General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - July 2016

Jul 2016

Sep 06, 2020

Additional Secretary in Rajya Sabha Secretariat Refuses Extension

Chairman M. V.enkaiah Naidu's close aide A. A. Rao, who worked in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat as Additional Secretary on contract basis, demitted the office on August 31 despite being offered an extension of one more year.
As per an official statement, A. A. Rao expressed his inability to accept the offer owing to personal reasons.

India Calls For Deeper Cooperation In Dealing With Terrorism At BRICS Meet

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar called for boosting cooperation among the five-nation grouping BRICS in dealing with the threat of terrorism during a virtual meeting of the bloc which was also attended by his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
In his address, Mr. Jaishankar also emphasised the need to reform the United Nations to reflect contemporary global realities, and the feelings of millions of people in the world, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
He also called for expansion of the UN Security Council in both permanent and non-permanent categories besides pitching for reforms in international bodies like World Trade Organisation, International Monetary Fund and World Health Organisation.
The BRICS comprises five major emerging countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
The meeting was chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and attended by Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo, China's Wang, South African Foreign Minister Grace Naledi Pandor and Mr. Jaishankar.
A joint declaration issued after the meeting said the ministers expressed concern at the rise of violence and continuing conflicts in different parts of the world that have significant impact at both the regional and international levels.

National Tribal Research Conclave

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) and Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) organised a two-days 'National Tribal Research Conclave' through virtual platform in September 2020. The conclave was chaired by the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Shri Arjun Munda, who reviewed and discussed the outcome and the best practices of various research projects being implemented under partnerships with TRIs and other stakeholders. About 120 participants across the country including State Tribal Welfare Ministers, State Tribal Welfare Secretaries, TRI Directors, CoEs along with Officers of Ministry and IIPA attended the meet and shared their views on tribal research and development.
Union Minster of Tribal Affairs Shri Arjun Munda appreciated the initiatives taken by various partners/stakeholders with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. He also announced that agreement has been signed between Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) for setting up National Tribal Research Institute (NTRI) in their campus, which would help in better coordination and management among TRIs and would go a long way in improving tribal research resulting in evidence based planning and development of tribal areas across the country.

Sep 05, 2020

New Afghan Envoy to India Calls Nation Generous Neighbour

Afghanistan's new envoy to India Farid Mamundzay called the nation a generous neighbour who has stood with us in difficult times and have shared their bread with us. Farid who was earlier the senior political advisor at the Afghan National Security Council tweeted on his appointment, "I am honoured & humbled to have been designated as the new Afghan ambassador to India, a traditional and historic friend of Afghanistan."
India has been the biggest development partner of Afghanistan in the region and has built mega infrastructure projects like India Afghan friendship dam and the Afghanistan Parliament.
Farid was also Deputy Director General at the Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG) which is an Afghan government agency for all local administrations in the country. His appointment comes even as intra-Afghan talks between the Afghanistan government and Taliban are expected to begin.

Bihar Elections, 65 Pending Bypolls to be Held Around Same Time

According to the the Election Commission, the pending by-election to one Lok Sabha and 64 assembly seats spread across 15 states and the Bihar assembly polls will be held around the same time.
The term of the Bihar assembly ends on November 29 and elections are likely to be held sometime in October-November.
Among the 64 vacant assembly seats, 27 are in Madhya Pradesh. Most of these 27 seats fell vacant when rebel Congress members resigned from the party and the assembly to join the BJP.
With the resignations of the Congress members, the Kamal Nath-led government fell and the BJP returned to power.
The issue of holding the by-elections came up at the meeting of the Commission after taking into account various factors.

Defence Ministers Meet Amid Tension

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe in Moscow in the first highest-level contact after border tension erupted in Ladakh in May as the Indian leader said that peace and security in the region demanded a climate of trust, non-aggression, peaceful resolution of differences and respect for international rules.
According to Indian Government sources, the bilateral meeting was requested by the Chinese Defence Minister. Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar and Indian Ambassador to Russia DB Venkatesh Varma were part of the Indian delegation at the talks.
Mr. Singh said that India was committed to the evolution of a global security architecture which would be open, transparent, inclusive, rules-based and anchored in international laws.

Sep 04, 2020

ASI Declares Site and Remains at Baghpat to be of National Importance

The archaeological site and remains at Sadikpur Sinauli in Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat district, which where evidence of the existence of a warrior class around 2,000 BCE, discovered in 2018 have been declared to be of "national importance" by the Archaeological Survey of India.
The ASI's notification under provisions of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 brings the 28.67-hectare-site under Central protection. The site would now be maintained by the ASI and development works around it would be subject to Central rules.
The notification comes two years after the ASI unearthed remains of chariots, shields, swords and other items indicating the presence of a warrior class at the site that is 68 km from Delhi.

BJP's Syed Zafar Alam Elected Unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh

BJP candidate Syed Zafar Alam was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh. Friday was the last day for the withdrawal of nominations and no one else was in the fray for the by-election, which was scheduled on September 11.
The Rajya Sabha seat fell vacant following the death of SP MP Amar Singh in Singapore on August 1.
Zafar will serve the remainder of Singh's term till July 4, 2022.
BJP's Govind Narain Shukla and Independent Mahesh Chandra Sharma had filed nominations.
Sharma's nomination got rejected as he did not have the backing of 10 MLAs as required, while Shukla withdrew his nomination the next day.

