General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - July 2016

Jul 2016

Apr 01, 2022

DMRC Inaugurates First Interchange Station at Punjabi Bagh

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation inaugurated a new interchange station at Punjabi Bagh which connects the green and pink lines of the Delhi Metro. Meanwhile, the platforms of the two operational corridors are connected with a 212 metre-long footover bridge. This is for the first time that the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has built such a station which connects two operational corridors. The two lines earlier crossed each other but there was no halt facility. However, there were demands from the people to provide an interchange provision at the intersection.

Mar 31, 2022

Vikas Kumar Appointed New DMRC Chief after Centre's Nod

The Centre approved the appointment of Vikas Kumar as Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC)'s new managing director (MD) for a period of five years. He replaced Dr. Mangu Singh, who demitted office on March 31, 2022. Kumar is an officer from the 1988 batch of the Indian Railway Traffic Service. Kumar's name emerged for the top post two weeks ago after he was picked by the selection committee from a shortlist of 26 candidates. The file was then sent to the Union government for final approval.
The selection committee was chaired by deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and included Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot, an additional chief secretary of the Delhi government, and an independent expert.

Supreme Court Strikes Down 10.5% Reservation for Vanniyars in Tamil Nadu

The Supreme Court struck down the 10.5 per cent reservation provided to Vanniyars, a Most Backward Community (MBC) in Tamil Nadu, in government jobs and admission to educational institutions.A bench comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and B. R. Gavai upheld the Madras High Court order which had quashed the reservation.
The Tamil Nadu Assembly had in February last year passed the then ruling AIADMK-piloted bill providing internal reservation of 10.5 per cent for Vanniyars, with the incumbent DMK government issuing an order in July 2021 for its implementation. It had split the aggregate 20 per cent reservation for MBCs and denotified communities into three separate categories by regrouping castes and provided a 10 per cent plus sub-quota for Vanniyars, formerly known as Vanniakula Kshatriyas.

Eight-time MLA Satish Mahana is New Speaker of UP Assembly

Eight-time BJP MLA Satish Mahana was elected unopposed as the Speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Leader of Opposition Akhilesh Yadav hailed his election and promised to positively contribute to the functioning of the House.

Konkan Railway Accomplishes 'Mission 100% Electrification

Indian Railways is on a mission mode to electrify its entire Broad Gauge network to provide environment friendly, green & clean mode of transport to its people under the 'Mission 100% Electrification - Moving towards net Zero Carbon Emission' plan. Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi congratulated the Konkan Railway team for the remarkable success of 'Mission 100% Electrification' and for setting new benchmarks of sustainable development.
The electrification project has been challenging due to the difficult terrain of the Konkan Railway & non-conducive atmosphere due to Covid - 19 Pandemic. Konkan Railway being one of the biggest railway routes on the Indian Railway network, the train operations with electric traction will be implemented on the newly electrified KR route in a phased manner.

Mar 30, 2022

Delhi Assembly Becomes Paperless, Only E-documents Will be Tabled

The Delhi Legislative Assembly became paperless and only e-documents would be tabled in the House from now. MLAs were given tablets to ensure working of the Assembly in paperless mode and they will now receive necessary information regarding Assembly proceedings online. The Assembly took up an automation project which will allow all 70 MLAs to work digitally. From submitting questions to tabling the bills in the Assembly, all work would be done online.
This web-based solution would not only help speed up the official processes in the assembly but would also save tonnes of papers being used in proceedings.

Assam, Meghalaya Sign 'Historic' Agreement to End 50-year Border Dispute

The Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to resolve long-pending border dispute between the two states in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The MoU was signed by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Kongkal Sangma to resolve six of the 12 sore border points between the two states. Assam would keep 18.51 square kilometres of land, and would give Meghalaya 18.28 square kilometres of land, according to the MoU signed for the 36.79 square kilometres of land.
Earlier, the Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya had submitted a draft resolution to the Union Home Minister Shah for examination and consideration by the MHA, which comprised of six of the 12 "areas of difference" along the 884-kilometre boundary.
Meghalaya was carved out of Assam in 1972, which is when the dispute arose. As a result of different readings of the demarcation of boundaries in the initial agreement for Meghalaya's creation, border issues were created.

