General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - December 2018

Dec 2018

Sep 12, 2021

Government Constitutes Task Force, Expert Committee on Coal-based Hydrogen Production

The Centre has constituted a task force and expert committee to prepare a road map for coal-based hydrogen production. This is aimed at contributing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's agenda of a hydrogen-based economy in a clean manner.
Ministry of Coal has constituted 2 Committees, one to oversee the program and another of experts to give guidance to the Ministry.
The task force has been constituted under the chairmanship of Coal Additional Secretary Vinod Kumar Tiwari. Its broad terms of reference include monitoring of activities towards achieving coal-based hydrogen production and usage and coordination with Coal Gasification Mission and NITI Aayog.

Centre Appoints G.S. Pannu as Officiating ITAT President

The Central Government has appointed G.S. Pannu as President of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. G. S. Pannu is presently a Vice-President, ITAT, New Delhi and will be Officiating President of ITAT with effect from September 6, 2021, till the appointment of regular President.
Mr. Pannu was born on 01 Aug 1962 at Hoshiarpur (Punjab), he is a C.A and joined Government Service 14 September 2000. Presently posted as Vice-President at ITAT, New Delhi. Before joining ITAT, practised as a Chartered Accountant at New Delhi from 1986-2000.

Sep 11, 2021

Baijal Approves Ravi Dahiya's Appointment as Assistant Director in Education Deparment

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal approved the appointment of Olympic silver medallist Ravi Dahiya as assistant director in education department of the Delhi government.
Dahiya, a native of Nahri village in Haryana, is only the second Indian wrestler to win a silver medal at the Olympic Games.

Election Commission Declares Bypolls to 7 Rajya Sabha Seats in 6 States

The Election Commission (EC) announced dates for bypolls to seven Rajya Sabha seats that have fallen vacant due to various reasons like resignations, death and end of tenure of members.
According to a notification issued by the EC, there are two such seats in Tamil Nadu and one each in West Bengal, Assam, Maharashtra, Puducherry and Madhya Pradesh.
The Madhya Pradesh Rajya Sabha (RS) seat got vacant after BJP leader and former Union cabinet minister Thaawarchand Gehlot was elevated as the Karnataka Governor in July.
The polls to all these seven seats will take place on October 4.

Sep 10, 2021

SC Recommends 10 Judges for Karnataka HC, Two for Kerala

The Supreme Court Collegium has approved the proposal for appointment of 10 additional judges of the Karnataka High Court and two additional judges of the Kerala High Court as permanent judges.
The collegium also approved the proposal for appointment of following additional judges of the Karnataka High Court as permanent judges: Justice Shivashankar Amarannavar, Justice M. Ganeshaiah Uma, Justice Vedavyasachar Srishananda, Justice Hanchate Sanjeevkumar, Justice Padmaraj Nemachandra Desai, Justice P. Krishna Bhat, Justice Maralur Indrakumar Arun, Justice Engalaguppe Seetharamaiah Indiresh, Justice Ravi Venkappa Hosmani and Justice Savanur Vishwajith Shetty.

Cabinet Approves Pact between Russia and India for Cooperation in Field of Geosciences

The Cabinet approved the signing of a pact between Russia and India for cooperation in the field of geosciences. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The main objective of this MoU is to extend mutual cooperation for technological collaboration on exploration for deep-seated and/or concealed mineral deposits, analysis and interpretation of the aero-geophysical data and joint development of the Indian Geoscience Data repository with the Russian state-of-the-art information technology.

Centre Signs Ceasefire Agreement with Nagaland's NSCN Niki Group

The central government entered into a Ceasefire Agreement with National Socialist Council of Nagaland (K) Niki Group for a period of one year.
More than 200 cadres of this group along with 83 weapons joined the peace process.
The government has already signed a "framework agreement" with NSCN (IM) and ceasefire agreements with other Naga groups namely, NSCN (NK), NSCN (R) and NSCN (K) - Khango.

