General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - December 2016

Dec 2016

Jul 06, 2019

Gujarat Rajya Sabha By-polls

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and another BJP candidate, OBC leader Juglaji Thakor, won the Rajya Sabha byelection from Gujarat.
Though the election officials were yet to make a formal announcement, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani informed the media about the victory of the two BJP candidates.
The Congress had nominated Chandrika Chudasama and Gaurav Pandya for the two seats, which fell vacant when BJP President Amit Shah and Union Minister Smriti Irani were elected to the Lok Sabha. Jaishankar and Thakor secured over 100 votes.

Jul 05, 2019

Vellore Lok Sabha By-election

The Election Commission (EC) announced August 5 as the date of by-election for the Vellore Parliamentary constituency of Tamil Nadu. The date of counting of votes is scheduled to take place on August 9.
The EC had earlier cancelled the election for the constituency in wake of seizures of large amounts of unaccounted cash.
The last date of nominations is July 7 and the last date of withdrawal of candidatures is July 22.

Udhayanidhi Stalin to Head Party's Youth Wing

DMK President MK Stalin's son and Tamil film producer and actor Udhayanidhi is set to be elevated as the new secretary of the party's youth wing.
The post of the youth wing secretary of the DMK is crucial in the party's hierarchy as it was held by Stalin for more than three decades since the early 80s.
The party's general secretary K Anbazhagan is likely to make an official announcement this evening.
Udhayanidhi's prospects for elevation as the head of the party's youth wing had brightened after the DMK-led alliance's huge success in the Lok Sabah polls in Tamil Nadu where it won 37 of the 38 seats in the state.

Jul 04, 2019

Rahul Gandhi Formally Resigns

Ending speculation about his continuance in office as Congress president, Rahul Gandhi formally resigned, holding himself responsible for the party's Lok Sabha poll debacle and maintained that accountability would be critical for the party's future growth.
Mr. Gandhi's decision to make his resignation public sent senior Congress leaders into a huddle.
In a four-page open letter, Mr. Gandhi said he had empowered the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to constitute a group of people that could find his successor and distanced himself from the process of selecting the next chief.

Jul 03, 2019

Rajasthan Panchayat Samiti Bypolls

After failing to win even a single seat in the recently held Lok Sabha poll, the ruling Congress in Rajasthan performed very well in the panchayat samiti and zila parishad bypolls, held in 26 of 33 districts in the state. The bypolls were held on June 30.
Of the 74 panchayat samiti seats, the results of which were declared, the Congress managed to win 39, while BJP ended at second place with 29 seats.
Six seats were won by independent candidates. A total of 15 candidates, including 8 from the Congress, 2 from the BJP and 5 independents were elected unopposed.
In the zila parishad bypolls, the Congress bagged seven of the nine seats, while the BJP managed to claim only one seat. The remaining one seat was won by an independent candidate.
No candidate contested from Jhadol panchayat samiti in Udaipur and the seat remained vacant.
The names of elected 48 sarpanches from 22 districts were announced by Election Commission.

Bengal Approves 10% EWS Quota

The West Bengal government approved 10% reservation in government jobs and educational institutions for the economically weaker sections (EWS) from general category.
West Bengal was among the few states that had not implemented the 10% EWS quota introduced by the Centre though a Constitutional amendment earlier this year.
While the Trinamool Congress government's move was welcomed by all three opposition parties in the state, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress, they also expressed concerns over the process of identifying the potential beneficiaries.
Currently, West Bengal has 22% reservation for those belonging to the scheduled castes, 6% for scheduled tribes and 17% for other backward classes (OBC), taking the total quota to 45%.

Congress Seeks Leader of the Opposition Post

Renewing the Congress's call for the post of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, the party's chief whip in the House, Kodikunnil Suresh, said that it was technically eligible for the post, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should accord it the position if he was sincere about his comments on the Opposition.
Mr. Modi had said on the first day of the 17th Lok Sabha that a vibrant Opposition, notwithstanding its numbers, was important in a parliamentary democracy.
As per Mr. Suresh, the Congress had so far not demanded the post, though technically it was eligible, both as the second largest party in the Lok Sabha and as leader of the United Progressive Alliance which had 92 seats.
By norms, the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest party that has not less than a tenth of the total strength of the House.
The total strength of the Lok Sabha is 545, so any party that has 55 members can get the post.
The Congress, which is the second largest party in the House after the BJP, has only 52 members, which is three short of the figure.

Jul 02, 2019

Center Extends AFSPA in Nagaland

The Centre once again declared the entire state of Nagaland as a disturbed area and extended the imposition of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in the region for six months. The order will remain effective till December, 2019.
The decision was taken in view of incidents of killings, loot and extortion in various parts of the state.
There have been demands of repealing AFSPA from various organisations in the Northeast.
The Act was in force in Nagaland for decades. It was not withdrawn even after a framework agreement was signed on August 3, 2015 by Naga insurgent group NSCN-IM general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah and government interlocutor R. N. Ravi in the presence of PM Narendra Modi.

One Month Extension to Complete Enumeration of NRC

The Centre was given one month extension to complete the enumeration process for updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam by July 31, 2019 when the final list of the state's residents will be published.
As per a notification by the Registrar General of India, the decision was taken as the exercise to enumerate citizens in the NRC, a list of Assam's residents, could not be completed within the specified date of June 30, 2019.
On December 6, 2013, the government had issued the first notification setting a deadline of three years for completion of the entire NRC process.
However, since then, six extensions were given by the government in regular intervals as the exercise has not yet been completed.

Release Indians in Jails

India demanded the early release of its nationals held in Pakistani prisons, including missing defence personnel, 10 civilians and 124 fishermen, as the two countries exchanged lists of prisoners in each other's jails in line with an agreement signed in 2008.
The two countries exchanged the lists of civilian prisoners and fishermen in their custody through diplomatic channels simultaneously in New Delhi and Islamabad.
This was done in keeping with the provisions of the Agreement on Consular Access, under which such lists are exchanged on January 1 and July 1 every year.
India handed over a list of 256 Pakistani civilian prisoners and 99 fishermen in its custody. Pakistan provided a list of 52 prisoners and 209 fishermen in its custody who are Indians or believed-to-be Indians.
The Indian government called for the early release and repatriation of civilian prisoners, missing Indian defence personnel and fishermen along with their boats.

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