General Awareness : National Events - July, 2014

(General Awareness For Bank's Exams) National Events

July - 2014

National Events

Govt proposes over Rs. 2,000 cr for Ganga Conservation Mission
An integrated programme for the conservation of river Ganga called “Namami Gange” with an outlay of Rs 2,037 crores has been proposed.
To harness the enthusiasm of the NRI community towards the conservation of the river Ganga, an ‘NRI Fund for Ganga’ will be set up which will finance special projects.
A sum of Rs. 100 crore has been set aside for Ghat development and beautification of the river front at Kedarnath, Haridwar, Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Patna and Delhi.
The budget also contains the first ever effort to link the rivers across the country with the Finance Minister setting aside a sum of Rs. 100 crore in the current budget to expedite the preparation of Detailed Project Reports.

Govt to continue Aadhaar, provides Rs. 2k cr in 2014-15

A sum of Rs 2,039.64 crore has been provided for 2014-15 to execute the task of implementing Unique Identification as entrusted to Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
UIDAI was mandated to collect biometrics of 600 million residents in the country and rest of the population was to be covered under the National Population Register (NPR) project.
Cabinet Committee on UIDAI decided that all residents would be issue National Multi-purpose Identity Cards under NPR and UIDAI would generate Unique identification number for the entire population. Both UIDAI and NPR were to share the biometric data collected by them for issuing NMIC and generating unique identification number.
The NPR is a comprehensive identity database maintained by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India under the Home Ministry.

Government extends NDA’s senior citizen pension scheme for one more year

• Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana, first introduced by the previous NDA government has been revived again for the period of one year.
•Govt. also proposed setting up a committee to examine unclaimed amounts lying as deposits in accounts of PPF, Post Office and other saving schemes and recommend how this amount can be used to protect and further financial interests of the senior citizens.

PM to announce role for Planning Commission shortly

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will shortly announce the role that Planning Commission is going to play in his government
The Independent Evaluation Office(IEO), which was set up for assessing the effectiveness of government programmes and institutional policies, recommended that the Planning Commission’s role as an allocator of resources to the states should be taken up by the Finance Commission and the allocation of resources amongst the Central Ministries should be carried out by the Finance Ministry.
IEO had also said that Planning Commission acted as a ‘control commission’ and should be replaced by a ‘reforms and solution body’.
BRICS summit: Narendra Modi leaves for Brazil
Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves on Sunday for Brazil for attending the five-nation summit of BRICS nations on July 14 and 15 .
Summit is expected to finalise the setting up of a development bank and seek reforms of the United Nations and international financial organisations.
Mr. Modi will be accompanied by a high-level delegation that includes Minister of State for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman, National Security Adviser A.K. Doval, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh and Finance Secretary

Arvind Mayaram.

BRICS accounts for more than a quarter of the world’s land mass, 40 per cent of its population and a combined GDP of $24 trillion.
The BRICS Development Bank is expected to take further shape with a decision to concretise its corpus at $100 billion, about which there was a broad agreement in Durban. It will be a development bank which will give concessional credit to members of BRICS and other developing countries.
The Prime Minister will get an opportunity to engage with the Latin American region through meeting the leaders of South America, including heads of state and government from countries like Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.

President Pranab Mukherjee asks CPWD to become more dynamic

President Pranab Mukherjee urged the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) under the Ministry of Urban Development to focus on areas where innovation and modernisation in the infrastructure sector
Speaking at a ceremony to mark the 160 years of CPWD’s service, Mr. Mukherjee urged the organisation to evolve into “a smarter, more dynamic and highly professional organisation”.
He asked the Department to aim at providing last mile connectivity of rural roads, health and educational infrastructure, water supply and sanitation and referring to sustainable habitats as the need of the hour and energy-efficient building.
He also completed the CPWD for undertaking and complementing challenging assignments in the Rann of Kutch, Thar Desert, in high altitude areas of the Himalayas, North-Eastern Region and also in Afghanistan.

Pay revised wages for MGNREGA, says SC

The Supreme Court on Friday directed all States to pay workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act (MGNREGA) revised wages as per the notification issued by the Centre in February this year.
It further asked the government to find a way out to end the disparity between the wages paid under the MGNREGA and State-mandated rates under the Minimum Wages Act.
As per the February 13, 2014 notification issued by the Ministry of Rural Development, the wages per day to be paid by the States and Union Territories range from Rs. 156 in Uttarakhand to Rs. 236 in Haryana.

