General Knowledge Current Affairs

Showing posts with label Current Affairs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Current Affairs. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

India unanimously elected to head UN-Habitat, the United Nations’ Human Settlements Programme

India has been unanimously elected as the President of the UN-Habitat, an organ of the United Nations’ Organisation (UNO) that promotes socially and environmentally sustainable human settlements across the world, after 10 years. UN-Habitat reports to the United Nations General Assembly.

Friday, May 19, 2017

India ranks below Bangladesh in healthcare index

India's health care index has gone up in last 25 years from 30.7 to 44.8 but numbers are much lesser than Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. A report published by Global Burden of Disease in The Lancet has revealed that India has recorded a poor health care index than several neighbouring Asian nations, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and China in last 25 years. The data, in the report, takes a look at 195 countries, between the years 1990-2015, and assesses the measuring mortality rates from 32 diseases which should not be fatal in presence of effective medical care. As per the report, India’s health care index has seen an increase of 14.1 in last 25 years, going up from 30.7 in 1990 to 44.8 in 2015, but the numbers are much lesser than Sri Lanka (72.8), Bangladesh (51.7), Bhutan (52.7) and Nepal (50.8). The report shows that India has performed the worst in preventing deaths by Neonatal disorders, with an index rate of 14.

Paytm to become payments bank

India's leading digital wallet player Paytm has received the final licence from the Reserve Bank of India for its payments bank entity. With this, the road is now clear for the Noida-based payments player to kickstart its much-awaited payments bank operations next week. Paytm Payments Bank Limited will begin its banking operations from May 23, 2017.

Sunday, May 14, 2017

Emmanuel Macron takes charge as President of France

Emmanuel Macron was inaugurated as France’s new President at the Elysee palace in Paris, and immediately launched into his mission to shake up French politics, world economics and the European Union. The 39-year-old Macron is the youngest President in the country’s history and the 8th President of France’s Fifth Republic, which was created in 1958.
#Emmanuel_Macron

Friday, May 5, 2017

Indore emerges as the Cleanest City of India

Indore has emerged as the India’s Cleanest City in the Swachh Survekshan-2017 conducted in 434 cities and towns, the results of which were announced by the Minister of Urban Development Shri M.Venakaiah Naidu. Bhopal, Visakhapatnam, Surat, Mysuru, Tiruchirapally, New Delhi Municipal Council, Navi Mumbai, Vadodara and Chandigarh are among the Top 10 clean cities in that order. #CleanestCity #Indore #SwachhSurvekshan

Chhetri Jamil get AIFF top awards

Bengaluru FC striker Sunil Chhetri was named as the best player of the I-League while Khalid Jamil, who guided Aizawl FC to a historic title win, was expectedly chosen as the coach of the year by All India Football Fedaration. Other awards: Best Goalkeeper: Debjit Majumder; Best Defender: Anas Edathodika; Best Midfielder: Alfred Kemah Jaryan; Best Emerging Player: Jerry Lalrinzuala.

Sunday, April 9, 2017

India and ADB Sign $175 Million Loan Agreement

The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $175 million loan agreement to support construction of high voltage transmission systems to evacuate power generated from new mega solar parks to the interstate grid, and improve reliability of the national grid system. The loan will be given to the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID) and will include subprojects in various locations in India. As an innovative feature, the project is designed to adopt the country systems on both safeguards and procurement at the agency level. This will be the ADB’s first breakthrough of the country system’s application to a specific project.

Thursday, April 6, 2017

ADB says India growth to accelerate to 7.4% in 2017-18

 

India’s economic growth will accelerate to 7.4% during 2017-18, and go up further to 7.6% in the next fiscal, as the impact of demonestisation fades and as reforms pick up pace, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on 6th April 2017. With more than 7% growth, ADB said India will continue to outpace China and other nations in Asia.

