General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - July 2016

Jul 2016

Aug 09, 2020

Centre to Introduce New Law to Protect Land Rights of J&K Natives

The Centre is considering to bring a law to protect the land rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. As per reports, the new law is expected to be enacted in the Parliament.
A bill to this effect will be introduced in Parliament as there is no legislature in the newly created Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir because no election was held since the bifurcation of the erstwhile state.
The fears of Jammu and Kashmir domicile people about the settlement of outsiders in the Union Territory arose after the government abrogated Article 370 on August 5, 2019, which ended the exclusive rights of locals over lands or immovable property and jobs.

Indus Water Treaty: World Bank Expresses Inability to Appoint Neutral Expert or Court of Arbitration

The World Bank has expressed its inability to take an independent decision on the appointment of a neutral expert or a Court of Arbitration for the settlement of a long-pending water dispute between India and Pakistan, saying the two countries will have to bilaterally choose one option.
India and Pakistan signed the treaty in 1960 after nine years of negotiations, with the Washington-based World Bank being a signatory.
The treaty sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two countries regarding their use of the rivers. However, there have been disagreements and differences between India and Pakistan over the treaty.
"Both India and Pakistan should come together as to which option to take forward," Patchamuthu Illangovan, the World Bank's former Country Director of Pakistan, said.
Pakistan had made a request for the appointment of a Court of Arbitration (COA) while India had sought a neutral expert to resolve the dispute on two hydroelectric projects.

Aug 08, 2020

Centre Engages NSCN-IM in the Last Leg of Naga Peace Talks

The Centre resumed negotiations with the NSCN (IM) leadership as part of the last leg of talks for Naga peace, as the efforts are on to resolve the three contentious issues — flag, constitution and territory — and ink a final settlement before Independence Day.
As per reports, the talks between the senior officials and the NSCN-IM leaders, led by its 86-year-old general secretary Thuengaleng Muivah, are being held at an undisclosed location in the national capital, where representatives of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal were also present.
The NSCN-IM has all along been demanding for territorial integration of all Naga inhabited areas of the North East region of the country.
The Naga National Political Groups (NNPG), a conglomerate of seven other organisations, which is also part of the dialogue process, has successfully closed its negotiations with the Centre.

Conclave on Transformational Reforms in Higher Education under NEP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the inaugural address at the Conclave on Transformational Reforms in Higher Education under National Education Policy. The conclave has been organised by Ministry of Education along with the University Grants Commission (UGC). The Prime Minister joined the conclave through video-conferencing.
The Prime Minister urged all to work towards implementation of new national education policy.
Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal and Union Minister of State for Communications Sanjay Dhotre participated in the event along with a number of dignitaries, including, Chairman and Members, Committee for Draft NEP as well as eminent academicians/scientists.
PM Modi in his inaugural address said that today the new education policy is widely discussed across the country. People from different fields, ideologies are giving their views and reviewing the policy. This is a healthy debate that will benefit the country's education system. National Education Policy has been approved after a long brainstorming session with millions of suggestions and after 3-4 years of extensive deliberations.
Talking about the multi-disciplinary programmes and multiple entry and exit options, the PM said that every student should get an opportunity to follow their passion. They can pursue any degree or course and can leave according to their convenience and requirement without any loss of credits.

Aug 07, 2020

Manoj Sinha Takes Oath as New Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir

Former Union minister Manoj Sinha was sworn in as the new lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir, the first political leader to take charge of the Union Territory.
Sinha known for his connect with people, particularly in rural areas, was administered the oath of office by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Justice Gita Mittal at a simple function in the Raj Bhavan.
Known as 'vikas purush' (development man), Sinha is a three-time Lok Sabha MP who was minister of state for communication in 2016 when the telecom industry was engaged in the sale of spectrum. He was elected to the lower house for the first time in 1996 and then in 1999 and 2014. However, he lost the election from Ghazipur in 2019.

Punjab CM Launches 'Pride of Punjab' Partnership of State Govt. YuWaah for Youth Development

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh launched the 'Pride of Punjab' programme through video conferencing.The programme is a partnership programme between the Department of Youth Services and Sports and YuWaah – a joint initiative of UNICEF, other UN agencies, civil society organisations and the private sector.
The launch was attended by Minister for Department of Sports & Youth Services Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, United Nations Children's Fund Special Representative for Young people Mr. Ravi Venkatesan, Mr. Abhishek Gupta, Chief Operating Officer YuWaah(Generation Unlimited India) and others.
The programme is aimed at enabling best opportunities for the Youth of Punjab.
The Programme will help the youth of Punjab to realize their aspirations, to support their community and to support other young people.
The programme will start with a survey using U-Report to hear about the challenges and aspirations of the youth of Punjab.
U-Report is a social messaging tool and data collection system supported by YuWaah and UNICEF to improve citizen engagement.
YuWaah is a multi-stakeholder alliance that aims to facilitate youth to gain relevant skills for productive lives and the future of work.
It is supported by the United Nations Children's Fund.
India was one of the first countries to launch this initiative.
YuWaah is aimed at imparting skills among the youth of India and provide employment to more than 300 million young Indians.
It is targeted at young people aged 10-24 years.

