General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - December 2016

Dec 2016

Jan 10, 2020

PDP Expels Leaders for Meeting Envoys

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) expelled its eight leaders, including those who met a group of foreign diplomats in Srinagar.
The diplomats interacted with security officials, politicians and civil society representatives in Srinagar as part of the first such government-organised visit since the Constitution's Article 370 was nullified to end the state's special status in August 2019 and it was split into Union territories.
Mufti and two other former chief ministers, Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, were detained along with hundreds of others to prevent protests against the change in the region's status. An information blackout and a lockdown were also imposed. Most of the restrictions have since been eased but politicians including the three former CMs remain under detention.

Sonia Gandhi to Take Final Call on Fielding Former MPs

Congress party interim Chief Sonia Gandhi will take a call on whether senior leaders who contested the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi last year will be fielded in the state elections this time or not.
Senior leaders of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) said that the screening committee has started meeting senior leaders of the state unit to narrow down the list of probable candidates.
However, this committee is not considering names of those who had already contested in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

Gujarat Government to Bring Pro-CAA Resolution

The BJP government in Gujarat will bring a resolution in the assembly during its day-long session , welcoming and supporting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, whose passage in Parliament last month triggered widespread protests across the country.
The special house session has been convened to approve a constitutional amendment bill recently passed by Parliament to give a 10-year extension to reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
The government-sponsored resolution on CAA, which is to be discussed for about 120 minutes before passing it, congratulates Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for their bold and historic decision in bringing the legislation.

Envoys Begin two-day J&K Tour

A group of 15 envoys and diplomats interacted with security officials, politicians and civil society representatives in Srinagar as part of the first such visit organised by the government since Jammu & Kashmir's special status was revoked in August 2019, restrictions on movement and communication imposed, and many political leaders detained.
The group, which is making a two-day visit to Jammu & Kashmir to assess the ground situation, includes US ambassador Kenneth Juster, South Korean envoy Shin Bong-kil and Norwegian envoy Hans Jacob Frydenlund. The diplomats had frank interactions during their meetings.
The diplomats went to 15 Corps headquarters, where security officials and army commanders briefed them on the situation in Kashmir after Article 370 of the Constitution was nullified last August, and the challenges in maintaining security, including the threat of terrorism and the situation along the Line of Control (LoC).

Ex-bureaucrats Write against New Law on Citizenship

A group of around 100 retired civil servants released an open letter, asking people to insist that the government withdraw recent amendments to the Citizenship Act and scrap the plan to build an all-India National Register of Citizens.
The retired civil servants, who have come together under the aegis of the Constitutional Conduct Group, also countered the government's latest effort to delink the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the ongoing National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC).
"The three issues are linked," it said in the open letter designed to "acquaint people with the facts" and "emphasise why these measures need to be resolutely opposed".
The open letter has the names of 106 retired civil servants, including around 25 former secretaries to the central government.

World's Highest Rail Bridge To Connect Kashmir To Rest Of India By 2021

Soon, Kashmir to be connected by Indian Railways to the rest of India! By December 2021, Kashmir will be connected to the rest of the country through the Indian Railways network as the government has set a new deadline for completion of the world's highest railway bridge – Chenab bridge.
The Chenab railway bridge will be 35 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.
According to Konkan Railways, it is the most challenging project in the post-independent history of the national transporter.

Census India-2021 to begin on 1st April

Census India-2021 will begin on 1st of April this year and will end on 30th of September. Census India-2021 will be conducted through a mobile phone application, moving away from the traditional pen and paper.
Enumerators of the census will seek the information of mobile number of the head of the family, information related to toilets, TV, Internet, vehicles owned, source of drinking water besides asking other questions during the house listing phase of the exercise.

Shoaib Iqbal Joins AAP

Former Matia Mahal MLA Shoaib Iqbal, who represented three different parties in the Delhi Assembly at various points between 1993 and 2013, joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
It was the AAP that had ended Iqbal's victory streak in the 2015 polls when he lost the Old Delhi constituency to Asim Ahmed Khan, present MLA of Matia Mahal.
Iqbal joined AAP for its "pro-people initiatives" and schemes for the welfare of all communities.
He joined the AAP in presence of Delhi chief minister and the party's national convener Arvind Kejriwal.

Arunachal Assembly Adopts New Logo

The Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly adopted a new logo, reflecting the distinct identity and culture of the state.
Speaker Pasang Dorjee Sona had circulated pictures of the new logo among the members of the House.
The new logo consists of the national emblem and foxtail orchid (Rhynchostylis Retusa), the state flower.
The symbol of national emblem signifies the federal system of the Indian Constitution while the foxtail orchid represents the state, its people and culture as a whole, while the blue colour denotes the autonomy of the assembly secretariat.

