General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - December 2015

Dec 2015

Apr 14, 2021

Goa Forward Party Quits NDA

Goa Forward Party (GFP) president Vijai Sardesai announced his party's formal withdrawal from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), blaming the state government for following "anti-Goan" policies that have wreaked havoc on the state's unique way of life, heritage, environment and livelihood.
Sardesai, who earlier served as a minister in former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's cabinet, announced the party's decision after its executive committee passed a resolution on Tuesday. The announcement also comes at a time when the GFP and the Congress have joined hands to contest Margao Municipal Council polls, ahead of the municipal council polls in five municipalities in the state.

Pradyot Kishore to Take Oath as Autonomous Council Chief

After a thumping victory in Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) polls, all the 18 winning candidates of the regional political party, Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA), led by royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarma will take oath of office on April 20, ending the Communist Party of India's (Marxist) (CPM) three-term rule of the council.
Pradyot Kishore is expected to take oath as the chief executive member of the 30-member council. With this poll, his party has emerged as the second biggest political force in the state, barely two years before the state goes to assembly polls. Pradyot resigned from the Congress in 2019 and floated TIPRA Motha this year with the chief promise of forming a Greater Tipraland by including indigenous population living outside the TTAADC region in Tripura and other Indian states like, Assam, Mizoram and some parts of neighbouring country Bangladesh.

Arindam Bhattacharya Joins BJP ahead of Fifth Phase of WB Polls

Bengali footballer Arindam Bhattacharya on Tuesday formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the fifth phase of the ongoing assembly West Bengal elections in the state.
The four phases of the eight-phased elections in West Bengal have been marred with violence, the recent example of which is the death of four people when security personnel opened fire in the Cooch Behar district.

Apr 13, 2021

Judge Who Gave Babri Case Verdict Appointed 'Up-lokayukta'

Retired judge Surendra Kumar Yadav, who gave the verdict in the high-profile Babri mosque demolition case last year, took oath as an 'up-lokayukta in Uttar Pradesh.
Yadav was appointed as third 'up-lokayukta' by the Governor. Yadav was administered oath by Lokayukta Sanjay Mishra in the presence of other senior officers.
The anti-corruption watchdog comprises the Lokayukta and three 'up-lokayuktas'.
The other two up-lokayuktas are Shambu Singh Yadav, who was appointed on August 4, 2016, and Dinesh Kumar Singh, who was appointed on June 6, 2020.
The tenure of an 'up-lokayukta' is eight years.

Narendra Modi Inaugurates 6th Edition of Raisina Dialogue

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 6th edition of the Raisina Dialogue. President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame and Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen also joined the Inaugural Session as chief guests.
The dialogue will be held virtually from April 13 to 16, 2021.
The Raisina Dialogue is India's flagship conference on geopolitics and geoeconomics, held annually since 2016. It is jointly organised by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Observer Research Foundation.
The 2021 edition will have 50 sessions with the participation of 150 speakers from 50 countries and multilateral organisations. More than 2000 attendees have pre-registered from over 80 countries and a large number of participants are likely to join the Dialogue through various social media platforms.

VP Releases Commemorative Postage Stamp of Former Chief of Brahma Kumaris Rajyogini Dadi Janki

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu released a commemorative postage stamp in the memory of former Chief of Brahma Kumaris Rajyogini Dadi Janki in New Delhi. Mr. Naidu said that what makes Brahma Kumaris so special is that the organisation is led by women. He said they have demonstrated that spiritual attainments transcend gender-based distinction. The Vice President said, society needs to be educated on equal rights to women in every field, not merely in letter, but in spirit, as well. He said, spirituality is the basis of all religions and the same spiritual thread binds them together. Mr Naidu said, we should draw inspiration from Dadi Janki's life which was dedicated to God and to selfless service of humanity.

Madras HC Appoints New Registrar General

The Madras High Court Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee appointed P. Dhanabal as the new Registrar General of the court. The latter, now functioning on deputation in the Puducherry Judicial Service as Chief Judge, has been repatriated to the Tamil Nadu State Judicial Service and posted on other duty as the Registrar General of the High Court in the place of C. Kumarappan, who has been transferred to the Principal Labour Court in Chennai as its presiding officer.

Apr 12, 2021

India and Netherland Strategic Partnership in Water Sector

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a virtual summit with his Netherlands counterpart Mark Rutte. The leaders agreed to diversify the ties in trade and economy between the countries. They also agreed to expand their relations in smart cities, agriculture, science and technology, healthcare, and space.
A fast-tracking mechanism is to be set up between the two countries to facilitate bilateral trade and resolve issues of the companies in both countries. For the investors in India and Dutch companies, it is to be set up in Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
During the summit, India and Netherlands launched a strategic partnership on water. Under the partnership, the countries agreed to alleviate the joint working group on water to ministerial level. It also aimed to broaden bilateral cooperation in new areas of water.
Under the partnership the countries will focus on water budgeting, converting wastewater to energy and decentralized treatment technologies and cost effective water technologies.
Netherlands is the world leader in water management. One-fourth of Netherlands lies under sea level. Yet, the Dutch have successfully comprehended water related challenges and have tested technologies and solutions in delta management, desalination, flood control.

Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra Set to be Next CEC

As per reports, Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra is set to become the next chief election commissioner.
Going by the convention of appointing the senior-most election commissioner as the CEC, the government is learnt to have cleared his name for the top post at Nirvachan Sadan.
Chandra will assume charge on April 13, a day after incumbent Sunil Arora demits office.
Chandra was appointed as an election commissioner on February 14, 2019 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
He would demit office on May 14, 2022.

