General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - December 2018

Dec 2018

Mar 04, 2021

Trinamool Congress MLA Jitendra Tiwari Joins BJP

- In yet another setback to the Trinamool Congress party in West Bengal, party MLA Jitendra Tiwari joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
- He joined BJP in the presence of party state chief Dilip Ghosh at a programme in Sreerampur in Hooghly district.
- Tiwari is a two-time MLA from Pandabeswar in Paschim Barddhaman district and former mayor of Asansol.
- Tiwari had resigned from the post of the chairman of the Board of Administrators of Asansol Municipal Corporation in December last year.

Nawada Tops Aspirational Districts Ranking in January

Nawada in Bihar has topped the list of aspirational districts ranked by government think tank Niti Aayog in January. Kiphire (Nagaland) and Namsai (Arunachal Pradesh) are at the second and third positions, respectively.
Hailakandi (Assam) and Chandel (Manipur) are at the fourth and fifth places, respectively.
The delta rankings took into account incremental progress made by over 112 aspirational districts across six developmental areas in December 2020.
Health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion, skill development and basic infrastructure were the development areas that were taken into consideration for the ranking.
Aspirational districts programme, launched in January 2018, aims to transform districts that have shown relatively lesser progress in key social areas.

Gujarat Local Body Polls: BJP Records Massive Victory

The ruling BJP recorded a massive victory in the local body polls in Gujarat by winning a clear majority in all 31 district panchayats as well as in 196 out of 231 taluka panchayats and 74 out of 81 municipalities.
The Congress, the main opposition party in the state, won a clear majority in only one municipality and 18 taluka panchayats, while AIMIM and AAP also made their presence felt.
In six municipalities and 15 taluka panchayats, no party has got a clear majority.

Govt. Amends Rules to Bring Insurance Brokers within Ombudsman Ambit

The government has amended insurance ombudsman rules, bringing insurance brokers within their ambit and also allowed policyholders to file online complaints.
The amended rules have enlarged the scope of complaints to ombudsmen from only disputes earlier to deficiencies in service on the part of insurers, agents, brokers and other intermediaries.
Under the amended rules, the timeliness and cost-effectiveness of the mechanism has been substantially strengthened.
Policyholders will now be enabled for making complaints electronically to the ombudsman and a complaints' management system will be created to enable policyholders to track the status of their complaints online. Further, the ombudsman may use video-conferencing for hearings.
Further, insurance brokers have been brought within the ambit of the Ombudsman mechanism, by empowering the Ombudsmen to pass awards against insurance brokers as well.

Karnataka Minister Jarkiholi Resigns

Karnataka Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi sent his resignation letter to Chief Minister B. S. Yediyurappa following allegations of sexual harassment against him.
The development comes a day after purported video clips showing Jarkiholi getting intimate with an unidentified woman, were widely aired by Kannada news channels.

Mar 03, 2021

Centre Merges Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Television Channels

The government merged two Parliament channels - Lok Sabha TV and the Rajya Sabha TV, which will now be called Sansad TV.
The government also said that retired IAS officer Ravi Capoor has been appointed as the first Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Sansad TV for a period of one year or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

India Falls Two Places in Democracy Index's Global Ranking

India slipped two places to the 53rd position in the 2020 Democracy Index's global ranking, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit, which said that the democratic backsliding by authorities and crackdowns on civil liberties has led to a further decline in the country's ranking. However, India is ranked higher than most of its neighbouring countries.
India's overall score fell from 6.9 in 2019 to 6.61 in the index that provides a snapshot of the current state of democracy worldwide for 167 countries.
Norway topped The Economist Intelligence Unit's latest Democracy Index report titled Democracy in sickness and in health, with Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand and Canada making up the top five.

Mar 02, 2021

India to Provide Assistance to Madagascar

India announced that it will deliver a consignment of 1,000 metric tonnes of rice and 100,000 tablets of Hydroxychloroquine as a humanitarian assistance to the drought-hit Madagascar in line with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of SAGAR.
The humanitarian assistance will be delivered by the Indian Naval Ship Jalashwa. This consignment is being sent to the Madagascar after the government of Madagascar appealed for the international solidarity and assistance to tackle the humanitarian crisis in South of Madagascar.
INS Jalashwa will also carry an Indian Naval training team which will be deployed in Madagascar for the purpose of capacity building and training of Malagasy Special Forces for two weeks.
The southern part of Madagascar is undergoing the challenge of drought for the three consecutive years.
The drought has damaged the harvests and has hampered access to food for the people amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Hunger has increased in the southern Madagascar because of drought. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), the "famine-like conditions" in southern Madagascar have increased the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance by two folds, to more than 1.3 million.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman Virtually Attends G20 Central Bank Governors' Meet

Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman participated virtually in the First G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting under the Italian Presidency to discuss policy actions for transformative and equitable recovery.
The other issues on the agenda included global economic outlook, financial sector issues, financial inclusion and sustainable finance.
Sitharaman spoke about India's policy response to the pandemic. She said that India's domestic policies have been based broadly on supporting citizens through measures such as credit guarantees, direct transfers, food guarantees, economic stimulus packages and accelerating structural reform.
During this meeting, G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors also discussed the implications of climate change on global growth and financial stability.

AIMIM to Contest Tamil Nadu Polls

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi has announced that his party will contest the April 6 assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.
Owaisi elaborated saying that he was looking at expanding the reach of his party at a national level.
The party has already won some seats in Maharashtra and Bihar.
The party gains strength from the fact that some AIMIM candidates won in Gujarat local body polls.
Uttar Pradesh would also be on the list for contesting the next elections.

