General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - December 2016

Dec 2016

May 16, 2019

Govt. to settle retirement age of CAPF men by May-end

The retirement age of CAPF personnel is set to be fixed at 60 years after the Supreme Court recently dismissed a special leave petition (SLP) filed by the government against the direction of the Delhi High Court to resolve an existing anomaly.
The order will be issued after final approval of the Ministry of Home Affairs. After few rounds of consultations by the ministry with all the forces, it is analysed that the age of retirement for all the personnel, from jawan to senior officers, should be settled at 60 years as compared to 57 in certain cases at present.
The six CAPFs are the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the Assam Rifles.
These forces are deployed to undertake a variety of security tasks in the country, ranging from guarding borders to conducting anti-Naxal operations and combating terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the present policy, all personnel in the CISF and the Assam Rifles retire at the age of 60 while in the rest four forces, personnel in the ranks of constable up to commandant (senior superintendent of police equivalent) retire at the age of 57, while those above them superannuate after attaining the age of 60.

MP Govt May Amend Money Lenders Act

The Madhya Pradesh government is considering amending the 84-year-old Money Lenders Act to define the payment schedule and caps on interest rates in an attempt to help farmers who have borrowed from moneylenders.
The move comes against the backdrop ta suicides by at least four debtridden farmers in May; all four had borrowed from moneylenders.
The decision was taken after a meeting of the state's chief secretary with bankers, officials of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), the state's finance, agriculture, and other relevant departments.
The changes being considered include: caps on the interest that can be charged; a written agreement between the lender and borrower; and penalties for moneylenders charging more interest than mandated.
Legislations for regulation money lending are state-specific in India. Maharashtra defines interest rates as MP plans to do.
Section 31 of The Maharashtra Money-lending (Regulation) Act, 2014, says, "The State Government may by notification in the Official Gazette, fix the maximum rates of interest to be charged by a moneylender in respect of secured loan and unsecured loan...".
The current legislation is largely focused on licensing of moneylenders. Although bank credit is available to farmers, many still prefer to take small unsecured loans from local moneylenders, usually at a high interest rate.

Congress to Move Manmohan from Assam

Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, whose tenure as a Rajya Sabha member from Assam ends in June, is unlikely to be sent to the Upper House from the State again.
The Congress does not have the numbers in the Assam Assembly to secure a win for Dr. Singh and would not like to take a risk.
The Election Commission has announced June 7 as the day of election. The last day for filing nominations is May 28.
In the 126-member Assam Assembly, the Congress has only 25 MLAs, while the party needs first-preference votes of at least 43.
Even if the Congress gets the support of 13 MLAs of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), it falls short of 5 MLAs.

Online Writing of Appraisal Launched

The online writing of Annual Performance Appraisal Report (APAR) in SPARROW (Smart Performance Appraisal Report Recording Online Window) was launched for over 46,000 group B and group C officers of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), ministry of finance, working in its various formations all across the country.
Online writing of APARs in SPARROW for Indian Revenue Services ( C and CE) officers has already been implemented with effect from 2016-17.
The project was inaugurated by PK Das, chairman, CBIC from the oard office at north block in New Delhi. It is being implemented in over 400 formations of CBIC.

May 15, 2019

Chandrababu Naidu Holds Last Cabinet Meeting

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu held a cabinet meeting to review the drinking water crisis in the state and drought conditions after the Election Commission gave him the clearance.
This was the last cabinet meeting conducted by Naidu in his current tenure, as a new government will be formed after May 23 when the results of the state assembly elections will be declared.
If the TDP comes back to power for a second term, Naidu will be able to conduct the cabinet meetings again.

Government Extends Ban on LTTE

The ministry of home affairs issued a notification extending the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a militant outfit that fought for Tamil independence in Sri Lanka until its defeat in 2009, for five more years.
India had banned the LTTE after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
The ban on the group was last extended for five years in 2014.
The LTTE, a terror outfit based in Sri Lanka, came up in 1976 with a demand for a separate homeland (Tamil Eelam) for Tamilians.

May 14, 2019

JD(U) Changes Tack in Last Phase

As the election campaign in Bihar enters the last stretch, the ruling JD(U) has apparently changed its campaign narrative and returned to its demand for special status for the State.
Recently, JD(U)'s principal general secretary K.C. Tyagi had urged voters of Bihar to give his party at least 15 or more MPs, promising that they would raise the issue of special status for Bihar again.
Out of total 40 Lok Sabha seats in the State, the JD(U) and BJP are contesting 17 seats each with the partner Lok Janshakti Party contesting the remaining six.

Collegium Recommends Chief Justices

The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended names of four High Court judges for appointment as Chief Justices of the High Courts of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana.
As per the May 10 resolutions on the Supreme Court website, a three-member Collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, recommended the name of Justice D.N. Patel as the chief justice of the Delhi High Court.
Similarly, the Collegium has recommended names of Justices A. A. Kureshi, V. Ramasubramanian and R. S. Chauhan for their appointment as Chief Justices of High Courts of Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana, respectively.

May 13, 2019

UP Records Lowest Turnout

Uttar Pradesh, where 14 Lok Sabha seats were at stake, recorded just 54.12%, the lowest among the seven states and union territories that went to polls in the penultimate sixth round of the seven phase national election.
The total national turnout was 62.12%.
About 80.16% of the electorate turned up to vote in West Bengal —the highest in this phase.
At 57.58% turnout, Delhi recorded a low voter turnout, standing only next to Bihar (59.29%). Haryana recorded 65.07%, Madhya Pradesh 61.89%, Jharkhand 64.50%.

BJP to Scrap Article 370

BJP president Amit Shah said that Article 370 that gives special powers to Jammu and Kashmir would be scrapped if Narendra Modi was elected as Prime Minister again.
Targeting the Congress on the issue of national security, he said that the Manmohan Singh government did not act when Pakistan beheaded five Indian soldiers, but Mr. Modi ordered air strikes in Balakot after the Pulwama terror attack.

May 12, 2019

The Sixth Phase of Polling

As many as 10.17 crore voters will decide the fate of 979 candidates in the sixth phase of polling in 59 Lok Sabha seats across six States and Delhi.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had won 45 of these seats.
In the sixth phase, voting will be held for 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 8 seats each in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, 4 seats in Jharkhand, all 7 seats in Delhi and all 10 seats in Haryana.

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