General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - February 2016

Feb 2016

Jul 16, 2021

6th anniversary of Skill India Mission

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on July 15, 2021 on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day 2021 and 6th anniversary of Skill India Mission.
In his address, Prime Minister highlighted "Skill development of youth of new generation is a national need and a huge foundation for self-reliant India".
According to PM, under Skill India Mission, 1.25 crore youth have been trained till date.

Jul 15, 2021

OBC Sub-categorisation Commission's Term Extended by 6 Months

The Union Cabinet extended the term of the commission examining the possibility of sub-categorisation within the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the Central list by six months beyond July 31 this year to January 31 next year, a government statement said.
"The proposed extension of tenure and addition in its terms of reference shall enable the Commission to submit a comprehensive report on the issue of sub-categorization of OBCs, after consultation with various stakeholders," the statement issued after the Cabinet committee meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said.
The commission, which took charge on October 11, 2017, is headed by retired Delhi high court chief justice G Rohini. The commission is constituted of Centre for Policy Studies director Dr J K Bajaj as a member and two other ex-officio members. It was set up to examine the possibility of creating categories within OBCs for the reservation to ensure "equitable distribution" of representation among all OBC communities.

PM to Inaugurate 1st Station Redeveloped Through PPP Mode

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Gandhinagar capital railway station, the country's first redeveloped railway station in line with the government's plan to modernise railway stations through Public Private Partnerships, on July 16.
"The Station has been provided with world-class amenities, at par with modern airports. Special Care has been taken to make it a Divyang friendly station by providing it with a special ticket booking counter, ramps, lifts, dedicated parking space etc. The complete building is designed and provided with Green Building rating features. The state-of-the-art external façade will have daily theme based lighting with 32 themes. The station will also house a five-star hotel," the PMO said in a statement.
Station redevelopment is planned by leveraging real estate potential of separable land and air space in and around the stations, through private participation. These redeveloped hubs will be called "Railopolis."

PM Modi to Inaugurate Public Projects worth Rs. 1,500 crore

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting his Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi to inaugurate development works worth over Rs. 1,500 crore there.
The projects include-- a 100-bed model maternal and child health (MCH) wing at the Institute of Medical Sciences of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), multi-level parking facilities, highway development projects, and tourism projects as well.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal Appointed Leader of House in Rajya Sabha

Union minister Piyush Goyal was appointed as the leader of the house in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Goyal replaces Thawar Chand Gehlot, who moved to Karnataka as the governor of the state following the recent cabinet reshuffle.
The appointment also takes significance as the monsoon session of Parliament is set to commence on July 19. It will conclude on August 13.
Goyal has been a member of the upper house of the parliament since 2010. Until now, he was the deputy leader of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Rajya Sabha. He holds key portfolios in the cabinet including commerce and industry, food and consumer affairs.

Centre Restores, Raises D.A. for its Employees

The Union Cabinet increased the dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) for 11.4 million central government employees and pensioners to 28% of basic pay from 17% effective prospectively from July 1.
However, three instalments of DA and DR held back from last year will not be paid at the new rate, despite a demand by central government staff.
The three additional instalments of DA to central government employees and DR to pensioners, which were due from January 1, 2020, till June 2021, were frozen in April, just a month after the Cabinet approved a hike to 21% of basic pay from 17%.
The government said this was because the pandemic had put central government finances under stress.

Jul 14, 2021

Ladakh first Union Territory to Achieve 100% First Dose Coverage

Ladakh has become first Union Territory to vaccinate all residents and guest population; comprising of migrant labourers, hotel workers and Nepalese citizens earning their livelihood in the territory; with first dose of Covid-19 jab.
As per data, total of 89,404 people from all eligible age groups have been administered with first dose of Covid vaccine.

In a First, Yaks to be Insured

Yak farmers in the remote Himalayas can now afford a smile, thanks to the National Insurance Company Ltd (NICL).
These highlanders living in the harshest of climatic conditions used to incur regular losses due to deaths of the animal. For the first time, the NICL has decided to insure the highly valuable Himalayan cattle.
India has around 58,000 yaks, found on the heights of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, and Ladakh. This bovine species is susceptible to inclement weather conditions due to climate change, diseases, attacks by wild animals, etc.

Jul 13, 2021

Newly Inducted Ministers Find Place in Key Cabinet Committees

Union ministers who were sworn in during the expansion and reshuffle of the Union council of ministers have been included in various Cabinet committees that were reconstituted.
Newly inducted Union ministers Bhupender Yadav, Sarbananda Sonowal, and Mansukh Mandaviya have been included in the Cabinet committee on political affairs along with Smriti Irani and Giriraj Singh in place of former ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Harsh Vardhan, and the late Ram Vilas Paswan.
This committee has a key role to play in addressing Centre-state issues and also examines economic and political issues that have no internal or external security implications.
Newly inducted ministers Jyotiraditya Scindia, Narayan Rane and Ashwini Vaishnaw have been included in the committee to oversee investment and growth.
The committee has the task to identify key projects required to be implemented on a time-bound basis, involving investments of Rs.1,000 crore or more, or any other critical projects, as may be specified by the committee, in sectors such as infrastructure, manufacturing, and to prescribe time limits for issue of requisite approvals and clearances by the ministries/departments concerned.

Harsh Lodha wins Supreme Court battle

The Supreme Court declined to entertain a special leave petition (SLP) filed by the Birlas against a Calcutta High Court Division Bench order that had dismissed contempt petitions against Harsh Vardhan Lodha for continuing as director and chairman in Birla Corporation, Universal Cables, Vindhya Telelinks and Birla Cable.
The apex court directed Calcutta High Court to dispose of all outstanding appeals and cross-appeals over Lodha holding office as a director in MP Birla Group companies by March 31, 2022.

