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NATIONAL AFFAIRS - July 2016

Jul 2016

Feb 20, 2021

Kerala CM Launches Fibre Optic Network for Free Internet Access to 20 lakh Families

To bridge the digital divide by providing high-speed, affordable internet connectivity to every household, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan launched the KFON (Kerala Fibre Optic Network) in the state.
Speaking at the launch event, the Chief Minister said that KFON will revolutionize the digital space.
With KFON, free internet connectivity will be provided to 20 lakh BPL families. It will also cover villages in all 14 districts. Earlier only 10 per cent of government offices had high-speed Internet, with the launch of KFON, 30,000 government institutions will have high brand width connectivity.
KFON is a joint venture of Kerala State IT Infrastructure Limited and Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB). A consortium led by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) was selected to implement the project in March 2019.

India Pitches for Connectivity from Arabian Sea to South China Sea

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar pitched for connectivity from "The Arabian Sea to the South China Sea" even as India and Japan work together in tandem. Speaking at an event in Guwahati, Assam the EAM said, the "approach to create connectivity to and within Assam, beyond to the North-East, then to neighbouring Myanmar and Bangladesh, but eventually push all the way by road, by sea, by air to Vietnam, to Japan."
India is working on a number of connectivity projects to connect northeast with East Asia--India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, with an aim to expand it to Vietnam via Laos. The Kaladan Multimodal transport link will provide North East access via Sittwe Project and the Paletwa Inland Water Terminal. Work is on BIMSTEC masterplan on transport connectivity via 264 projects.

Feb 19, 2021

Hyderabad gets Recognition as 2020 Tree City of the World

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the Arbor Day Foundation have recognized Hyderabad as a 2020 Tree City of the World, for its commitment to growing and maintaining urban forests.
Officials said the recognition was a testament to the city's sustained and institutional efforts to plant, nurture and celebrate trees, development of urban and peri-urban forestry actions, projects and strategic planning and commitment to building a healthy city.

Labour Bureau to Conduct Five Nationwide Surveys

In a first for India, the labour bureau under the ministry of labour and employment will conduct five nationwide surveys in five main regional languages along with English and Hindi, aimed at significantly reducing data inaccuracies in the past on the back of translation of responses in regional languages for data computation.
These household surveys, which will be largely digital, will be done in Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Assamese and Malyalam as well. The five surveys that will kick-start soon include the surveys employed with professionals like CAs, doctors and others, migrant workers, domestic workers, transport sector workers and the enlarged quarterly establishment surveys.

Feb 18, 2021

Opposition in Puducherry Calls for a Floor Test

A day after the Congress government in Puducherry slipped below the majority mark, the Opposition led by former Chief Minister N. Rangasamy submitted a petition seeking a floor test to the Lieutenant Governor's office, just months ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in the Union Territory.
In Puducherry, both the ruling and opposition sides claim the support of 14 legislators each. The assembly has 30 elected and three nominated members. With Congress legislator A John Kumar's resignation on Tuesday, the Congress's tally in the House dropped to 10, including speaker V P Sivakolunthu.
Three more Congress MLAs have resigned since January. It also has the support of three MLAs from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and an independent MLA.

Feb 17, 2021

Jal Jeevan Mission-Urban

Launching a new project to install water connections to every urban household, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has selected 10 pilot cities to survey for the Jal Jeevan Mission-Urban by March 2021.
A Pey Jal Survekshan will determine the distribution of water, wastewater, and water bodies in 10 cities: Patiala, Rohtak, Churu, Agra, Surat, Badlapur, Bhubaneswar, Tumkur, Kochi and Madurai. Five of these cities are water-scarce and five are water abundant.
The Jal Jeevan Mission-Urban aims to create universal coverage of water supply in all 4,378 statutory towns as well as sewage management in 500 AMRUT cities.

Siddharth Chatterjee of India Takes over as Top UN Diplomat in China

Senior UN official Siddharth Chatterjee of India has formally taken over as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in China, a key posting of overseeing the work of 27 agencies, funds and programmes of the global organisation in the world's most populous country.
He will be UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's senior-most UN Representative in China as the UN Resident Coordinator.
Chatterjee, whose early career was in the Indian Army, was decorated for gallantry by the President of India in 1995.

Kiran Bedi Removed as Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry

Kiran Bedi was removed as the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry. Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan has been given additional charge of Puducherry.
Earlier senior Congress legislator Malladi Krishna Rao had urged President Ram Nath Kovind to replace Bedi for her alleged interference in administration in the union territory.
Kandaswamy said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Puducherry L-G Kiran Bedi have been harassing the Congress government for four and a half years. They are trying to dissolve the regime. We are working to dissolve the cabinet headed by CM Narayanasamy and win the assembly elections again."

Naidu Accords Mallikarjun Kharge Recognition as Leader of Opposition in RS

Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu has accorded recognition to Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha with effect from February 16.
Kharge was named Congress leader in the House to succeed Ghulam Nabi Azad whose term has ended.
Kharge, a former union minister, had earlier been Congress leader in the Lok Sabha.

Feb 16, 2021

BJP cannot Form Political Entity in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's Election Commission Chairman Nimal Punchihewa shot down reports of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) planning to set up a political unit in the island nation, saying the country's electoral law does not permit such an arrangement.
Punchihewa said that any Sri Lankan political party or group is permitted to have external links with any party or group overseas. But, our electoral laws do not permit overseas political parties to work here.
Punchihewa's comments came after media reports quoted Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb as saying that the BJP was planning to extend its footprint in Sri Lanka and Nepal.

India and Japan Pitch for Assam to be Hub of Connectivity with Southeast Asia

India and Japan made a strong pitch for Assam to be a hub for connectivity and economic activities with Southeast Asia, with Japanese funding playing a key role in taking forward infrastructure and development projects.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Japanese ambassador Satoshi Suzuki visited the north-eastern state to review projects being implemented with Japanese support, and outlined a vision of Assam playing a crucial role in India's efforts to link up with and benefit from new markets in Southeast Asian countries such as Myanmar and Vietnam.

Centre Deregulates Geospatial Data and Map-making in India

India liberalised its regulations on geospatial data, allowing private companies to conduct surveying and mapping without prior government approvals and sharing the data for various everyday applications, from logistics and transport to road safety and e-commerce.
Under the new policy, geospatial data from government agencies such as the Survey of India and the Indian Space Research Organisation will also be made available to public and private companies.
The new guidelines will allow to increase the scale, speed, and accuracy of mapping. Indian entities will require no prior approvals, security clearances, licences for acquisition and production of geospatial data and geospatial data services, including maps.

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