General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - November 2019

Nov 2019

Apr 18, 2020

Central Drug Research Institute Inks An Mou With King George's Medical University To Sequence Vir...

Central Drug Research Institute has inked an MoU with King George's Medical University, Lucknow to sequence the virus strains obtained from COVID-19 patients in Uttar Pradesh.
Initially, the Lucknow-based lab will sequence the virus strains from the samples of a few patients. As of now, eight different variants of the virus are known to be causing the COVID-19 infection.
A team has been put into place for analyzing whether changes to the viral sequences, if any, will impact the proposed treatment strategies.

AIIB To Lend Usd 500 Mn To India To Help Fight COVID-19 Pandemic

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has announced that it is to finance $500 million projects in India to help the country improve its health care systems. With this, AIIB has doubled its funds under the COVID-19 Crisis Recovery Facility.
The aim of the move is to help reduce health care pressures in pandemic preparedness and health infrastructure in India. It will also provide liquidity, fiscal and budgetary support.
The funding is to be used for the purchase of equipment and for detection capacity.

Government Extends Regular And E-Visas Of All Foreigners Stranded In India Till May 3

The Home Ministry extended regular and e-visas of all foreigners who are stranded in India due to the coronavirus lockdown till May 3, 2020 on gratis basis.
The Home Ministry also said the visa granted to those foreigners, except diplomats and UN officials, who are supposed to come to India, will remain suspended till May 3.
Exit to such foreign nationals, if requested during this period, will also be granted up to 14 days beyond May 3, i.e. May 17, without any overstay penalty

Apr 17, 2020

India Is World's Most Digitally Dexterous Country

Sixty-seven per cent of digital workers in India said emerging technologies such as machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) are increasing their effectiveness at work, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc.
The Gartner 2019 Digital Workplace Survey found that India is the most digitally dexterous country in the world - followed by the UK and the US, due to having the largest Gen Z workforce along with the desire to learn new skills using digital technologies in the workplace.

NIRDPR and UNICEF Training Community Leaders Online To Combat COVID-19

More than 28.33 lakh community leaders are being trained through online programmes to practise social behaviours required to control the transmission of COVID-19 cases in villages, the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR).
The programme is being conducted in collaboration with UNICEF Hyderabad Field Office.

Govt Waives Off 4-Months Rent For IT Units And Startups In STPI Centers

The government has decided to provide relief from payment of rent for small IT units operating out of Software Technology Parks of India or STPI for four months as the firms face challenging times due to the spread of COVID-19.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has decided to provide rental waiver to the IT units/startups operating from 60 STPI centers across India from 01.03.2020 till 30.06.2020.

Narendra Singh Tomar Addressed The 2020 National Conference On Kharif Crops

The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar addressed the "National Conference on Kharif crops 2020" through a video conference.
All States were directed to achieve the Kharif target as doubling of farmers' income should be taken up in mission mode.
The Central govt. assured the States that the Government of India will remove any obstacles that the States are facing.
The main aim of the National Kharif Conference was to discuss various issues and list out steps in consultation with the States about preparedness for Kharif cultivation in view of the lockdown situation.

CIL To Hold A Meeting On Mine Development On 18 April

State-owned Coal India Limited (CIL) is to deliberate on model bid documents for the development and operation of underground mines. CIL has decided to augment its dry-fuel output to coal through mine operators.
A Pre-NIT Meet will be convened on 18 April, 2020 with the stakeholders on the model bid documents comprising of Request for Bid (RFB) and Model Contract Agreement (MCA) for 'Development and Operation of Underground mines' of CIL on Mine Developer-cum- Operator (MDO) model.

Spitting In Public Now An Offence Under Disaster Management Act: MHA

Spitting in public without caring two hoots for regulations may not be so easy now with the Union Home Ministry making the act a punishable offence under the strict Disaster Management Act in its revised guidelines for lockdown issued to contain COVID-19. The guidelines issued by the ministry also make wearing of face masks in public places mandatory.
Spitting in public is an offence under municipal laws in various cities, but it is hardly by the people in the country.
Bihar, Jharkhand, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Haryana, Nagaland and Assam have already issued orders on the ban of use of smokeless tobacco products and spitting in public places amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
Under the consolidated revised guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in the wake of the extension of lockdown till May 3, 2020 spitting has been made punishable with a fine under Section 51 (b) of the Disaster Management Act.

