General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - December 2016

Dec 2016

Oct 01, 2018

Indian Navy Needs Minesweeper Ships

The Navy requires 12 minesweeper ships, but at present has only two at its disposal to safeguard sea lanes and ports spread across thousands of kilometres of coastlines in the eastern and western seaboards.

Minesweepers are small naval warships that detect and destroy underwater mines and are considered vital for keeping the critical sea lanes safe for movement of essential cargo, including crude oil.

Sep 30, 2018

RPF's New Director General

Senior IPS officer Arun Kumar has been appointed Director General of the Railway Protection Force (RPF). He succeeded Dharmendra Kumar.

Mr. Kumar, a 1985 batch officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, was serving as Special Director-General of the Border Security Force. He has worked as Joint Director of the CBI and was in charge of probe into the 2008 Aarushi murder case.

PTI Gets New Chairman

N. Ravi, Publisher and former Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu, has been unanimously elected Chairman of the Press Trust of India (PTI). Vijay Kumar Chopra, Chief Editor of the Punjab Kesari Group of newspapers, was elected Vice-Chairman.

Mr. Ravi succeeded Viveck Goenka, chairman and managing director of the Express Group.

India to Gift 3 MiG-21 to Russia

Three MiG-21s are scheduled to be handed over to Russians based on a request from Russia's Defence Minister. They comprise one Type 75 aircraft and two Type 77 aircraft.

This will be major symbolic gesture to showcase the all-weather friendship and deep strategic partnership between India and Russia.

The MiG-21 has more of emotional value for Russia, as it has the distinction of being the most produced supersonic fighter in history.

Sep 29, 2018

Reshuffle in Command Head

The government has selected three Lieutenant Generals to hold Army Commander-level ranks.

Lt Gen S. K. Saini will head the Pune-based Southern Command, replacing Lt Gen DR Soni, Lt Gen P. S. Thimayya will head the Army Training Command (ARTRAC) at Shimla. The incumbent Lt Gen M. M. Naravane has been appointed the Eastern Army Commander at Kolkata.

Lt Gen P. S. Rajeshwar will head the tri-services CISC (Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee). He will replace Lt Gen S. K. Dua.

India's Next Ambassador to China

The government has notified that Vikram Misri would be the new Indian envoy to Beijing.

Presently Vikram is India's envoy to Myanmar.

He will succeed Gautam Bambawale, who retires this year.

Indian Newspaper Society Gets New President

Jayant Mammen Mathew, Executive Editor of Malayala Manorama, has been elected as the president of the prestigious Indian Newspaper Society, an apex body of the country's print media industry.

He succeeds Akila Urankar of Business Standard.

Lav Saksena will serve as the secretary general, while Shailesh Gupta of Mid Day newspaper will be the deputy president and L. Adimoolam of Health and The Antiseptic, the vice-president of the INS.

Pact on Ropeway between Hindu and Sikh Shrines

The governments of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have signed an agreement to build a ropeway project connecting popular Sikh and Hindu shrines in both states.

The ropeway project will connect the birthplace of the 'Khalsa Panth' at Takht Keshgarh Sahib in the Sikh holy town of Anandpur Sahib in Punjab and Mata Naina Devi temple in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh.

Sep 28, 2018

Nod to New Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Policy

In a decision aimed to rid Uttarakhand of vehicular pollution, the Cabinet gave its approval to the electric vehicle manufacturing and battery charging infrastructure promotion policy. Under the plan, a number of exemptions and incentives would be provided to entrepreneurs to set up electric manufacturing units.

Under the policy, term loans ranging from Rs. 10 crore to Rs. 50 crore each would be provided to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) interested in manufacturing electric vehicles.

Panel to Recommend Names for Lokpal

The government constituted an eight-member search committee to recommend names for chairperson and members of the anti-corruption ombudsman, Lokpal.

The committee would be headed by former Supreme Court judge, Ranjana Prakash Desai.

As per the guidelines, the search committee would recommend the names to a selection committee headed by the Prime Minister and having as its members the Lok Sabha speaker, leader of the opposition in the lower house, the chief justice of India or a judge of the apex court nominated by him, and an eminent jurist who could be nominated by the president or any other member.

Friendship Agreement with Pune

The City of Austin, Texas, became the latest city to sign a friendship agreement with Pune.

