General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - August 2016

Aug 2016

Jan 27, 2023

MoHUA and Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Organize CEOs Conference

Chief Minister of Goa, Pramod Sawant inaugurated the Smart Cities CEOs Conference on Data and Technology today in Panaji. Rohit Monserrate, Mayor, Corporation of City of Panaji, Kunal Kumar, Joint Secretary and Mission Director and senior officers of the Centre and State Government were present on this occasion. The two-day conference was organised by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in coordination with Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Ltd (IPSCDL). Hosted by IPSCDL, the conference witnessed the participation of Chief Executive Officers/Municipal Commissioners of 100 Smart Cities along with officials from the Central, State government, Industry and knowledge partners.
The conference Sought to enable peer learning and exchange of ideas so that best practices may be adopted across all Smart Cities.
The conference also saw discussions on the 'SmartProcure' guidelines for procurement of innovation, wherein officials from Smart Cities of Shimla, Bhopal and Ahmedabad shared their success stories.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari Chairs 10th Meeting of Group of Infrastructure Committee

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari chaired the 10th meeting of the Group of Infrastructure Committee in New Delhi to address existing inter-ministerial issues concerning the implementation of various infrastructure projects.
During the meeting, several issues were deliberated to expedite the progress of ongoing infrastructure projects. These included issues related to pending forest and environment clearances, facilitation of working permissions or approvals, land allocation and release of funds. Plans for making comprehensive guidelines for environmental and forest clearance were also discussed at length.
Union Ministers PiyushGoyal, AshwiniVaishnaw, BhupenderYadav, Gen (Dr.) V. K. Singh, Krishan Pal Gurjar, ShripadNaik and Ajay Bhatt also participated in the meeting.

23 Tableux Roll Down Kartavya Path in National Capital on Republic Day

At the Republic Day parade in the national capital, 23 tableaux, 17 from states and union territories and six from various ministries and departments, rolled down the Kartavya Path showing a plethora of cultures from across the country and bringing the boulevard alive with song and dance.
The parade was kicked off in Delhi by the guest contingent of the Egyptian Armed Forces, followed by a show of strength by the Indian Armed Forces.
Only made-in-India weapons were on display this year (2023).
The indigenous 105-mm Indian Field Guns (IFG) offered the 21-gun salute to President Droupadi Murmu.

Jan 26, 2023

After Co-WIN, Govt Launches U-WIN to Digitise Universal Immunisation Programme

After the success of the Co-WIN platform, the government has now replicated it to set up an electronic registry for routine vaccinations.
Named U-WIN, the programme to digitise India's Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) was launched in a pilot mode in two districts of each state and Union Territory.
The platform will be used to register and vaccinate every pregnant woman, record her delivery outcome, register every newborn delivery, administer birth doses and all vaccination events thereafter.
The U-WIN is a single source of information for immunisation services, updating vaccination status, delivery outcome, planning of RI sessions and reports like antigen-wise coverage, etc.

Jan 25, 2023

Capital Bans Coal in Pollution Fight

A toxic smog engulfs India's capital every winter, as particles from bonfires of crop stubble and vehicle exhausts hang in the air, but New Delhi enforced a ban on coal burning from this month, in its fight against pollution, that has forced industry to shift to biomass.
The drive has pushed about half the 1,695 units in a cluster of small industries around one of the world's most polluted capitals to use biomass.
The change to biomass, which usually consists of pellets or briquettes of farm residue, promises to slash emissions and spur farmers to sell such residue instead of burning it.

Odisha Cabinet Approves Inclusion of 22 Castes in State's List of SEBC

Odisha cabinet cleared the inclusion of 22 castes in the list of Socially and Economically Backward Classes (SEBC).
The Cabinet approved the proposed Amendment of the Odisha State Commission for Backward Classes (OSCBC) Act, 1993 by inserting subsection 3 under Section - 9, enabling the State Government to include such Backward Classes in the State list of SEBCs.

Jan 24, 2023

Telangana Denies Governorv R-Day Guard of Honour this Year Too

The Telangana government for a second consecutive year denied governor Tamilisai Soundararajan the opportunity to inspect the state police's ceremonial parade on Republic Day, amid the ongoing rift between Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and the Raj Bhavan.
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government also decided against the governor's joint address to the state legislature on the commencement of the budget session on February 3, with the assembly secretariat saying the upcoming session is only a continuation of the monsoon session adjourned previously.
The development came at a time when governors and Chief Ministers in several non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled states, such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Punjab and Jharkhand, are pitted against each other.
The Telangana government, in a communication sent to the governor, asked her to restrict the flag hoisting event and other formalities of the Republic Day celebrations to Raj Bhavan. The state government cited "Covid-19 restrictions" as the reason for the cancellation of the ceremonial parade and the governor's address at the Secunderabad Parade Grounds on January 26 this year.
It effectively means there will be no ceremonial parade and guard of honour for the governor on January 26 this year.

Lt Governor R. K. Mathur Launches ULPIN in Ladakh Calls it a 'Game Changer'

Lieutenant Governor R. K. Mathur launched the Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) in the Union Territory, with both hill councils of Kargil and Leh welcoming the initiative. The 14-digit ULPIN would help in the digitization of land records and also reach a conclusive land titling.
Terming ULPIN as a "game changer" and the next step in 'SVAMITVA' for digitisation and computerisation of land revenue records, R. K. Mathur informed the importance of 100 per cent coverage of land revenue records in Ladakh and completion of the exercise at the earliest.
ULPIN would prove beneficial in numerous ways, including settling and expediting land-related disputes in court and addressing legacy issues such as putting a check on any unwanted change in land revenue records. He also stated that the scheme would also prove beneficial to farmers in availing loans from banks and also using drones to spray insecticides and pesticides on the registered lands of the farmers.

