General Awareness

NATIONAL AFFAIRS - May 2022

May 2022

Apr 05, 2024

EC Ropes in Ayushmann Khurrana to Urge Youth to Vote

The Election Commission of India (ECI) roped in popular actor Ayushmann Khurrana to encourage the youth to exercise their franchise in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The 39-year-old actor features in the ECI's campaign video that urges youngsters to vote in the upcoming elections.
Santosh Ajmera, Director of Voter Education at ECI, New Delhi, praised Khurrana for supporting the ECI's campaign, aimed at addressing urban and youth apathy in electoral participation.

Home Ministry Cancels Registration of Five NGOs for 'Violation' of FCRA

The Home Ministry cancelled the FCRA registration of the NGOs for allegedly utilising funds for works that were not in their mandate.
The Union Home Ministry has cancelled the registration of at least five non-governmental organisations (NGOs) under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) for alleged violation of various provisions, sources said Wednesday.
"With the cancellation of their FCRA registration, these NGOs will no longer be able to receive foreign contributions nor utilise the existing available funds," sources said.
The five NGOs are: Voluntary Health Association of India, CNI Synodical Board of Social Services, Indo-Global Social Service Society, Church's Auxiliary for Social Action, and Evangelical Fellowship of India.

After 25 Years in Lok Sabha, Sonia Gandhi Begins New Journey in Rajya Sabha

Having completed 25 years in the Lok Sabha, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi started her fresh innings in the Rajya Sabha after she took oath as a member of the Upper House.
She will represent Rajasthan in the Council of States by filling the seat that fell vacant after former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh completed his tenure.
Sonia Gandhi is the second member of the Gandhi family to enter the Rajya Sabha after former prime minister and her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi, who had a two-and-a-half-year tenure (from August 1964 to February 1967) as a member of the Upper House.

Apr 04, 2024

Boxer and Former Congress Leader Vijender Singh Joins BJP

Vijender Singh, India's first Olympic medallist in boxing and a former Congress leader, joined the BJP.
Singh had fought the 2019 Lok Sabha election unsuccessfully from the South Delhi constituency as a Congress candidate.
Singh comes from the Jat community, which has political influence in a large number of seats in Haryana, the state he comes from, western Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Santosh Kumar Jha as New CMD of Konkan Railway Corporation

Santosh Kumar Jha, an Indian Railway Traffic Services (IRTS) officer of the 1992 batch, assumed the role of Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. (KRCL).
With 28 years of experience in the industry, Jha has worked in various domains, including Operations, Infrastructure Planning, and Business Development. He has held leadership positions in major divisions of Railways and has led significant business units in the logistics sector.
Jha has been instrumental in setting up Multi-Modal Logistic Hubs, Sidings, and Private Freight Terminals. His experience and expertise in the field make him well-suited for his new role as the CMD of KRCL.
Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. (KRCL) is a public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Railways. With Jha's appointment, KRCL is poised to benefit from his extensive knowledge and leadership abilities.

'One Vehicle, One FASTag' Norm Implemented

State-owned National Highways Authority of India's 'One Vehicle, One FASTag' norm, which aims to discourage the use of single FASTag for multiple vehicles or linking multiple FASTags to a particular vehicle, came into force. NHAI had extended the 'One Vehicle, One FASTag' initiative compliance deadline to March-end, in view of the problems being faced by Paytm FASTag users.
According to an NHAI official, people who have multiple FASTags for one vehicle won't be able to use all of them anymore.
The rationale behind the 'One Vehicle, One FASTag' initiative aims to enhance the efficiency of the electronic toll collection system and ensure smooth movement at toll plazas by discouraging the misuse of FASTags.

Apr 03, 2024

Sheyphali Sharan Takes Charge as Principal Director General, Press Information Bureau

Sheyphali B. Sharan assumed charge as the Principal Director General, Press Information Bureau, upon the superannuation (retirement) of Manish Desai. Sharan is an officer of the 1990 batch of Indian Information Service.
During her illustrious career spanning over three decades, Sharan has held cadre portfolios of largely looking after media publicity work as Press Information Bureau officer for Ministries such as Finance, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. She has also served as the Spokesperson for Election Commission of India.
The Press Information Bureau, commonly abbreviated as PIB, is a nodal agency of the Government of India under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It is based in National Media Centre, New Delhi.
t is available in 14 Indian official languages, which are Dogri, Punjabi, Bengali, Oriya, Gujarati, Marathi, Meitei (Manipuri), Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Konkani and Urdu, in addition to Hindi and English, out of the 22 official languages of the Indian Republic.
Press Information Bureau was established in June 1919 as a small cell under Home Ministry under the British government.
In 1941, J. Natrajan became the first Indian to be head the Bureau as Principal Information Officer.

