General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - February 2016

Feb 2016

Feb 07, 2021

Nana Patole Appointed Maharashtra Cong President

The Congress appointed Nana Patole as the president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee. Patole's appointment comes a day after he resigned as the Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly.
Patole replaced Balasaheb Thorat, who had an 18-month stint at the helm of the state Congress and is presently Maharashtra's revenue minister.
The party also appointed six working presidents as part of its organisational rejig.

Govt. Invites Applications for Joint Secretaries, Director Posts

The Centre invited applications for the post of joint secretaries and directors in various ministries, including finance, civil aviation, law, agriculture and education, as part of its lateral entry policy.
Online Applications are invited from talented and motivated Indian nationals willing to contribute towards nation building to join the Government at the level of Joint Secretary or Director, Group 'A' for a period of 3 years, by March 22, 2021.
The government is looking to appoint three joint secretaries and 27 directors through the lateral entry route to work for 13 ministries on contract basis.

Centre Asks U'khand to Revisit Proposal Regarding Non-forestry Use of Forest Land

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has asked the Uttarakhand government to revisit its proposal regarding non-forestry use of 87 hectares (ha) of forest land in Dehradun for the expansion of Jolly Grant Airport.
The move comes in the wake of Uttarakhand High Court's observations pertaining to conservation of wildlife and fragmentation of the forest area serving as a link for movement for wildlife species.
In its January 11 order, the High Court stayed implementation of the state government's January 8 notification to denotify Shivalik Elephant Reserve.

Mamata Presents Vote on Account, Announces Pension for All Ahead of Bengal Polls

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sought a vote on account for Rs. 2.99 lakh crore as she opened the doors of state exchequer for common people ahead of the assembly polls, showering the farm sector with sops and wooing the elderly and widows with pensions.
Banerjee presented the vote on account in the absence of Finance Minister Amit Mitra, who is not keeping well.
The estimates for the first few months of the new fiscal, starting April, will be taken up for discussion over the next two days before the assembly passes it.
Banerjee, while criticising the Centre for not extending "necessary help", insisted the state tirelessly undertook welfare measures for its people.
The TMC supremo, who is locked in a tug of war with challenger BJP ahead of the elections over claiming the legacy of Bengal icons, said her government will construct an Azad Hind Munument in Kolkata, Jai Hind Bhavans in districts and a State Planning Commission after legendary freeedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose. She announced an overall outlay of Rs. 215 crore for the projects.

Odisha Unveils Welfare Projects for Villages Caught in Border Row with Andhra

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik unveiled a slew of developmental projects for the villages bordering Andhra Pradesh in Koraput district even as the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government stoked the on-going border dispute by allegedly including three villages of Odisha in its electoral roll and conducting gram panchayat elections there.
Inaugurating several welfare projects worth Rs. 18 crore including laying the foundation stone of a Rs. 5 crore bridge through video-conferencing, Patnaik said that Kotia gram panchayat on the Andhra-Odisha border would be developed into a model gram panchayat. "The state government has already implemented developmental activities in the sectors of education, health, communication, drinking water, and electricity," he said, assuring that he would be visiting the panchayat soon.
The CM's unveiling of projects worth Rs. 18 crore came in addition to the on-going projects of Rs. 150 crore for the development of 21 disputed villages in Kotia gram panchayat under Potangi block of Koraput where neighbouring Andhra Pradesh is also asserting its authority by distributing forest land rights and buildings roads.

Feb 06, 2021

JP Nadda Set to Launch Rath Yatra in Bengal

BJP president J P Nadda is set to launch the party's 'Rath Yatra' in West Bengal to mobilise public support ahead of the assembly elections but confusion prevails over the grant of permission for the march during which party leaders intend to crisscross the state.
Nadda is scheduled to kick off the 'Parivartan Yatra' from Nabadwip, the birthplace of 15th century saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Nadia district. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is also likely to inaugurate two of the five proposed yatras later this month.
However, confusion prevailed till Friday evening over its prospects as Nadia district administration is yet to accord permission for the Rath Yatra.
Although the BJP claimed it has received permission, the district police insisted it is for a public meeting and not the Rath Yatra.

Andhra Pradesh to Set up 3 IT-related Concept Cities to Create more Jobs

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy directed the officers to come up with an motion plan to set up three concept cities close to Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, and Bengaluru to home info expertise and related industries within the state.
As per an official launch, the Chief Minister stated that these cities ought to contribute to the IT progress and assist in the event of the state by bringing in as many industries as doable and deal with creating numerous jobs.
The Chief Minister has directed officials to focus on ensuring uninterrupted internet service should be provided in every village. He had stressed on the construction of libraries with accessible bandwidth internet connections in every village. Apart from building libraries, the Chief Minister instructed that all the secretariats and Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) in the village should also be connected to the internet.