Disciplinary action cannot continue after retirement: SC

Disciplinary proceedings against an employee cannot be continued after his retirement in the absence of a specific clause in the employment rules providing for such enquiry.
Bench of Justices T.S. Thakur and C. Nagappan said once an employee retires from service there was no authority vested in the employer to continue the disciplinary proceedings even for the purpose of imposing any deduction in the benefits payable after retirement to the delinquent employee.

Parliament passes bill on Polavaram project

Parliament on Monday passed a bill to facilitate transfer of 205 villages spread across seven mandals in the newly formed State of Telangana to the residual state of Andhra Pradesh for the multi-purpose Polavaram irrigation project.
The bill, approved by Lok Sabha last week, was opposed by members of the House from Telangana and the States of Odisha and Chattisgarh on the plea that it would cause unwarranted displacement of 52 thousand scheduled caste families from the three States.
The project is a difficult project to implement as it involves massive resettlement. It is on par with Sardar Sarovar Dam (in Gujarat) and Indira Sagar project in Madhya Pradesh.
SC Constitution Bench to decide on `living will’ to die with dignity
A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court will take up for consideration a petition seeking to declare the execution of a `living will’ of persons, suffering from chronic terminal diseases and likely to go into a permanent vegetative state, to refuse treatment to pave way for their death.
Petition was filled by NGO Common Cause.
AG Mr. Rohatgi said the issue had lot of legal, social and moral aspects concerning the humanity as a whole. He said right to die merely because of pain and suffering would not be in the interest of society as it was against public policy.
Ruling in `Aruna Shanbaug’s case’ decided that passive euthanasia is wrong.
In November 2012 the Law Commission had submitted a report relating to passive euthanasia and `living will’.

States want review of key provisions in Land Acquisition Act

A conference of state revenue ministers recently suggested wide-ranging changes to dilute the Land acquisition act, and chief among them was to re-examine the consent clause, as ownership of land rests with the government in Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects, and also scrap the mandatory social impact assessment (SIA).
Kerala felt that obtaining consent of land owners prior to preliminary notification was a herculean task as the identification of land owners at such initial stages may pose a problem.
Madhya Pradesh felt that the provision of consent from 70 per cent land owners in case of PPP projects should either be deleted or eased out.
States also want to do away with the mandatory social impact assessment (SIA) study prescribed in the act and should be confined to large projects or PPP projects as it may delay the acquisition process, which is called the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement, 2013.
States also wanted the definition of “affected family” in the act to be re examined as it is very elaborate and includes livelihood losers working in the affected area for three years prior to the acquisition of land and whose primary source of livelihood is affected.
The clause specifying sharing of 40 per cent enhanced cost with original land owners when the land is transferred on higher consideration should be deleted as it leads to disputes, states felt.

Finding life beyond Earth is within reach: NASA

Experts from NASA and its partner institutions have outlined a road-map to the search for life in the universe, an ongoing journey that involves a number of current and future telescopes.
NASA’s quest to study planetary systems around other stars started with ground-based observatories, then moved to space-based assets like the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Kepler Space Telescope.
Today’s telescopes can look at many stars and tell if they have one or more orbiting planets. Even more, they can determine if the planets are the right distance away from the star to have liquid water, the key ingredient to life as we know it.
The NASA road-map will continue with the launch of the Transiting Exoplanet Surveying Satellite (TESS) in 2017, the James Webb Space Telescope in 2018, and the proposed Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope — Astrophysics Focused Telescope Assets (WFIRST-AFTA) early in the next decade.
The Webb telescope and WFIRST—AFTA will lay the groundwork, and future missions will extend the search for oceans in the form of atmospheric water vapour and for life as in carbon dioxide and other atmospheric chemicals, on nearby planets that are similar to Earth in size and mass, a key step in the search for life. .