Assam Assembly Passes Bills for Creation of Three Autonomous Councils

Assam assembly passed bills for creation of three autonomous councils which included Moran, Motok and Kamtapur Autonomous Council.
These proposals were mauled by the government at height of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest early this year.
Meanwhile opposition congress in Assam has declared that if voted back to power in 2021 assembly polls cases slapped for participating in anti CAA protest will be withdrawn within one week of coming to power.
The assembly passing the proposal has led to celebrations in some areas. Welfare of Plain Tribes and Backward Classes Minister Chandan Brahma said that this is a historic day as the assembly passed three bills enabling creation of these councils.
Two factions representing Koch Rajbongshi Students Union and eight other organisations representing the Koch RajBongshi community thanked the Chief Minister for the Kamtapur Autonomous Council.
Sonowal also assured that the government is doing everything possible to give a final shape to the Council at the earliest.

India Ready to Hold Quad Ministerial Meet in Delhi

India has said that it is ready to hold Quad--India, US, Australia and Japan meet later this year and details are being worked out.
Earlier this month, US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun said that a Quad ministerial meet is being planned in Delhi.
Last year, the Quad foreign ministers met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New Yeat, which was the first such meet of the grouping.
Notably, Quad is viewed with suspicion by China as a grouping that is anti-Bejing.

Sep 03, 2020

Mission Karmayogi: Cabinet Approves National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building

The Union Cabinet approved Mission Karmayogi, a national programme for civil services capacity building. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said that officers and employees in government will get the opportunity to improve their performance with Mission Karmayogi.
Mission Karmayogi is constituted to build future-ready civil service with right attitude, skills & knowledge, aligned to the vision of New India. It focuses on competency led capacity building.
The programme will prescribe and monitor annual capacity building plans for all departments and services. The digital learning framework (IGOT-Karmayogi Platform) will provide anytime-anywhere learning to 2.5 crore civil servants.
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved launching of a National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB) with the following institutional framework:-(i) Prime Minister's Public Human Resources (HR) Council, (ii) Capacity Building Commission, (iii) Special Purpose Vehicle for owning and operating the digital assets and the technological platform for online training, (iv) Coordination Unit headed by the Cabinet Secretary.

Govt. Bans 118 Chinese Apps, Including PUBG, over Security Concerns

According to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), India has banned 118 more Chinese apps, including popular multiplayer game PUBG and search engine Baidu, citing them to be security threats. The government invoked its powers under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act and relevant provisions under IT Rules 2009 to block these apps,.
MeitY had received complaints regarding the misuse of apps available on Android and iOS for "stealing and surreptitiously" transmitting users' data to servers that were located outside India.
As per the government, the move would safeguard the interests of millions of Indian mobile and internet users. "The decision is a targeted move to ensure safety, security, and sovereignty of the Indian cyberspace.
Tencent-backed PUBG is a popular gaming app with over 40 million active users in India. It is classified as one of the two unicorn mobile games in India by AppAnnie. The other Chinese-origin apps to have been banned include Alipay, Ludo All Star, WeChat reading and Super Clean, among others.

India Demands Permanent Removal of Jammu and Kashmir Issue from UNSC

India in its statement in the Report of the Security Council for 2019 has demanded Kashmir's permanent removal from the United Nations Security Council's agenda, something Pakistan keeps on raking.
In the statement, India also hit out at Pakistan and said that a delegation keeps pushing for discussions on an outdated agenda item in the Council which for all matter needs to be removed from the Council's agenda permanently.
Since the abrogation of special status for the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcation into 2 Union Territories in August 2019, Pakistan along with China have tried to raise the matter three times.
The attempts have met with failure with informal closed-door discussions happening with no outcomes and other members of the council reiterating that Kashmir is a bilateral India-Pakistan issue.
India in its statement also highlighted how Islamabad has attempted to rebrand itself as contributing to international peace but unfortunately fails to recognize that it is globally known for being the fountainhead of international terror and the hub for terror syndicates.

Sep 02, 2020

Ahead of Bihar Polls, Jitan Ram Manjhi's Party Says it Will Join NDA

As per reports, former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi-led HAM(S) will join the NDA ahead of the Bihar elections.
HAM(S) national president Jitan Ram Manjhi will formally announce the party becoming a part of the NDA in Bihar in a day or two.
The party is firmly standing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for their development works.
Manjhi had on August 20 severed ties with the Grand Alliance after spending two-and-a-half years in the opposition coalition, comprising of RJD, Congress, RLSP and Bollywood set designer-turned-politician Mukesh Sahni's Vikasshil Insaan Party (VIP).
Manjhi is the lone member of his party in the assembly. But, his induction would help the NDA's outreach to Dalits, particularly other than Paswans which is the support base of the LJP.

Cabinet Approves Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill

The Cabinet approved Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill, 2020.
Urdu, Kashmiri, Dogri, Hindi and English to be official languages in Jammu and Kashmir under the new Bill approved by the Cabinet.
the Union Cabinet also approved Mission Karmayogi for bringing post-recruitment reforms in the government.

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