General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - July 2016

Jul 2016

Jan 06, 2021

Congress Loses Leader of Opposition Post in Assam Assembly

The Congress in Assam suffered a setback after its legislature party leader Debabrata Saikia lost the position of the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, following defeats in by-elections, deaths of two MLAs and two recent defections to the BJP.
The present strength of the Indian National Congress Legislature Party, Assam Legislative Assembly is not equal to the quorum fixed to constitute a sitting of the House, that is one-sixth of the total number of Members of the House as required under the aforementioned provisions and therefore, the Hon'ble Speaker, Assam Legislative Assembly, has been pleased to withdraw the recognition of Shri Debabrata Saikia, MLA, as Leader of the Opposition, Assam Legislative Assembly.

Parliament to Hold Budget Session from January 29 to February 15

The first part of the Budget Session of Parliament will be held from January 29 to February 15, during which the government will present Union Budget 2021-22 on February 1.
Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) has recommended the Budget session of Parliament from January 29. The CCPA has recommended Part 1 of the Budget session from Jan 29-Feb 15, while Part 2 will be held from March 8 to April 8.
President Kovind will address the joint sitting of both the Houses of Parliament on January 29, while the Union Budget will be presented on February 1.
Both the Houses of Parliament will function for four hours each day during the session.

PM Boris Johnson Cancels Republic Day Visit to India

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson cancelled a planned trip to India later this month, citing the need to oversee the COVID-19 pandemic response at home.
It may be noted that Johnson was scheduled to visit India on 26 January for the Republic Day celebrations. The UK Prime Minister was invited as the chief guest for the Republic Day Parade.

Jan 05, 2021

Supreme Court approves Central Vista project

The Supreme Court, in a majority of judgment, gave the green signal for the multi-crore Central Vista redevelopment project.
The project envisages refurbishing the nation's power corridor, which includes a new Parliament building, a common Central Secretariat and a renovated Rajpath stretching from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate.

Planning Commission like Body to be Formed in Bengal

Hitting out at the BJP-led central government for abolishing the Planning Commission conceptualized by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee said that her government would come up with a similar body to take ahead the national hero's ideas and vision.
She urged Nobel laureate economists Amartya Sen and Abhijit Banerjee and Bose's grandnephew Sugata Bose, a historian, to advise the state government on this.
The Planning Commission, a government institution which formulated India's Five-Year Plans besides performing other functions, was set up in March 1950. The Narendra Modi government disbanded it in 2014 and formed Niti Aayog.

Jan 04, 2021

Rift Erupts in Maha Vikas Aghadi over Renaming of Aurangabad

The Congress has reiterated its objection to renaming Aurangabad even as its ally Shiv Sena said that the name change would happen soon but the issue would not rock the coalition government in Maharashtra.
Maharashtra minister and state Congress Chief Balasaheb Thorat had said two days ago that he would strongly oppose renaming the Aurangabad city in central Maharashtra as Sambhajinagar.
It was the Shiv Sena, which had first made the demand to rename Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar over two decades ago.

Delhi Govt. Sets up and Notifies Academy to Promote Tamil Language and Culture

The Department of Art, Culture and Language of the Delhi government, under the leadership of Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, set up and notified Tamil academy to promote Tamil language and culture.
The Delhi government has appointed Ex-MCD councillor and current member of Delhi Tamil Sangam N. Raja as the Vice-Chairman of the academy.
According to Sisodia, Delhi is a culturally rich city where people from all parts of the country live and work. It is this diversity that forms Delhi's vibrant and cosmopolitan culture.
Delhi has a large population of people from Tamil Nadu and we want to present a platform to the people of Delhi to get the taste of the art and culture of Tamil Nadu.

Prasar Bharati's Digital Channels Record 100% Growth in 2020

Digital channels of Prasar Bharati have registered more than 100 per cent growth in 2020.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said that the channels across Doordarshan and Akashvani clocked over a billion digital views and over six billion digital watch minutes in the year.
Interestingly during 2020, Pakistan accounted for the second-highest digital audience for DD and AIR content after domestic audience from within India, with the United States close behind.

Two Scindia Loyalists Back as Ministers in MP Cabinet

The Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led Madhya Pradesh Cabinet was expanded with the induction of two loyalists of BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, whose exit from the Congress in March last year triggered the fall of the 15-month-old Kamal Nath-led dispensation in the state.
Governor Anandiben Patel administered the oath of office to Tulsiram Silawat and Govind Rajput, who returned to the Cabinet after a gap of more than two months.
With their induction, the current strength of the state Cabinet has gone up to 31. The number of members in the council of ministers in MP cannot exceed 35.

Jan 03, 2021

Suvendu Adhikari's Brother, 14 Councillors of TMC Join BJP

The New Year started on a disappointing note for West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) as another member of Kanthi's influential Adhikari family left the party and joined the BJP.
Soumendu Adhikari, who was removed from the post of Kanthi Municipality administrator by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, joined the BJP following in the footsteps of his elder brother Suvendu Adhikari.
Fourteen others, who were councillors of the municipality having a total strength of 21, also joined the BJP along with Soumendu.

India Begins its Two-year Tenure as Non-permanent Member of UNSC

India, which has been at the forefront of the years-long efforts to reform the UN Security Council, began its two-year tenure as a non-permanent member of the powerful organ of the world body on Friday.
India will sit in the 15-nation United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the 2021-22 term as a non-permanent member—the eighth time that the country has had a seat on the powerful horseshoe table.
On Friday, India, Norway, Kenya, Ireland and Mexico joined non-permanent members Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam and the five permanent members China, France, Russia, UK and the US.

Jan 02, 2021

Harsh Vardhan Nominated to the Board of 'GAVI', The Vaccine Alliance

Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan was named as the board member of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI). The seat was held by Myint Htwe of Myanmar. Dr. Vardhan will represent the South East Area Regional Office (SEARO)/ Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) constituency on the GAVI Board. Dr. Vardhan assumed the charge with effect from January 1, 2021, and serve till December 31, 2023.
The vaccine alliance GAVI is an international organisation that provides a forum for balanced strategic decision-making, innovation and partner collaboration.
It was created to improve access to new and underused vaccines for numerous vaccine-preventable diseases for children who live in the world's poorest countries.
The GAVI board is responsible for the strategic direction and policy-making oversees the operations of the Vaccine Alliance and monitors programme implementation.

India's First Pollinator Park Opens in Uttarakhand

The country's first pollinator park with over 40 species of butterflies, honeybees, birds and insects has been developed over four acres at Haldwani, Uttarakhand.
The objective behind developing the park is to conserve various pollinator species, create awareness among people in general about the importance of conservation of these species and to promote further research on various aspects of pollination, including a threat to habitat and impact of pollution on pollinators.
There are at present 40 species of pollinators at the park, including common jezebel, common emigrant, red pierrot, common sailor, plain tiger, the common leopard, the common moron, common grass yellow, common blue bottle, common four-ring, peacock pansy, the painted lady, pioneer white, yellow-orange tip and lime butterfly.

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