General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - December 2016

Dec 2016

Mar 24, 2018

Rajya Sabha Polls

The BJP registered a major victory when the party managed to get all its nine candidates in the Rajya Sabha polls elected from Uttar Pradesh.
In all the elections held for 25 seats, BJP won 12, Congress managed 5, Trinamool gained 4, Telangana Rashtra Samiti 3 and the Samajwadi Party 1.

Indian Diplomats Attend Pakistan Day

In a first, senior Indian military officials and diplomats posted in Islamabad attended the military parade to mark the Pakistan Day.
The move of the Pakistan Army chief was aimed at sending a message of peace to New Delhi.
Indian Deputy High Commissioner J. P. Singh and Defence and Military Adviser Brigadier Sanjay P. Vishwasrao were among those who attended the event.

Hyderabad Airport Completes 10 Years

The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport completed 10 years with the laying of foundation stone of expansion, which will take the overall capacity of the facility to 40 million passengers per annum.
Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao laid the foundation stone for the expansion.
The event also saw launch of Airport City and foundation stone for Exhibition and Convention Centre.

Mar 23, 2018

Supersonic Cruise Missile Successfully Flight-tested

India successfully flight-tested the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos from Rajasthan's Pokhran test range. The missile, which is the result of an Indo-Russia joint venture, can fly almost three times the speed of sound at Mach 2.8 and has a range of 290 km.
The supersonic cruise missile was last test-fired in November 2017 from the Indian Air Force's fighter, Sukhoi-30MKI.

Cap on Education Allowance for Martyrs' Children Removed

The Union government has decided to remove the cap of Rs. 10,000 per month on education allowance for children of armed forces personnel who got killed, went missing or suffered disability in the line of action.
As per a notification, the concession would be admissible only for study in government or government-aided schools and colleges. It will also be applicable for students of military schools.
The government had been facing resentment from the three services after a decision was taken in July 2017 to cap the reimbursement of educational expenditure at Rs. 10,000 per month on the recommendation of the 7th Pay Commission.

Air India Flies to Israel via Saudi Airspace

Saudi Arabia opened its airspace for the first time to a commercial flight to Israel of an Air India route between New Delhi and Tel Aviv.
The Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner entered Saudi airspace and overflew the kingdom at 40,000 feet for about three hours.

Mar 22, 2018

India Not Considering Signing NPT

India is not considering any proposal to sign the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT) as a precondition for joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
India's position on the NPT remains unchanged.
India's NSG membership bid has been consistently blocked by China despite strong support to New Delhi from several countries, including the US and France.

Ayushman Bharat, Scheme Approved

Union Cabinet approved the launch of Ayushman Bharat - National Health Protection Mission - which is slated to cover over 10 crore poor families and provide coverage of up to Rs. 5 lakh.
The scheme is touted as the world's largest government-funded health care programme. AB-NHPM will subsume the on-going centrally sponsored schemes - Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and the Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS).

Mar 21, 2018

Union government approves plastic park to be set up in Deoghar, Jharkhand

Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Ananthkumar announced that the Government of India approved the setting up of a Plastic Park in Deoghar District, Jharkhand. The project would be set up at a cost of Rs. 120 crores in an area of 150 acres. Mr. Ananthkumar also announced the setting up of Rs. 3.5 crore Plastic Recycling unit at Deoghar to tackle the menace of plastic waste being generated due to the place being a tourist attraction.

106th Indian Science Congress to be held in Bhopal

General President-elect Manoj Kumar Chakrabarti announced that the 106th edition of the Indian Science Congress will be held in January 2019 at Barkatullah University Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The theme for 2019 ISC will be "Future India: Science & Technology".

India signs double taxation avoidance treaty with Hong Kong

India and Hong Kong signed a double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) that seeks to improve transparency in tax matters and help curb tax evasion and avoidance. The agreement between India and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People's Republic of China was signed by Indian Ambassador to China Gautam Bambawale and Hong Kong Finance Secretary Paul Chan Mo-Po in Hong Kong.

Third edition of National Conclave on Mines and Minerals

The Ministry of Mines organized the 3rd National Conclave on Mines and Minerals in New Delhi. The event was inaugurated by the Minister of Mines, Narendra Singh Tomar. Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) has agreed to partner in the event. A portal on Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojna (PMKKKY) scheme was also launched on the occasion.

Mar 20, 2018

Indian Navy to host bilateral exercise 'Varuna' with French Navy

The Indian Navy and the French Navy have conducted bilateral maritime exercises since May 1993. Since 2001, the exercises have been named VARUNA and there have been fifteen editions of the same till date. The last edition of VARUNA was conducted off the French Coast in April 2017. This year to VARUNA-18 would be conducted in three sea areas, namely, the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and South Western Indian Ocean. The conduct of VARUNA and the special impetus on taking this Navy-to-Navy cooperative engagement forward was reiterated in the Joint Statement made by the Prime Minister of India and the President of France.

First National workshop on POSHAN Abhiyan held in New Delhi

The first National workshop on POSHAN Abhiyan involving all the states and union territories was held at Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra, New Delhi. The Ministry of Women and Child Development is organizing the day-long workshop with participation from all the states/UTs. It is been organized to provide a complete orientation on the POSHAN Abhiyan, to explain the key components of the Abhiyaan and to provide hand holding in using the software involved. The Ministry of WCD is also launching five e-ILA (e-Incremental Learning Approach) courses and two ECCE(Early Childhood Care and Education) software modules.

Informal WTO ministerial meeting held in New Delhi

Representatives from 50 countries gathered in New Delhi for a two-day informal World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting. According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the informal meeting of ministers will provide an opportunity to engage in free and frank discussions with the hope that it will lead to political guidance on some major issues.

India and EU signed agreement on sharing earth observation data

India and the European Union (EU) have signed an agreement that will enable them to share earth observation data from each other's satellites. The pact was inked in Bengaluru. The Copernicus programme provides a wide range of applications like climate change, land, ocean, and atmosphere monitoring as well as support in forecasting, management and mitigation of natural disasters. Under this arrangement, Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO will share data from its earth observation satellites.

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