The First B20 Meet Held as Part of the G20 in Gandhinagar

As part of the G20 presidency, a Business 20 (B20) inception meeting was held in Gujarat's capital Gandhinagar. Over 600 delegates participated in the event, and deliberated on issues ranging from climate change, innovation, global digital cooperation and resilient global value chains.
The B20 India 2023 dialogue took place under the theme of 'RAISE,' an acronym for Responsible, Accelerated, Innovative, Sustainable and Equitable Businesses.
The three-day conclave had a total of 15 events related to G20 which took place in Gujarat.
A plenary session for the B20 meeting was organised at the Mahatma Mandir convention centre in Gandhinagar in which Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant participated.

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari Expresses Desire to Step Down

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari expressed desire before Prime Minister Narendra Modi to quit the post.
As per reports, Koshyari the former Uttarakhand Chief Minister would like to spend the remainder of his life in reading, writing and other activities.
Koshyari said that it was an absolute honour and privilege for him to serve as the Rajya Sevak or Rajyapal of a great State like Maharashtra the land of Saints, Social reformers and valiant fighters.

EC Hosts International Meet on Use of Tech, Election Integrity

The Election Commission of India (ECI) hosted a two-day international conference for election management officials from 17 countries with the focus on "use of technology and elections integrity".
The conference was the second one the ECI hosted under the US-led Summit for Democracy platform, in which the ECI was selected to lead the cohort on elections integrity.
The first conference was in October 2022 where 50 representatives from 11 countries participated.
The conference came at a time the ECI proposed the use of remote voting machines to enable domestic migrants to vote, a suggestion that most political parties opposed at a meeting.
The two-day conference was inaugurated by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar. Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey chaired the concluding session and Election Commissioner Arun Goel chaired the first technical session.

Jan 23, 2023

Kerala's Wayanad Becomes First District in Country to Provide Basic Documents to all Tribal People

Wayanad district in Kerala became the first district in the country to provide basic documents and facilities such as Aadhaar cards, ration cards, birth/death certificates, election ID cards, bank accounts and health insurance to all tribes' people.
The Wayanad district administration attained the meritorious achievement by providing 1,42,563 services to as many as 64,670 tribal beneficiaries as part of the Akshaya Big Campaign for Document Digitisation (ABCD) campaign. The drive was launched in November 2021 at Thondarnadu grama panchayat.

PM Names 21 Andaman & Nicobar Islands after Gallantry Award Winners

In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to give due honour and recognition to real-life heroes, the PM participated in a ceremony to name 21 largest unnamed Andaman and Nicobar Islands after 21 Param Vir Chakra awardees via video conferencing.
The move was taken on Parakram Diwas, also known as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Jayanti. The national event marked the birth anniversary of prominent Indian freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
PM Modi said that the islands named after Param Vir Chakra awardees will be site of inspiration for generations to come.

PM Modi Attends All India Conference of DGs and IGs of Police 2022 in Delhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the All India Conference of Directors General and Inspectors General of Police 2022 in New Delhi. The three-day conference was inaugurated by Home Minister Amit Shah. Discussions on futuristic themes in policing and security took place during the conference. Besides, a wide range of issues including Cyber Crime, Technology in Policing, Counter Terrorism challenges, Left Wing Extremism, Capacity Building, and Prison Reforms were also parts of discussions during the conference.

Jammu and Kashmir Govt. Launches Food Processing Project

The Jammu and Kashmir government launched an ambitious project targeted to revolutionise the food processing sector and transform the lives of farmers in the UT.
The "UT Level Food Processing Programme for Development of Clusters for Specific Products of J&K" is a Rs. 879.75 crore initiative that aims to maximise farmer income and minimise post-harvest losses.
This comprehensive project has been designed to increase the competitiveness of seven identified products across categories in terms of cost, quality, branding, and sustainability within five years. The government is investing in value addition, logistics, marketing and branding of various agricultural, horticultural and livestock products to achieve this goal.
The project will focus on developing 17 districts in J&K with establishment of processing and marketing infrastructure, providing growth and development opportunities to stakeholders, and facilitating suitable economies of scale in production and post-harvest activities.

SBI General Insurance Collaborates with HP Police and Doers NGO

SBI General Insurance partnered with Doers NGO to support the Himachal Pradesh police in reducing the number of road accidents. As part of its CSR program, SBI General provided a well-equipped ambulance for immediate medical care for road accident victims in the Mandi district within the crucial "Golden Hour".
The partnership between SBI General, Doers NGO, the Himachal Pradesh Police, and the Civil Hospital in Sundarnagar aims to provide timely treatment and access to lifesaving medical resources for road accident victims. In addition to this, SBI General also collaborated with the Himachal Pradesh Police to provide road signages to increase awareness and caution in accident-prone areas on the highway, with the goal of preventing road accidents.

Vikram Dev Dutt Appointed as DGCA Director General

The Centre approved the appointment of IAS officer Vikram Dev Dutt as the next chief of aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Dutt, a 1993 batch IAS officer, is currently serving as the CMD of Air India Assets Holding Ltd (AIAHL). He will take over as the head of the aviation regulator on February 28, upon the superannuation of incumbent DGCA chief Arun Kumar.
Kumar, a 1989-batch IAS officer, was leading the DGCA as its DG since July 2019.
Earlier, Dutt had also served as the CMD of Air India. He had taken charge in January 2022.

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