General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - November 2018

Nov 2018

Jun 14, 2023

Second Summit of Supreme Audit Institutions of G20 Countries Concludes in Goa

The second summit of the Supreme Audit Institutions of G20 countries concluded in Goa. In his valedictory address, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, Girish Chandra Murmu highlighted that the SAIs have collectively chartered a path to heighten efficiency, accountability and transparency in Blue Economy and Artificial Intelligence. Murmu said that there was a consensus that SAI20 summit represented an action-oriented forum to collaborate on sharing of the best practices, capacity building and development of appropriate auditing guidelines and actionable tool kits for auditing national priorities. This was also reflected in the SAI20 Communique adopted during the summit.
As per reports, 85 national and International delegates from G20 SAIs, Guest SAIs, Invited SAIs, International Organizations and other Engagement Groups attended the event. The SAI20 members deliberated according to the SAI20 group a distinct, independent and institutional track in the G20 structure.

Jitan Manjhi's Son Resigns from Nitish Cabinet

Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, a new political development is taking shape in Bihar. In a sudden move, Jitan Ram Manjhi's son and Bihar minister for SC and ST welfare, Santosh Suman resigned from the Nitish Kumar cabinet. Former Bihar CM Manjhi's party Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) is an alliance partner of Mahagathbandhan in Bihar that includes Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata Dal (United).
Santosh Suman sent his resignation to the Chief Minister. Suman said that his party received a proposal to merge with the JDU but the HAM MLAs and party workers are against the merger. He said that the merger proposal came from the JDU. Suman said that while he respects the sentiments of JDU, his party (HAM) was formed to fight for some issues and thus they will continue their fight and have chosen the path of struggle.

Sudhansh Pant new Union Health Secretary, Chanchal Kumar Aviation Secretary

Senior IAS officer Sudhansh Pant was named as the new Union Health Secretary as part of a top-level bureaucratic reshuffle effected by the Centre.
Pant, a 1991-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Rajasthan cadre, is currently the Secretary in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
He was appointed as the Officer on Special Duty in the Department of Health and Family Welfare.
Chanchal Kumar, Managing Director of National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd was named as the new Civil Aviation Secretary.

Padma Awardees from Haryana to Get Monthly Rs. 10,000

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced a monthly pension of Rs. 10,000 for the Padma awardees from the state.
Besides the monthly pension, the Chief Minister also announced a free travel facility in the 'Volvo bus' service of the state government for Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan awardees from Haryana.
The Chief Minister made this announcement during his visit to Karnal.

Jun 13, 2023

Uttarakhand Public Service Commission Chairman Rakesh Kumar Resigns

Uttarakhand Public Service Commission Chairman Rakesh Kumar resigned within 18 months of appointment citing personal reasons.
Kumar, a retired IAS officer, was appointed in December 2021 for a six-year term. His short tenure was full of challenges with three examinations conducted by the Commission being cancelled over paper leak allegations.
Kumar tendered his resignation and it was accepted by Governor Lt Gen (retd) Gurmit Singh.
It was during his tenure that the Commission was assigned the additional responsibility of conducting Group C recruitment examinations which were earlier under the ambit of the Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UKSSSC) after the latter got embroiled in the paper leak cases.

India Appoints Vipul as its New Ambassador to Qatar

Seasoned diplomat Vipul was appointed India's new ambassador to Qatar, an influential country in the Gulf region.
Vipul, a 1998-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, is presently serving as the joint secretary in the Gulf division at the headquarters of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in Delhi.
Shilpak N. Ambule, an IFS officer from 2002 batch, was appointed India's next High Commissioner to Singapore.

India, ADB Sign $130 Million Loan Agreement to Boost Horticulture in HP

The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a loan agreement worth $130 million in order to increase agricultural productivity, improve access to irrigation and promote horticulture agribusinesses to raise farmers' income in Himachal Pradesh. The project builds upon a pilot financed by ADB's project readiness facility which demonstrated the subtropical horticulture production over 200 hectares and prepared the draft water user association (WUA) act and the draft state horticulture development strategy.
The project interventions will help increase the income and resilience to the effects of climate change of at least 15,000 farm households across seven districts of the state namely Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kangra, Mandi, Sirmour, Solan, and Una.
These households have stopped farming or have reduced their farming areas because of a lack of irrigation facilities and crop damage by wild and stray animals.
The project will improve on-farm irrigation and water management in about 6,000 hectares of farmland by rehabilitating or building new irrigation schemes and strengthening the capacity of WUAs for micro-irrigation management through joint efforts from the state's Jal Shakti Vibhag (Water Resources Department) and Department of Horticulture (DOH).