NCW backs amendments to Juvenile Justice Act

National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Mamta Sharma on Wednesday said the Commission would back amendments to the Juvenile Justice Act to ensure proper punishment in rape cases.
Ms Sharma reiterated that times were changing and keeping in mind that 45 per cent of the registered rape cases were perpetrated by juveniles, amendments were necessary in the law.
Union Minister for Women and Child Development said juveniles committing rape should be tried as adults, the National Commission of Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and child rights groups had opposed it.
Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number cases against women at 8252, with Delhi coming second with 2000 cases and Haryana -864 cases.
She also called for a Code of Conduct for Parliamentarians.
The NCW is also short of funds and last year the annual budget was down to Rs nine crore, half of which goes for salaries. .

Govt to extend Ganga action plan to major rivers

The government on Thursday said that based on the outcome of the action plan on Ganga, it may extend it to other major rivers of the country.
Central assistance is being provided to states under two schemes — Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies and Flood Management Programme (FMP) during 12th Plan.
Under the RRR scheme, a total of 3341 water bodies were taken up for restoration in 12 states, out of which 2033 water bodies have been completed till date. Under the FMP, a total of 420 workers were approved during XI Plan out of which 252 works were completed.

Hagel to visit India to push for defence ties

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel will visit India next month to discuss bilateral defence and security ties with Indian officials.
The trip will follow the State Department’s Strategic Dialogue, scheduled for July 31 in New Delhi, and will be first opportunity to engage in a direct and meaningful way with India’s new leadership.
Defence relations continue to play a significant role in advancing the strategic partnership.
One of the pillars of US effort to build a strategic partnership with India on defence issues is the US—India defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI).
Under the auspices of DTTI, the US was ready to move forward on a number of efforts, from co—production / co— development proposals to procurement and sales.

SC/ST Amendment bill sent to standing committee

A Bill that makes it a punishable offence for public servants to “wilfully neglect” duties on matters relating to atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Tribes was referred to a Standing Committee.
The Bill replaces an Ordinance that states that if a non-SC/ST public servant wilfully neglects duties required to be performed under this Act, he or she shall be punished with imprisonment for a term from six months to one year.
The Bill also makes provisions for States to set up special courts to try offences under the Act.

Modi government to go with UPA policy on FDI in retail

The Narendra Modi Government is unlikely to rescind the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy for multi-brand retail that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government had notified.
The decision to continue with the UPA Government’s policy has been taken as the Centre does not want to deny the freedom of choice that the notified FDI rules gives to States for choosing whether or not to let foreign retailers set up shop.
The Modi Government also decided to carry on with the UPA Government’s initiative of Aadhaar card for targetted schemesbut new Government will issue Aadhaar numbers to Indian citizens only.

Central government officials to declare assets under new Lokpal rules

The Union government has notified rules on declaration of assets and liabilities of its employees under the Lokpal Act.
Though system of declaration of assets and liabilities has been in vogue, the Lokpal Act seeks to systematise it with additional information.
As per the new rules notified by the government, its employees have to file returns with details on cash in hand, bank deposits, investment in bonds, debentures, shares and units in companies or mutual funds, insurance policies, provident fund, personal loans and advance given to a person or any entity, among others.
The returns should give information about spouses as well. The employees’ need to declare motor vehicles, aircraft, yachts or ships, gold and silver jewellery and bullion possessed by them, their spouses and dependent

children, according to the form.

The employees also to have to give details of their immovable properties along with statement of debts and other liabilities on first appointment or as on March 31 of every financial year.
Government promises broadband facility in every village
The Centre promised to extend broadband facility to every village in the country with the active cooperation of State governments.
More than 1.34 lakh internet enabled centres have been set up in rural areas to promote and develop information technology in rural areas of the country.
Problem of unavailability of bandwidth and regional language barrier have impeded thee-governance initiatives in India, government said availability of bandwidth to important places will be done on priority basis.
Mobile web in regional languages also has many challenges such as character encoding, bandwidth cost, presentation issues, device limitations, lack of standardisation, fonts, backward compatibility with legacy devices, rendering issues, lack of availability for all characters, issue of multiple scripts, standardization of glyph support, syllable composition and logic dependency on implementation level of handset manufacturer.

Hubble telescope inspired technology helps restore eyesight

NASA’s telescopes are not just helping us look into the dark deep universe but have inspired surgeons to restore the eyesight of the elderly.
The tiny telescopes inserted in Phyllis Price (a 79-year-old woman can see again) eyes, magnified the images and also directed them away from diseased parts of the eye and onto healthier areas.
This “giant leap” in medical science holds hope to an optical disease that affects hundreds of thousands of elderly people.

