General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - December 2016

Dec 2016

Jun 23, 2018

India Seeks Cuba's Help

Marking the end of the first visit by an Indian leader to the Caribbean island in more than six decades, Kovind expressed his wish that Cuba and India "claim a greater voice for the developing countries".

Indian Naval Base Project Stalled

As per reports, the Parliament of the Seychelles will not ratify India's plans to build a naval base in the western Indian Ocean region.

Jun 22, 2018

First Strategic 2+2 Dialogue

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will hold the first strategic 2+2 Dialogue with their US counterparts in July in Washington.

Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo and Secretary of Defense James Mattis will host the Indian ministers at the meeting that "will focus on strengthening strategic, security, and defence cooperation as the United States and India jointly confront global challenges.

NSG Sent to J&K

Ahead of the Amarnath Yatra, the central government has sent a team of National Security Guards (NSG) to Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir to deal with any terror-related incident.

According to sources, the commandos have been asked to be prepared to deal with any hostage-like situation. Apart from this, they will also be stationed at Srinagar airport to tackle any eventuality. About two dozen NSG snipers have been camped at BSF headquarters in Humhama Srinagar. The NSG commandos' presence in Kashmir was reportedly cleared in April by the Home Ministry.

Essel Group America's YO1 Nature Cure Centre Inaugurated

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Essel Group America's YO1 - the largest nature cure centre - in the United States via video-conferencing. PM Modi, while highlighting the importance of Yoga in his speech, said that the word 'Yoga' symbolises connection.

The PM also lauded the Essel Group initiative, which will provide direct employment to 500 people and to more than 1500 people indirectly.

Jun 21, 2018

Shillong Bags Smart City Tag

As the Smart Cities Mission enters its fourth year, the Centre has finally announced the 100th and the last city ''Shillong'' which will be part of the project.

This announcement also sets the end date for the mission as June 2023, as every city gets five years to complete its projects.

Arvind Subramanian Resigns

Arvind Subramanian said that he was stepping down as the Union government's chief economic adviser (CEA) and would return to the United States to take care of pressing family commitments.

Subramanian's departure makes him the third economist working with the government to go back to the US in the last two years, following in the footsteps of Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan in 2016 and Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya in 2017.

India's First River Interlinking Project

Disagreements over water-sharing and difficulty in acquiring non-forest land impede the Rs. 18,000-crore Ken- Betwa River interlink project.

The project, which involves deforesting a portion of the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, was accorded clearance by the National Wildlife Board on the condition that the land lost would be made good by acquiring contiguous, revenue land. This is to ensure that wildlife corridors in the region aren't hit. "The M.P. government has said that they are facing major difficulties over this," said a senior person in the Water Ministry involved with the project.

Jun 20, 2018

Collapse of BJP-PDP Alliance

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ended its alliance with the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Jammu and Kashmir. Though the nail in the coffin for the alliance is said to be the resumption of anti-terror operations after the holy Ramzan, there have been many other issues on which the BJP and the PDP have been at loggerheads in the last four years.

Minutes after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pulled out of the alliance with People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti and her team of ministers sent their resignations to the state governor Narinder Nath Vohra.

Jun 19, 2018

India and Italy to Revitalise Bilateral Ties

India and Italy agreed to boost cooperation in counter-terrorism and cybersecurity as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met the top Italian leadership and discussed steps to revitalise bilateral ties.

It is the first major political exchange between the two countries after Mr. Conte assumed charge early this month.

Dhanush Artillery Gun Clears Final Trials

The indigenously upgraded artillery gun Dhanush has successfully completed final user trials and is ready for induction into the Army. Dhanush is an upgraded version of the Swedish Bofors gun procured by India in the mid-1980s.

The first phase of trials was conducted between July and September 2016 and the second phase was conducted between October and December 2016.

No Scope for Involvement of Third Country

India has made it clear that matters related to India-Pakistan relations are purely bilateral in nature and there is no scope for an involvement of a third country.

India's reaction came after Chinese envoy Luo Zhaohui endorsed a trilateral cooperation among India, China and Pakistan.

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