General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - February 2016

Feb 2016

Oct 12, 2020

Surjewala Chief of Congress Key Committee

Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala was named chairperson of the party's election management and coordination committee for the Bihar elections.
Surjewala will chair the 14-member panel, which has among members former Speaker Meira Kumar, former minister Subodh Kant Sahay and star campaigners for the state Shatrughan Sinha and Kirti Azad. The panel convener is former general secretary of the Congress Mohan Prakash.
The panel also features CWC member Tariq Anwar, former AICC general secretary Shakeel Ahmed and former Haryana minister Ajay Yadav.
Sonia Gandhi also approved the setting up of the publicity committee, media coordination committee, public meeting and logistics committee, legal committee and office management committee for the elections.

Khushbu Sundar Resigns from Congress, to Join BJP

Popular actor-turned politician Khushbu Sundar resigned from the Congress party. In her resignation letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi she wrote, "few elements seated at higher level within the party, people who've no connectivity with ground reality or public recognition are dictating terms".
The party, meanwhile, announced in Delhi that Sundar was removed from her post of All India Congress Committee spokesperson with immediate effect.
As per reports, she is likely to join BJP. This could be a significant move ahead of assembly elections in her home state Tamil Nadu next year.
Sundar was with the DMK before joining the Congress party in 2014.

Oct 11, 2020

States and UTs Abolish Interview for Government Jobs

Union Minister Jitendra Singh said that interview for recruitment in government jobs has been abolished in 23 States and 8 Union Territories so far.
This is a follow-up to the abolition of interview for Group-B (non-gazetted) and Group-C posts in the Central government ever since 2016.
It was in 2015 while speaking from the Red Fort in New Delhi on the occasion of Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had suggested the abolition of the interview and making the job selection totally on the basis of the written test because whenever an interview call was received by a candidate, his entire family would get disturbed with apprehension and anxiety.

Oct 10, 2020

Shiv Sena to Contest 50 Seats in Bihar Polls

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said that his party can contest from as many as 50 seats in the forthcoming Bihar Assembly elections, and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and State Minister Aaditya Thackeray will address virtual rallies there.
Elections to the 243-seat Bihar Assembly will be held in three phases--October 28, November 3, and 7, and the counting of votes will take place on November 10.

Goa First State to Complete Har Ghar Nal Jal Yojna

Goa became the first state in the country to provide 100 per cent tap water connections in rural areas covering 2.30 lakh households.
The government's Jal Jeevan Mission aims to provide piped water to all rural households by 2024.
Two districts -- North Goa with 1.65 lakh rural households and South Goa with 98,000 rural households in 191 gram panchayats -- are "fully saturated" with assured piped water supply through tap connections.

Oct 09, 2020

Smriti Irani Launches First ever Brand & Logo for Indian Cotton

Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani launched the first ever Brand and Logo for Indian Cotton on Second World Cotton Day through video conferencing.
Now India's premium cotton would be known as 'Kasturi Cotton' in the world cotton trade. The Kasturi Cotton brand will represent Whiteness, Brightness, Softness, Purity, Luster, Uniqueness and Indianness.
She said that cotton is one of the principal commercial crops of the country and it provides livelihood to about six million cotton farmers. India is the second largest cotton producer and the largest consumer of cotton in the world.
It produces about six million tonnes of cotton every year which is about 23 per cent of the world cotton. India produces about 51 per cent of the total organic cotton production of the world, which demonstrates India's effort towards sustainability.

Leh Gears up for Hill Council Election

Leh is preparing for the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) elections scheduled for October 22, ahead of which both the BJP and Congress have promised to protect land, culture, jobs and identity of the people if voted to power.
The contest in the hill council elections is mainly between the two national parties, as the regional parties including the National Conference and People's Democratic Party haven't filed any nominations.
The new entrant in the contest is Aam Aadmi Party, which has fielded candidates on 19 out of 26 seats going to the polls. A total of 94 candidates have filed nominations – 26 each from the BJP and Congress and 23 independent candidates – while 67 candidates have withdrawn their nominations.