TRAI paves way for sharing of all telecom spectrum

Telecom sector regulator TRAI has recommended allowing sharing of all categories of spectrum.
The move is likely to benefit major operators such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices, helping them reduce costs and at the same time improve service quality.
At present, telecom operators are allowed to share passive infrastructure such as mobile towers and have been demanding allowing of spectrum sharing for a long time.
All access spectrum i.e. spectrum in the bands of 800/900/1800/2100/2300/2500 MHz will be sharable provided that both the licensees are having spectrum in the same band.
According to the regulator, this will help operators achieve better spectral efficiency. Sharing can also provide additional network capacities in places where there is network congestion due to a spectrum crunch.
As per the guidelines, post-spectrum sharing, SUC (spectrum usage charges) will increase by 0.5 per cent for both the licensees. The guidelines also suggest a non-refundable processing fee of Rs 50,000 per operator for each service area in which they opt for spectrum sharing.

Shipping firms needn’t renew licences every year

The Ministry of Shipping has decided to reduce paperwork by scrapping the requirement of annual renewal of licenses for Indian ships and any other vessel charted by an Indian citizen or company.
Such licences will now be issued with a life-time fee instead of annual fee but the licence will be co-terminus with the certificate of Registry of the Ship.
The decision also provides for all the five Registrars of Ships at Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Goa and Cochin to issue these licenses under the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act,1958. .

Govt may consider reducing age of juveniles

The government may consider the suggestion of reducing the age of juvenile and requested Ministry of Women and Child Welfare to look into it.
Juvenile’s age comes under the ambit of Women and Child Welfare Ministry.
Debates have been going on in different fora whether to reduce the age of juvenile from 18 years as there were reports of crime against women in the past where juveniles were found to be involved.

New national policy for senior citizens under finalisation: Govt

Government has informed the loksabha that The new National Policy for Senior Citizens is under finalisation.
Keeping in view the changing demographic pattern, socio-economic needs of the senior citizens, social value system and advancement in the field of science and technology over the last decade, the National Policy on Older Persons, 1999 has been reviewed and the new National Policy for Senior Citizens in under finalisation.
In order to improve the living standard of senior citizens, different ministries and departments of the Government of India, along with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment are implementing various welfare schemes.

Whistleblowers to get security from govt

Whistleblowers or people exposing corruption can get security from the government, The government has authorised Chief Vigilance Officers (CVOs) of ministries or departments of the Central Government as designated authority to receive any written complaint or disclosure on any allegation of corruption or misuse of office in respect of any employee working under them.
If the designated authority in the ministries or departments, either on the application of the complainant, or on the basis of the information gathered, is of the opinion that the complainant needs protection, the designated authority shall take up the matter with the Central Vigilance Commission for issuing appropriate directions to the authorities concerned.
The Commission, after receipt of such reference from the designated authority, takes up the matter with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the nodal agency, to undertake the responsibility of providing security cover to the genuine whistleblowers.

India among jihad targets of ISIS

Ibrahim Awwad al-Badri, commander of the insurgent group Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams (ISIS), has vowed war against several countries, including India, in a Ramzan speech released online.
The reference to India, the first in an ISIS manifesto, raises new concerns for the safety of the almost hundred of its nations trapped in Iraqi cities controlled by the Islamist group, which is battling the governments of Iraq and Syria.
The Ramzan speech by Mr al-Badri — also known by the pseudonym Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi — calls on believers to take up arms during the month of penitence, and “terrify the enemies of Allah and seek death in the places where you expect to find it, for the dunya (worldly life) will come to an end”.
“Muslims’ rights”, Mr. al-Badri states in his speech, are forcibly seized in China, India, Palestine, Somalia, the Arabian Peninsula, the Caucasus, Sham (the Levant), Egypt, Iraq, Indonesia, Afghanistan, the Philippines, Ahvaz, Iran (by the rafidah (shia)), Pakistan, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and Morocco, in the East and in the West.