Mar 29, 2022

Centre Drops Par-Tapi-Narmada Project in Gujarat after Protests from Tribals

After strong protests from tribals in south Gujarat, the Centre applied the brakes on the Par-Tapi-Narmada river-link project that was proposed in the Union budget. Earlier, more than 5,000 tribals had gathered in State capital Gandhinagar to oppose the proposed Par-Tapi-Narmada river link project, which the local communities fear will displace residents in south Gujarat.
Proposed by the Centre, the project is meant to transfer water from the water-surplus regions of Western Ghats to the water-deficit regions of Saurashtra and Kutch through the Sardar Sarovar Project. The controversial project seeks to link three rivers — Par, which originates from Nashik in Maharashtra and flows through Valsad in Gujarat, Tapi from Saputara that flows through Maharashtra and Surat in Gujarat, and Narmada originating in Madhya Pradesh and flowing through Maharashtra and Bharuch and Narmada and Vadodara districts in Gujarat.

Zoji La Tunnel to Open for Army by September '24

Authorities are on an overdrive to build a strategic Zoji La tunnel in Kashmir to reduce travel time to Ladakh, where China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) is aggressively pushing its territorial claims along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The need for Zoji La tunnel was first felt during the 1999 Kargil war, and the recent incursions by China made it an urgent necessity
The tunnel will provide logistics flexibility and operational mobility to the Army. It could be one of the very few development projects in India to be completed ahead of its deadline fixed for November 2026. Officials say the tunnel will be opened for movement of the armed forces in September 2024 in case of any emergency.

Mar 28, 2022

Pramod Sawant Takes Oath as Goa CM for 2nd Term

Three-time MLA Pramod Sawant, who led the BJP to win 20 seats in the elections to the 40-member Goa Assembly, was sworn in as the state's Chief Minister for the second time in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other dignitaries.
Goa Governor P. S. Sreedharan Pillai administered the oath to Sawant (48) and eight other BJP MLAs as cabinet ministers in a ceremony held at Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee stadium at Bambolim near the state capital Panaji.
He became the CM for the first time in March 2019 after the demise of then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.

Gujarat Gets India's First 'Steel Road'

The Diamond City of India, Surat, became the first in India to get a road that is made out of steel waste often considered as a waste material, steel slag has been a problem area for the steel industry. The road consists of 100% processed steel slag. The 6-lane 1-kilometre long road is an experimental project that may solve the waste material issue. Slag is a by-product of smelting ores and used metals. The disposal of metallurgical and metal-processing waste in landfills is particularly hazardous for the environment. Processed steel slag aggregate exhibits great potential as a replacement for natural construction material.
Built by ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India with CSIR India (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) & CRRI (Central Road Research Institute) along with the government think tank NITI Aayog, the steel slag road is a stellar example of sustainable development.

Yogi Govt. Inducts 31 New Faces, Retains 21 Ministers to Strike Balance

The new Yogi Adityanath government inducted 31 new faces while retaining 21 ministers to strike a balance between youth and experience with an eye on the 2024 parliamentary elections.
The ruling BJP also took into consideration caste and regional aspirations while picking ministers in a bid to further consolidate its hold over the politically crucial state which sends the maximum of 80 members to Lok Sabha.
Adityanath took oath as the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister for a second term at a ceremony where 52 others were sworn in as ministers.

Union Agriculture Minister Chairs 93rd AGM of Indian Council of Agricultural Research Society

The 93rd Annual General Meeting of the ICAR Society was organized at the National Agricultural Science Centre Complex, New Delhi in March 2022.
Mr. Tomar underlined the establishment of the ICAR in 1929 and the pivotal role played by it through its research and technology development in creating the food and nutritional security in the country with the untiring cooperation of farmers and scientists over the years. He underlined the record production of the food grains and horticultural products in the country that has made India self-sufficient to meet not only the domestic demands enabled to supply the same to the different countries as well.

EAM Jaishankar Holds Talks with Chinese Counterpart Wang Yi

This is the first high-level visit between India and China after their ties came under severe strain following the border standoff in eastern Ladakh in 2019-20. In the first major diplomatic engagement between India and China in nearly two years, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his visiting Chinese counterpart Wang Yi held extensive talks covering the eastern Ladakh row and the geopolitical turmoil triggered by the crisis in Ukraine.
The border issue is understood to have figured prominently in the meeting as both Wang and Doval have been serving as Special Representatives (SR) for boundary talks between the two countries. Ahead of the visit, India criticised Wang over his remarks on Kashmir at a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Pakistan.

NCW Organizes Seminar on Racial Diversity Sensitization

National Commission for Women NCW organized a seminar in New Delhi on Racial Diversity Sensitization. It was organised in collaboration with Bureau of Police Research and Development BPR&D, National Commission for Minorities NCM and Special Police Unit for North-Eastern Region SPUNER of Delhi Police to spread awareness towards different cultures in India and to recommend strategies for strengthening mutual understanding among diverse customs.
NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma stressed upon the moto of Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat and said that the need of the hour is to disseminate information and exchange of culture and sensitization.

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