General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - May 2022

May 2022

Aug 19, 2024

Congress Appoints Tariq Hameed Karra as J-K unit President, Keshav Mahto Kamlesh Named Party Chie...

In a significant organisational reshuffle ahead of the assembly polls, the Congress appointed Tariq Hameed Karra as president of its Jammu and Kashmir unit and Keshav Mahto Kamlesh as chief of the Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee.
While Karra replaced Vikar Rasool Wani in Jammu and Kashmir, Kamlesh took over from Rajesh Thakur.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also appointed two working presidents for Jammu and Kashmir -- Tara Chand and Raman Bhalla -- as the party gets battle ready for assembly polls in the Union Territory, the dates of which were announced by the Election Commission.

Key Parliamentary Panels Constituted, Congress' Venugopal to Head PAC

Key parliamentary panels, including the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that will be headed by Congress' K. C. Venugopal, were constituted.
BJP's Sanjay Jaiswal will head the Committee on Estimates while his party colleague Baijayant Panda will chair the Committee on Public Undertakings.
The Public Accounts Committee, Committee on Public Undertakings (CoPU) and Committee on Estimates are the key financial committees of Parliament tasked with keeping a watch on the government's accounts and the functioning of public undertakings.
The Lok Sabha Secretariat issued a bulletin announcing the constitution of parliamentary committees.
The three committees have a tenure of one year and have members from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. They are elected by the two Houses.

Governor Grants Sanction for Corruption Case against Siddaramaiah, Congress Gears up for Legal Ba...

Karnataka Governor Thawarchand Gehlot gave sanction to three private complainants to file court cases seeking a probe against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over a 2021 allotment of 14 housing sites in Mysuru to his wife Parvathi B. M. in exchange for 3.16 acres of land acquired from her by the authorities. The land allotment took place when the BJP was in power in the state.
The three complainants, anti-corruption activists T. J. Abraham, Snehamayi Krishna and Pradeep Kumar, had approached the Governor last month (July) for sanction to file private court complaints against Siddaramaiah, seeking an investigation into the land allotments made by the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) to Parvathi.

Aug 18, 2024

ACC Approves 18 Transfers, Rajesh Kumar Singh to be Defence Secretary

Days after a new Cabinet Secretary and Union Home Secretary were appointed, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), in a major bureaucratic reshuffle across ministries, approved 18 appointments at the Secretary level, including that of Rajesh Kumar Singh, a 1989-batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, who is set to take over as Defence Secretary.
Singh — who was Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry — will initially take charge as Officer on Special Duty in the Ministry of Defence, before he takes over as Defence Secretary when the incumbent Secretary Giridhar Aramane ends his tenure on October 31 this year. Singh's tenure as Defence Secretary has been extended until October 31, 2026, beyond the age of superannuation.

India Hosts 3rd Voice of Global South Summit

India hosted the 3rd Voice of Global South Summit (VOGSS) on August 17 2024. This unique initiative began as an extension of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas aur Sabka Prayas', and is underpinned by India's philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. It envisages bringing together countries of the Global South to share their perspectives and priorities on a common platform across a whole range of issues.
India had hosted the 1st Voice of Global South Summit (VOGSS) on January 12 and 13, 2023, and the 2nd Voice of Global South Summit on November 17, 2023, both in virtual format. Both the previous editions of the Summit saw participation of over 100 countries from the Global South. The inputs and feedback received from the leaders of the developing countries in these two Summits was appropriately reflected in the agenda and discussions of the G-20 Summit under India's Presidency last year, including in the G-20 New Delhi Leaders' Declaration.
The 3rd VOGSS, with the overarching theme of 'An Empowered Global South for a Sustainable Future', acted as a platform to expand discussions held in the previous Summits on a range of complex challenges that continue to affect the world, such as conflicts, food and energy security crises, climate change - all of which disproportionately affect developing countries in a severe manner.

Aug 17, 2024

Haryana, Maharashtra, Jammu & Kashmir Election Dates Announced for 2024

Assembly elections for Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir will be held from September 18 to October 1, the Election Commission announced. While polling in Jammu and Kashmir will be held across three phases, Haryana will have one phase. The counting of votes will take place on October 4, 2024. Maharashtra and Jharkhand are the other States that will go to polls this year.
The assembly elections for 90 seats of Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases – September 18, 25 and October 1.
The assembly election in Haryana will be held in single phase on October 1. The results of both the elections will be declared on October 4.

