General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - July 2016

Jul 2016

Sep 26, 2020

India and Sri Lanka Set 11-point Agenda to Improve Ties

Prime Minister Narendra Modi resolved to pursue closer bilateral ties with his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa through a mutually agreed 11-point agenda that will seek to address important issues like the Tamil question, ban on Indian imports, the Colombo Port project and harassment of fishermen.
Most of the 11 points stated in the joint statement, touched on programmes to provide social and medical assistance to Sri Lanka, including a $ 100-million credit line, step up people-to-people contact and increase coordination between their militaries and security agencies.
They also resolved to improve the environment for trade and investment, look into the import bans imposed by Sri Lanka and deepen the integration of supply chains.
Mahinda Rajapaksa gave no firm assurance on Indo-Japanese involvement in the Colombo Port project seen as a counter balance to Hambantota Port being allotted to the Chinese. Nor was there a firm commitment to resolving the Tamil question almost a decade after the end of the civil war.
The two leaders also agreed to facilitate tourism by enhancing connectivity and by early establishment of an air bubble.
They also resolved to strengthen cooperation between the armed forces through personal visits, maritime security cooperation and support to Sri Lanka in the spheres of defence and security.

K. T. Rama Rao Inaugurated the Cable Stayed Bridge

Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development K. T. Rama Rao inaugurated the cable stayed bridge on Durgam Cheruvu. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G. Kishan Reddy was the chief guest.
The bridge, touted as one of its kind in the country, has been constructed as part of the Telangana government's flagship Strategic Road Development Plan (SRDP). It is set to ease traffic flow towards Hi-Tec City, reducing commute time between Jubilee Hills and Madhapur by 20 minutes. The distance from Mind Space to Jubilee Hills stands reduced by two kilometres with the launch of the bridge.
The L&T authorities have claimed it as the "world's longest pre-cast segmental span" of 233.85 metres in concrete for a cable stayed bridge.
The bridge has been constructed using 420 metric tonnes of high-tensile strand, 26,600 cubic metres of concrete, 4,800 MT of steel and 287 MT of stay cables.

JP Nadda Announces New Team of BJP's National Office-bearers

The long-awaited team of the BJP president JP Nadda was announced with many prominent names from the previous team missing and several new faces included. Party leaders said all efforts had been made to maintain a regional balance with adequate representation to all prominent states.
The most prominent changes are in the list of eight general secretaries, the crucial organisational position that serves as the link between the states and the central leadership, which now has five new faces including Punjab's Tarun Chugh.
Though Haryana does not have direct representation in the team, newly-appointed General Secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam (Rajya Sabha MP) has a connection to the state.
Dr Narendra Singh from Jammu and Kashmir is the national secretary in 'Team Nadda' in which senior leaders Bhupender Yadav (MP, Rajasthan), Arun Singh (MP, Uttar Pradesh) and Kailash Vijayvargiya (Madhya Pradesh) have been retained as General Secretary and Ram Madhav, P Muralidhar Rao, Saroj Pandey and Anil Jain dropped to make way for Chugh (Punjab), Gautam (MP, Delhi), D Purandareswari (Andhra Pradesh), CT Ravi (Karnataka) and Dilip Saikia (Assam).
Young and fiery advocate of 'Hindutva plank' Tejasvi Surya has made an entry as the president of the party's youth wing in place of Poonam Mahajan.
Uttar Pradesh leader Rajesh Agarwal has been appointed treasurer in place of union minister Piyush Goyal while Mandsaur MP Sudhir Gupta will be his deputy. Amit Malviya has been retained as the IT cell and social media in charge.
Other appointments include K Laxman as head of the Other Backward Classes Morcha, Jamal Siddiqui as chief of the minority wing and Lal Singh Arya as chief of the SC (Scheduled Castes) Morcha and Fatehpur Sikri MP Rajkumar Chahar as the head of the Kisan Morcha Radha Mohan Singh, Mukul Roy, Rekha Verma, Annapurna Devi, Bharti Shiyal, DK Aruna, M Chuba Ao, AP Abdullakutty were appointed national vice presidents in the reshuffle.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the new team of office-bearers and expressed confidence that they would uphold the "glorious tradition" of the party of serving the people of India selflessly and with dedication.