Apr 16, 2020

Agricultural, Allied Activities Including Fishery Allowed To Operate In 2nd Phase Of Lockdown

Agricultural and allied activities including dairy, fisheries as well as tea, coffee and rubber plantation are allowed to function in the second phase of the COVID-19 lockdown the government said issuing fresh guidelines.
Operations of tea, coffee and rubber plantations are allowed with maximum 50 per cent workers. Processing, packaging, sale and marketing of these commodities as well as cashew have been allowed with maximum 50 per cent workers.

UPSC Chairman, Members To Forego 30 Per Cent Of Basic Pay For 1 Year

The chairman and members of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), that conducts civil services examination to select country's bureaucrats and diplomats among others, have decided to forego 30 per cent of their basic pay for one year to aid the government's fight against coronavirus. The commission reviewed the harm caused to the national economy by the coronavirus pandemic in a special meeting held to review the current situation.
"Recognising the need to conserve financial resources at the national level, the chairman and members of the UPSC have decided to voluntarily forego 30 per cent of the basic pay received by them from the Commission for a period of one year, with effect from April 2020," the communique issued by the Personnel Ministry.

Colour Coding To Help Manage COVID-19 Pandemic

The government decision to divide all districts across the country into hotspots, non hotspots and green zones will help in managing the Covid-19 pandemic as well as partial opening up of economic activities during the extended period of the nationwide lockdown. This would help in management of hotspots and spread of pandemic.
The health and family welfare ministry, which has come out with a new set of guidelines for the second phase of lockdown till May 3, 2020 has identified 170 hotspot districts, 207 non-hotspot districts reporting cases and 359 green zone districts not reporting any cases across the country.

Apr 15, 2020

India Post Office hit all time high crossing 1 lakh mark to record 1.09 lakh transactions a day

India Post Office has hit an all time high crossing one lakh mark to record 1.09 lakh transactions a day in disbursing cash through Aadhaar Enabled Payment System.
The postal department has disbursed around 23 crore rupees of cash in a day to people at their doorsteps or Post Offices nearby using a simple fingerprint authentication. This was to ensure availability of cash in people's hand during the ongoing lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Ordinance To Give States Flexibility To Raise Work Hours Of Employees

The Centre will soon bring an ordinance to give state governments the flexibility to increase the work hours of employees across establishments to 12 hours per day from eight hours, a move aimed at addressing the issue of labour shortage and facilitate companies to maintain social distancing once factories resume operations after lockdown imposed due to Covid-19.
Labour ministry will soon bring an ordinance to enforce the Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH&WC) that empowers states or 'appropriate authority' to notify work hours. The ordinance is being contemplated as the Code, which is in parliament, is yet to be passed.

Government initiates dialogue to resurrect agri sector exports in the aftermath of current COVID-...

Government has initiated a dialogue with the exporters of Agri and Allied commodities to address issues affecting the sector as a fallout of the lockdown to check the COVID-19 disease.
Following directions from the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, the Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare, Shri Sanjay Agarwal held a video conference to gain a first- hand account of the problems being faced by the exporters of Agri and Allied commodities and initiate necessary steps by making meaningful interventions for early redressal of their problems to help them sustain though the current Covid-19 crisis.
Exporters, representatives of Associations of producers/exporters of agri commodities namely, Fruits, Vegetables, Basmati and Non-basmati Rice, Seeds, Flowers, Plants, Organic produce, Agriculture Equipment and Machinery participated in the meeting.

GiveIndia Starts India COVID Response Fund with Rs 75 cr In Initial Donations

Donation platform GiveIndia has launched the 'India COVID Response Fund' (ICRF) with initial donations worth Rs 75 crore to support the on-ground COVID relief efforts being carried out by its network of verified non-profits.
Some of the early donors to the fund include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Google.org, HSBC India, Omidyar Network India, UBS Optimus Foundation, Marico, Uber India (through Uber Care driver fund), Binny Bansal and A.T.E. Chandra Foundation.
The fund will use a data-backed approach to identify the most critical areas of intervention and scale the relief efforts pan India, a statement said.

