General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - February 2017

Feb 2017

Jul 22, 2021

Gagandeep Singh Wasu is NIA's Special Public Prosecutor for Punjab, Haryana

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a gazette notification appointing senior advocate Gagandeep Singh Wasu as the special public prosecutor for representing cases on behalf of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) before special courts for Punjab (Mohali) and Haryana (Panchkula) for three years with effect from July 20.
It said he would also represent the NIA in cases before the special court and High Court established by law in the territory of the Union Territory (UT) of Chandigarh. According to the order, Wasu will now handle all terrorism-related cases, which are being investigated by the NIA in Punjab and Haryana.

Perumkulam is Kerala's First 'Book Village'

Perumkulam, in Thiruvananthapuram District, has been bestowed with the title Kerala's first 'Book Village'. This claim to fame results from years of concerted efforts aimed at encouraging the habit of reading. Perumkulam is a small village in Kulakkada near Kottarakkara in Kollam district. Bapuji Smaraka Grandhasala', a library in the village is at the forefront in this effort of making it the first book village of the State.

NMGC Approves New Projects for Rejuvenation of 6 Rivers in Uttarakhand

The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) in its 36th Executive Committee has approved new projects for the rejuvenation of six rivers in Uttarakhand. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), there are a total of nine polluted stretches in Uttarakhand and six of them are in the Udham Singh Nagar district on various tributaries or small rivers such as Bhela, Dhela, Kichha, Nandor, Pilankha and Kosi.
The projects shall cover the six polluted river stretches in the Kumaon region. Out of the rest three polluted stretches, the project of Ganga at Jagjeetpur, Haridwar has already been commissioned and on the remaining two, Namami Gange projects are already under execution. It also approved Sewerage (I&D) scheme (Dhela River) Phase-1 of District Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand under Namami Gange Programme at a sanctioned cost of Rs. 199.36 crore.

Jul 21, 2021

Kunariya Village Holds Successful Balika Panchayat

The Kunariya village of Kutch district in Gujarat has come out with a unique idea of holding Balika Panchayat. The first-ever elections of this Balika Panchayat were successfully. Inspired by the TV series, Balika Vadhu, the Kunariya village in Kutch district held elections for the unique Balika Panchayat, which aims to develop leadership qualities in the girls for Future Panchayat polls.
Young females aged between 10 and 21 years contested elections for this unique Panchayat which will take up issues pertaining to adolescent girls and women in the village.
This Panchayat will be run by the girls and for the girls.
The separate sitting arrangements will be given to these girls, and they will be given to use the budget of gender sensitivity.
This unique step by a small village like Kunaria aligns with PM's vision of enhancing young women's participation in the political process.

Karnataka to Provide Reservation for 'Transgender' Community in All Govt. Services

Karnataka has become the first state in the country to provide one per cent reservation for the 'transgender' community in all the government services.
The government submitted a report to the High Court in this regard informing that a notification had already been issued after amending the Karnataka Civil Service (General Recruitment) Rule, 1977.
Whenever a notification is published inviting applications for the government jobs, 'others' column must be added along with male and female columns. The notification also underlines that there should not be any discrimination to the transgender in the process of selection.

Jul 20, 2021

Goa Govt Signs MoU With Mineral Corp

The Goa government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd (MECL), a Union government-owned public sector undertaking, to build an inventory of Goa's minerals -- mainly iron ore.
Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant, who is currently on a two-day visit to New Delhi, oversaw the signing of the agreement along with Union minister of coal and mines Pralhad Joshi.
The MoU will help the government assess its mineral resources and establish its mineral inventory. The MoU is seen as a step towards the government restarting mining through its own state-run corporation after the Supreme Court ruled that if mining is to restart, fresh leases will have to be allotted, which now involves an auction.

