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NATIONAL AFFAIRS - December 2016

Dec 2016

Oct 25, 2019

By-Election Results Throw Up a Rude Surprise For Some Turncoats

Results of the two Lok Sabha and 51 Assembly seats were mixed for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as well as the Opposition. An undercurrent, however, was some of the turncoats losing in the bypolls.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) retained the Satara Lok Sabha in Maharashtra, while the Lok Janshakti Party, an ally of the BJP, retained the Samastipur seat. NCP's Shriniwas Patil defeated BJP's Udayanraje Bhosale in Satara. Bhosale, a descendant of Maratha warrior king Shivaji, quit the NCP in September 2019 and resigned from his Lok Sabha seat to join the BJP, which fielded him on the seat.
In Gujarat, of the six seats where bypolls were held, the BJP and the Congress were leading on three seats each. The BJP's OBC leader Alpesh Thakor lost from Radhanpur seat. He had won the seat in 2017 Assembly polls on a Congress ticket. His close aide Dhavalsinh Jhala, who too switched over to the BJP, also lost the by-election from Bayad Assembly seat.
The ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu won both the seats that went to bypolls on October 21, 2019, while the Congress won the lone seat that went to polls in Puducherry. The AIADMK candidates won the Vikravandi and Nanguneri Assembly seats while the Congress won the Kamaraj Nagar seat in Puducherry. AIADMK candidates won the Vikravandi and Nanguneri seats with healthy margins.
In Bihar, the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had a dismal performance in bypolls to five Assembly seats, which were touted as the "semi-final" before the Assembly polls in 12 months' time. However, Lok Janshakti Party's (LJP's) Prince Raj won the Samastipur Lok Sabha seat comfortably. The AIMIM won the Kishanganj seat, while the Rashtriya Janata Dal has won in Simri Bakhtiarpur and Belhar seats.
There was good news for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, with the party winning seven of the 11 seats that had bypolls, while its ally Apna Dal (Soneylal) won one. The Samajwadi Party won three.
In Telangana, the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) wrested the Huzurnagar seat from the Congress. In Rajasthan, the ruling Congress won the Assembly bypoll to Mandawa seat while the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) retained the Khinwsar constituency. In Sikkim, the BJP won two seats and the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha one.

Haryana Gets Hung Assembly, BJP Needs Six More To Form Govt

Haryana ended up with a hung assembly with the ruling BJP emerging as the largest party with 40 seats, but still six short of the halfway mark needed to form the next government.
The Congress won 31 seats, the Jannayak Janta Party 10, the Indian National Lok Dal and Haryana Lokhit Party one each. The Aam Aadmi Party, which contested 46 seats, was decimated.

Maharashtra Election Results: BJP-Shiv Sena Combine Set To Retain Power; NCP Improves Tally

In the 288-member Assembly, the BJP won 104 seats, while ally Sena bagged 56. The NCP bagged 54 seats and the Congress emerged victorious in 43 seats.
In the 2014 polls, the BJP had won 122 seats, the Sena 63, the Congress 42 and the NCP 41.
The BJP and Sena had then contested separately. The Sena joined the BJP-led government over a month after it was formed.

Oct 24, 2019

Delhi HC Directs Facebook, Google, Twitter To Globally Remove Links To Video Disparaging Ramdev

The Delhi High Court directed social media platforms Facebook, Google, its subsidiary YouTube, and Twitter to forthwith remove, block or disable on a global basis links to a video containing defamatory allegations against yoga guru Ramdev.
Justice Pratibha M Singh held that merely 'geo-blocking' or disabling access to the defamatory content to viewers from India, as agreed to by the social media platforms, would not be sufficient as users residing here can gain access to it by other means.

Govt Sets Up Panel To Resolve MeitY and Niti fight over AI

The government has formed a committee to resolve differences between the Niti Aayog and the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) over who will implement its ambitious artificial intelligence mission.
The committee will be headed by principal scientific advisor K Vijay Raghavan and represented by the secretary in the department of science and technology, the CEO of Niti Aayog and secretary of MeitY.

Government Accords 'Maharatna' Status To Hindustan Petroleum, Power Grid Corp

The government accorded 'Maharatna' status to state-owned Hindustan Petroleum and Power Grid Corporation, thus giving them greater operational and financial autonomy.
Two separate orders to this effect were issued by the Department of Public Enterprises, under the Ministry of Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises.
The grant of Maharatna status to the PSUs will impart enhanced powers to their Boards to take financial decisions.

Union Cabinet Decides To Confer Ownership Rights To 40 Lakh Residents Of Delhi's Unauthorised Col...

The Union Cabinet decided to confer ownership rights to 40 lakh people living in unauthorised colonies in the national capital city.
This decision, which was taken at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will enable the inhabitants to build, sell and conduct all transactions related to their property.

Oct 23, 2019

With 10 Per Cent Of India's Total Crime, UP Tops List

With registration of over three lakh FIRs, Uttar Pradesh topped the crime list in the country, followed by Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Delhi, according to the latest data released by the National Crime Records Bureau for 2017.
Overall, 30,62,579 cases were registered across the country in 2017, up from 29,75,711 in 2016 and 29,49,400 in 2015, according to the annual data which was released after a delay of more than one year.

