General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - May 2022

May 2022

Jun 04, 2024

NHRC Member Sayani Appointed its Acting Chairperson

With former Supreme Court judge Arun Mishra demitting office as chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission after a three-year stint, the Centre appointed Vijaya Bharathi Sayani as acting chairperson.
The President, under Section 7(1) of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, authorised Vijaya Bharathi Sayani, Member, National Human Rights Commission, to act as the Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission, with immediate effect, until the appointment of a new Chairperson in the NHRC to fill such vacancy.
The National Human Rights Commission of India (abbreviated as NHRC) is a statutory body constituted on 12 October 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Ordinance of 28 September 1993. It was given a statutory basis by the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (PHRA).
The NHRC consists of the chairperson and five members (excluding the ex-officio members).
A Chairperson, who has been a Chief Justice of India or a Judge of the Supreme Court
One member who is, or has been, a Judge of the Supreme Court of India and one member who is, or has been, the Chief Justice of a High Court.
Three members, out of which at least one shall be a woman to be appointed from amongst persons having knowledge of, or practical experience in, matters relating to human rights.

Centre Launches New Mobile Number Series for Service, Transactional Calls

The Centre introduced a new numbering series, 160xxxxxxx, for making service or transactional calls, to help citizens easily identify legitimate calls and curb unsolicited voice calls from telemarketers using 10-digit mobile numbers.
Currently, 140xxxxxxx series was allocated to telemarketers for making promotional/service/transactional voice calls.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said that since the 140xx series is being used extensively for promotional calls, consumers normally do not respond to such calls, and many important service/transactional calls are missed.
This has resulted in the wide use of regular 10-digit numbers by genuine entities for making service/transactional calls. This also gave opportunity to fraudsters to deceive consumers using 10-digit numbers.
To address this, the DoT has allocated a new numbering series, 160xxxxxxx which will exclusively be used for service/transactional voice calls by the Principle Entities.
For example, the service/transactional calls originating from Financial Entities like by RBI, SEBI, PFRDA, IRDA, etc shall start from 1601.

Life Imprisonment to ex-Brahmos Engineer Nishant Agarwal for Spying for Pak ISI

The Nagpur district court handed life imprisonment to former BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd engineer Nishant Agarwal under the Official Secrets Act for spying for Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI.
Agarwal will also have to undergo rigorous imprisonment (RI) for 14 years and was also fined Rs. 3000.
Additional sessions court judge M. V. Deshpande stated in the order that Agarwal was convicted under section 235 of the Criminal Procedure Code for an offence punishable under section 66 (f) of the IT Act and various sections of the Official Secrets Act (OSA).
Agarwal, employed in the technical research section of the company's missile centre in Nagpur, was arrested in a joint operation by the military intelligence and Anti-terrorism squads (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra in 2018.
BrahMos Aerospace is a joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the military Industrial Consortium (NPO Mashinostroyenia) of Russia.

Jun 03, 2024

Ruchira Kamboj, India's First Woman Permanent Representative to UN, Retires

India's first woman Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ruchira Kamboj retired after 35 years of service, during which she served as Indian envoy in Bhutan, South Africa and the UNESCO.
She became Permanent Representative/Ambassador of India to New York, on August 2, 2022. Fluent in three languages, Hindi, English and French, Kamboj began her diplomatic career in Paris as the Third Secretary in the Indian Embassy to France from 1989-91. Kamboj was Counsellor at India's Permanent Mission to the UN in New York from 2002-05, where she dealt with a wide range of political issues, including UN Peacekeeping, UN Security Council Reform, the Middle East crisis etc, according to the Indian Mission's website.

Assembly Polls 2024: Sikkim's Ruling SKM Registers Landslide Victory

As per the data released by the Election Commission, the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) registered a landslide victory in the Himalayan state by securing 31 of the 32 seats in the assembly polls.
The opposition Sikkim Democratic Front only won one seat.
Incumbent Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang thank the people of Sikkim and and party workers.

Assembly Polls 2024: BJP Storms Back to Power in Arunachal Pradesh

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged victorious in Arunachal Pradesh for the third straight time in a row as the saffron party secured 46 seats in the 60-member assembly and won the majority.
The counting of votes concluded in the 50 seats for which the polling was held in the northeastern state of India on April 19. The remaining 10 seats were secured by the BJP uncontested.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu is one of the 10 candidates who won unopposed.

Hyderabad No Longer Joint Capital of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana

Hyderabad officially ceased to be the joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. According to Section 5(1) of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, Hyderabad was designated as the common capital for both states for a period not exceeding ten years from June 2, 2014.
Section 5(2) of the Act stipulates that after this period, Hyderabad would become the sole capital of Telangana, and a new capital would be established for Andhra Pradesh.
Currently, Andhra Pradesh has not yet established a permanent capital, with ongoing disputes over Amaravati and Visakhapatnam still pending in courts.

Justice M. S. Sonak of Bombay High Court Becomes First Person in Goa to Register 'Living Will'

Justice M. S. Sonak, the senior most presiding judge of Bombay High Court at Goa, registered his 'living will' at an Indian Medical Association event, and became the first person to register such a will in the coastal State.
A living will/advance directive is a document that persons with deteriorating health or the terminally ill can execute in advance, through which they can choose not to remain in a vegetative state with life support system if they enter into a state when it will not be possible for them to express their wishes
This document could then be presented to a hospital for appropriate action in the event the executant's health worsens.

Jun 02, 2024

India Reiterates Support for Palestinian Statehood

India reaffirmed its backing for the statehood of Palestine. Norway, Spain, and Ireland recently recognized Palestine. Following these European nations' recognition of Palestine, India reiterated its long-standing stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs Randhir Jaiswal discussed India's longstanding support for the two-state solution and Palestinian statehood.

Jun 01, 2024

MEA, Meity and CSC sign MoU to Provide E-migration Services through Common Service Centres

Considering major issues faced by migrant workers in emigration process, Ministry External Affairs (MEA), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and CSC eGovernance Services India Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to create a synergy between CSC SPV and MEA to provide the eMigrate services through CSCs across the country.
The MoU was signed with the intention of broadening safe and legal migration pathways, specifically to guard against unscrupulous individuals taking advantage of Indian nationals seeking work abroad.

May 31, 2024

IIM Jammu, J&K Sign MoU to Establish CITaG for Innovative Governance Practices

The Jammu and Kashmir Planning, Development, and Monitoring Department signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Jammu to establish the Centre for Innovation and Transformation in Governance (CITaG). This initiative aims to drive positive change and foster innovation in governance through research, education, and collaborative efforts.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo described the MoU as a significant step towards inclusive development across all departments in the Union Territory (UT).
An IIM Jammu official explained that the MoU's goal is to empower government institutions, policymakers, and public servants to address complex challenges, promote sustainable development, and enhance the well-being of the UT. The MoU was signed by IIM Jammu Director Professor B. S. Sahay and Administrative Secretary of the Planning, Development, and Monitoring Department, Mohammad Aijaz, in the presence of Dulloo at the Civil Secretariat in Srinagar.

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