Jul 19, 2021

Sonia Gandhi Reconstitutes Congress' Parliamentary Hierarchy

In a major reshuffle in the Congress party's parliamentary hierarchy, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has reconstituted the parliamentary groups in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, bringing in senior faces such as former Union ministers P Chidambaram, Manish Tewari, Ambika Soni and former chief minister Digvijaya Singh.
Gandhi, in a letter said, "As the chairperson of the CPP (Congress Parliamentary Party), I have decided to reconstitute the following groups to facilitate and ensure the effective functioning of our party in both Houses of Parliament. These groups will meet daily during the session and can meet during the inter-session periods as well where Parliament issues are concerned."
The letter makes it official that Bengal MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury will continue as the Leader of the Party (LoP) in the Lok Sabha. But inclusion of Manish Tewari and Shashi Tharoor in the group underlines that Gandhi wants more heads in the party's parliamentary decision-making process. Interestingly, both Tewari and Tharoor were perceived as a possible replacement for Chowdhury.

PM Modi Addresses Parliament, Marks the Start of Monsoon Session

The 26-day long monsoon session of Parliament begins with the opposition preparing to corner the government over issues like the Covid-19 pandemic, farmers' protest, inflation and surging fuel prices.
Ahead of the monsoon session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government stated that it is ready to face any debate.
The monsoon session - the second in a year where elected representatives meet in the House - will conclude on August 13. "Subject to exigencies of government business, the session is likely to conclude on August 13," a Lok Sabha release said.
This is the first session of Parliament where newly elected representatives from the assembly polls in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry will be taking part.

Delhi Police Meeting with Farmers Inconclusive

Ahead of the march planned by farmers near Parliament during the monsoon session, the Delhi police's meeting with the farmer unions remained inconclusive.
A senior police officer said they had requested the farmers to reconsider their protest call citing the DDMA guidelines and the outbreak of COVID-19 third wave.
Samyukt Kisan Morcha leaders have given assurances of "peaceful" protest.

326 Sedition Cases Filed in India from 2014 to 2019; only 6 Convicted: Govt Data

More than 300 cases were registered under the controversial, "colonial" era sedition law across the country from 2014 to 2019.
Of the total 326 cases registered under sedition in the six-year period, only six people were convicted, it further said.
According to the data, Assam reported the highest number of such cases, at 54. Of these, charge sheets were filed in 26 cases, while trials were completed in 25. However, none of these cases resulted in a conviction, the data showed.
Jharkhand and Haryana were next, with 40 and 31 cases, respectively. In Jharkhand, charge sheets were filed in 29 cases and trials completed in 16, while the corresponding figures for Haryana were 19 and six respectively. However, both the states recorded one conviction each.

Common High Court of J-K

A notification has been issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice informing that the 'long-winding and cumbersome' nomenclature 'Common High Court of UT of Jammu and Kashmir and UT of Ladakh' have been changed to 'High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh'. President Ram Nath Kovind has signed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 2021, to effect the change.
"Present nomenclature is found to be rather long-winding and cumbersome. The said nomenclature may be substituted as High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, which besides being convenient would also be in consonance with the name pattern followed in other common HCs," the notification read.

Jal Jeevan Mission: 10 Million Homes in Encephalitis Hot Spots Get Tap Water Access

The country's flagship programme to provide rural households with piped drinking water, Jal Jeevan Mission, has expanded rapidly to cover more than 10 million homes in 61 districts notorious for Japanese Encephalitis-Acute Encephalitis Syndrome, a brain fever in children that needs a multi-pronged approach for treatment, according to health experts.
The 61 districts spread over five states are endemic to various forms encephalitis. Years of repeated outbreaks have contributed to poor health of outcomes for children, particularly in states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Sidhu named Punjab Congress Chief with 4 Working Presidents

The Congress appointed Navjot Singh Sidhu as the president of its Punjab unit after days of intense tussle in the state where the chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh resisted the elevation.
The party also announced the appointment of four working presidents, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Pawan Goel and Kuljit Singh Nagra, which paves the way for a significant revamp of the organisational setup disbanded by the Congress president in January, 2020. The state is scheduled to go to polls early next year.
"Congress president has appointed Navjot Singh Sidhu as the president of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee with immediate effect," according to a statement by All India Congress Committee. "The party appreciates the contributions of outgoing PCC president Sunil Jakhar," it added.

