General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - July 2016

Jul 2016

Oct 15, 2020

Subhashini Raj Rao Joins Congress Ahead of Bihar Assembly Elections

The daughter of the Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) chief Sharad Yadav, Subhashini Raj Rao, and former general secretary of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Kali Prasad Pandey, joined the Congress weeks ahead of the Bihar assembly elections.
While Pandey has filed his nomination as a Congress candidate for the upcoming polls from the Kuchaikote constituency, the party is expected to field Rao from the Bihariganj seat.

India-Norway Sixth Session of Joint Commission Held

The sixth-session of the India-Norway Joint Commission Meeting was held virtually. The meeting was attended by India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Norwegian counterpart Ine Eriksen Soreide.
During the meet, the ministers of both nations reiterated their commitment to cooperate closely in combating the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. They also reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations between both the nations and expressed satisfaction with the progress.
The blueprint for a comprehensive partnership between India and Norway was laid during the visit of Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg to India in January 2019.

India Provides USD 1 Million for Palestinian Refugees

India contributed USD one million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East to support Palestinian refugees who have been facing extreme challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a move hailed by the UN body as timely help.
The Government of India handed over the contribution cheque to the UN agency through its representative in Palestine, Sunil Kumar.
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) thanked India for its timely help.

Assam to Delete Names from NRC

Assam NRC Coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma asking Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and District Registrars of Citizen Registration (DRCR) of various districts of Assam to delete the names of ineligible persons from the final NRC (National Registrar of Citizens).
Sarma – who was handpicked by the BJP government in Assam for appointment as State NRC Coordinator ignoring frantic protests from Congress MP Abdul Khaleque – wrote to the DCs and DRCRs to submit a list of such persons who were not eligible for having their names in the NRC.
According to Sarma, the DCs and DRCRs had earlier reported to him about some names of ineligible persons belonging to the categories of DF/DV/PFT (declared foreigner/doubtful voters/pending before foreigners' tribunal) along with their descendants having found entry to the NRC.

Oct 14, 2020

Polls to 11 RS Seats in UP and Uttarakhand in November

Elections to 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh and 1 in Uttarakhand, falling vacant next month, will be held on November 9.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav are among the 10 members from Uttar Pradesh retiring on November 25.
Actor-politician Raj Babbar's term as Rajya Sabha member from Uttarakhand also ends on November 25.

Fifth Meeting India-Mexico High Level Group on Trade, Investment and Cooperation

The fifth meeting of India Mexico bilateral high-level group on trade, investment and cooperation was held virtually. The countries reviewed their bilateral trade and commercial relations.
The countries discussed bilateral investment treaty, audio visual co-production, cooperation Framework on phyto sanitary and sanitary products, market access for Agricultural Products and technical barriers to trade. The countries also discussed on cooperation in intellectual property rights. They held talks about ways to promote tourism and people to people contact.
The countries also agreed to diversify their trade relationship in the the fields of medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, Agro products, Health care, fisheries, Aerospace and food processing industries.
During the fifth meeting of bilateral high level group on trade investment in cooperation, the countries signed two Memorandum of understanding. An MoU was signed between Mexican Chamber of Electronics telecommunication and information Technologies, called CANIETI and Electronics and Computer software export Promotion Council of India, called ESC.

Mehbooba Mufti Released

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti was released as the Union Territory administration revoked the Public Safety Act charges against her, more than a year after she was detained following the abrogation of the special status of the erstwhile state.
Mehbooba was initially put under preventive custody on August 5, 2019, and later booked under the stringent PSA in February.

Oct 13, 2020

BJP Expels 9 Party Leaders Contesting Polls on LJP Ticket

The Bharatiya Janata Party expelled nine of its party leaders who have filed their nominations for the Assembly elections on the Lok Janshakti Party ticket, on disciplinary grounds.
State president Sanjay Jaiswal expelled them for six years for their anti-party activities.
The leaders are Rajendra Singh, Usha Vidyarthi, Rameshwar Chaurasia, Mrinal Shekhar, Ravindra Yadav, Shweta Singh, Indu Kashyap, Anil Kumar and Ajay Pratap. They were ticket hopefuls to contest the poll but under NDA coalition.
The LJP had declared that it would contest the polls against the JD (U) but not the BJP. Names of all these nine BJP leaders had figured in the list of the LJP.

Left Parties Resolve to Support Nageshwar: Telangana

The Left parties have resolved to field journalist B. Jayasarathi Reddy of the CPI as their combined candidate from Nalgonda-Warangal-Khammam graduates constituency and support former MLC K. Nageshwar, who will contest from Hyderabad – Rangareddy – Mahbubnagar graduates constituency in the elections to the Legislative Council.
This was announced at a media conference by CPI, CPI(M), Socialist Unity Centre of India (C), Revolutionary Socialist Party and Forward Bloc. Their leaders held elaborate discussions on the choice of candidates before coming to the conclusion.
CPI (M) State secretary T. Veerabhadram and his CPI counterpart Chada Venkat Reddy said that the parties tried to evolve consensus among the opposition parties, including the TDP and the TJS, for fielding a common candidate, but in vain.

Oct 12, 2020

Surjewala Chief of Congress Key Committee

Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala was named chairperson of the party's election management and coordination committee for the Bihar elections.
Surjewala will chair the 14-member panel, which has among members former Speaker Meira Kumar, former minister Subodh Kant Sahay and star campaigners for the state Shatrughan Sinha and Kirti Azad. The panel convener is former general secretary of the Congress Mohan Prakash.
The panel also features CWC member Tariq Anwar, former AICC general secretary Shakeel Ahmed and former Haryana minister Ajay Yadav.
Sonia Gandhi also approved the setting up of the publicity committee, media coordination committee, public meeting and logistics committee, legal committee and office management committee for the elections.

Khushbu Sundar Resigns from Congress, to Join BJP

Popular actor-turned politician Khushbu Sundar resigned from the Congress party. In her resignation letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi she wrote, "few elements seated at higher level within the party, people who've no connectivity with ground reality or public recognition are dictating terms".
The party, meanwhile, announced in Delhi that Sundar was removed from her post of All India Congress Committee spokesperson with immediate effect.
As per reports, she is likely to join BJP. This could be a significant move ahead of assembly elections in her home state Tamil Nadu next year.
Sundar was with the DMK before joining the Congress party in 2014.

Oct 11, 2020

States and UTs Abolish Interview for Government Jobs

Union Minister Jitendra Singh said that interview for recruitment in government jobs has been abolished in 23 States and 8 Union Territories so far.
This is a follow-up to the abolition of interview for Group-B (non-gazetted) and Group-C posts in the Central government ever since 2016.
It was in 2015 while speaking from the Red Fort in New Delhi on the occasion of Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had suggested the abolition of the interview and making the job selection totally on the basis of the written test because whenever an interview call was received by a candidate, his entire family would get disturbed with apprehension and anxiety.

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