General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - December 2018

Dec 2018

Jul 31, 2021

Eleven Cities Get Cycling Pioneers Award

The central government has awarded the title 'India's Cycling Pioneers' and a grant of Rs. 1 crore to 11 cities. The award was conferred based on a selection process by national and international transport experts.
The cities include Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Kohima, Nagpur, New Town Kolkata, Pimpri Chinchwad, Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara, and Warangal.
The India Cycles4Change Challenge saw 107 cities from across the country test, learn, and scale up different cycling-friendly initiatives, in order to kick-start India's cycling revolution.

Jul 30, 2021

India, US to Virtually co-host Fourth Annual Indo-Pacific Business Forum in October

India and the US will virtually co-host the fourth annual Indo-Pacific Business Forum (IPBF) in October, the State Department has announced.
The IPBF, now in its fourth year, is the leading event to promote trade, investment and economic cooperation between the United States and its partners throughout the Indo-Pacific region.
The two-day online event from October 28 will be co-hosted by the US and India in partnership with the US Chamber of Commerce, the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and the US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC).

BJP Slams Left for Attending Chinese Embassy Event

The presence of Left leaders at an online event organised by the Chinese embassy to mark the centenary of the Communist Party of China has triggered a row with the BJP accusing Left parties of having a long tradition of opposing the national interest and harbouring extraterritorial loyalties.
The Left, however, defended the decision noting that the government itself is engaged with China on several issues and accused the BJP of raising it to divert attention from its government's failures.
The Chinese embassy said that it had organised an online seminar on July 27 to celebrate the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.

Jul 29, 2021

BJP Seeks Shashi Tharoor's Removal as House Panel Head

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) moved a privilege motion seeking Congress lawmaker Shashi Tharoor's removal as the head of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology. It came hours before the committee was scheduled to meet to discuss the alleged Pegasus snooping.
The snooping row erupted before the beginning of Parliament's ongoing monsoon session after an international investigative consortium reported that many Indian ministers, politicians, activists, businessmen, and journalists were potentially targeted by the Israeli company NSO Group's phone hacking software Pegasus. A forensic analysis of 10 of the targets proved they had been hacked or that there had been attempts to do so.

Puri India's First City to Provide Quality Drinking Tap Water

Puri has become the first city in India where people can avail high-quality drinking water directly from the tap on a 24-hour basis. It has enabled the people of Puri to collect quality drinking water directly from the tap. Henceforth, people need not have to store or filter drinking water.
The project would benefit 2.5 lakh citizens of Puri and 2 crore tourists who visit the tourist place every year. They need not have to move around with water bottles. Puri would no more be burdened with 400 metric tonnes of plastic waste. Water fountains have been developed at 400 locations in Puri.

Jul 28, 2021

Smriti Irani Launches 24/7 Helpline of NCW for Women Affected by Violence

Smriti Irani, the Union Minister for Women and Child Development (WCD) launched the National Commission for Women's (NCW) 24/7 helpline number 7827170170. The helpline has been launched with primary aim of providing online support 24/7 to women who are affected by violence. They will be linked with the appropriate authorities like hospitals, doctors, police, psychological services, District Legal Service Authority etc.
This helpline has been launched with the aim of further improving the security and safety of all women across the country.
The Minister congratulated the NCW for this brilliant initiative and said that this helpline will give a strong message to the country's women that the commission and the government will always stand by them.
The entire team of the National Commission for Women was also lauded by the minister for their efforts towards helping the women of the country during the pandemic.
The primary objective of this newly launched Helpline is to provide 24-hour counselling and complaints services to all those women of the nation who are affected by violence.

Basavaraj Bommai Takes Oath as 23rd Chief Minister of Karnataka

Lingayat leader Basavaraj Somappa Bommai took oath as the new Chief Minister of Karnataka. In the ceremony at the Glass House of the Karnataka Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru, Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot administered the oath of office and secrecy.
Ever since speculations regarding Yediyurappa's started gaining ground, Bommai was always among the top contenders to replace him. Born on January 28, 1960, Bommai hails from the Sadara Lingayat community. He is a two-time MLC and three-time MLA from Shiggaon in Haveri district in North Karnataka. In the past, he has held the portfolio of water resources in the Yediyurappa cabinet.

Rajnath on 3-day Visit to Tajikistan

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has left for Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on a three-day visit to participate in a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers.
A bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe is not planned, but has not been ruled out. Earlier this month, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar was in Dushanbe for the SCO Foreign Ministers' meeting.
With the deadlock persisting along the LAC, the Rajnath-Wei meet could be a possibility. Besides India, the SCO comprises Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Rakesh Asthana is New Delhi Police Chief

Rakesh Asthana, the former senior official of the Central Bureau of Investigation, was appointed as the Commissioner of the Delhi Police.
A 1984-batch IPS officer from Gujarat cadre, Asthana was appointed as Delhi police chief, three days before he was to superannuate. He also had a controversial stint in the CBI, was removed in 2018 and was made chief of the Border Security. In 2017, then CBI chief Alok Verma had opposed the appointment of Asthana as a Special Director.

Peddi Reddy Resigns from BJP

In another shock to the Telangana unit of BJP, former Minister E. Peddi Reddy has resigned from the party ahead of the Huzurabad by-poll.
After tendering his resignation, Reddy said that he will join the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Party.
Notably, Reddy is the second senior BJP leader to quit the party within a span of few days. Earlier, another former Minister and senior leader Motukupalli Narsimhulu had resigned from the party.
Both leaders, before quitting had openly expressed their resentment against the entry of former TRS leader Eetela Rajender into BJP.

Jul 27, 2021

Nasir Kamal is Director General of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS)

Nasir Kamal, a 1986 batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, was appointed as the Director General of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) in the Ministry of Civil Aviation till his superannuation on July 31, 2022. BCAS is a wing of the Civil Aviation Ministry looking after civil aviation security. His appointment was cleared by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister.

AAP Will Not Forge Alliance with Any Party for Punjab Polls

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will not forge an electoral alliance with any political party for the 2022 Punjab assembly polls, party's senior leader Raghav Chadha said.
Chadha, who is AAP's Punjab co-incharge, said his party will contest all the 117 assembly seats on its own.
Punjab assembly polls are due early next year.

B. S. Yediyurappa Resigns as CM

Ending months of speculation over his exit, B. S. Yediyurappa stepped down as the Chief Minister of Karnataka, coinciding with his government completing two years in office, even as suspense continues on his successor.
The 78 year-old BJP veteran, who submitted his resignation to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot at the Raj Bhavan, said that he quit voluntarily and will continue to remain active in state politics.

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