Jan 09, 2020

Eight North-Eastern States To Participate In The Madhavpur Mela Of Gujarat In April

The eight States of the Northern Eastern Region will participate in a big way during the Madhavpur Mela of Gujarat due to be held in the first week of April this year.
The annual fair is held at Madhavpur Ghed in Porbandar district and the Mela this year will commence on 2nd April, a day after the Ram Navami festival. The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh chaired a high level meeting with senior officials of the Gujarat Government to review preparations for the mega festival.
Secretary, North Eastern Council (NEC), Shri Moses Chalai and senior officers of NEC, besides Resident Commissioners/representatives of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur also participated. The Madhavpur Mela of Gujarat shares it's connect to the Mishmi Tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. The Mishmi Tribe traces its ancestry to the legendary King Bhishmak and through him to his daughter Rukmini and Lord Krishna. The festival celebrates the immortal journey which Rukmini undertook from Arunachal Pradesh to Gujarat with Lord Krishna. Bhismak nagar, located near Roing in the lower Dibang Valley district, also finds mention in Kalika Purana.

Jan 08, 2020

AAP Forms Three-Member Panel To Draft Its Election Manifesto

The Aam Aadmi Party announced a three-member 'manifesto committee' for drafting the party's manifesto for the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections.

The three-member committee includes, senior party leader Atishi as the chairperson, Vice Chairperson of Dialogue & Development Commission (DDC), Jasmine Shah and party spokesperson Ajoy Kumar as the members.

All the three members will incorporate suggestions of people and the vision of our party while preparing the manifesto. The manifesto will be released between January 15 and 20, 2020.

2nd National GST Conference Held For Streamlining GST System

The 2nd National GST Conference of the Commissioners of State Tax and Chief Commissioners of Central Tax was held under the chairmanship of Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary, Ministry of Finance.
The multi-faceted Conference was focused on brainstorming session for streamlining Goods and Services Tax (GST) system and plugging revenue leakages. This was the 2nd edition of all India Conference where both tax administrations came together formally to build synergy and to share their knowledge and best practices with intent to bring about uniformity in tax administrations.
During the Conference, deliberations were held on a mechanism and machinery for disseminating inter-departmental data among various agencies like GSTC, CBDT, CBIC, FIU, DoR, DGGI and State Tax Administrations etc. in order to achieve efficiency in curbing evasion and augment revenue collection.

All 4 Nirbhaya Case Convicts To Be Hanged On January 22

Court issues death warrants on a plea by the victim's parents to expedite their execution.
All the four convicts in the December 16, 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case will be hanged on January 22, 2020 at 7 a.m. inside the Tihar jail.
Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora issued the death warrants for convicts Mukesh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Singh and Pawan Gupta on a plea by the victim's parents to expedite their execution.
Before passing the order, the judge conducted a video conference call with the convicts who are lodged in Tihar to hear their side of the argument.

Jan 07, 2020

Delhi Assembly elections to be held on February 8, counting of votes on February 11

Delhi Assembly elections to be held on February 8. The counting of votes will be done on February 11.
The term of the 70-member Delhi assembly will end on February 22 and a new House has to be constituted before that.
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is seeking re-election after a massive win in the last assembly polls held in 2015. The AAP won 67 seats and the remaining three went to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

KVIC opens first silk processing plant in Gujarat to boost Patola saree production

Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) inaugurated the first silk processing plant at Surendranagar in Gujarat. This would help cut down the cost of production of silk yarn drastically and increase the sale and availability of raw material for Gujarati 'Patola' sarees locally.
The plant has been set up by a khadi institution at a cost of Rs 75 lakh, in which KVIC has contributed Rs 60 lakh.

Jan 06, 2020

Tamil Nadu assembly session begins in January

Tamil Nadu assembly session began in 2019. Being the first session of the year, it began with the customary address by the state Governor Bunwarilal Purohit. The entire opposition led by the DMK boycotted Governor's speech over the Citizenship Amendment Act, alleged misdeeds in the recent rural local body elections and a host of other issues.
Tamil Nadu maintains the lead in maintaining law and order, industrial growth and good governance. The government would ensure that the interests of the people of all faith are ensured. He thanked the Centre for not signing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, RCEP, to protect the interests of the country's dairy sector.

When masked men and women with sticks bled students, staff at JNU campus

A mob wearing masks and carrying sticks barged into the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus on and attacked students and teachers, prompting protests across the country.
At least 23 students and teachers were injured in the attack, which the Left-back JNU students' union (JNUSU) blamed on the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
The students' group affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has denied the charges.
Here is what happened on 6th January, 2019
As a part of the ongoing agitation against a substantial increase of the hostel fee, JNU teachers had called for a march on the campus at 4pm. Around two hours later, teachers and students said a mob of people entered the campus raising provocative slogans and were armed with sticks and rods with their faces covered. The masked individuals also entered hostels and went around knocking on rooms.

Govt's UJALA, SLNP complete five years of illuminating nation

UJALA and Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP) of the central government completed five successful years of illuminating the country. Over 36.13 crore LED bulbs have been distributed across the country through the UJALA initiative. This has resulted in estimated energy savings of 46.92 billion kilowatt-hour per year.
Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) project brought the market transformation in the energy efficiency sector. Prices of LED bulbs being distributed under UJALA programme have fallen to one-tenth of their rates, from 310 rupees in 2015 to 38 rupees in 2018. The switch from inefficient incandescent bulbs to LEDs is helping families reduce their electricity bills while also enabling them to access better brightness in homes.

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