General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - December 2016

Dec 2016

Nov 05, 2018

NMML Society Gets Four New Members

The Centre has made four new appointments to the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) Society, in place of four previous members who had resigned from the membership.

The new NMML society members are former journalist Ram Bahadur Rai, former Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar, journalist Arnab Goswami and Bharatiya Janata Party MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe.

The four society members who have been replaced are economist Nitin Desai, retired bureaucrat B. P. Singh, Professor Udayon Misra and Pratap Bhanu Mehta.

Delhi's Signature Bridge Inaugurated

After a delay of eight years, Delhi's much-awaited Signature Bridge was finally inaugurated by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and deputy CM Manish Sisodia.

The iconic bridge will be thrown open for vehicles on Monday and is expected to significantly reduce traffic in areas of north and northeast Delhi.

A Delhi Public Works Department (PWD) project, the bridge was constructed by the Delhi Tourism and Transport Development Corporation (DTTDC) at an expenditure of Rs. 1,518.37 crore.

Urjit Patel Gets CIC Notice

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has issued a show-cause notice to RBI governor Urjit Patel for "dishonouring" a Supreme Court judgment on disclosure of the wilful defaulters' list.

The CIC has also asked the Prime Minister's Office, the finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to make public the letter of former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan on bad loans.

Irked over the denial of information on disclosure of names of wilful defaulters who have taken bank loans of Rs. 50 crore and above by the RBI in spite of a Supreme Court order, the CIC has asked Patel to explain why a maximum penalty should not be imposed on him for dishonouring the court verdict.

MoUs Signed Between India and South Korea

India and South Korea signed MoUs on tourism and sport that will strengthen bilateral cooperation and lead to a wide range of exchanges between the two countries.

The two MoUs dovetail with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to enhance India's relations with Asia-Pacific countries under the 'Act East' policy and President Moon Jae-in's moves to boost bilateral relations under the 'New Southern Policy' that aims to bring Korea-India diplomatic ties up to the same level as those with the four major powers surrounding the Korean Peninsula (China, Japan, Russia and the United States).

Nov 04, 2018

Punjab's First Centre of Excellence

Punjab will have one of the seven centres of excellence for artificial intelligence at the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Mohali, which will also offer services related to data analytics, audio visual graphics and Internet of Things (IoT).

TNA to Vote against Rajapaksa

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said that it will support a no-trust motion against newly appointed Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, amid mounting pressure on President Maithripala Sirisena to let the suspended Parliament hold a vote.

Nov 03, 2018

Haryana Roadways Employees End Strike

Haryana Roadways employees have agreed to call off their strike after the Punjab and Haryana High Court intervened.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Krishna Murari and Justice Arun Palli asked the state government to take back all the suspended and dismissed employees immediately.

The employees have been on strike since October 16 to protest the state government's decision to hire 700 buses from private owners. There are about 19,000 employees in Haryana Roadways.

Women May be Able to Join Navy as Sailors

Women may be able to join the Indian Navy as sailors in the future, with their induction in the non-officer cadre figuring on the agenda of a top navy conference. Women currently serve the navy only as officers and number around 600 in the maritime force.

The only combat role open to women right now is serving on submarine hunter P-8I planes as observers who take the final decision on launching weapons from the US-built aircraft.

INS Viraat May Soon Turn into Museum

The Maharashtra cabinet approved converting the decommissioned warship, which served in the Indian Navy for nearly 30 years, into a museum.

INS Viraat was the last British-built ship serving in the Indian Navy. The ship was commissioned into Britain's Royal Navy in 1959 as HMS Hermes. Viraat was sold to India in 1987, and served the Navy in several crucial operations till 2016. It was decommissioned in 2017.

Tallest Statue of Buddhist Deity Chenrezig

Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling unveiled the tallest statue of Chenrezig, a manifestation of the Buddha, in the world.

The 135-feet (40 m) statue of Chenrezig is located at an elevation of 7,200 metres at Sangha Choeling.

The foundation stone was laid in 2009.

Uttarakhand High Court's New Chief Justice

Justice Ramesh Ranganathan has been sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court.

Justice Ranganathan was the senior-most judge of the Hyderabad High Court before his appointment as the Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand high court. He takes over from Justice K. M. Joseph who was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court earlier this year.

Nov 02, 2018

Founding Day of 5 States

Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished the people of Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Haryana, Karnataka and Kerala on their Founding Day.

India Protests China-Pakistan Bus Service

India reiterated its opposition to a proposed luxury bus service between Pakistan and China that would pass through parts of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, territory that India claims, terming it a violation of India's sovereignty.

Records for Filing NRC Objections in Assam

As per the Supreme Court, those left out of the draft National Register for Citizens (NRC) for Assam now have more time to stake their claim to citizenship and can also use five additional documents besides the 10 allowed earlier.

The deadline to submit the applications has been extended from November 26 to December 15. The five documents permitted were part of the Centre's draft Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) prepared for dealing with claims and objections.

Nov 01, 2018

Maharashtra Declares Drought in 26 Districts

The Maharashtra government declared drought in 151 talukas in 26 districts.

At least 112 talukas are facing severe drought and 39 talukas are facing moderate drought.

The 26 districts that are now facing drought comprise eight districts each in the Vidarbha and the Marathwada regions, five districts in North Maharashtra, four districts in western Maharashtra and Palghar district in the coastal Konkan region.

Anupam Kher Resigns as FTII Chairman

Anupam Kher resigned as chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) because his international assignments would keep him away from being "actively involved" in the affairs of the institute.

Kher replaced Gajendra Chauhan as the chairperson in October 2017.

Vehicle Location Tracking Devices Mandatory

According to the government, vehicle location tracking devices and emergency buttons have been made mandatory for all new public transport vehicles registered on or after January 1, 2019.

All new public service vehicles except auto rickshaws and eRickshaws, registered on and after January 1, 2019 have to be equipped with Vehicle Location Tracking (VLT) with emergency buttons.

Statue of Unity Inaugurated

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the Statue of Unity in Gujarat's Narmada district. The 182-metre statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is touted to be the world's tallest.

Deal Inked for Biofuel Research

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has signed a three-year, Rs. 11 crore deal with The Energy and Research Institute to set up a centre to produce advanced biofuels and bio-commodities.

This is the fifth such dedicated centre for bioenergy-research and development set up by the Department.

First Heritage Structure in UP to Have its own Heritage by-laws

Sibtainabad Imambada, the mausoleum of King Amjad Ali Shah built in 1847 in Hazratganj area of the city, is set to become the state's first heritage structure to have its own heritage by-laws that aims at giving a complete transformation to the site and its surrounding areas, thus making it an ideal place for the tourists.

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