Bengali Actor Srabanti Chatterjee Joins BJP

In the latest defection to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bengali actor Srabanti Chatterjee joined the party ahead of West Bengal Assembly elections. The actor joined the party in the presence of state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh and party's election in-charge in the state, Kailash Vijayvargiya.
Elections to the 294 assembly seats in the state, where the ruling Trinamool Congress is looking to retain power amid a strong challenge from the BJP, will go to the polls in eight phases. Voting will be held on March 27, April 1, April 6, April 10, April 17, April 22, April 26 and April 29 and the votes will be counted on May 2.

Trinamool Congress Forms 12-member Committee for West Bengal Polls

The Trinamool Congress announced a 12-member election committee that will look into the selection of candidates and plan a campaign for the upcoming assembly polls.
The panel will be headed by West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, party's secretary-general Partha Chatterjee said after its core committee meeting.
Subrata Bakshi, Abhishek Banerjee, Sudip Banerjee, Derek O Brien, Sougata Roy and C M Jatua are members of the election panel.
Firhad Hakim, Subrata Mukherjee, Partha Chatterjee Chandrima Bhattacharya and Aroop Biswas are also part of the team.
As per reports, the TMC leaders had extensively discussed the issues related to the selection of candidates and planned for the campaign.

Mar 01, 2021

SL Air Force's 70th Anniversary Celebrations

Suryakirans, Sarang and Light Combat Aircraft Tejas will participate in an air show in Colombo from March 3 to 5 as part of the 70th anniversary celebrations of the Sri Lankan Air Force.
The IAF's aerobatic display teams, the fixed wing 'Suryakirans' and rotary wing 'Sarang', along with Tejas arrived at Colombo.
Suryakirans, Sarang and LCA Tejas will participate in an air show at Galle Face, Colombo, scheduled from March 3 to 5 as part of the 70th anniversary celebrations of SLAF.

PM Narendra Modi Inaugurates India Toy Fair

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the India Toy Fair 2021 via video conferencing.
Toys play a significant part in the development of a child's mind and also help improve psychomotor and cognitive skills in children. In his Mann ki Baat address in August 2020, the Prime Minister had said that toys not only augment activity, but also give flight to aspirations.
The Fair will be held from February 27 to March 2, 2021.
The fair aims to bring together all stakeholders including buyers, sellers, students, teachers, designers etc. on a virtual platform to create sustainable linkages and encourage dialogue for the overall development of the industry.

India-Bangladesh Hold High Level Talks to Discuss Security Issues

India and Bangladesh discussed early completion of the pending fencing work along the international border they share as they reiterated their commitment to address issues related to terrorism and extremism during the home secretary-level talks.
The 19th edition of the dialogue was held online in the backdrop of 'MujibBarsho', 50 years of the Bangladesh Liberation War and establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla led the Indian side, while the Bangladeshi delegation was headed by senior secretary, public security division of the neighbouring country's ministry of home affairs, MostafaKamal Uddin.
India and Bangladesh attach the highest importance to their bilateral relations. Both secretaries reiterated their commitment to further expand and strengthen mutual cooperation in the security and border related issues.
"Both sides reaffirmed not to allow the territory of either country to be used for any activity inimical to each other's interests.

CJI Bobde Inaugurates New Patna High Court Centenary Building

Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde called for reducing dependence on courts by encouraging parties to opt for pre-litigation mediation which has a way of solving problems, both civil and criminal, which arise from similar dispute.
He made the remarks in Patna while addressing a function where he inaugurated a new "centenary building" of the Patna High Court, in the presence of a host of dignitaries, including Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Chief Justice Sanjay Karol, among others.

Opposition Parties in Bengal Welcome Eight-phase Elections

The opposition parties in West Bengal welcomed the eight-phase elections in the state announced by the Election Commission with the BJP saying that it was hopeful about the polls being free and fair.
The state Congress said that it was looking forward to an election in 10 to 12 phases, while the CPI(M) maintained that the number of phases does not matter if the elections are held violence-free.
Elections for the West Bengal assembly will be held in eight phases, beginning with polling for 30 seats on March 27. Votes will be counted on May 2.

Feb 28, 2021

17 NGOs Get FCRA Licence

The Home Ministry has granted FCRA licences to 17 non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including Dr. Aabaji Thatte Seva Aur Anusandhan Sanstha (ATSAS) and Grameen Foundation for Social Impact (GFSI). Last year, the Foreigners Contribution Registration Act (FCRA), 2010 was amended to tighten the limit of "administrative expenses" and exclude public servants from the list of entities eligible to receive funds from abroad.
FCRA licenses are mandatory for NGOs who want to receive foreign funding. In 2020, the ministry licensed 165 organisations and in 2019 683 NGOs.
According to FCRA, foreign funding can be obtained for cultural, economic, educational, religious or social programs after seeking government approval or FCRA registration.

President's Rule Imposed in Puducherry

President's Rule was imposed in Puducherry following a recommendation by the Union Cabinet after a Congress-led government lost power in the Union Territory in a vote of confidence.
The notification, signed by President Ram Nath Kovind, said that the decision was taken after the President received a report from the administrator of the Union Territory of Puducherry earlier this week.
It said after considering the report and other information received by him, the president was satisfied that a situation had arisen in which the administration of the Union Territory of Puducherry could not carry on in accordance with the provisions of the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963 (20 of 1963).

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