Over 22 lakh Public Grievances, Highest in Last 3 Years, Received in 2020

Over 20 lakh public grievances, highest in the last three years, have been received on an online platform run by the central government, the Rajya Sabha was informed.
In a written reply to the Upper House, Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said that a total of 22,71,270 grievances were received on the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) in 2020, as against 18,67,758 in 2019 and 15,86,415 in 2018.
Of these, 23,19,569 grievances were disposed last year, 16,39,856 in 2019 and 15,05,950 in 2018.
As many as 10,23,300 grievances were pending in 2020.

Feb 05, 2021

CM Yogi Adityanath Participates in Campaign to Create World Record

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath participated in a campaign to create a world record for Vande Mataram singing and uploading its video on YouTube. As many as 1.5 lakh people became part of this campaign, according to the district administration. So far, the record is in the name of an England-based organization that uploaded 20,000 videos.
ADM Finance and Revenue Rajesh Singh told Zee News that the scrutiny of the video has started from the Guinness Book of World Records. As per the standard practice, the exact number of videos being uploaded will be announced officially.

Feb 04, 2021

India Slips Two Positions in EIU's Democracy Index

India slipped two places to 53rd position in the 2020 Democracy Index's global ranking, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit, which said the "democratic backsliding" by authorities and "crackdowns" on civil liberties has led to a further decline in the country's ranking.
However, India is ranked higher than most of its neighbouring countries. India's overall score fell from 6.9 in 2019 to 6.61 in the index that provides a snapshot of the current state of democracy worldwide for 167 countries. "With mounting pressure on India's democratic norms, India's score fell from a peak of 7.92 in 2014 to 6.61 in 2020 and its global ranking slipped from 27th (in 2014) to 53rd as a result of democratic backsliding" under the current regime.
Norway topped the report titled "Democracy in sickness and in health?", with Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand and Canada making up the top five.

India at UNSC Backs a Balanced Approach on Myanmar

India has called for a balanced approach on Myanmar at the United Nations Security Council meeting that took place on Tuesday even as the UK-backed draft is still being considered. New Delhi's balanced approach, which has been perceived as a very constructive one, calls for support for the democratic process in the country, given it is a neighbouring country.
The UNSC has not yet been able to come up with any statement on the coup in the country when the meeting took place on February 2. In the aftermath of the bloodless coup staged by the military in Myanmar, India's Ministry of External Affairs in a statement had expressed its "deep concern", calling for upholding of the "rule of law and the democratic process".

Feb 03, 2021

BJP Appoints Election in-charges for Puducherry, 3 Poll-bound States

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced election in-charges for three poll-bound states and Union Territory of Puducherry that will pick new assemblies in the next few months.
Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar has been appointed the election-in-charge for Assam while Union minister of state (MoS) in the Prime Minister's Office, Jitendra Singh has been given the additional charge.
The BJP leadership also appointed MoS for home affairs G. Kishan Reddy as the in-charge for Tamil Nadu and Dr. VK Singh as the deputy in-charge.
Prahlad Joshi, Union minister for parliamentary affairs will oversee elections in Kerala and deputy CM of Karnataka, Ashwath Narayan will be the deputy in charge. For Puducherry, the party has named Union minister of state for Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation and parliamentary affairs Arjun Singh Meghwal as in-charge and national spokesperson Rajeev Chandrasekhar as the deputy.

PFRDA Allows Aadhaar-based Online, e-KYC to Open NPS Account

The Pension Funds Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) allowed online Aadhaar e-KYC process for onboarding of new subscribers under the National Pension System (NPS).
The permission given by Dept of Revenue to perform online e KYC shall further simplify the process of account opening since the process offers the Subscribers a unique experience of NPS Digital Journey.
Last year in May, the regulator had allowed Aadhaar-based offline paperless KYC (Know Your Customer) for onboarding of new subscribers under the pension plan. The process helped in immediate activation of NPS accounts following instant KYC verification and also immediate deposit of NPS contribution by the subscriber.

Aero India takes off on Feb 3 amidst Covid, buzz around 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'

With a combination of both physical and virtual exhibition, the 13th edition of the biennial international event at Air Force Station Yelahanka will be the world's first hybrid aerospace show.
The country's premier aerospace and defence exhibition, Aero India 2021 takes off here amidst the Covid-19 pandemic with buzz around "AatmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan" and "Make in India" push.

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