Sep 09, 2021

India to Host G-20 Summit in 2023

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has been appointed as India's Sherpa for the G20, an influential grouping that brings together the world's major economies.
India will hold the G20 presidency from December 1, 2022, and will convene the G20 leaders' summit in 2023 for the first time.
The next G20 Summit is scheduled to take place from October 30 to 31 under the Italian presidency.
India will be part of the G20 Troika (preceding, current, and incoming G20 Presidencies) from December 1, 2021 till November 30, 2024.
G20 brings together 19 of the world's leading economies and the European Union, with its members accounting for more than 80 per cent of global GDP, 75 per cent of global trade and 60 per cent of the global population.
The G20 member nations are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.

BJP Makes Dharmendra Pradhan in Charge of Poll-bound Uttar Pradesh

Ahead of the scheduled Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections next year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appointed Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan as the election in-charge for the state.
Union Ministers Anurag Singh Thakur, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Shobha Karandlaje and Annpurna Devi, MPs Saroj Pandey and Vivek Thakur were appointed as the election co-in charge of the UP polls.
Further, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Pralhad Joshi has been appointed in charge of Uttarakhand for the upcoming Assembly election in 2022 and BJP MP Locket Chatterjee has been appointed as a co-in charge for the polls.
For the assembly polls scheduled in Punjab, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has been appointed as the election in-charge for the state, while Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and Meenakshi Lekhi has been appointed as co-in charges.

Uttarakhand Governor Baby Rani Maurya Resigns

Baby Rani Maurya resigned as Governor of Uttarakhand, almost two years before completing her term.
She is the second woman to be appointed Uttarakhand Governor after Margaret Alva.
Baby Rani Maurya took charge as Uttarakhand Governor in August 2018, succeeding Krishan Kant Paul, who was appointed Governor in January 2015. The only other woman governor of the state, Margaret Alva held the post from August 2009 to May 2012.
Before becoming the Governor of Uttarakhand, Maurya had served on many political and administrative posts. From 1995 to 2000, she was mayor of Agra. In 2001, she was a member of the State Social Welfare Board and a member of the National Women's Commission in 2002. In 1996, she was awarded Samaj Ratna, followed by the Uttar Pradesh Ratna in 1997 and the Nari Ratna award in 1998.

Sep 08, 2021

Indian CAG Elected Chairman of Apex Asian Auditor Body

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India G. C. Murmu was elected Chairman of the Assembly of Asian Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions from 2024-2027 with India set to host the 16th Assembly of ASOSAI in 2024.
After the election, Murmu assured members that during India's three-year term as Chair of the ASOSAI, he would focus on areas of environment audit and develop frameworks to test compliance of organisations to environment policies, in the wake of climate change and carbon emission challenges.
Asian Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions is one of the Regional Groups of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI), which aims to promote understanding and cooperation among member institutions through the exchange of ideas and experiences in the field of public audit.

Assam Govt. to Form New Panel for Preparing Roadmap to Implement Assam Accord

The Assam government will form a committee comprising ministers and members of the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) for preparing a roadmap within three months to implement the Assam Accord.
A six-year agitation demanding identification and deportation of illegal immigrants was launched by the AASU in 1979. It had culminated with the signing of the Assam Accord on August 15, 1985, in the presence of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
After a meeting between the AASU and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma along with senior ministers of the state government, Implementation of Assam Accord Minister Atul Bora said both sides decided to form a committee to implement the pact.
The Assam Accord says, among other things, that names of all foreigners coming to Assam on or after March 25, 1971 would be detected and deleted from electoral rolls and steps would be taken to deport them.

Andhra Appoints Former SBI Chief Rajnish Kumar as Economic Advisor

The Andhra Pradesh government has appointed Rajnish Kumar as its economic advisor. A former SBI chairman, Rajnish Kumar's tenure in the cabinet rank position is for two years.
The appointment comes amid the growing concerns over the state's financial situation which has been badly hit by the Covid pandemic, even as the opposition has been critical over the sops and freebies being distributed by the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy-led state government.
Rajnish Kumar who had retired as SBI chairman in October 2006, is an independent non-executive director at the HongKong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.

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