Sep 25, 2020

CM Nitish Kumar Shares Bihar's Sustainable Development Efforts at UN Climate Meet

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar participated in the virtual high-level Roundtable on Climate Ambition, hosted by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Kumar, the only leader from India invited to the meet, shared his state's policy initiatives and sustainable development efforts, including climate resilient agriculture and water conservation.
Mr. Kumar said that considering the impacts of climate change in Bihar, in the form of erratic pattern of rainfall, extreme heat, falling groundwater level, drought and flash floods, we have developed our growth strategy around water conservation and greening initiatives under the 'Jal Jeevan Hariyaali Abhiyaan'.
Kumar was speaking in the segment titled 'Aligning Nationally Determined Contributions, long-term low emission development strategies, COVID-19 recovery packages and business plans with the 1.5C and carbon neutrality by 2050 goals.'
Nitish Kumar said Bihar, which has two per cent of the world's population, is an important stakeholder in contributing to the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degree Celsius.

Bihar Election 2020 to be Held in 3 Phases

The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections. Polling will happen in three phases , with the 1st phase (71 seats) starting on October 28, 2nd (94 seats) on November 3 and 3rd (78 seats) on November 7. The results will be out on November 10.
The EC also outlined the set of guidelines to be followed for the voting process amid the coronavirus pandemic with plans to strictly enforce social distancing norms and precautions at polling booths.
EC said that the Bihar assembly polls will be one of the biggest elections globally to be held during the pandemic, and so the polls will be held under new security protocols.
Voting time will be extended by one hour till 6 pm and Covid-19 patients will vote in the last hour of the day.

Allahabad High Court Turns Down Plea to Rename Itself

The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a plea to rename itself either as the Prayagraj High Court or the Uttar Pradesh High Court.
A Lucknow bench of the High Court dismissed the lawsuit, filed in the form a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), terming it as a `publicity stunt litigation`.
The petition, filed by advocate Ashok Pandey, was dismissed by a bench comprising Justice P.K. Jaiswal and Justice D.K. Singh.
The petitioner had raised the plea to rename the high court on the ground that the state government had renamed Allahabad district as Prayagraj on October 16, 2018.

Sep 24, 2020

PM Modi to Hold Virtual Bilateral Summit with Mahinda Rajapaksa

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa will hold a virtual bilateral summit on September 26 as India seeks to consolidate its relationships in the neighbourhood after the deterioration in ties with China.
PM Modi will hold his first virtual bilateral summit meeting in the neighbourhood on the same day that he will address the UN General Assembly.
As has been the case in all multilateral meetings, New Delhi is expected to highlight how it came to the aid of its neighbours during the epidemic and also helped the world by supplying HCQ tablets.
India has been steadily dialling down tensions in the neighbourhood and it is significant that the India-Sri Lanka summit follows several New Delhi-centric developments.
Foreign ministers of SAARC will meet virtually on September 24 with Nepal's Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Gyawali in the chair.

Narendra Tomar Assumes Charge of Ministry Vacated by Harsimrat Kaur Badal

Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar assumed additional charge as the Minister of Food Processing Industries in Panchsheel Bhawan.
Tomar is currently holding the charge of the Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Minister of Rural Development, and Minister of Panchayati Raj. The MoFPI was previously held by Akali leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal who resigned in protest against three agri-legislations
The Ministry of Food Processing Industries has a clear goal of attaining these objectives by facilitating and acting as a catalyst to attract quality investments from within India and abroad into this sector with the aim of making food processing a national initiative.