Narendra Singh Tomar Launches Agri Transport Call Centre

The union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar launched the All India Agri Transport Call Centre. This will facilitate inter-state movement of perishables in the current situation of lockdown due to the COVID-19 threat
This round the clock Agri Transport Call Centre is an initiative of the union agriculture ministry for coordination between States for inter-state movement of perishables - Vegetables and Fruits, Agri Inputs like seeds, pesticides and fertilizer etc.

Apr 14, 2020

Govt Starts Call Centre To Coordinate Inter-State Transportation Of Agri Commodities

The Centre has started an all-India level call centre for addressing the transportation problems being faced in inter-state movement of both perishable and non-perishable agricultural commodities.
The All India Agri Transport Call Centre is accessible from numbers: 18001804200 and 14488. These numbers can be called from any mobile or landline phones, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.

Labour Ministry Sets Up 20 Control Rooms Under CLS To Address Wage Related Grievances

Labour ministry has set up 20 control rooms under the chief labour commissioner (CLC) across India to address wage related grievances of workers employed in central sphere besides mitigating the problems of migrant workers through coordination with various state governments during the lockdown period.
These call centers can be accessed by the workers through phone numbers, whatsapp and emails.

E-NAM Completes Four Years Of Implementation

e-NAM was launched by Prime Minster Narendra Modi in 21 mandis on 14th April in 2016.
The pan-India Agriculture trading portal e-NAM completes four years of implementation on April 14, 2020.
On this occasion, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that e-NAM helped in realising the vision of One Nation One Market for agri produce.
He also said that e-NAM is being expanded to cover additional 415 mandis which will take the total number of e-NAM mandis to 1000 soon.

Information commissioners to take 30 pc cut in basic salary for 1 yr

The chief information commissioner and information commissioners will take a 30-per cent cut in their basic salary to contribute to government's move to pool in all resources to face "unprecedented damage" caused to the economy due to COVID-19, a CIC resolution.
The matter was discussed during an extraordinary meeting of the Central Information Commission on April 10 through video-conferencing and it was decided that CIC Bimal Julka and all the six information commissioners will take a voluntary 30 per cent deduction in their basic salary for a year starting April 1, 2020.

Google Pay Launches 'Nearby Spot' To Help Users Find Local Stores Selling Essentials

Google has launched 'Nearby Spot' under Google Pay using which users in Bengaluru can see local stores selling essentials like groceries that are open, amid the lockdown. The Nearby Spot will be launched in Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune, and Delhi soon.
With the lockdown and social distancing norms in place, digital payments have become more important than ever and Google Pay is an additional surface to provide key information regarding COVID-19.

CEC, ECs To Take 30% Reduction In Their Basic Salaries For One Year

The Election Commission of India's Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and Election Commissioners Ashok Lavasa and Sushil Chandra had volunteered to take a 30% reduction in their basic salaries for one year in order to contribute to the efforts against COVID-19.
The government and civil society's efforts would require huge amount of resources, and that reducing the burden on the state exchequer would help, says the Election Commission of India.

GMR To Build A Greenfield Airport In AP's Bhogapuram

GMR Airports Ltd (GAL) received a Letter of Award (LoA) from the Government of Andhra Pradesh for the development of a greenfield international airport at Bhogapuram.
The project involves design, build, finance, construction, development, upgradation, modernization, operation and maintenance of the airport for 40 years, extendable by additional 20 years through international competitive bidding process, with GMR airports limited having Right of First Refusal of 10 per cent.
GAL, a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure Ltd, emerged as the highest bidder for the PPP project in February, 2019.

Share on

TCY Analytics (View Subscription Plans)

Subscribe to GK Updates

I want to receive

GK Tags

October GK, September GK, August GK, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, ENVIRONMENT, BUSINESS AND ECONOMY, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, SPORTS, NATIONAL AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, PERSONS IN NEWS, DAYS AND EVENTS, AWARDS AND HONOURS, GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES, GENDER/ HEALTH/ EDUCATION, ART AND CULTURE, BOOKS AND AUTHORS, TOURISM AND HOTEL INDUSTRY AWARENESS, ART AND CULTURE, LAW AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Start Discussion

On any topic

Take Tests

Compiled from GK updates

Login

Sign Up

Forgot Password

Download TCY App

Unlock All Services and Enjoy The Premium Benefits

US$ 10

US$ 13

US$ 15

US$ 17

US$ 19

US$ 20

US$ 21

US$ 22

US$ 23

US$ 24

US$ 25

US$ 26