General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - February 2016

Feb 2016

Aug 31, 2020

Kerala to Set up India's First International Women's Trade Centre

Kerala will set up India's first international women's trade centre (IWTC), in consonance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at Angamaly.
This initiative aims to accelerate women entrepreneurship and secure gender parity while providing women with a safe place away from home to start new businesses, set up or expand, and get their products marketed globally.
Besides serving as a facilitator to launch their own ventures, IWTC will enable women entrepreneurs to come forward and participate in international trade, enjoy greater economic benefits and enhance their competitiveness to tap market opportunities. REACH (Resource Enhancement Academy for Career Heights) is also aimed at empowering women with the required skills to ensure success in life.

SC Allows States to Grant Benefit of Reservation to In-service Doctors in PG Courses

The Supreme Court allowed states to grant the benefit of reservation of seats to in-service doctors in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) postgraduate degree courses.
A five-judge Constitution bench comprising of Justices Arun Mishra, Vineet Saran, Indira Banerjee, M. R. Shah and Aniruddha Bose said that the Medical Council of India (MCI) has no power to provide or not provide reservation for in-service doctors in admission to PG courses.
However, the Bench said the doctors must sign a bond for five years in service in remote/rural area.
The Bench asked states to formulate a scheme for rural/remote service by in-service doctors after completing PG degree.
The judgement came on a plea filed by petitioners, including doctors from Kerala, Maharashtra and Haryana, saying granting reservation benefits would encourage those working in government hospitals and in rural areas.

Census, NPR Unlikely in 2020

As per reports, the first phase of the Census and the exercise to update the National Population Register (NPR), scheduled for this year but deferred due to the coronavirus outbreak, may be delayed by a year as there is no sign of slowdown of the pandemic.
The Indian census is one of the largest administrative and statistical exercises in the world, with the involvement of more than 30 lakh officials who would visit each household across the length and breadth of the country.
The house-listing phase of the Census and the exercise to update NPR were scheduled to be carried out across the country from April 1 to September 30, 2020, but were postponed.
The census is the largest single source of a variety of statistical information on people of India which helps the State to chalk out various policies.
With a history of more than 130 years, this reliable, time tested exercise has been bringing out a veritable wealth of statistics every 10 years, including on the rich diversity of the people, and has become one of the tools to understand and study India.
The objective of the NPR is to create a comprehensive identity database of every usual resident in the country. The database would contain demographic as well as biometric particulars.
The demographic details required for every usual resident are name, relationship to head of household, father's name, mother's name, spouse's name (if married), sex, date of birth, marital status, place of birth, nationality (as declared), present address of usual residence, duration of stay at present address, permanent residential address, occupation and educational qualification.

India Grants 4th Tranche of $5mn to Myanmar

India granted the 4th tranche of $5 million to Myanmar for the development of the India-Myanmar Border Area. In this regard, the Indian Ambassador to Myanmar Saurabh Kumar handed over the ceremonial cheque to Lt-Gen Ye Aung, Minister for Border Affairs, Myanmar. This funding is on the lines of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by ex-Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in 2012 according to which India would grant a total of $25 million to Myanmar, divided into five tranches of $5 million each annually, starting 2017, for projects on India-Myanmar border.
The Myanmar-India Border Area Development Programmes include providing infrastructure and socio-economic development in Chin State and Naga Self-Administered Region.
Myanmar shares around 1600 km border with four Northeastern Indian states — Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram.
-Under border area development project 141 projects including 43 schools, 18 health centres and 51 bridges and roads have been constructed over the last three years in Chin State and Naga Self-Administered Zone.

Aug 30, 2020

Govt. Explores Possibility of Single Voter List for LS, Local Body Poll

After implementing one-nation-one-ration card, the government is now exploring the possibility of having a common electoral roll for the Lok Sabha, Assembly and local body elections to avoid discrepancies and bring uniformity in the voter list.
At present, the Election Commission prepares the electoral roll or voter list for the Lok Sabha and Assembly poll. The state election commissions, which are altogether separate bodies as per constitutional provisions, hold elections for local bodies such as municipalities and panchayats in their respective states based on their own voter lists.