Rajya Sabha Passes Eight Bills on Last Day

Rajya Sabha passed eight bills on the last day of the monsoon session as the opposition continued to boycott the proceedings over suspension of eight of its members after the ruckus in the upper house over the government rushing through farm bills. The House was adjourned after the bills were passed.
While giving a brief account of the session, Rajya Sabha chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu said that a total of 25 bills were passed and six bills were introduced. The productivity of the House was more than 100 per cent.
As a result, the overall productivity of the last four sessions comes to a praiseworthy 96.13%. This high productivity for four consecutive sessions is the best during the last five years," said Naidu.

Turkish President's Remarks on J&K at UNGA Unacceptable: India

India and Turkey clashed for the second year running at the UN General Assembly's high-level session after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described Kashmir as a burning issue.
Speaking at the high-level segment of the UNGA, Erdogan did not name India, but criticised the situation in Kashmir after the August 5, 2019, change in status and the lockdown.
India's Permanent Representative in the UN TS Tirumurti hit back by describing his remarks as gross interference in India's internal affairs and said that they were completely unacceptable.
However, the relevant UNSC resolution asks Pakistan to first remove its troops and personnel from the region. Erdogan rubbed a few more countries the wrong way in his speech and in case of Armenia and Azerbaijan, even named them. Last year at the same event, Pakistan and Malaysian PMs, besides Erdogan, had touched the Kashmir issue.

New Film City in Uttar Pradesh

A Singapore-based media company has offered an initial investment of USD 10 million (approximately Rs. 73.51 crore) for setting up a film academy in the proposed film city in Uttar Pradesh.
The offer came during the interaction of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath with a bevy of filmmakers and artists over the new film city project that would come up in a 1,000-acre area along Yamuna Expressway near Noida.
The prompt action by the state government immediately received a positive response (from film fraternity) as ace Art director Nitin Desai offered to set up an entire Film City on the lines of what has been set up in Mumbai. He was of the opinion that about 80 per cent of technicians and workforce in the Mumbai film industry is from UP and after the industry in UP itself, the availability of manpower will never be a problem.

Africa is India's Priority: Jaishankar at 15th CII-EXIM Digital Conclave

"India's engagement with Africa is among the earliest and most important vectors of its foreign policy," External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr S Jaishankar said while inaugurating the 15th Confederation of Indian Industry--EXIM Digital Conclave. He said that Africa's rise for India is not just desirable but necessary.
EAM S Jaishankar cheered the Indo-African ties and said that India and said that India is committed towards supporting African countries in their endeavour towards development. He outlined four pillars of India's commitment towards Africa.
According to S. Jaishankar, the four pillars are 'developmental partnership, trade and investment, strong people-to-people ties, particularly in areas like education and capacity building for young Africans, and most recently, defence and maritime security.'
He said that India has executed 194 developmental projects in 37 African countries at a cost of $11.6 billion and is currently working to complete 77 additional ones in 29 countries. The projects range from infrastructure to ICT, power generation and distribution of water and irrigation, railways to roads, and agriculture to sugar plants.
The partnership between India and Africa has seen a steady growth over past few years, so much so, that India has become Africa's third-largest export destination. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, with an investment of $54 billion, India happens to be one of the biggest investors in the continent.
The sectors where India has contributed include energy, mining, banking, textiles among others. Apart from that, the oil and gas sector of India also invested around $7 billion in Mozambique, South Sudan and other regions of North and West Africa.

Sep 23, 2020

India and Israel sign MoU to Accelerate Innovation and Technology Cooperation

India and Israel signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to initiate a bilateral program in a bid to accelerate innovation and technology cooperation between start-ups and corporates from both countries. The aim of this program is to bring together Israeli and Indian entrepreneurs and startups to collaborate on innovative projects.
The MoU was signed between Israel's Start-Up Nation Central and India's International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology (iCreate). iCreate was established in 2012 to create a hi-tech start-up ecosystem. It has been working with Israeli universities and accelerators from the year of its foundation. The new campus of iCreate was inaugurated by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 17, 2018.
iCreate and Start-Up Nation Central will initiate a unique Online Acceleration Program for market penetration to work with relevant technologies that match up with requirements originating from Indian corporations.