A.P. Govt Announces 10% Reservation for EWS

The Andhra Pradesh government announced 10% reservation for the Kapu community and other Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) for appointments in the initial posts and services in State government in accordance with the Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019
As per a G.O. issued by the Chief Secretary on Wednesday, the 10% reservation in employment will benefit Kapus who are neither benefited under BC quota nor under EWS quota and other Open Competition (OC) sections who are deprived of the benefits of reservation thus far due to non-implementation of the EWS quota.

Jul 18, 2021

BJP Looks to Downplay 'Kongu Nadu' Controversy

The BJP formally put to rest a controversy on 'Kongu Nadu' by stating that they have no plans to bifurcate Tamil Nadu.
Union Minister of State and outgoing Tamil Nadu BJP chief L Murugan said that it was a "clerical mistake".
The controversy began after the party had released profiles of newly inducted union ministers and it referred to Murugan as hailing from 'Kongu Nadu, Tamil Nadu'.

Sidhu meets Sonia Amid Buzz of Revamp in Punjab

Former Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu met Congress president Sonia Gandhi amid rising tensions in the party over the cricketer-turned-politician's factional fight with chief minister Amarinder Singh.
The meeting at Gandhi's Delhi residence was also attended by party leader Rahul Gandhi. It came after days of talk – with no official announcement – that Sidhu could be appointed the state unit chief overriding objections by Singh.
Singh is bitterly opposed to Sidhu's elevation as party chief and has publicly advocated for a Hindu face for the post.

PM Modi Conveys Grief over Vidisha Tragedy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his anguish over the accident in Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha district, where at least four people were killed after falling into a 40-feet-deep well.
Conveying his condolences, PM Modi announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh for the families of each victim who lost their lives in the accident.
Four bodies have been recovered till now from inside the well in Ganj Basoda of Vidisha, about 100 km north of Bhopal and reports indicate the death toll is likely to be higher. About 40 people, who gathered around it to watch the rescue of a 10-year-old boy, fell in after its boundary wall caved under their collective weight.

Ministry Clears Rules for Vintage Cars

For the first time ever, India is set to have rules for regulating the registration process for vintage cars.
The Union Law Ministry has given its nod to an amendment to Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, which are expected to be notified by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways soon, according to a government official.
According to the rules, all two-wheelers and four-wheelers, which have not undergone any substantial overhaul, will be defined as Vintage Motor Vehicles 50 years after the date of first registration.
Vehicles that already carry a registration number would be allowed to retain it. However, classics that are registered afresh, such as those that are imported into the country, would be assigned an identifier "VA" in the registration number. Vintage vehicles would neither be permitted on roads for regular purposes nor would they be used for commercial purposes. They would be allowed only during exhibitions.

Centre Notifies Jurisdiction of Krishna, Godavari River Boards

Seven years after their constitution under the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, the Centre has notified the jurisdiction of Krishna and Godavari River Management Boards (KRMB and GRMB), transferring to them the operation of all projects, including generation of hydel power, in the two river basins in A.P. and Telangana effective from October 14, 2021.
Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS) issued the Gazette notification late on July 15 night.
The notification brings 35 projects in the Krishna basin and 71 in the Godavari basin, under the boards' purview, empowering them to operate the headworks of barrages, dams, reservoirs, regulating structures, part of canal network, transmission lines and the power houses at the projects.

Banks Can't Deny Educational Loans to Students Citing Parents' Liabilities: HC

The Kerala high court said that banks cannot deny educational loans to students citing liabilities of their parents and directed a national bank to disburse the loan applied by a meritorious student.
While giving a direction to the Indian Bank in this regard, the single bench of Justice PB Suresh Kumar observed that the very purpose of the educational loan is to ensure that a meritorious student cannot be deprived of an opportunity to higher education on the ground that he/she does not have enough resources for the same.
The petitioner, a second-year student of Bachelor of Ayuveda Medicine and Surgery, approached the court after her loan request was turned down by the bank. In her petition, she contended that she secured admission through the centralised seat allotment process of the state in 2019 on the basis of her rank in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test.

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