This tie up will help us to look beyond technology and focus on universities, student exchange as well as stronger cultural exchange. Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is also looking at infrastructure development exchange with Austin.

Sohrai Paintings to Adore Trains

After trains in Bihar were painted in Madhubani art, now Sohrai paintings from Jharkhand is all set to adore trains running from Jharkhand. The development came after railway board chairman Ashwani Lohani accepted a proposal by Jamshedpur MP Bidyut Baran Mahato to decorate trains with the local art.

Union urban development (UDD) ministry also appreciated Jharkhand's initiative to decorate the walls of houses being built under Pradhan Mantri Shahri Awas Yojna (PMSAY) with Sohrai paintings.

BSF Gets New Chief

Senior IPS officers Rajni Kant Misra and S. S. Deswal have been appointed Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) respectively.

He has been tasked to head the BSF for a period up to his superannuation on August 31, 2019, in place of K. K. Sharma, who retires this month end.

Telecom Policy Cleared

The government today approved the new telecom policy and named it "National Digital Communications Policy (NDCP) 2018", which is aimed at ensuring availability of at least 50 mbps broadband speed to every citizen of the country and at the same time attract $100-billion investment, which will create 40 lakh jobs in the sector by 2022.

Sep 27, 2018

Medical Council of India Dissolved

The government dissolved the Medical Council of India (MCI), the apex body that regulated medical education in the country, and replaced it with a seven-member Board of Governors (BoG) by bringing an ordinance.

The BoG has been appointed initially for a period of one year, and will be the sole decision-making body till the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill, 2017 -- meant to replace the MCI -- is cleared in Parliament.

Patna Airport to Get a Facelift

Patna airport is set to be upgraded as the Cabinet approved the construction of a new domestic terminal building in Bihar's capital, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) also approved the construction of other allied structures at the Patna Airport.

The Cabinet also approved disinvestment for completion of incomplete projects. CCEA approves transfer (disinvestment) of incomplete projects of Hotel Gulmarg Ashok, Gulmarg and Hotel Patliputra Ashok, Patna to the State Governments of Jammu & Kashmir and Bihar respectively

Umbrella Scheme of Border Infrastructure and Management

The Centre has approved Rs. 8,606 crore for 60 projects being implemented under the umbrella scheme of Border Infrastructure and Management (BIM) to meet special development needs of people living in those areas.

The projects are being implemented in 17 states having the international borders with Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Air-to-air Missile Astra

A pre-induction trial of India's indigenously developed beyond visual range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) 'Astra' was successfully conducted over Bay of Bengal near Chandipur in Odisha.

So far Astra has undergone more than 20 developmental trials.

SC Verdict on Aadhaar Welcomed

Retired Justice K. S. Puttaswamy, one of the first to question the legality of Aadhaar, welcomed the landmark Supreme Court judgement upholding its validity but restricting it to disbursement of social benefits.

A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra held that Aadhaar would be voluntary and not mandatory with an option to exit.

List of services where Aadhaar will be required:

Aadhaar will be mandatory for PAN linking, required for filing ITRs and will be required for availing government welfare services like PDS.

List of services where Aadhaar will be not required:

Not compulsory for Central Board of Secondary Examination, National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for medical entrance and the University Grants Commission, for school admissions, for opening a bank account. No mobile company can demand Aadhaar details. Private companies can't seek Aadhaar data. It is not mandatory for mobile phone connections or new SIM cards and for financial services like PPF, NSC.

Share on

TCY Analytics (View Subscription Plans)

Subscribe to GK Updates

I want to receive

GK Tags

October GK, September GK, August GK, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, ENVIRONMENT, BUSINESS AND ECONOMY, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, SPORTS, NATIONAL AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, PERSONS IN NEWS, DAYS AND EVENTS, AWARDS AND HONOURS, GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES, GENDER/ HEALTH/ EDUCATION, ART AND CULTURE, BOOKS AND AUTHORS, TOURISM AND HOTEL INDUSTRY AWARENESS, ART AND CULTURE, LAW AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Start Discussion

On any topic

Take Tests

Compiled from GK updates

Login

Sign Up

Forgot Password

Download TCY App

Unlock All Services and Enjoy The Premium Benefits

US$ 10

US$ 13

US$ 15

US$ 17

US$ 19

US$ 20

US$ 21

US$ 22

US$ 23

US$ 24

US$ 25

US$ 26