General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - December 2016

Dec 2016

Aug 22, 2018

Secretariat to Tackle Drug Menace

Five northern states Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Union territories of Delhi and Chandigarh have decided to set up centralised secretariat at Panchkula (Haryana) to tackle the drug menace. It was decided at in inter-State regional conference of Chief Ministers organised in Chandigarh by Haryana government on issue of "Drug menace, challenges and strategies.

Marriage Portal for HIV+ People

People with HIV infection can now look for a marriage partner on a web portal specially designed for them.

The portal, matrimonial.gnspplus.org, was launched at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) to address the confidentiality concerns of people infected by HIV (human immunodeficiency virus).

The online platform has been created by Gujarat State Network of Positive People (GSNP+), a non-profit organisation, with the technical support of the IIMA's Centre for Management of Health Services.

Satya Pal Malik Governor of Jammu and Kashmir

President Ram Nath Kovind appointed Satya Pal Malik as Jammu and Kashmir's new governor. Malik, who has been the Bihar governor since September 2017, will replace N. N. Vohra, and will have direct administrative control since the state has been under the Governor's Rule since the Bharatiya Janata Party withdrew support to the People's Democratic Party-led government in June.

The move was part of a larger exercise under which three new appointments were made and some governors were reshuffled. Seven states will now have new governors.

Aug 21, 2018

Discriminatory Laws against Leprosy Patients

A comprehensive legislation to repeal various discriminatory laws against people afflicted with leprosy is being drafted. The new law would infuse affirmative action to bring those suffering from leprosy into the mainstream.

Making his submissions before a bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra and comprising justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, attorney general KK Venugopal acknowledged that India accounts for more than 52% of world's lepers and over 1.24 lakh get added to the list every year.

Army Floats Tender for LMGs

In a major change of weaponry for the Army, a tender was issued seeking supply of some 41,000 new light machine guns (LMGs) to equip its infantry battalions.

This is the first change of an LMG�"basic weapon of infantry units�" in the Army's armoury in two decades.

LS, RS to Adopt HP's e-Vidhan Model

Himachal's e-Vidhan model will now be adopted and replicated by all 40 Assemblies, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in the country to make their functioning paperless and information available at the click of a mouse.

Himachal Vidhan Sabha was the first in the country to go paperless with the launch of e-Vidhan project almost four years back.

Himachal has also become the first state in the country to successfully launch the e- constituency management project which will cover all 68 Assembly segments. Monitoring of all development projects and welfare schemes in each Assembly segment will now be possible at the click of a mouse.

Aug 20, 2018

Joint Exercise 'Maitree 2018' Ends

The armies of India and Thailand have concluded their two-week joint exercise 'Maitree 2018' in Thailand.

Exercise Maitree is an annual event designed to strengthen the partnership between Royal Thai Army and Indian Army and the exercise commenced on August 6 in Thailand.

HeliNa Anti-tank Guided Missile

India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed HeliNa anti-tank missile at the Pokhran Range in Rajasthan. The HeliNa stands for Helicopter-launched Nag, and is a variant of the land-launched Nag anti-tank guided missile.

The weapon system has been tested for its full range.

Manik Reddy No More

Former Lok Sabha member P. Manik Reddy, who represented Medak constituency in Telangana, died due to age-related ailments.

A former Congress leader, Reddy had joined the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 1983 and was elected from Medak Lok Sabha constituency in 1985.

Reddy subsequently joined the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in 2013.

Aug 17, 2018

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Passes Away

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, one of modern India's tallest leaders and former Prime Minister, will be laid to rest with full state honours at the Smriti Sthal at 4 pm. The veteran leader died after a prolonged illness. He breathed his last at 5.05 PM at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the national capital.

Born on 25 December 1924 was an Indian politician who thrice served as the Prime Minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, for a period of eleven months from 1998 to 1999, and then for a full term from 1999 to 2004.

Aug 16, 2018

Anandiben Takes Oath as Governor of Chhattisgarh

Madhya Pardesh Governor Anandiben Patel, who has been given the additional charge of Chhattisgarh following the death of Governor Balramji Dass Tandon, was sworn in at a ceremony.

Chhattisgarh High Court Chief Justice Ajay Kumar Tripathi administered the oath of office to Patel.

Patel will discharge the additional duties until regular arrangements for the office of the governor of Chhattisgarh were made.

Odisha CM Launches Own Healthcare Plan

A month-and-a-half before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Ayushman Bharat programme is set to be launched, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik kick-started the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY), a health coverage scheme that would assist over 70 lakh families in the state.

More Thermal Power Plants Commissioned

Despite having the largest number of critically polluted cities in India, Maharashtra added almost 2.5 GW of coal-fuelled power capacity in 2017, while overall, India commissioned 13 GW of thermal power plants from January 2017 till August this year.

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