Oct 08, 2020

Cabinet Approves India-Japan MoU on Cyber Security

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the Memorandum of Understanding signed between India and Japan on cyber security.
The MoU aims to enhance cooperation between the countries in the area of cyberspace and share information on cyber security. A joint mechanism is to be developed under the agreement to mitigate cyber threats and enhance the security of information communication technology infrastructure in the countries.
The digital economy of India comprises of 14 to 15 percentage of the total economy. India aims to increase this to 20% by 2024. There are more than 120 recognised data centres in India. In 2013, India launched National Cyber Security Policy and thereby became one of the few countries in the world to have such a policy.
In 2016, the banks of the country announced that the details of at least 3.2 million debit cards were leaked. Therefore, it is important for India to update it cyber security measures and infrastructure. The updation can be achieved through joint cooperation with foreign countries that possess well established cyber security measures.
Unlike Singapore, UK and US where the cyber security is dealt under a single umbrella organisation, India has 36 different central bodies. Most of the Indian Ministries have their own strategies and reporting structures in regard to cyber security. Every state government has its own CERT.

Ladakh Signs MoU with National Diary Development Board

The Union Territory of Ladakh and National Dairy Development Board signed a Memorandum of Understanding to conduct survey in the rural livelihood of Ladakh.
The survey will collect data required to create a road map towards promotion and development of dairy sector in Ladakh. The road map will act as a guide to enhance the income of rural population in the area.
The list of households to be included in the road map irrespective of their diary animal holding status has been released by the National Dairy development board.
The survey is to be conducted based on crucial aspects such as suitability of breeds, climatic conditions, artificial intelligence support, animal health, feed and fodder availability and impediments in logistics and supply chain management.
The technical and managerial support for the services to be provided by the National Dairy development board.
The union territory administration of Ladakh will finalise a plan based on the discussion with the stakeholders.
The National Dairy and Development Board will provide training to nominated coordinators from the districts of Kargil and Leh. The coordinators in turn will identify investigators from the villages. These investigators will be involved in the survey to monitor and supervise the field work.
India is the largest producer of milk in the world. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation India contributes 22% of the world annual milk production.

Centre Approves Ratification of Seven Organic Pollutants

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the ratification of seven Chemicals that are listed under Stockholm convention on persistent organic pollutants. Further, the cabinet delegated its powers of ratification to the union ministry of external affairs and ministry of environment forest and climate change. These Ministries are already regulating the persistent organic pollutants under the domestic regulations.
The 7 persistent organic pollutants that are currently being ratified by the government of India are Chlordecone, Hexabromobiphenyl, Hexabromodiphenyl ether and Heptabromodiphenylether (Commercial octa-BDE), Tetrabromodiphenyl ether and Pentabromodiphenyl ether (Commercial penta-BDE), Pentachlorobenzene, Hexabromocyclododecane and Hexachlorobutadiene.
These pollutants were listed in Stockholm convention already. In 2018, the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change notified regulation of Persistent organic pollutants rules. Under these rules, the manufacture, trade, use, import and export of these seven Chemicals were prohibited. This was completely domestic and not in accordance to the Stockholm Convention.
India has ratified the convention in January 2006. However, India till date stays in an opt-out position following domestic rules on usage of POPs.

Head of Afghan Peace Council Abdullah Abdullah Meets PM Modi

Afghanistan's top peace negotiator Abdullah Abdullah met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed the ongoing peace initiative to bring back stability in the war-ravaged country.
Following the meeting, Abdullah said that Modi assured him of India's continued support for the peace process in Afghanistan.
As per Anurag Srivastava, Modi reaffirmed India's long-term commitment to further deepen ties with Afghanistan.
Abdullah is in India on a five-day visit as part of the efforts to build a regional consensus and support for the Afghan peace process.

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