Poll Panel Appoints Special Observers in States

The Election Commission (EC) appointed 17 retired bureaucrats as its special observers in eight states where they would supervise the randomisation of personnel, security forces and EVMs and tackle the influence of money and muscle power during the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
The EC also transferred eight district magistrates and 12 SPs in Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. The EC also transferred DIG/IG rank officers. The decision was taken at a review meeting chaired by CEC Rajiv Kumar, Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and EC Sukhbir Singh Sandhu.

Manmohan Singh Retires From Rajya Sabha

Former and 13th Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and first PM outside the Nehru-Gandhi family to complete a full term in office, completed a remarkable political innings in the Rajya Sabha spanning 33 years.
The architect of India's economic liberalisation and the force behind the 2008 Indo-US nuclear agreement, Singh headed a government that transformed the social welfare framework with a bouquet of rights-based legislation and ushered in a slew of reforms including Direct Benefit Transfer and launched Aadhaar.
Singh entered the Upper House in October 1991, four months after he became the Union Finance Minister in June 1991. He represented Assam for five terms in the Upper House and shifted to Rajasthan in 2019.

Apr 01, 2024

RLD Vice President Shahid Siddiqui Resigns from Party over Alliance with BJP

Shahid Siddiqui, the national vice president of Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), tendered his resignation from the party over Jayant Chaudhary's joining hands with the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
The RLD joined the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and declared its candidates for two seats in Uttar Pradesh for the coming Lok Sabha elections. In the 2014 Parliamentary polls, the RLD fought in alliance with the Congress and in 2019, it fought in alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

Rajnath Singh to Head BJP's 27-member Manifesto Panel

The BJP constituted its 27-member election manifesto committee under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for the Lok Sabha elections.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was named the convener of the committee and Union Minister Piyush Goyal is the co-convener.
Some of the other members of the committee include Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav.
The manifesto-preparation exercise will incorporate suggestions from people online and also via the party's offline outreach to voters, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced some time ago. The BJP is already in the process of seeking suggestions from different groups and its national president J. P. Nadda had last month flagged off 'Viksit Bharat Modi ki Guarantee' video vans, which are meant to travel across the country to collect people's inputs on the contents of its manifesto.

Mar 29, 2024

Govinda Makes a Political Comeback, Joins Shinde-led Shiv Sena

Bollywood actor Govinda joined Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena.
The actor, who is the former MP from Mumbai North, joined Shinde Sena at Varsha bungalow in the presence of CM Shinde.
Govinda's first stint in politics was from 2004 to 2009.

Indian Parliamentary Delegation Strengthens Ties with Armenia and IPU

The Indian Parliamentary delegation, led by Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh Narayan Singh, held a bilateral meeting with their Armenian counterparts on the sidelines of the 148th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) held in Geneva, Switzerland. The Armenian delegation was represented by the Vice President of the National Assembly, Hakob Arshakyan. Harivansh appreciated Armenia's support to India in multilateral initiatives and emphasised the growing partnership between the two countries.
Highlighting the shared democratic values and rich cultural heritage, Harivansh proposed enhancing focus on promoting cultural exchanges, such as art exhibitions, film festivals, and academic collaborations.
He expressed hope for exploring various areas of engagement in parliamentary affairs between India and Armenia.
Harivansh underlined that pluralism and respect for human rights can serve as a foundation for strengthening ties and collaborating on global issues of common concern.
The Deputy Chairman also met with the IPU President, Tulia Ackson, the Speaker of the National Assembly of Tanzania.
He congratulated her on assuming the presidency of the IPU and expressed hope that their meeting will renew their commitment and strengthen collaboration with the IPU and world parliaments.
The Indian delegation comprised five members from Rajya Sabha: S. Niranjan Reddy, Sujeet Kumar, Ashok Mittal, Prashanta Nanda, and Sumitra.

CVIGIL: ECI's App to Monitor Elections

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is keeping a close watch on the election process through the cVIGIL app. The app allows citizens to report violations of the Model Code of Conduct and election expenditures by capturing photos and videos. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that cVIGIL empowers citizens to report violations, with assured action within 100 minutes.
cVIGIL is a user-friendly app that connects vigilant citizens with the District Control Room, Returning Officer, and Flying Squads Teams.
Citizens can immediately report incidents of political misconduct through the app without having to visit the Returning Officer's office.
Upon sending a complaint, the user receives a unique ID to track the status of their complaint on their mobile.
With cVIGIL, the ECI seeks to enhance accountability and build trust among citizens regarding the fairness of the electoral process.

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