General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - December 2016

Dec 2016

May 22, 2019

Nitish Revives Special Category Status Demand

Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar, said that the demand for special category status was a key concern for the state and his JD(U) was committed to pursuing it, despite the Centre declaring it a closed chapter on the basis of the 14th Finance Commission recommendations. It has remained an important agenda for us, since 2006.
The demand has been unanimously endorsed by both houses of the state legislature.

Proposal to Fill 45 District Judge Vacancies

The State government has accepted a proposal submitted by the Registrar General of the Madras High Court in April to promote 45 Senior Civil Judges in the State to the cadre of District Judges (Entry Level) with effect from the day they assume charge of the new posts.
According to a Government Order issued by the Public department, Senior Civil Judges C. Buvaneswari, R.K.P. Tamilarasi, K. Karunanithi, L.S. Sathiyamurthy, M. Ilangovan and 40 others now serving as Sub Judges and Chief Judicial Magistrates across the State would henceforth be elevated to the post of District Judge.
The promotions would fill up 65% of vacancies on the basis of merit-cum-seniority. As per rules, the rest 10% should be filled only on the basis of merit and 25% should be filled through direct recruitment.

May 21, 2019

EC Appoints Five Observers

As preparations for the counting on May 23 are underway, five observers for nine assembly constituencies have been appointed by the Election Commission of India.
Under the vigil of five IAS-rank election officials, counting will take place in Gurugram, Pataudi, Sohna, Badshahpur, Nuh, Ferozepur Jhirka, Punhana, Bawal, and Rewari.
The district election office said that 25 rounds of vote counting would take place for Punhana and Badshahpur constituencies, while 23 rounds would take place for Gurugram.
In Bawal, 19 vote counting rounds will take place, followed by 18 in Rewari, Pataudi, and Firozpur Jhirka and 17 in Sohna. A minimum of 14 rounds will take place in Nuh constituency.

India Cuts Off UN Panel

Reacting angrily to a submission from the Geneva-based Human Rights Council (HRC) on the alleged violations in Jammu and Kashmir, India has informed the United Nations body that it will no longer entertain any communication with the HRC's Special Rapporteurs on its report.
The report from the UN body came at the same time a report from two NGOs in the State on the alleged cases of torture was released in Srinagar, which was endorsed by a former UN Special Rapporteur.
The current Special Rapporteurs on Extrajudicial Executions, Torture, and Right to Health, Agnes Callamard, Dainius Puras and Nils Melzer, had referred to a June 2018 report of the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) and written to the government in March 2019, asking about steps taken by New Delhi to address the alleged human rights violations listed in the report.
In addition, the Special Rapporteurs had listed 13 cases of concern from 2018 alone, in which four children were among eight civilians killed by members of the security forces.

May 20, 2019

Hill State Records Highest Turnout

According to the Voter Turnout app of the Election Commission (EC), as many as 70.62% voters turned out to vote, as Himachal Pradesh's all four Lok Sabha seats – Kangra , Shimla, Mandi, and Hamirpur, went to the polls in the last phase of national elections.
The turnout surpassed the highest ever polling percentage of 65.3% recorded in the state in 1998. A 64.5% turnout was recorded in 2014 elections.

Last Phase of Voting

The fate of political parties and their candidates for the 542 Lok Sabha seats was sealed, with the conclusion of the last phase of polling in 59 constituencies across seven States and one Union Territory, which recorded a tentative turnout of 64.23%, compared with 64.63% in 2014.

May 19, 2019

India Voices Concern over Delays in Reimbursement

India, which is owed $38 million by the UN for peacekeeping operations, has voiced concern over the unjustifiable and inexplicable delays in reimbursement to countries providing peacekeeping troops.
It underlined that recurrent delays in payments had turned the troop contributing countries into de facto financers.

NPF to Pull Out of BJP-led Coalition Government

The Naga People's Front (NPF) decided to pull of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition government in Manipur after the Lok Sabha election gets over.
Senior NPF leader and former Nagaland Chief Minister T. R. Zeliang announced the decision.
The decision is unlikely to affect the state government. Currently, the BJP has 31 of the 60 MLAs in the state assembly.
It also has the support of four National Peoples Party legislators and one Lok Janshakti Party MLA, putting it well clear of the halfway mark.

Anti-BJP Alliance Talks

Opposition leaders moved to try and stitch up an alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, with a few days left for the declaration of the Lok Sabha election results.
Telugu Desam Party leader and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu revived his attempt to put together an anti-BJP coalition, meeting an array of opposition leaders.
N. Chandrababu Naidu met Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati who are fighting the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh together in a bid to not split the anti-BJP vote.
Naidu has already held several rounds of discussions with Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury.

Government Rejects Verma's Plea

The defence ministry has rejected a statutory compliant filed by Vice Admiral Bimal Verma challenging the appointment of his junior Vice Admiral Karambir Singh as the next Navy Chief.
Rejecting his April 10 complaint, the ministry said that while seniority plays an important role in the appointment of service chiefs, it is not the sole determining factor.
There have been instances of seniority being ignored in the past as well.
Verma, who heads the Andaman and Nicobar Command in Port Blair, would have been the senior-most officer in the navy on May 31 when Admiral Sunil Lanba retires.
The government, however, decided against appointing him the next navy chief and opted for Singh.

May 17, 2019

Re-polling in Four Kerala Booths

The Election Commission has decided to conduct a re-poll in four polling booths, three in the Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituency and one in the Kannur Lok Sabha constituency, where bogus votes were cast in the April 23 election.

India and Iran Discuss Visa Extension

Two days after the visit of Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, India held the 11th Consular Committee Meeting with Iran which dealt with smoothing visa and legal matters essential for bilateral ties.
Both sides went ahead with the talks, even as Saudi Arabia blamed Tehran for a drone attack on Saudi oil installations.
Both sides discussed issues of mutual interest, including early conclusion of Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance on civil and commercial matters, extending longer duration of e-Visa for each others' nationals on reciprocity and visa facilitation for greater people-to-people contact.

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