Jul 12, 2021

India Flags Mutual Recognition of CoWIN Vaccine Certificate with Italy

India has flagged issues such as mutual recognition of CoWIN vaccine certificate, easing of travel restrictions, and portability of social security benefits of Indians working in Italy during an economic cooperation meeting between the two countries.
The issues were raised during the India-Italy Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation, which was held on July 9 virtually. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Luigi Di Maio, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy co-chaired the session.
"Indian side raised the issues of mutual recognition of COWIN Vaccine Certificate and opening up of Travel restrictions, longer duration of Business Visas and Portability of social security benefits of Indians working in Italy," the commerce ministry said.
Both the sides held discussions on bilateral trade and investment and economic cooperation in the areas of Food Processing, Textiles, Leather, Railways, Start-ups and promotion of SMEs.

IATA launch global Mobility Aids Action Group

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced the launch of a global Mobility Aids Action Group to examine and improve the transport journey of mobility aids, including wheelchairs, with the objective of improving the handling of this vital equipment for travelers with disabilities.
The Action Group will be the first of its kind aimed at tackling issues around the safe and secure transport of mobility aids—an issue of huge importance to a growing number of travelers. It will also provide advice and recommendations to airlines and other stakeholders concerning the establishment of policy, process and standards related to the handling and transport of mobility aids.

India's first Cryptogamic Garden opens in Dehradun

India's first cryptogamic garden housing nearly 50 species of lichens, ferns and fungi was inaugurated in Uttarakhand's Dehradun district.
Located in the district's Chakrata town, the garden was inaugurated by social activist Anoop Nautiyal.
Around 50 species have been grown in the garden at Deoban in Chakrata at a commanding height of 9,000 ft, Chief Conservator of Forest (research) Sanjiv Chaturvedi said.

UP Law Panel Proposes 'two-child' Population Policy

The Uttar Pradesh law commission formulated a proposal for population control and welfare, rewarding couples that adhere to a 'two-child policy'. The UP law commission said that the policy will be voluntary — it will not be enforced upon anyone. However, if any person decides to "voluntarily" keep the number of their family members limited, they will be eligible for government schemes. On the other hand, if someone doesn't follow the policy, they will face restrictions in government jobs, availing ration, and other benefits.
The Uttar Pradesh law commission has made several proposals in the draft population control act. The commission has also sought recommendations for changes to be made in the draft -- which can be sent via e-mail or post by July 19.
"We have proposed that any couple that follows a two-child policy will be given all government benefits," said UP law commission chairman Aditya Nath Mittal. "They will be able to avail all government welfare schemes."
Mittal said that if someone does not follow the 'two-child' policy aimed at population control, they won't be eligible for such government schemes. "Their ration cards will be restricted to four units, they will not be able to apply for government jobs and if they are already government employees, then they won't get a promotion," said the chairman of the UP law commission.

Assam to Create New Department for Indigenous Faith and Culture

The Assam Cabinet announced the creation of an independent department to protect and preserve the "faith, culture and traditions of tribes and indigenous communities" of the state.
"Our tribes and communities have their own set of beliefs, customs and practices…the Department of Indigenous Faith and Culture is aimed to preserve such practices," said Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma at a press conference here. He added that the finance ministry will allocate a separate budget for it.
Sarma also announced a number of financial reforms. He said that while department heads can green signal projects and schemes worth Rs 2 crore and below, a standing finance committee headed by chief secretary, will take the call on projects worth Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore.

Twitter Names Resident Grievance Officer

After months of back and forth, Twitter has finally appointed an India-based grievance officer, which is mandatory for all social media companies under the new Information Technology (IT) Rules of the country.
The microblogging site has appointed Vinay Prakash as the new Resident Grievance officer. His appointment comes after Dharmendra Chatur, who was Twitter's interim grievance officer, quit less than four weeks after occupying the position.
On Twitter's website, Vinay Prakash is named as its Resident Grievance officer and his e-mail id is also provided on the website. Users can now contact Vinay on 'grievance-officer-in @ twitter.com' for any grievance redressal.
On its transparency centre page, Twitter said, "In compliance with Rule 4(1)(d) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, we have published our inaugural report on July 11, 2021 for the reporting period from May 26, 2021 through to June 25, 2021."

Nitin Gadkari inaugurates country's First Private LNG plant in Nagpur

Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the country's First Private LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) plant in Nagpur. He said, LNG is a clean and cost effective fuel which is capable of decreasing the logistics cost. It has also potential of creating ample job opportunities. LNG is the fuel of the future and will revolutionize the transport sector.
The Country's first LNG facility plant has been set up by Baidyanath Ayurvedic Group on Kamptee Road near Nagpur Jabalpur Highway. Mr.Gadkari also informed that the Central Government is promoting Ethanol, Electric, CNG, LNG gas as an alternative to conventional fuels. He pointed out that the country produces surplus sugar and rice. He suggested that surplus of such products can be used to make biofuels. Experiments were carried out to produce bioethanol from these agricultural products, which have succeeded. Large scale production of bioethanol from Paddy Straw is underway in East Vidarbha which is known for Paddy cultivation.
The Minister also underlined the importance of 'Flex engines' which are capable of using both Petrol and Ethanol for transportation. He said a policy is under consideration by Central Government for mandatory installation of flex engine by automobile manufacturers in India.

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