India Launches 'Group of Friends' to Promote Accountability for Crimes against Peacekeepers
India launched a 'Group of Friends' to promote accountability for crimes against peacekeepers, with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar announcing that New Delhi will soon have a database that will record all crimes against the Blue Helmets.
India, Bangladesh, Egypt, France, Morocco and Nepal are co-chairs of the 'Group of Friends to Promote Accountability for Crimes Against Peacekeepers' launched during India's current presidency of the UN Security Council.
Jaishankar said that the Group of Friends represents the political will of member states, particularly of the troop and police contributing countries, to champion the implementation of the provisions of UN Security Council resolution 2589, which was adopted in August 2021 under India's Presidency of the Council.
Central Government Offers to Establish Permanent Secretariat for No Money for Terror
The Central government offered to establish a permanent Secretariat for the No Money for Terror (NMFT) in the country, said Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai.
He was responding to a question in Rajya Sabha about whether the government has any proposal to set up a permanent Secretariat to coordinate the global efforts against terror funding.
Government of India hosted the 3rd Ministerial Level Conference on Counter-Terrorism Financing 'No Money for Terror' (NMFT) during November 18-19, 2022 to collaborate with countries across the world for suppressing the funding sources that allow terrorists and extremists to carry out their violent acts.
Delegations from 77 countries and 16 multilateral organizations participated in the Conference.
The proposed Secretariat is not expected to be an investigative body. It will operate on the concept of collaboration and cooperation between nations.
Dec 16, 2022
Centre Awards Nine GI Tags to Take Total to 432
Adding to the present collection of Geographical Indications (GIs), nine new items, including gamocha of Assam, Tandur red gram of Telangana, Raktsey Karpo apricot of Ladakh, and Alibag white onion of Maharashtra, were given the coveted GI tag. Kerala was awarded five GI tags for its agricultural produce.
With this, the total number of GI tags in India comes to 432. The top five states holding the maximum number of GIs are Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Dec 15, 2022
NTPC Commissions Capacities of 150 MW & 90 MW Devikot Solar PV Projects at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan
NTPC announced that consequent upon successful commissioning, entire capacities of 150 MW & 90 MW Devikot Solar PV Projects at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, are declared on Commercial Operation.
With this, standalone installed and commercial capacity of NTPC became 58041.27 MW, while group installed and commercial capacity of NTPC became 70656.27 MW.
Karnataka Sets up Ministerial Panel on Providing Internal Reservation for SCs
In a significant political move ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections, the BJP government in Karnataka constituted a five-member cabinet sub-committee to make recommendations on providing internal reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs).
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J.C. Madhuswamy is heading the sub-committee.
The other members in the panel are Water Resources Minister Govind M. Karjol, Fisheries Minister S. Angara, Animal Husbandry Minister Prabhu Chavan and Health & Family Welfare Minister K. Sudhakar. Mr. Karjol, Mr. Angara and Mr. Chauhan belong to scheduled castes.
In a meeting held in November the State Cabinet had decided to constitute a sub-committee for classification of internal reservation among SCs.
The Justice A.J. Sadashiva Commission report, which was submitted in 2012, recommended reclassification of the SCs for equitable distribution of reservation.
The Congress has been accused of not taking a decision on the report when it was in power between 2013 and 2018.
Dec 14, 2022
PM Modi Releases Coin and Stamp in Honour of Sri Aurobindo
Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a commemorative coin and postal stamp in honour of Sri Aurobindo, commemorating his 150th birth anniversary in Puducherry.
Addressing the gathering through video conferencing, Modi said that Sri Aurobindo's life symbolised the 'Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat' concept. Every citizen should take inspiration from this, and prepare themselves to create a developed India through 'Sabka Prayas' (everyone's effort, he said adding that Sri Aurobindo was not a freedom fighter but also a philosopher.
Culture Ministry Set up Seven Zonal Cultural Centres to Conserve Art
Ministry of Culture set up seven Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs) with headquarters at Patiala, Nagpur, Udaipur, Prayagraj, Kolkata, Dimapur and Thanjavur. These centres aim to conserve and develop art, culture and crafts across the country. The government provides regular annual grant-in-aid for conducting various activities and programmes to ZCCs. However, no State and Union Territory wise funds are released by the Ministry for the purpose.
Dr. P.C. Rath Elected as the President of Cardiological Society of India
Senior cardiologist from Hyderabad, Dr. P.C. Rath, was elected president of the Cardiological Society of India (CSI) for the year 2023-24, in an annual meeting held in Chennai. Dr. P.C. Rath is currently a senior consultant cardiologist and head of department of Cardiology at Apollo Hospitals, Jubilee Hills. Dr. Rath has pioneered many percutaneous cardiac interventions like complex coronary angioplasty and stenting, robotic angioplasty and percutaneous valve treatment procedures.
Cardiological Society of India will be celebrating its 75th year celebration in December 2023 in Kolkata and Dr. PC Rath will play a vital role in framing the scientific programme for the platinum jubilee celebrations. The CSI is a national body of cardiologists within India and those settled abroad. It has more than 5,000 members and was formed in 1948 under the stewardship of Bharat Ratna Dr. Vidhan Shankar Roy, who served as the first president of the society.
Dec 13, 2022
M. K. Stalin Launches Tamil Nadu Climate Change Mission
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin launched the Tamil Nadu Climate Change Mission to protect the natural resources in the state besides restore them on a long-term basis.
The state will achieve carbon neutrality much ahead of 2070 target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said while launching the pioneering initiative, which takes the climate agenda on priority with district missions and climate officers already in place in the state.
The state is first to launch its own Climate Change Mission to make Tamil Nadu a climate smart state.
AAP Appoints Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak as its National General Secretary
The AAP appointed Sandeep Pathak, who was its election in-charge for Punjab and Gujarat, as national general secretary (organisation), after it became eligible for the national party status.
Though the Arvind Kejriwal-headed AAP had won only five of the 181 seats in the Gujarat assembly polls, it got nearly 13 per cent vote share. Kejriwal had said that the AAP had not won many seats but the votes the party got helped it attain the national party status.
First G20 Central Bank Deputies Meet in Bengaluru
The first G20 Finance and Central Bank Deputies (FCBD) meeting is scheduled to be held from 13-15 December 2022 in Bengaluru. The First Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting will be held during 23-25 February 2023 in Bengaluru.
This meeting, which will mark the start of discussions on the Finance Track agenda under the Indian G20 Presidency, will be hosted jointly by the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India.
The G20 Finance Track, led by Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of G20 countries, focuses on economic and financial issues. It provides an effective forum for global economic discourse and policy coordination.
Bhupendra Patel Takes Oath as CM for Second Consecutive Term
BJP leader Bhupendra Patel took oath as the Chief Minister of Gujarat for a second straight term in Gandhinagar in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Chief Ministers of various BJP-ruled states were present.
Patel was administered oath as the 18th Chief Minister of Gujarat by Governor Acharya Devvrat at a function held at the Helipad Ground inside the new secretariat complex in the state capital. Along with Patel, several BJP leaders, including Harsh Sanghavi and Jagdish Vishwakarma, took oath as ministers in the Gujarat cabinet. BJP national president J. P. Nadda and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also attended the swearing-in ceremony.
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