General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - December 2016

Dec 2016

Aug 07, 2019

NMC Bill

The Rajya Sabha passed the NMC bill with two amendments—increased representation from state medical council and vice-chancellor of medical universities—and referred it to the Lok Sabha, which too passed the amendments.
The bill will now go to the President for his assent.
Seeking sweeping reforms to medical education, largely opposed by the medical fraternity, the bill attempts to set up a regulatory body called the National Medical Commission in place of the tainted Medical Council of India (MCI).
According to the government, the NMC bill will provide for a medical education system that improves access to quality and affordable medical education, and ensures availability of adequate and high quality medical professionals in all parts of the country.

Consumer protection bill gets RS approval

The Upper House passed the Consumer Protection Bill, 2019, that seeks to establish authorities for timely and effective administration and settlement of consumer disputes.
The bill calls for setting up of Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and forums at the district, state and national levels for adjudicating consumer complaints and a Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) to promote, protect and enforce consumer rights as a class.
The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Amendment Bill, 2019 has already been passed by the Lower House of Parliament.
The amendment being brought in is very limited one and relates to public premises for residential accommodation.
It applies to Members of Parliament, government officers and employees.
The bill would enable the estate officer to apply summary proceedings for evicting the unauthorised occupants after a three-day notice.
In addition, the bill has proposed a new clause that says that if the person challenges the eviction order passed by the estate officer in any court, he has to pay the damages for every month for the residential accommodation held by him.

Goa Amends Portuguese-Era Law

The BJP-led Goa government would amend the Portuguese-era Uniform Civil Code (UCC), introduced in the year 1870, so that non-Goans can register their marriages in the coastal state.
The UCC was introduced by the erstwhile Portuguese rulers.
It was retained even after the territory was merged with India in the year 1961.
Registration of marriage of non-Goans is currently banned in Goa.

Aug 06, 2019

Bigger, Better Delhi Airport by 2022

Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, the busiest in the country, is expected to complete its expansion work by June 2022, and take its overall capacity to 100 million per annum against 70 million currently. Under the plan, work on which has already started, the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) would carry out integration of the departure and arrival terminals of T1, construction of new T1 apron, a fourth runway and dual elevated taxiway.

Rajya Sabha Passes J&K Reorganisation Bill

The BJP Government got a major boost in the Rajya Sabha over its long-standing agenda of ending special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution. The Rajya Sabha passed two resolutions regarding Article 370, as well as Jammu and Kashmir reorganisation and reservation bills moved by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The Rajya Sabha adopted the resolutions via voice vote. The reorganisation bill, which provides for bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories, was passed via division. The bill got 125 votes in favour and 61 against it.
All provisions under Article 370, except 370(1), would cease to operate in Jammu and Kashmir. This translates into an end to special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Article 370 was introduced in the Constitution as a temporary provision. But over the years, it turned into a permanent feature that was acknowledged by the Supreme Court in a couple of cases.
Jammu and Kashmir was a princely state ruled by Maharaja Hari Singh when India gained independence.
Article 370 was incorporated in the Constitution in 1949, two years after the state had acceded to India. It was signed between Hari Singh and Lord Mountbatten, the then Governor General of India, with Nehru's blessings.

72% voter turnout in Vellore LS Election

Polling to the Vellore Lok Sabha constituency in Tamil Nadu, which was postponed due to allegations of bribery and financial irregularities in April 2019, registered a voter turnout of 72 %, according to the state chief electoral officer Satyabrata Shau.
Polling was held at a total of 1,553 booths across the six assembly segments in the constituency with 7,500 personnel and 3,752 EVMs.

Congress RS Chief Whip Resigns

The Congress Rajya Sabha MP and chief whip Bhubaneshwar Kalita resigned from the membership of the House opposing the party's stand on the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Samajwadi Party member from Uttar Pradesh Sanjay Seth also resigned from the Upper House.
Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaih Naidu accepted both the resignations.

India Briefs UNSC Envoys

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) briefed envoys of all countries in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) -permanent and non-permanent - on India's decision to remove the special status under article 370 for Jammu and Kashmir.
According to India, the proposals under consideration in front of the Parliament on the administrative reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir and Article 370 is a matter internal to India and aimed at providing good governance and ensuring economic development in Jammu and Kashmir.