PM Inaugurates College and Administration Buildings of Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural Univ...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated college and administration buildings of the Rani Lakshmi Bai (RLB) Central Agricultural University in Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi through video conferencing.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of State (MoS) for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Kailash Choudhary also attended the virtual event.
The RLB Central Agriculture University is located in Jhansi and is a prominent institute in the Bundelkhand region.

Aug 29, 2020

Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) Celebrates its Golden Jubilee Anniversary

The Bureau of Police Research and Development, BPR&D celebrated its Golden Jubilee Anniversary.
Greeting BPR&D on the occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that over the last 50 years, the organisation has been unwavering in its commitment in the service of the nation. He said, Government has laid emphasis on a modern, effective and sensitive security architecture that inspires a sense of safety among all sections of the society.
A function was organised in virtual mode to mark the Golden Jubilee Anniversary of BPR&D. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G. Kishan Reddy attended the function as the chief guest.
In his address Mr. Reddy said that new thinking and emerging technologies and making police forces capable for the security of the nation is an important aspect of a new and Atmanirbhar Bharat.
On the occasion, Mr. Reddy inaugurated Central Detective Training Institute, CDTI, Jaipur and launched website of Student Police Cadets. A postal stamp, souvenir and compendium were also released on Golden Jubilee of BPR&D.
The Bureau of Police Research and Development was raised on 28th August, 1970, through a resolution of Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, with a mandate to promote excellence in policing, promote speedy and systematic study of police problems, apply science and technology in the method and techniques by the police.

JK Government Launches E-Auction Portal for Kashmir Saffron

The Jammu and Kashmir Government created an e-auction portal 'India International Kashmir Saffron Trading Centre (IIKSTC)' for farmers of Geographical Indications (GI)-tagged 'Kashmir Saffron'.
The aim of this step is to help buyers have access to good quality saffron.
The centre will help both buyers and sellers in online trading on www.saffroneauctionindia.com and help them avoid middlemen a secure a better price for the produce.
The saffron will now be properly tested by the centre, which will have facilities to dry the product in latest technology vacuums. It will also be properly packed with proper code to avoid manipulation.

Aug 28, 2020

Goyal Launches National GIS-enabled Land Bank System

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal launched the national GIS-enabled land bank system, which will help investors to get real-time information about the availability of industrial land and resources.
Goyal expressed confidence that other states/UTs will be onboarded by December 2020, as the project has been launched for six states.
The system is being developed by integrating the Industrial Information System (IIS) with state GIS (Geographic Information System).
This is a prototype only and will be developed further with inputs from states to make it an effective and transparent mechanism for land identification as well as procurement.
The IIS portal is a GIS-enabled database of industrial areas/clusters across the states.

Congress Appoints Gaurav Gogoi as Deputy Leader

Congress president Sonia Gandhi appointed Gaurav Gogoi as the party's deputy leader in the Lok Sabha and Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu as its whip in the Lower House of Parliament.
Sonia also appointed Jairam Ramesh as chief whip in Rajya Sabha and formed a five member panel for Rajya Sabha strategy.
The panel will comprise Jairam Ramesh, Ahmed Patel and K. C. Venugopal apart from Leader of opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and deputy leader Anand Sharma.

Government Lines Up over 20 Bills for Monsoon Session of Parliament

The Centre has lined up an intensive legislative agenda with over 20 bills for the monsoon session of Parliament beginning on September 14.
The ministries are not only preparing to push through bills that have been passed in one House of Parliament but also introduce fresh legislation.
According to sources, the government's top priorities include discussions on border dispute with China and India's response to Covid-19 pandemic and 11 bills to replace ordinances passed between March and August. However, the ministries have already begun the spadework to push fresh bills.
The bills that are high on the government's agenda include the Companies (Amendment) Bill, Major Port Authorities Bill, Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Bill, National Commission for Homeopathy Bill, Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda Bill, Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens (Amendment) Bill, Persons in Destitution (Protection, Care and Rehabilitation) Bill and Manual Scavenging Amendment Bill.