Aug 06, 2020

Manoj Sinha to Take Charge as New Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor

Senior BJP leader Manoj Sinha was appointed as the new Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir by President Ram Nath Kovind . Sinha will replace Girish Chandra Murmu who resigned.
Born on July 1, 1959, Sinha was Minister of Communications (independent charge) and Minister of State (MoS), Railways during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first term. Sinha is a three-time BJP MP from parliamentary constituency of Ghazipur in eastern Uttar Pradesh. He was defeated by Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) Afzal Ansari in 2019 Lok Sabha poll.

J&K Lt Governor Girish Chandra Murmu Resigns

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant-Governor Girish Chandra Murmu resigned. Murmu was the first Lt Governor of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. He was appointed in October 2019.
As per reports, Murmu has been appointed as the new Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.
Incidentally, Murmu's resignation comes exactly a year after Article 370 was revoked paving way for the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Murmu, a 1985 batch IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre, will be replacing Rajiv Mehrishi, a 1978 batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre as CAG.

Atal Innovation Mission Declares Results of ATL Tinkering Marathon 2019

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) has declared the results of its flagship national annual innovation marathon challenge. The ATL Tinkering Marathon 2019 was held over fifty thousand Atal Tinkering Labs across the country and announced 150 winners of the Marathon. The challenge was executed by AIM in partnership with MyGOV on MyGov's Innovate Platform this year.
42 percent of the winning teams are from rural areas and 57 percent are from government schools. About 45 percent of the winning team students are girls.
This year's marathon was uniquely designed by the students themselves. Phase-I included crowdsourcing of the problems faced by students in the communities surrounding them. It saw over 4300 entries. Phase-II included voting on the shortlisted problem statements. The Marathon had a strong focus on Research preceding the Innovations.
The final phase of solution development received over 1191 entries from students across 29 States and UTs.

Modi Lays Foundation for Ayodha Temple

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for a Ram temple in Ayodhya, marking a historic accomplishment for his party and government.
The construction of the temple fulfils not only a cherished electoral promise of the Bharatiya Janata Party but also a demand for a Ram Mandir in Ayodhya that dates back centuries.
This demand took the shape of a political campaign in 1984 when the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)—an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which is the ideological parent of the BJP—started the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.

Aug 05, 2020

Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Lays Foundation Stone IIM Sirmaur

Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal along with Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Jai Ram Thakur; Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur and Minister of State for Education Sanjay Dhotre laid the foundation stone of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Sirmaur in Himachal Pradesh.
The Union government had taken a decision in 2014 to establish seven new IIMs, including IIM Sirmaur. On 15 August 2014 it was announced that the IIM for Himachal Pradesh would be set up at Dhaulakuan in Sirmaur district.
I March 2015, the state government allotted 210 acre land at Dhaulakuan for development of the permanent campus of the Institute.
The IIM Sirmaur was operationalised by IIM Lucknow as the mentor institution with the commencement of the first batch of PGP of 20 students, from its temporary campus at Paonta Sahib, Sirmaur.

CISF Takes over Security of Leh's Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) took over the security of Leh's Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport with a sanctioned strength of more than 180 personnel. The unit will be headed by a Deputy Commandant rank officer. With this induction, total units under CISF security cover raised to 349 including 64 airports across the country.
The airport is located in Western Himalayas of the Ladakh region and serves as the main airport of entire Ladakh. During the winter, Leh airport is the only gateway of Ladakh as there is limited connectivity by road due to heavy snowfall. This is the highest altitude airport of India and operates in extreme weather condition. This is the most tourist intensive airport in India.
CISF Director General Rajesh Ranjan was the chief guest of the induction ceremony. Several other guests including Chief Advisor to Lt. Governor of Ladakh Umang Narula, SDG (APS) M A Ganapathy, CISF IGP Leh Ladakh Satish Khandare, ITBP IG Deepam Seth, AAI ED Security Raj K Mallick, CISF IG Vikram Singh Mann, and Airport Director Sonam Norbu, were present on the occasion. The function was also attended by other senior officials of CISF, ITBP, CRPF, Airports Authority of India, representatives of airlines operators and other stakeholders.

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