Aug 05, 2019

AIIMS doctors call off strike over NMC after meeting health minister

Resident doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) called off their strike in protest against the National Medical Commission (NMC) following a meeting with Union health minister Harsh Vardhan.
The health minister assured the doctors that their apprehensions about the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill 2019, be it related to the National Exit Test (NEXT) or training of staff to practice medicine at the mid-level as community health providers, will be addressed while drafting the regulations.

Omar, Mehbooba under 'house arrest'; restrictions in Kashmir

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah and Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti were placed under house arrest as Jammu and Kashmir remained on edge over a security build-up in the region that has prompted several political parties to resolve to defend the identity and autonomy of the state.
Restrictions were imposed in Srinagar under Section 144 and mobile internet was suspended in several areas in a late-night development that came after authorities stepped up security deployment at sensitive places.

100 electric buses to connect Delhi with Jaipur soon

Residents will soon have 50 electric buses at their disposal to commute within Jaipur city. Moreover, citizens commuting on the Jaipur to Delhi route will also be able to avail the facility with 100 electric buses soon to be made available for the purpose.
Rajasthan state roadways transport corporation (RSRTC) and Jaipur city transport service limited (JCTSL) will soon acquire electric buses.
The buses will be acquired on a contractual basis—the buses will belong to the manufacturer and after the tendering procedure, the contractor will be paid based on the distance covered by the buses.

Aug 04, 2019

NPR data to be collected in a year

The next round of recording biometric and family-tree details of Indian citizens under the National Population Register (NPR) will be conducted in September 2020, a government notification said.
The exercise is different from the decennial Census and is not linked to the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The objective of the NPR is to create a comprehensive identity database of every usual resident in the country.
The database would contain demographic as well as biometric particulars.

India protests over UN chief's report

In the "Annual Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict",, UN chief Antonio Guterres said children continued to be affected by incidents of violence between armed groups and the government "particularly in Jammu and Kashmir and in the context of the Naxalite insurgency".
Paulomi Tripathi, India's first Secretary at the UN General Assembly, speaking at a Security Council open debate on children and armed conflict on Friday, pointed to the importance of credible, impartial and transparent implementation of the mandate given to the UN system.

U.S. bans ground handling by Air India

On July 30, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT) served an order amending Air India's foreign air carrier permit, which now reads, "the holder may not perform its own ground-handling functions (including includes boarding, baggage handling, refuelling, and catering) in the United States".
The problem between the two countries over the issue of ground-handling surfaced after India amended its ground handling regulation in 2017, barring all foreign airlines from conducting self handling at defence airports.Affected airports will be San Francisco, Washington, New York, Newark, and Chicago.

Aug 03, 2019

India again Rejects Trump Offers

Foreign minister S. Jaishankar conveyed to the US in clear terms that any talks to resolve the Kashmir dispute can only be held between India and Pakistan, and that he will not invite third-party mediation.
Late last month, the US President claimed that India's Narendra Modi had asked him to be an arbitrator between the two sides in the disputed Himalayan region - a development that seemed highly unlikely to observers and which officials in Delhi denied.
This development came on a day when US President Trump seemed to issue a qualified offer to mediate between India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir dispute, though he seemed to be stepping back from his earlier position that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him to mediate between the two countries.
Jaishankar's meeting with US secretary of state Mike Pompeo took place on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Asia Summit and other meetings in Bangkok.

Unimpeded Consular Access to Kulbhushan Jadhav

Pakistan was asked by India to provide unimpeded consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav in an environment free from the fear of intimidation and reprisal, in sync with the International Court of Justice's ruling in his case.
India sent a communication to Pakistan, virtually turning down Islamabad's conditional offer of providing consular access to Jadhav.
Around three days ago, Pakistan offered India consular access to Jadhav. The offer came two weeks after the Hague-based ICJ ordered Pakistan to grant consular access to Jadhav without further delay.
Pakistan had put a set of conditions for the consular access, which included presence of a Pakistani official when Indian officials meet Jadhav.

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