens

The country’s first private sector missile sub-systems manufacturing facility was inaugurated near Hyderabad. A joint venture between the $2.5 billion Kalyani Group and Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd, the facility at the Hardware Park on the city’s outskirts will manufacture advanced weapon systems in the short term for Indian armed forces and later for the global defence market. The joint venture will invest in designing, developing, and manufacturing weapon systems, including Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) systems and remote weapon systems.

New Data Protection Law Soon

Union Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government would soon bring a new robust data protection law considering that power emanates from information, communication, and data in the contemporary world. A high-level committee has been constituted for the purpose. The committee headed by former Supreme Court Judge BN Srikrishna made recommendation he expected a “robust” data protection law to come up. The panel would study and identify key data protection issues and recommend methods to address them.

Mughalsarai Railway Station Renamed

The Centre approved the renaming of the iconic Mughasarai Railway Station in Uttar Pradesh after RSS ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyaya. The decision was taken following a proposal forwarded by the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh. The fourth busiest in the country, the station is located on the main Howrah-Delhi Grand chord line.

Aug 04, 2017

BJP Overtakes Congress in Rajya Sabha

The BJP overtook Congress to become the largest political party in the Rajya Sabha, where it now has 58 members against 57 of the main opposition party.
This is the first time that the saffron party has become the number one formation in the RS after the Narendra Modi government came to power in May 2014.
The BJP-led NDA, however, is still short of a decisive majority in the house but the joining of JD(U) to the ruling block has further boosted its numbers.

India’s First Private Missile Production Facility

India’s first private sector missile sub-systems manufacturing facility, a joint venture between the $2.5 billion Kalyani Group and Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd., was inaugurated near Hyderabad.
To begin with, the Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems (KRAS) plant will make anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) Spike and the production is expected to begin in a few weeks.

Aug 03, 2017

Big Win against Pakistan

The world body has allowed India to construct hydroelectric power plants on the Jhelum and Chenab Rivers.
The go-ahead from the World Bank came days after the conclusion of secretary-level discussions between India and Pakistan on the technical issues over the Indus Waters Treaty.
India is permitted to construct the Kishenganga (330 megawatts) and Ratle (850 megawatts) hydroelectric power plants on Jhelum and the Chenab rivers as specified in the Indus Waters Treaty.
The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960 after nine years of negotiations between India and Pakistan with the help of the World Bank, which is also a signatory.

Complete Sealing of Indo-Pak Border

As per BSF chief, sealing the Indian border with Pakistan is an immediate priority and a smart technology- aided fence will be in place along the Jammu sector by March next year.
Border Security Force DG, added that as the country's relations with its eastern neighbour Bangladesh are very good at present, a similar plan to make the Indo-Bangla border impregnable would be taken up once the resources are available.

Proxy Voting for NRIs

The Union Cabinet cleared a proposal to extend proxy voting to overseas Indians by amending electoral laws.
For overseas Indians, the Representation of the People Act needs to be amended to include proxy voting as other means to cast their votes.
While NRIs and overseas Indians are free to cast their votes in constituencies where they are registered, according to the proposal, they would also be allowed to use the option of proxy, which as of now is only available to service personnel.

Aug 02, 2017

Arvind Panagariya Resigns

Niti Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to relieve him of his duties by August 31 as he was not getting extension of leave from Columbia University.
The Indian-American economist and Professor of Indian Political Economy at Columbia University, Panagariya had joined as the first vice chairman of the Niti Aayog, which had replaced the Planning Commission, in January 2015.

Eminent Scientist Bhargava Passes

One of India`s top scientists and founder-director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Pushpa Mitra Bhargava died after a brief illness. He was 89.
Born in Ajmer in February 1928, Bhargava did his Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry from Lucknow University. His pioneering vision and efforts led to the founding of CCMB in 1977 as an institution for research in basic biology.

Transfer of Sentenced Persons

India and Somalia signed a bilateral agreement for the transfer of sentenced persons, thus deepening humanitarian cooperation between the two countries.
The agreement was signed between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Somalia Yusuf Garaad Omar.

NOTA in Rajya Sabha Polls

The Congress approached the Election Commission against the use of None of the Above (NOTA) option in the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, claiming it was violative of the Constitution and electoral laws, but the poll panel maintained that it was not a new direction and was introduced in 2014.
As per the Congress memorandum, the use of NOTA in an indirect election is contrary to the mandate of the, Constitution, the Representation of the People Act, as well as conduct of election rules.

Aug 01, 2017

Bengaluru Gets New Police Commissioner

The Karnataka government named T. Suneel Kumar as the new police commissioner of Bengaluru as Bengaluru's serving police chief, Praveen Sood, has been transferred.
Sood, who had taken charge in January earlier this year, has been posted as the ADGP Communications, Logistics and Modernisation.

Bill to Make Eviction from Govt. Homes

A bill which makes eviction of overstaying Members of Parliament, dignitaries and bureaucrats from their official premises smooth, speedy and time-bound, was introduced in the Lok Sabha.
Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh introduced the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Amendment Bill, 2017, as the existing provisions allow the unauthorised occupants to stay for years in some cases by resorting to various methods.
The bill provides powers to estate officials to start summary eviction of people from the residences, which is given to them on license basis, within three days of their overstay.

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