J&K visit: Development, security to top Modi’s agenda

Development and security will top Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agenda on his visit to Jammu and Kashmir, which comes just a month after he was sworn-in.
The Prime Minister is making a short one-day visit, but touching both Jammu and the Kashmir Valley, with stops in Jammu, Katra, Srinagar and Uri, inaugurating a railway line, a power project, addressing a gathering in Katra and addressing the troops in Srinagar. However, there will be no political outreach as in the past. There are no official meetings with the Chief Minister, his cabinet, or any public gatherings in the Valley.
The Prime Minister’s agenda isn’t the only departure from the past. He will be stopping in Srinagar for a couple of hours only, to address a ‘Sainik Sammelan’, speaking to a group of soldiers posted at various places in the State. He will also hold a security review meeting with corp commanders.

Modi is the third most followed on Twitter

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an avid user of social media, is the third most followed world leader on micro blogging website Twitter, next only to U.S. President Barack Obama and the Pope.
Mr. Modi, who overtook Indonesian President S.B. Yudhoyono on Thursday, has 5.09 million followers. Mr. Obama has 43.9 million followers, while the Pope has over 14 million and Yudhoyono has 5.08 million.
This shows how Mr. Modi has been actively using Twitter to connect with the masses reinforcing the tool of digital diplomacy in a larger context making the social media platform a powerful channel for communicating and engaging with all Indians across the country.

Government favours Aadhaar

In a bid to clear confusion and duplication between the National Population Register (NPR) and Aadhaar cards, the NDA government has decided to explore the possibility of a synergy between the two ambitious projects of the previous UPA government.
The issue was discussed at a high-level meeting, convened by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and attended by Law and Justice and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Minister of State for Planning Rao Inderjit Singh. The meeting discussed how the two could be made “complementary.
The issue will now be discussed by officials of all Ministries concerned and a way will be found soon.
The Home Ministry has already suggested that the NPR and Aadhaar schemes be merged under the Registrar General of India (RGI) or division of work between the two should be in such a way that enrolment is done entirely by NPR while the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which runs Aadhaar, carries out reduplication ahead of generating the unique number.
The UIDAI was set up by the UPA government in 2009 under the chairmanship of Nandan Nilekani. It comes under the Planning Commission.

Centre to sort out GST compensation

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the Centre would sort out compensation issues with States to ensure early roll-out of Goods and Service Tax (GST), a new indirect tax regime that will subsume various levies.
After meeting State finance ministers, he said there was a broad consensus on implementing the GST regime, and efforts would be made to sort out the pending issues, especially with regard to compensation for loss of revenue.

Supreme Court stays order quashing VC’s appointment

The Supreme Court stayed an order of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, quashing the appointment of Kalyani Mathivanan as Vice-Chancellor of Madurai Kamaraj University.
After hearing senior counsel K.K. Venugopal, who appeared for Ms. Kalyani, a Bench of Justices S.J. Mukhopadhaya and Ranjan Gogoi issued notice to the respondents, including the petitioner who got the appointment quashed.
Since 1965, Madurai Kamaraj University, like every other university in Tamil Nadu, had prescribed no qualification for appointment as Vice-Chancellor, going instead by the wisdom of the Chancellor and the experience of the search committee. The UGC Regulations, introduced in 2010, upset the existing mechanism, affecting the federal structure of the Constitution.

Supreme court narrows list of suspects in dowry deaths

The Supreme Court has held that only persons related to a husband by blood, marriage or adoption can be prosecuted for dowry death offences.
In a ruling, a Bench of Justices C.K. Prasad and Pinaki Chandra Ghose said under Section 304-B of the Indian Penal Code when a woman dies in circumstances other than normal within seven years of marriage, her husband or any relative of his should be deemed to have committed the offence of dowry death if it was shown that the woman was subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband, or by any relative of her husband before her death.
This section therefore, exposes the husband of the woman or any relative of her husband for the commission of offence of the dowry death.It is well settled that when the words of a statute are not defined, it has to be understood in their natural, ordinary or popular sense.
The term “relative” must be assigned a meaning as is commonly understood. Ordinarily it would include father, mother, husband or wife, son, daughter, brother, sister, nephew or niece, grandson or granddaughter of an individual or the spouse of any person.
In the present case Gurjit Kaur, wife of Paramjit Singh, died of burns within seven years of marriage. The respondent Gurmit Singh, brother of Paramjit Singh’s aunt, was also cited as an accused. Gurmit Singh argued that he was not related to the husband of the deceased in any manner and, therefore, could not be prosecuted.