Aug 27, 2020

India Gifts 36 Vehicles, Including 10 Troop Carriers, to Uganda

India gifted 36 vehicles, including 10 buses,10 troop carriers, 2 ambulances and 14 motorcycles to Uganda for civilian use and for Uganda's defence force. It may be recalled that during his visit to Uganda in July 2018, PM Narendra Modi had announced to gift vehicles to Ugandan government.
The vehicles were handed over by India's High Commissioner to Uganda Ajay Kumar to Uganda's Defence Minister Adolf Mwesige.

Congress Turmoil Continues

The turmoil in Congress appears far from over with former Union Minister Kapil Sibal alleging his younger colleague Jitin Prasada was being officially targeted in Uttar Pradesh.
Sibal and Prasada are both signatories to the controversial letter 20 party leaders wrote to Congress president Sonia Gandhi recently asking for a full time and active chief and also for overhaul of party structure to make it battle ready for the next elections.
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Monday took note of the letter and trashed it attacking the signatories with some veterans seeking action against them.
The CWC unanimously urged Sonia to continue as party president till the next AICC session elects a new full-time chief.

Guwahati Sports India's Longest River Ropeway

India's 'longest' passenger ropeway across a river was unveiled in Guwahati, almost a year after it was completed.
The 1.82 km bi-cable jig-back ropeway connects a forest campus near the Kamrup (Metro) Deputy Commissioner's office in the city on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra and a hillock behind the Doul Govinda temple in North Guwahati on the other.
The ropeway passes over the mid-river Peacock Island that houses Umananda, a medieval Shiva temple.
The Rs. 56.08-crore ropeway project had been assigned to the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) in 2006. The foundation stone was laid in December 2009, a year after a Kolkata-based firm was awarded the construction work. A Swiss firm designed the cabins later.

Syed Zafar Islam BJP Candidate for Uttar Pradesh Rajya Sabha Bypoll

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced the name of party spokesperson Syed Zafar Islam as its candidate for upcoming by-election for Rajya Sabha seat from Uttar Pradesh.
The election for this seat has been necessitated due to the death of Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh.
Islam is a former banker and it is said that he had played an important role in bringing former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia to the saffron fold. The BJP's decision to name Islam as a Rajya Sabha candidate would also address criticism that the saffron party is reluctant in giving chance to Muslim leaders. Notably, the BJP has a comfortable majority in Uttar Pradesh Assembly and Islam is set to emerge victorious and enter the Upper House of Parliament.

Culture Ministry Creates 7 New Circles of Archaeological Survey of India

The Ministry of Culture has announced 7 new circles of Archaeological Survey of India, ASI. In a video message, Culture and Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel said that Ministry of Culture has taken the step in accordance with the Prime Minister's call to facilitate and strengthen the process of preservation and registration of archaeological monuments.
He informed that new circles have been created in Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal and Gujarat. Mr Patel said, Trichy, Raiganj, Rajkot, Jabalpur, Jhansi and Meerut have been announced as new circles.
The Minister said that in a large state like Tamil Nadu which has thousands of temples and glorious memories of the Chola kings, Trichy has been made a new circle along with the circle of Chennai. He said, Hampi city in Karnataka is a place of international importance from the point of view of archaeological heritage therefore the Hampi Sub-Circle now has been made a new full fledged circle.
In West Bengal, Raiganj has been made as a new circle along with Kolkata, which will eliminate geographical inconvenience. In Gujarat, Rajkot has been announced as a new circle along with Vadodara. Mr. Patel said, Jabalpur has been announced as a new circle along with Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.
This will include the monuments from Jabalpur, Rewa, Shahdol and Sagar divisions. The Minister also informed that Jhansi in Bundelkhand and Meerut in western UP have been announced as two new circles along with Lucknow and Agra in Uttar Pradesh.The Minister said, earlier there were 29 ASI circles across the country.

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