General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - November 2018

Nov 2018

Jul 21, 2022

SC Paves Way for OBC Reservation in Maharashtra Local Bodies Poll

More than a year after it read down Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation in local bodies, the Supreme Court paved the way for OBC reservation in Maharashtra local bodies poll, as it accepted the Banthia Commission report.
A bench headed by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar directed the State Election Commission and state authorities to ensure the election process in respect to each of those local bodies is immediately commenced.
The apex court also directed the Maharashtra SEC to notify the election programme for all local bodies within two weeks. Accepting reservations for OBCs, the top court said that it wants election to be conducted and these cannot be deferred indefinitely.

HP First State in Country to Connect all Registered Commercial Vehicles Equipped with VLTD with ERSS

Himachal Pradesh became the first state in the country to connect all registered commercial vehicles equipped with Vehicle Location Tracking Device (VLTD) with Emergency Response Support System (ERSS). Now these vehicles can be tracked anywhere in the country through VLTD. More than 9,423 vehicles were registered and linked with ERSS. Now, these vehicles would be monitored by both the police and the transport department.
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur formally inaugurated the system at a program organised at Peterhof, in Shimla. He also introduced the facility of panic button for the safety of women and children in public vehicles.

National Standards for Civil Service Training Institutions

Union government unveiled the "National Standards for Civil Service Training Institutions (NSCSTI)", with the aim of raising their quality and capacity.
NSCSTI was launched at the headquarters of Capacity Building Commission.
With this, India became the world's first country to launch a unique model for creating a national level standard for civil service training institutions.
A web portal and approach paper for national standards were also unveiled, during the launch event.
Capacity Building Commission develops the national standards to - formulate a baseline for central training institutes on their current capacity, to elevate quality and capacity of training delivery and to harmonise standards for training.
These standards would also lay down aspirations for training institutions, to endeavour towards excellence.
Capacity Building Commission was created as a part of Mission Karmayogi for civil servants. The commission comprises of experts in related fields and global professionals. It will help in preparing and monitoring annual capacity building plans as well as audit human resources present in the government.

Jul 20, 2022

Rahul Shewale is Shiv Sena Leader in Lok Sabha

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla recognised Rahul Shewale as the floor leader of the party in the Lower House.
This came after 12 of the 19 Shiv Sena Members of Parliament (MPs) in the Lok Sabha including Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's son Shrikant Shinde, requested the Speaker for the change.

Jul 19, 2022

Harbhajan, Misa Bharti, Rajeev Shukla and 25 other MPs Take Oath in RS

Cricketer-turned-politician Harbhajan Singh, Misa Bharti, daughter of former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, and BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla took oath alongwith nearly 25 other leaders as Rajya Sabha members.
Others included A. Rao Meena, Vijay Sai Reddy, Kheeru Mahto, Shambhala Saran Patel, Ranjeet Ranjan, Maharashtra Majhi, Aditya Prasad, Praful Patel, Imran Pratapgarhi, Sanjay Raut, Sasmit Patra, Sandeep Kumar Pathak and Vikramjeet Singh Sahani.
Randeep Singh Surjewal, P. Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, R. Girl Rajan, S. Kalyan Sundaram, KRN Rajesh Kumar, Javed Ali Khan, V. Vijendra Prasad were others among those who took oath.

Lt Gen Shukla is UPSC Member

Lt Gen Raj Shukla (retd), who served as Commander of the Army Training Command (ARTRAC) headquartered in Shimla, was appointed member of the Union Public Service Commission. He retired in March.
Commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery in December 1982, Lieutenant General Shukla commanded X Corps headquartered at Bathinda.

Deck Stacked in Favour of Droupadi Murmu as India's Next President

Voting for the presidential poll ended, with the 98.9 per cent of the electors permitted to exercise their franchise in Parliament House.
The deck was stacked in favour of Droupadi Murmu, Santhal tribal from Odisha, former Governor and Minister in the Odisha state government. The result would be announced on July 21 after counting on July 20. Current President Ram Nath Kovind's term ends on July 25.
Briefing reporters after the voting, Mody said that of the 736 electors — comprising 727 Members of Parliament (MPs) and nine Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) permitted by the Election Commission of India to vote at Parliament House — 728 (719 MPs and nine MLAs) cast their ballot.

Narinder Batra Resigns as FIH President, Gives up IOC Membership

Veteran sports administrator Narinder Batra resigned as President of International Hockey Federation (FIH) and also gave up his membership of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Batra ceased to be President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) when the Delhi High Court, in May struck down the post of 'Life member' in Hockey India, courtesy which he had contested the IOA elections and won back in 2017.
In three separate letters, Batra officially tendered his resignations from the IOA, IOC and FIH respectively.