More ROPAX Ferries and Water Taxis to be Part of Mumbai's Transportation

In order to promote eco-friendly waterways transportation and reduce the traffic load of crowded Mumbai city roads, the Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has planned more water taxis and RO-PAX ferries for the city's transportation.
Four new routes for ROPAX-ferry services and 12 new routes of water taxi are likely to be operational by December 2021. It was decided in a meeting chaired by Minister of State (I/C) for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Mansukh Mandaviya, with the senior officials of the Ministry, Chairperson of Mumbai Port and officials of Maharashtra Maritime Board.
Currently, the ROPAX (roll-on/roll-off passenger) service is operational from Bhaucha Dhakka (Ferry Wharf) to Mandwa (Alibag) and reduces the road journey of 110 km to about 18 km by using waterways. It has also reduced the travel time of daily commuters from about 3-4 hours to one hour.

Nirmala Sitharaman Attends 103rd Development Committee Meeting of World Bank-IMF

Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman participated in the 103rd Meeting of the Development Committee Plenary, via video conferencing. During the meeting, she shared the measures taken to combat COVID-19 including social support measures for the poor and vulnerable, and relief measures for firms in statutory and regulatory compliance matters.
World Bank Group (WBG) and International Monetary Fund Support for Debt Relief Under the Common Framework and Beyond;
As a part of the meeting, Sitharaman also informed that the Government of India has announced Aatma Nirbhar Packages of Rs. 27.1 trillion, which amounts to more than 13% of the GDP. These packages would provide social protection to the poor and vulnerable as well as push forward the economic reforms.

Apr 11, 2021

CJI Launches Top Court's AI-driven Research Portal 'SUPACE'

The Supreme Court of India has launched its Artificial Intelligence portal "SUPACE" (Supreme Court Portal for Assistance in Courts Efficiency). Through this portal, the SC intends to leverage machine learning to deal with the vast amounts of data received at the time of filing of cases.

Odisha to Handover Unused Govt. Properties to Women SHGs

In a significant step towards empowering women-folk in villages, the Odisha government announced to handover all unused government properties in panchayats to women self-help groups (SHGs) federated under Mission Shakti programme.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik directed district collectors to complete the process of handing over of properties within next two months. "There are many government properties including government building, shopping complex and community ponds lying unutilised in panchayats, blocks and districts. If the properties are given to women, they will use it for social and economic upliftment of the area," said Mr. Patnaik.

Not in Favour of Appointment of Ad Hoc Judges, Centre Tells Supreme Court

The Centre told the Supreme Court that it was not in favour of appointing ad hoc judges in High Courts until recommendations for all regular appointments were not made by Chief Justices of the Courts concerned.
As on April 1, all 25 High Courts in the country had a vacancy of 411 judges, more than a third of the total positions. There were only 669 judges out of the total sanctioned strength of 1,080. Moreover, there have been no recommendations from High Courts for 214 of the 411 vacancies.
The bench was hearing a public interest litigation by NGO Lok Prahari that sought appointment of ad hoc judges to tackle the ever-mounting pendency of cases in the High Courts.
Conveying its views before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India S. A. Bobde, the government said that the constitutional provision regarding appointment of ad hoc judges should be resorted to only after all the sanctioned vacancies in the 25 high courts are filled.

Apr 10, 2021

Andhra High Court Clears Elections to Local Bodies

Elections to 534 Zilla Parishad territorial constituencies (ZPTCs) and 7,621 mandal parishad territorial constituencies (MPTCs) in Andhra Pradesh will be held as scheduled.
A division bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court dismissed the interim orders given by the single judge bench of the court stalling the elections to Zilla Parishad and mandal (block) parishads on the ground that the four-week period for the enforcement of model code of conduct was not being followed.

First Online PDOT Programme for Migrant Workers

The first online Pre-Departure Orientation Training, PDOT Programme for migrant workers was launched to supplement physical training being held in PDOT Centres.
The Ministry of External Affairs in association with Protector of Emigrants, Mumbai and other POEs has taken this initiative in view of Covid restrictions and to take advantage of technology. Online PDOT will continue even after COVID restrictions are eased to facilitate prospective migrants, who are not in a position to attend the training in-person, and to expand its reach.
PDO training would help migrant workers to know about the culture, language and regulations of the destination country to ensure their safety and security.
The initiative will provide prospective migrants with better skills and empower them further as they embark on the journey of migration.

Mulayam Singh's Niece Joins BJP

Sandhya Yadav, niece of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and she has been given a ticket for the upcoming District Panchayat elections.
The BJP released the list of candidates for the District Panchayat member, in which Sandhya has been nominated from Ghiror, Mainpuri from ward number 18.
Sandhya is the daughter of Mulayam Singh's elder brother Abhairam Yadav and former MP from Badaun Dharmendra Yadav's elder sister.
Sandhya is a former District Panchayat President of Mainpuri. She was made the District Panchayat president by the Samajwadi Party in 2016, but a family quarrel followed.

Share on

TCY Analytics (View Subscription Plans)

Subscribe to GK Updates

I want to receive

GK Tags

September GK, August GK, July GK, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, ENVIRONMENT, BUSINESS AND ECONOMY, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, SPORTS, NATIONAL AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, PERSONS IN NEWS, DAYS AND EVENTS, AWARDS AND HONOURS, GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES, GENDER/ HEALTH/ EDUCATION, ART AND CULTURE, BOOKS AND AUTHORS, TOURISM AND HOTEL INDUSTRY AWARENESS, ART AND CULTURE, LAW AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Start Discussion

On any topic

Take Tests

Compiled from GK updates

Login

Sign Up

Forgot Password

Download TCY App

Unlock All Services And Enjoy The Premium Benefits

US$ 10

US$ 13

US$ 15

US$ 17

US$ 19

US$ 20

US$ 21

US$ 22

US$ 23

US$ 24

US$ 25

US$ 26