Amit Agrawal is UIDAI CEO, Subodh Kumar Singh Named DG NTA

Senior IAS officers Amit Agrawal and Subodh Kumar Singh were appointed as CEO Unique Identification Authority of India and Director General of the National Testing Agency, respectively, as part of a bureaucratic reshuffle effected by the Centre. Both Agrawal (1993 batch) and Singh (1997 batch) are Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers of the Chhattisgarh cadre.
Agrawal, additional secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, has been appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Unique Identification Authority in the rank and pay of additional secretary to the Government of India.

Jun 12, 2023

Third Meeting of DEWG under G20 in Pune

The third meeting of the G20 Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG) was held in Maharashtra's Pune city.
As per reports, cyber security, digital economy and digital public infrastructure were discussed in the meeting. During this, 'The Global DPI Summit' and 'Global DPI Exhibition' were also be inaugurated.
The DEWG meeting was inaugurated by Union Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar. The inaugural session also saw the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to share India Stack with some interested countries.
The participation included (representatives) of 46 countries.

Jaishankar Chairs G20 Development Ministers' Meeting in Varanasi

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar chaired the G20 development ministers' meeting, which took place from June 11-13 in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
The Varanasi meeting came at a critical time as the world is facing mounting developmental challenges, exacerbated by economic slowdown, debt distress, climate change impacts, pollution and biodiversity loss, increasing poverty and inequality, food and energy insecurity, cost-of-living crisis, global supply chain disruptions, and geopolitical conflicts and tensions.
The G20 development ministerial meeting aimed to collectively agree on actions to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and promote synergies between the development, environment, and climate agendas, while avoiding trade-offs that hinder progress for developing countries.

PM Modi Inaugurates the First-ever National Training Conclave

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first-ever National Training Conclave at the International Exhibition and Convention Centre in Delhi's Pragati Maidan.
Representatives from civil services training institutes from across the country participated in the conclave.
It was hosted by Capacity Building Commission with the objective to foster collaboration among civil services training institutes and strengthen the training infrastructure for civil servants across the country.
More than 1500 representatives from training institutes, including Central Training Institutes, State Administrative Training Institutes, Regional and Zonal Training Institutes, and Research institutes participated in the conclave.
The conclave included eight-panel discussions, each focusing on key concerns pertinent to Civil services training institutes such as faculty development, training impact assessment and content digitisation, among others.

Congress Appoints RS MP Shaktisinh Gohil as New PCC Chief in Gujarat

The Congress appointed Rajya Sabha MP Shaktisinh Gohil as the new Gujarat PCC president and relieved him from the charge of AICC in-charge of Haryana and Delhi by appointing Deepak Babaria in his place.
Gohil replaced Jagdish Thakor, who had resigned after the party's poor performance in the last assembly elections in Gujarat when the party reached its lowest-ever legislator tally.
Gohil has been a former Leader of Opposition in Gujarat at the time Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of the state.

Jun 11, 2023

India and Serbia Agree to Set Bilateral Trade of 1 Billion Euros by End of this Decade

President Droupadi Murmu and Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic agreed to set a target for bilateral trade from the present 32 crore Euros to one billion euros by the end of the decade.
President Droupadi Murmu had a packed day of official engagements, which started with a guard of honour at the Serbia Palace, followed by restricted-level talks, delegation-level talks, a joint address to the media and a business event.
During the interactions, both Presidents reiterated old commitments and resolved to explore new areas of cooperation for further strengthening bilateral relations.

Jun 10, 2023

Haryana CM Manohar Lal Launches Integrated Water Resources Action Plan-2023-25

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal launched integrated Water Resources Action Plan-2023-25 under Amrit Jal Kranti at Chandigarh, a bold step towards conserving water resources.
As per report, on the initiative of the Chief Minister, a two-day water conservation seminar was organised in Panchkula on April 26-27, 2023 under Amrit Jal Kranti, in which many departments of Haryana, including experts from India and abroad doing research on water conservation participated.
He said that based on the various suggestions received in the seminar, an action plan was prepared by all the departments for water conservation.

India and US to Establish Monitoring Group to Boost High-Tech Trade and Tech Partnership

India and the US decided to set up a regular monitoring group which will review progress in deepening cooperation in the bilateral high-tech trade and technology partnership between the two nations.
This was decided during the inaugural meeting of India-US Strategic Trade Dialogue (IUSSTD), which was held in Washington D.C.
The Indian delegation was led by Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, while the US delegation was co-led by Alan Estevez, the Under Secretary for Industry and Security, and Victoria Nuland, the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.
The dialogue was a key mechanism to take forward the strategic technology and trade collaborations envisaged under the India-US initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET).
IUSSTD focussed on ways in which both governments can facilitate the development and trade of technologies in critical domains such as semiconductors, space, telecom, quantum, Artificial Intelligence, defence, bio-tech and others.
Both sides reviewed the relevant bilateral export control regulations with the objective of building and diversifying resilient supply chains for these strategic technologies.

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