General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - December 2016

Dec 2016

Mar 18, 2019

India Now Has 2,293 Political Parties

The Election Commission's latest data on political parties, registered till March 9, a day before the Lok Sabha elections were announced, reveal that the country has a total of 2,293 political parties.
These include 7 recognised national and 59 recognised state parties.
In fact, 149 political parties were registered with the poll panel between February and March.

India and Maldives Strengthen Ties

India and the Maldives discussed measures to strengthen ties and agreed to collaborate in the fields of defence, development cooperation, capacity building and health.
Ms. Swaraj is in Malaysia on a two-day visit, the first full-fledged bilateral trip from India to the island nation after the government of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih came to power in November 2018.

Country's First Lokpal

Retired Supreme Court judge Pinaki Chandra Ghose is likely to be appointed the country's first Lokpal, the anti-corruption ombudsman, after a Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led selection committee agreed on his name.
The Parliament passed the Lokpal Act in 2013, when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was in power.
The law provides for a Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states to investigate cases of corruption against public servants.
Justice Ghose, currently a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), retired as a Supreme Court judge in May 2017.

Mar 17, 2019

Faesal to Start Political Party

Former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Shah Faesal has decided to float a new political party, the J&K Peoples' Movement (JKPM) that is likely to field candidates in the Lok Sabha polls, posing a challenge to the State's regional parties.
Mr. Faesal, a topper in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination in 2010, had turned down an offer for a ticket from the National Conference (NC) to contest the Lok Sabha elections from north Kashmir's Baramulla.

Mar 16, 2019

CPI(M) Goes Alone in Two States

Taking an aggressive stance, the CPI(M) has decided to contest the Dindori Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra and Ujiarpur in Bihar.
The party had been in talks with the Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra and the Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar, but both the parties have refused to concede space for the CPI(M).
In 2014, the CPI(M) got over 15% of the votes and stood in third position in the constituency.
In Ujairpur, the party was in fourth position with 6% votes.

GST Appellate Tribunal in Prayagraj

The Uttar Pradesh government filed an affidavit before the Allahabad High Court stating that a revised proposal had been sent to the Centre to set up a Goods and Service Tax (GST) Appellate Tribunal in Prayagraj and its regional benches in 19 other districts of the state.
Earlier, the state government had proposed that the tribunal be set up at Lucknow.

India Resents Pakistan's Offer

A day after India and Pakistan discussed the draft agreement for the Kartarpur corridor at Attari, officials said that despite promising visa-free access to the Sikh shrine, Pakistan through back door wanted to introduce special permits for pilgrims for a fee.
India also strongly protested against the encroachment of around 100 acres of land belonging to the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in the Pakistani territory that was donated by Maharaja Ranjeet Singh in the 19th century.
Pakistan has restricted the duration of the agreement to two years.

Mar 15, 2019

UP Government Sanctions Fast Track Courts

The Uttar Pradesh government has paved way for constitution of one fast track court each in all the 75 districts of the state to adjudicate cases involving women.
These courts will hear cases including those related to violence against women.
A government order to this effect was issued on March 8, the International Women's Day.
The state government has sanctioned 648 posts for these courts.
These posts include 81 of judicial magistrates.

India Wants Visa-free Travel to Kartarpur

India has urged Pakistan to grant visa-free travel rights to Indian pilgrims visiting the Kartarpur shrine.
The proposal was part of the Indian agenda at the meeting between delegations from both countries at Attari where the draft agreement for the Kartarpur Corridor was discussed.
The delegations held detailed and constructive discussions on the proposed agreement and agreed to work towards expeditiously operationalising the corridor.
The Indian delegation emphasised that the access be visa-free and the provision apply to Indians as well as people of Indian origin.
The Indian delegation also insisted that the shrine be kept open throughout the year and sought assurance that access for at least 5,000 pilgrims on any day throughout the week be provided.
Infrastructure to enable 10,000 more pilgrims on 'surge' days like Baisakhi and other important festivals, is also being made ready by India.

Mar 14, 2019

Congress to Contest 11 Seats in Bihar

After weeks of negotiations, the Opposition alliance in Bihar has been sealed with the Congress agreeing to contest 11 seats, climbing down from its earlier demand for 14.
As per reports, the RJD will contest 20 seats, the Congress 11, the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party, led by Upendra Kushwaha 3, and the Hindustan Awam Party of Jitin Ram Manjhi 2.
The remaining 4 seats will be distributed among the Vikassheel Insaan Party, led by Mukesh Sahani, the Jan Loktantrik Party, led by Sharad Yadav, the CPI and the CPI(ML).

Assam's Dhubri Seat

Dhubri Lok Sabha constituency in western Assam is spread across Dhubri, Goalpara and Kokrajhar districts. All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) founder Badruddin Ajmal won the seat in 2014 defeating his Congress rival Wazed Ali Choudhury by over two lakh votes.
Ajmal is also the Assam President of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind.
Ajmal will contest from Dhubri this time also but having lost the Assembly election in 2016 from Salmara constituency. Polling will take place in April 23.

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