Jul 18, 2022

Centre's Jal Jeevan Mission Gets International Endorsement

The Centre's flagship programme, 'Har Ghar Jal' has got international endorsement with Nobel laureate Professor Michael Kremer appreciating its implementation and assuring his collaboration in it.
Prof Kremer met officers of Union Jal Shakti Ministry's Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), which implements Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) under Har Ghar Jal programme. He appreciated its implementation in India which is geographically big and diverse.
Its implementation in some states and UTs, like in the desert areas of Rajasthan and mountainous terrain of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and north-eastern States is challenging.
He assured of collaboration with regard to safe storage of water, new and cost-effective water treatment technologies and impact studies on tap water availability in villages.
JJM seeks to provide every rural household in the country with piped drinking water by 2024.
Prof Kremer is an American economist who was jointly awarded Nobel Prize for the year 2019 for experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.

Margaret Alva, Opposition's V-P Pick

Congress stalwart and former Union Minister Margaret Alva, who also served as Governor of four states, was named as the joint Opposition candidate for the vice presidential election, the voting for which will take place on August 6.
The decision to field Alva against ruling NDA's Jagdeep Dhankhar was taken at a meeting of 17 opposition parties.
Alva served as the 17th Governor of Goa, 23rd Governor of Gujarat, 20th Governor of Rajasthan and fourth Governor of Uttarakhand. A five-time parliamentarian, she served as a Cabinet Minister in the government headed by Rajiv Gandhi.

NDA Names Jagdeep Dhankhar as Vice Presidential Candidate

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) selected West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar as its candidate for the post of vice president of India.
Lauding the governor, PM Modi said that Dhankhar always worked for the well-being of farmers, youth, women and the marginalised.
Dhankhar has excellent knowledge of the Constitution and he is also well-versed with legislative affairs.
Prior to his present role as the governor, Dhankhar has been a noted lawyer and was instrumental in getting OBC status for Jats in Rajasthan.

Manipur Governor La. Ganesan Gets Additional Charge of West Bengal

President Ram Nath Kovind accepted the resignation of West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who was nominated as the vice president candidate by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The President appointed La. Ganesan, Governor of Manipur, to discharge the functions of the governor of West Bengal, in addition to his own duties.

PM Modi Inaugurates Bundelkhand Expressway

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Bundelkhand expressway.
The PM was accompanied by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy CMs Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak and other dignitaries.
The 296-km-long Bundelkhand expressway connects Chitrakoot in the underdeveloped Bundelkhand region with the Lucknow-Agra Expressway near Etawah. The fourth expressway project in the state, was completed in record 28 months – 8 months ahead of its deadline. Modi laid the foundation of the project in February 2020.

Rajesh Bhushan Gets Charge of Secretary, Department of Health Research

Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan was given the additional charge of the Secretary, Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The decision came after the tenure of Dr. Balram Bhargava as Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Secretary, Department of Health Research came to an end.
Bhargava's tenure as ICMR D-G was on April 12 extended for three more months. He was appointed as the Director General of the apex research body on April 16, 2018 for four years. He was also the secretary of the Health Research Department under the health ministry.

Laxmikant Bajpai is BJP's New Chief Whip in Rajya Sabha

Rajya Sabha member Laxmikant Bajpai was appointed as the BJP's new chief whip in the House.
Bajpai, a former Uttar Pradesh BJP president, succeeded Shiv Pratap Shukla who retired from the house.
Bajpai has served as a member of the Uttar Pradesh assembly for four terms.
Meanwhile, the BJP again appointed Piyush Goyal as its leader in the Upper House.

Jul 17, 2022

Meeting of BIMSTEC Expert Group on Cyber Security Cooperation in New Delhi

A two-day meeting of the BIMSTEC Expert Group on Cyber Security Cooperation was held in New Delhi. The meeting was based on the agreement made during the meeting of the BIMSTEC National Security Chiefs held at Bangkok in March 2019 that the BIMSTEC Expert Group would formulate an Action plan to deal with Cyber Security challenges in the BIMSTEC region. The in-person meeting was chaired by the National Cyber Security Coordinator Lieutenant General Rajesh Pant and witnessed the participation of delegates from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. All the delegates are experts in Cyber Security.
India, as a lead country for Security Sector in BIMSTEC forum, took the initiative to organise this meeting on Cyber Security Cooperation and develop a Plan of Action on Cyber Security. The BIMSTEC Member States were represented by the senior officials of their government organisations that deal with cyber security and incident response.

BJP Retains Piyush Goyal as Its Leader in Rajya Sabha for the Third Time

The BJP retained Union Minister Piyush Goyal as its leader in the Rajya Sabha, paving the way for him to continue as the leader of the House following his election to Parliament for a third term.
Bharatiya Janata Party communicated its decision to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.
Goyal holds the charge of three ministries -- Commerce and Industry, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles.

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