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NATIONAL AFFAIRS - December 2016

Dec 2016

Nov 06, 2019

Maharashtra Procures Manhole- Cleaning Robot- Bandicoot

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has procured a manhole-cleaning robot called 'Bandicoot', which would help end the practice of manual scavenging.
GHMC Mayor B. Rammohan inaugurated the 'Bandicoot' robotic manhole desilting machine at the Biodiversity junction at Gachibowli in the city.
The Supreme Court has issued guidelines to all urban local bodies in the country to have "technology-adopted methods" for cleaning manholes and septic tanks.
The Raheja Corp., as part of its CSR initiative, funded the project of procurement of the 'Bandicoot' robotic machine at an estimated cost of ₹32 lakh to avoid manual scavenging.
The key features of the machine include a complete robotic solution for eliminating manual scavenging and "cleaning sewage in a world class manner using four advanced sewer cameras which work in day and light".

Guj Terror Law gets Prez Approval

Sixteen years after the Gujarat assembly had passed the controversial anti-terror legislation which was popularly known as GUJCOCA or the Gujarat Control of Organized Crime Act, the law was finally ratified by President Ramnath Kovind.
Known as Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GUJCTOC) Act in its new avatar, the law gives extensive powers to the state police to counter terror and organised crime.
A confession made before a police official of the rank of SP and above will now be admissible in court as evidence. So far, only confessions before a magistrate were admissible as evidence.
GUJCOCA was returned thrice earlier by various presidents and was last amended in 2015.
A positive provision of this law is that electronic intercepts, including oral communication, will be admissible as evidence in courts.
GUJCTOC Act provides immunity to state government and its officers from legal action for an action that is "done or intended to be done in good faith in pursuance of the Act".
Cops now get up to 180 days instead of the stipulated 90 days to file a chargesheet. The accused will not be granted bail until public prosecutor has got a chance to oppose the bail plea.
Authorities are empowered to confiscate unaccounted properties of accused. Besides, a witness will get special protection under this Act.
The state will set up special courts and appoint public prosecutors to deal with GUJCTOC Act cases.

Nov 05, 2019

CBI Faids at 169 Places Across the Country in Bank Fraud Cases

CBI is conducting searches at around 169 places across the country in connection with Bank Fraud Cases.
The searches are being conducted at different locations including in Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttarakhand.
CBI has registered around 35 Cases related to Bank Frauds involving more than 7000 Crore rupees.
Earlier in July 2019, CBI raided more than 50 locations in 50 different cities across 12 states and UTs in a countrywide action relating to bank cases.

Nov 04, 2019

Ministry Of Shipping Announces First Ever Movement Of Container Cargo On Brahmaputra

In line with Government's focus on improving connectivity to the North Eastern Region (NER), a landmark container cargo consignment sailed on inland waterways from Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) to the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) terminal at Pandu in Guwahati on 4 November, 2019.
Gopal Krishna, Secretary (Shipping) flagged off the inland vessel MV Maheshwari carrying 53 TEUs (containers) of petrochemicals, edible oil and beverage etc. The 12-15 days voyage will be an integrated IWT movement via National Waterway-1 (river Ganga), NW-97 (Sunderbans), Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route and NW-2 (river Brahmaputra).
This is the first ever containerised cargo movement on this Inland Water Transport (IWT) route. The 1425 km long movement is expected to establish the technical and commercial viability of IWT mode using these multiple waterways even as a series of pilot movements are planned on the stretch.

Nov 03, 2019

Madhya Pradesh BJP MLA Prahlad Lodhi Disqualified Following Conviction

In a setback to the opposition BJP, the Madhya Pradesh assembly secretariat announced disqualification of BJP MLA from Pawai, Prahlad Lodhi, following his conviction in a criminal case.
It also informed the Election Commission that Pawai seat had now fallen vacant. The BJP termed the decision as "undemocratic" and said it would challenge it in the court.

Nov 02, 2019

Now Workers Can Generate UAN From EPFO Portal Directly

Retirement fund body, Employees' Provident Fund Organization, has launched a facility for formal sector workers to obtain universal account number on-line.
Now workers can generate Universal Account Number from the EPFO portal directly.
At present, workers are required to apply through their employers to get the Universal Account Number.
Union Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar launched this facility during the 67th Foundation Day celebrations of the retirement body in New Delhi.
The Minister also launched a facility for its over 65 lakh pensioners to download their pension-related documents like pension payment order on DigiLocker.

TRAI Fixes Mobile Call Ring Time At 30 Seconds; 60 Secs For Landline

Telecom regulator TRAI fixed phone call ring time at 30 seconds for mobiles and 60 seconds for landline phones in case the call is neither answered nor rejected by a subscriber.
The new rules will come into effect after November 15, 2019.
The UN body International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has specifications for international calls or circuits in the range of 1.5 minutes to 3 minutes but there is no prescribed value for the timer for domestic calls.

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