Bihar DGP Takes Voluntary Retirement

Bihar Director General of Police (DGP) Gupteshwar Pandey took voluntary retirement from service, triggering speculations that the outspoken officer would contest the coming state Assembly polls.
Pandey's request seeking voluntary retirement was approved by Governor Phagu Chauhan.
Director General (Homeguards) S. K. Singhal has been given additional charge of DGP.
Pandey, a 1987 batch IPS officer, was involved in the investigation of actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death by suicide in Mumbai.
He had recently been in the headlines for his stout defence of the Nitish Kumar administration when it was under attack from the Shiv Sena-led government in Maharashtra over Bihar Police's probe into the death of Rajput.
Bihar Assembly election is likely to be held in October-November.

M. Venkaiah Naidu Announces Retirement of 11 Rajya Sabha Members

Rajya Sabha bid farewell to 11 of its members who will retire in November this year.
Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu mentioned that 11 MPs from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand will be retiring in November.
They include Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav, BSP's Veer Singh and Raj Babbar of Congress.
Others who will retire are: Javed Ali Khan (SP), P L Punia (Congress), Rajaram (BSP), Neeraj Shekhar (BJP), Arun Singh (BJP), Ravi Prakash Verma (SP) and Chandrapal Singh Yadav (SP).
Naidu said some of the members will return to the House after re-election.

Buddhists, Muslims and Christians Political Parties Decide to Boycott LAHDC (Leh) Elections

The Buddhist and Muslim organisations in Leh, along with the political parties have joined hands and decided to boycott upcoming Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council elections demanding extension of sixth schedule on lines of Bodo Territory Council to the newly formed Union Territory.
The Apex body of People's Movement for Sixth Schedule for Ladakh, which consists of political, religious and civil society organisations of the UT, convened a meeting in Leh in which the decision to boycott the LAHDC elections was finalised. The election commission had announced to conduct the elections on October 16.
The unanimous move from the people of Leh has challenged the BJP's narrative of development and jubilance in the region in wake of the August 5, 2019 decision, when the region was separated from J&K and declared as a Union Territory without legislature. This internal political upheaval in Leh has triggered at a time, when the BJP government in New Delhi is already engaged in a faceoff with China in eastern Ladakh.

Sep 22, 2020

Pakistan Globally-recognised Epicentre of Terrorism: India at United Nations

In a scathing attack on Pakistan, India has said that if there is an "unfinished agenda" at the UN, it is that of tackling the scourge of terrorism and the country, a globally-recognised epicentre of the menace, which harbours and trains terrorists and hails them as martyrs.
Exercising India's right to reply, First Secretary in the country's Permanent Mission to the UN Vidisha Maitra said that Pakistan is a country which is globally recognised as the epicentre of terrorism, which by its own admission harbours and trains terrorists, and hails them as martyrs and consistently persecutes its ethnic and religious minorities.
She was referring to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's remarks in the country's Parliament where he had termed former al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden as a "martyr".

Ruckus as Eight MPs Suspended

The Rajya Sabha suspended eight Opposition MPs for the remainder of monsoon session for their yesterday's unprecedented display of aggression, including threat of physical harm and use of abusive language for Deputy Chairman of the House Harivansh Singh, during the passage of two farm Bills.
Derek O'Brien and Dola Sen (TMC), Rajeev Satav, Ripun Bora and Syed Naseer Hussain (Congress), K. K. Ragesh and Elamaram Kareem (CPM) and Sanjay Singh (AAP) were suspended for their "unruly behaviour, especially with the Chair, and gross disorderly conduct". The motion in this regard was moved by the government and approved by a voice vote.

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