General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - August 2019

Aug 2019

Dec 14, 2021

India Retains Membership of International Maritime Organization Council

India retained its membership of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) council and secured 133 votes for it. The membership is for category B which includes 10 countries- Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates. Sates in Category B are with largest interest in international seaborne trade.
The council was elected by the 32nd assembly of IMO, which is being held in London at its headquarters. All 175 Member States and three Associate Members were entitled to attend the IMO Assembly.
India's neighbour Pakistan also stood for the council seat for the first time but failed to garner any support.

Uttar Pradesh has Highest Number of EV Vehicles

Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Karnataka emerged as top three states in terms of registration of electric vehicles in India.
In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said that 870,141 electric vehicles have been registered in India.
Uttar Pradesh (255,700) has the highest registered electric vehicles, followed by Delhi (125,347) and Karnataka (72,544) come in that order.
The fourth and fifth spots are grabbed by Bihar (58,014) and Maharashtra (52,506).
The Ministry of Heavy Industries formulated a scheme namely Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) Scheme in 2015 to promote adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles in the country with an aim to reduce dependency on fossil fuels.

Congress Appoints Navjot Singh Sidhu as Election Committee Chairman

Ahead of the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections, Congress named Party`s state chief Navjot Singh Sidhu as the chairman of its Pradesh Election Committee.
The committee includes Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and all the ministers in his government.
Ambika Soni has been appointed as the chairperson of the Election Coordination Committee.

Govt. Opens Helpline to Report Atrocities on SC, STs

The Union government launched the National Helpline Against Atrocities (NHAA) to ensure the proper implementation of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and to report any violations.
The toll-free and round-the-clock helpline was launched by Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Virendra Kumar.
The helpline will be available in Hindi, English and the regional languages of the respective states and Union territories. The helpline number is 14566.

Himachal Govt. Set up General Category Commission

Himachal Pradesh Govt. announced setting up a Commission for upper castes, on the lines of Madhya Pradesh. The Commission, to be named as 'Samanya Varg Aayog', will be formalised through a legislative enactment in three months' time when the state assembly meets next in February-March 2022 for the budget session of the House. A Scheduled Caste Commission is already in operation in Himachal Pradesh and is chaired by former Shimla MP Virendra Kashyap.

Dec 13, 2021

PM Modi to Inaugurate Kashi Vishwanath Corridor in Varanasi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to inaugurate Phase 1 of the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, constructed at a cost of around Rs. 339 crore.
Before the inauguration event, PM Modi will visit the Kashi Vishwanath Temple and offer prayers, according to the statement by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
The PMO statement said the corridor is set to facilitate pilgrims, who had to encounter congested streets and surroundings with poor upkeep when they practised the age-old custom of taking a dip in the holy river. It will have an easily accessible pathway that will connect the Kashi Vishwanath Temple to the banks of the Ganga, according to the statement.
The project is spread over an area of about 5 lakh square feet—the earlier premise was limited to just around 3,000 square feet. The project involved the purchase and acquisition of more than 300 properties around the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

PM's Twitter Account Briefly Hacked

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Twitter handle was briefly hacked, and a post claiming that India had officially adopted bitcoin as legal tender was tweeted from the handle.
While Twitter said it took steps to secure the account as soon as it became aware of the issue, it added that as per the company's investigation, this was not due to a compromise of its systems or service.

PM Guaranteed Time-bound Deposit Insurance Payment

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, more than one lakh depositors have got their money back in the last few days that was stuck for years, amounting to over 1300 crore rupees.
Mr. Modi was addressing a function on "Depositors First: Guaranteed Time-bound Deposit Insurance Payment up to 5 lakh rupees" in New Delhi.
He stressed that the spirit of 'Depositors First' is very meaningful. The Prime Minister said, any country can prevent the problems from getting worse only by timely resolution of them. He pointed out that earlier, there was a tendency to avoid problems but today's new India strives for resolving problems and does not avoid them.

PM Modi Inaugurates Saryu Nahar National Project

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Saryu Canal National Project at Balrampur district in Uttar Pradesh.
The project will facilitate irrigation to over 14 lakh hectares of land in nine districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh benefitting about 29 lakh farmers.
Mr Modi said, providing irrigation facilities toevery field and making use of the drainage by the rivers is among the toppriorities of the government.
Mr. Modi said, the completion of the Saryu Canal National Project, which was pending for decades, shows the government's resolve to work hard with noble intentions.
Mr Modi said that at the time of the commencement of this project 50 years ago its initial cost was less than 100 crore rupees,but now it has increased to around 10 thousand crore. He said, the lackluster attitude of the previous governments' was responsible for holding such projects for decades.

Dec 12, 2021

PM Modi to Inaugurated Saryu Canal National Project

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh and inaugurated the Saryu Nahar National Project.
The work on the project started in 1978 but due to lack of continuity of budgetary support, interdepartmental coordination, and adequate monitoring, it got delayed and was not completed even after nearly four decades.
Prime Minister's vision for farmer welfare and empowerment, and his commitment to prioritize long pending projects of national importance, brought much-needed focus on the project.
Consequently, in 2016, the project was brought under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana with the target to complete it in a time-bound manner. The renewed focus on the project has resulted in the project being completed in only about four years.

Dec 11, 2021

PM Modi pays Tribute to Freedom Fighter C. Rajagopalachari on his Birth Anniversary

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu remembered the great freedom fighter, sagacious statesman, and last Governor-General of India, C. Rajagopalachari on his Birth Anniversary.
In a tweet, Mr. Naidu said, he was a multifaceted personality- a scholar, thinker, writer, and a legal luminary. Mr. Naidu said, C. Rajagopalachari's incredible life continues to inspire many.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi In a tweet, said, C. Rajagopalachari is remembered for his contributions to the freedom struggle, administrative and intellectual prowess. He was a widely admired statesman and one of his most ardent well-wishers was Sardar Patel.

Dec 10, 2021

Farm Agitation Called off as SKM Leaders Accept Centre's Proposal

Thousands of protesting farmers camped out on the borders of Delhi for 380 days are set to go home on December 11, after marking a 'vijay diwas' to celebrate the achievement of most of their demands.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, a joint platform of protesting farm unions, announced that it had accepted the Central government's proposal to resolve pending demands and called off the year-long agitation.
The unions will meet again on January 15, 2022 in the capital to monitor and review whether the government has kept its promises to unconditionally withdraw cases filed against protestors, provide compensation for the kin of farmers who died at the protests and form a committee to ensure that all farmers can avail remunerative rates for their produce.
A decision will also be taken at that time on whether to campaign against the BJP in the upcoming UP and Uttarakhand polls -- an issue which different farmer factions have diverse views about.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman virtually participated in the G20 International Seminar

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman virtually participated in the G20 International Seminar hosted in Bali by the G20 Presidency of Indonesia.
Speaking on the G20's theme for the year, "Recover Together, Recover Stronger", Mrs Sitharaman stressed on the fact that for a strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive recovery of the global economy, it is imperative to ensure collective progress of all countries.
She also stressed on the importance of Inclusion, Investment, Innovation and Institutions to support the path of global recovery.

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