Maharashtra Assembly Election 2019: State Voter Turnout Is 61.13%, Mumbai's 50.51%

The turnout of the voters in the Assembly polls recorded 61.13% as per the figures released by the Election Commission on 22 October, 2019.
It is exactly two percent less than 2014-Assembly elections which saw the turnout of 63.13%. In Mumbai too, the percentage of the voting was recorded at 50.51%, against the 51.21% in 2014 polls.
Mumbai recorded the turnout of 55.23% in Lok Sabha elections held in April-May 2019.
While the Mumbai turnout is 50.51%, the island City saw 48.3%, and the eastern and Western suburbs saw 51.57% turnout.

Five MLAs from JMM, Congress likely to join BJP

Five legislators belonging to Congress and other opposition parties in Jharkhand are likely to join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, ahead of the assembly elections in the state expected to be held in December in 2019.
Among prominent faces who can join the saffron fold are Congress MLAs Sukhdeo Bhagat and Manoj Yadav and JMM legislators Jai Prakash Bhai Patel, Kunal Sarangi and Chamra Linda. Besides, independent MLA Bhanu Pratap Shahi is also likely to embrace the BJP.

Ex-Congress Rajya Sabha MP KC Ramamurthy joins BJP

Former Congress Rajya Sabha member KC Ramamurthy became the latest politician to jump into the BJP bandwagon.
He joined the saffron party in presence of two senior BJP leaders - Bhupender Yadav and Arun Singh and a senior minister Pralhad Joshi.
Ramamurthy had already resigned from the upper house on October 16, 2019 which is part of a massive rejig to alter BJP's minority status in Rajya Sabha.

Deepika Padukone, PV Sindhu Flag-Bearers Of PM Modi's Bharat Ki Laxmi initiative

Actor Deepika Padukone and shuttler PV Sindhu on October 22, 2019 were named the ambassadors for 'Bharat Ki Laxmi', an initiative by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that aims at bringing commendable work done by women across the nation to light ahead of the Diwali festival.
The prime minister shared a video on the new campaign underscoring the cause of women empowerment.
India's Nari Shakti epitomises talent and tenacity, determination and dedication. Our ethos has always taught us to strive for women empowerment.
Deepika and Sindhu registered their support for the campaign on the microblogging site.

Oct 22, 2019

Govt. To Set Up 1 Lakh Digital Villages

Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the government will set up one lakh digital villages in the country in the next few years.
Speaking at the MeitY Start-Up Summit 2019 in New Delhi, Mr Prasad appealed to the concerned stakeholders to patronize and mentor these digital villages in their own way. He said these villages will be the centres for promoting entrepreneurship.
The Minister said he wants digital India to become a platform for transforming rural India and to create aspirations in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
Mr Prasad also stressed the need for encouraging social start-ups.

DNA Technology Regulation Bill Referred to Parliamentary Standing Committee

The DNA Technology Regulation Bill, which seeks to control the use of DNA technology for establishing the identity of a person, has been referred to a parliamentary standing committee for examination.
The bill that seeks to control the use and application of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) technology for establishing the identity of certain categories of persons, including offenders, victims, suspects and undertrials, was passed by the Lok Sabha in July, 2019.
The bill has been referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests by Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu.

Govt Launches BHIM 2.0 With New Functionalities, Additional Language Support

The IT Ministry unveiled a slew of new initiatives and programmes, including BHIM 2.0 that packs-in new functionalities, supports additional languages and has increased transaction limits.
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also launched a StartUp Hub portal and Indian Software Product Registry at IT Ministry's MeitY Start-up Summit.
BHIM app, a UPI based payment interface developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) that allows real time fund transfer, was launched in December, 2016.

Winter Session Of Parliament To Commence From Nov 18, 2019

The Winter Session of Parliament will commence from 18th November, 2019. It will conclude on 13th, December 2019. The Parliamentary Affairs Ministry has communicated to the secretariats of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha in this regard.
The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs had met under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to decide on the dates of the next session.

Voting Held For By-Polls To 2 Lok Sabha Seats

By-Elections were held in two Parliamentary seats and 51 Assembly seats across 17 states, apart from assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana.
In Uttar Pradesh, polling for 11 Assembly seats during the by-elections in the state completed peacefully.
Barring some incidents of glitches in EVMs, overall polling was peaceful in the by-elections in the state. Heavy security arrangements were in place on all the polling centres of 11 seats.

Oct 21, 2019

Rajnath Singh To Inaugurate Col. Chewang Rinchen Setu In Ladakh

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh left for Ladakh. He attended the inaugural ceremony of Col. Chewang Rinchen Setu which has been constructed at an altitude of 14,650 feet in the forward area of Ladakh region.
This bridge has been built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).
Defence Minster Mr Rajnath Nath Singh inaugurated and dedicated to the nation the Col Chewang Rinchan Bridge.
This Bridge is built on the strategically important road Durbuk Shyok Daulat Beg Oldie in sub sector north in eastern Ladakh.

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