Union Jal Shakti Ministry Launches FloodWatch India 2.0 App

The Union Minister for Jal Shakti, C. R. Patil, launched the 2.0 version of the 'FloodWatch India' mobile app, developed by the Central Water Commission (CWC). This upgraded app provides an enhanced and detailed overview of flood conditions across the country.
The latest version of the app offers real-time flood forecasts from 592 monitoring stations, a significant increase from the 200 stations in the earlier version. It also includes data on the storage positions of 150 major reservoirs, aiding users in understanding potential flood situations in downstream areas.
'FloodWatch India' 2.0 utilises advanced technologies such as satellite data analysis, mathematical modelling, and real-time monitoring. This allows for accurate and timely flood forecasts, helping to mitigate damage to lives and property.

Aug 16, 2024

India Announces Key Appointments: Govind Mohan as Home Secretary and Rahul Navin as ED Director

Ahead of the 78th Independence Day, the Indian Union Government announced the new Union Home Secretary-designate and the new director of the federal anti-money laundering agency Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Govind Mohan, a former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, was appointed as the Union Home Secretary-designate. Meanwhile, former Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) officer Rahul Navin was appointed as the new ED chief.
Mohan, a 1989-batch IAS officer of Sikkim cadre, was moved from the Ministry of Culture, where he was secretary.
He succeeded incumbent Ajay Kumar Bhalla, a 1984-batch IAS officer. Bhalla was to retire in November 2020, but his tenure was extended multiple times — in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Sixth India-Australia Maritime Dialogue & Fourteenth Counter-Terrorism Meeting

India and Australia held two significant bilateral meetings to enhance their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Australia hosted the 6th India-Australia Maritime Security Dialogue in Canberra, while India hosted the 14th India-Australia Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism in New Delhi. Both dialogues were aimed at strengthening cooperation in maritime security and counter-terrorism.
Indian delegation at the India-Australia Maritime Security Dialogue was led by Ms. Muanpuii Saiawi, Joint Secretary, Disarmament & International Security Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs and the Australian delegation was led by Ms. Sarah Storey, First Assistant Secretary South Asia & Central Asia Division, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Mr. Bernard Philip, First Assistant Secretary of International Policy, Department of Defence
Led by K.D. Dewal, Joint Secretary for Counter-Terrorism, Ministry of External Affairs
The 14th India-Australia Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism was Led by K. D. Dewal, Joint Secretary for Counter-Terrorism, Ministry of External Affairs and Australia was led by Richard Feakes, Ambassador for Counter-Terrorism, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

P. Harish India's New Envoy at UN

India appointed Parvathaneni Harish, a 1990-batch IFS officer, as the next Permanent Representative to the United Nations at New York.
Harish is presently the Ambassador of India to Germany and will take up the assignment at New York shortly. The post at New York fell vacant after Ruchira Kamboj retired on May 31.
Harish assumed charge as India's ambassador to Germany on November 6, 2021.
Previously, he was the additional secretary (economic relations) in the MEA.
Harish served in the Indian missions in Cairo and Riyadh and also as India's representative to the Palestinian Authority.
For a period of five years since 2007, Harish was the joint secretary and officer on special duty to the Vice President of India.
Harish was India's ambassador to Vietnam from April 2016 to June 2019.

Aug 15, 2024

National Institute for MSME (NI-MSME), Hyderabad Awarded Accreditation Certification as 'UTKRISHT'

National Institute for MSME (NI-MSME), an organisation of Ministry of MSME, Government of India, was awarded with Accreditation Certificate on the successful completion on National Standards for Civil Services Training Institutions (NSCSTI) process in recognition of excellent services in the field of promotion and development of MSMEs.
The assessment was made based on the inspection of all standard operating procedures and methodologies followed by the Institute at different levels. The team from Capacity Building Commission (CBC) & ICARE conducted On-site assessment and awarded the Certificate of Accreditation with the grading of UTKRISHT, a 3 Star Rating.

BJP's Jagdambika Pal to Head Joint Panel on Waqf Bill

Senior BJP Lok Sabha member Jagdambika Pal was named chairperson of the joint committee of Parliament, which will examine the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Bill.
A Lok Sabha notification said Speaker Om Birla appointed Pal as the head of the 31-member committee.
Amid protests by the opposition in the Lok Sabha on its provisions, the government had decided to refer the bill to a joint committee of the two Houses.
The joint panel has 31 members, 21 from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha, and will submit its report by the next session.

Sandeep Poundrik Assumes Role as Secretary of the Ministry of Steel

Sandeep Poundrik officially took over as the Secretary of the Ministry of Steel, succeeding in his role at Udyog Bhawan. A 1993-batch IAS officer from the Bihar cadre, Poundrik was welcomed by senior officials of the Ministry upon his appointment.
Poundrik's extensive background includes serving as Additional Chief Secretary in the Industries Department of the Bihar government, with additional responsibilities in various other governmental roles. He also has experience as an Advisor in the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) under the Ministry of Home Affairs and as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

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