S.P. Bala Subramanyam and Hema Malini bag NTR awards

The Andhra Pradesh government has announced NTR National Film Award to renowned singer S.P. Bala Subramanyam for 2012 and to Hindi film actor Hema Malini for 2013. The NTR award carries a cash award of Rs. 5 lakh and a citation. The State government revived the presentation of four prestigious awards instituted in the name of eminent film personalities– NTR, B.N. Reddy, Nagireddy and Chakrapani (all national ) and Raghupathi Venkaiah Film Award after a gap of five years.

Sunday, April 2, 2017

PV Sindhu clinch India Open World Superseries title

 

PV Sindhu beats Spanish Olympic champion Carolina Marin in the final of the Yonex India Open World Superseries to clinch maiden title.

Saturday, April 1, 2017

Finance Bill gets presidential assent

President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to the Finance Bill 2017 to give effect to provisions like bar on cash transactions above Rs 2 lakh and compulsory quoting of Aadhaar for filing tax returns. With this, the provisions of the Finance Bill come into effect from 1st April 2017.

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Mathematician Yves Meyer has been awarded the Abel Prize for 2017

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters has awarded the Abel Prize for 2017 to mathematician Yves Meyer of the Ecole normale superieure Paris-Saclay, France, for his “pivotal role in the development of mathematical theory of wavelets.” The theory of wavelets that he started and made fundamental contributions to finds wide-ranging applications from image processing to fluid dynamics. #YvesMeyer #AbelPrize

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today gave its approval for the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) with an outlay of Rs. 1500 crore.

This will be the flagship scheme for skill training of youth to be implemented by the new Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship through the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). The scheme will cover 24 lakh persons. Skill training would be done based on the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) and industry led standards. Under the scheme, a monetary reward is given to trainees on assessment and certification by third party assessment bodies. The average monetary reward would be around Rs. 8000 per trainee.

Out of the total outlay of Rs. 1120 crore to be spent on skill training of 14 lakh youth, special emphasis has been given to recognition of prior learning for which an amount of Rs. 220 crore has been provided. Awareness building and mobilization efforts would be focused for attention, for which Rs. 67 crore has been provided. Mobilization would be done through skill melas organized at the local level with participation of the State Governments, Municipal Bodies, Pachayati Raj Institutions and community based organizations. The focus under the scheme is also on mentorship support and placement facilitation for which an outlay of Rs. 67 crore has been provided. An allocation of Rs. 150 crores has been made for training of youth from the North-East region.

Highlights of skill training would be that it would be done on the basis of demand assessed on the basis of recent skill gap studies conducted by the NSDC for the period 2013-17. For assessment of demand of Central Ministries/Departments/State Governments, industry and business would be consulted. A demand aggregator platform would be launched for the purpose very soon. The target for skilling would be aligned to demand from other flagship programmes launched in recent times such as Make in India, Digital India, National Solar Mission and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Skill training under the new scheme will primarily be focused on a first time entrants to the labour market and primarily target Class 10 and Class 12 drop outs.

The scheme would be implemented through NSDC training partners. Currently NSDC has 187 training partners that have over 2300 centres. In addition, Central / State Government affiliated training providers would also be used for training under the scheme. All training providers will have to undergo a due diligence before being eligible for participating under this scheme. Focus under the PMKVY would be on improved curricula, better pedagogy and better trained instructors. Training would include soft skills, personal grooming, behavioral change for cleanliness, good work ethics. Sector Skill Councils and the State Governments would closely monitor skill training that will happen under PMKVY.

Skill Development Management System (SDMS) would be put in place to verify and record details of all training centres a certain quality of training locations and courses. Biometric system and video recording of the training process would be put in place where feasible. All persons undergoing training would be required to give feed back at the time of assessment and this would become the key element of the evaluation framework to assess the effectiveness of the PMKVY scheme. A robust grievance redressal system would be put in place to address grievances relating to implementation of the scheme. An online citizen portal would be put in place to disseminate information about the scheme.

Friday, March 20, 2015

Ratan Tata to head Indian Railways Kaya Kalp council

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu constituted 'Kaya Kalp' Council and appointed noted industrialist Ratan Tata as its head. The purpose of the Council is to recommend innovative methods and processes for the improvement, betterment and transformation of railways.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Delhi airport ranked No. 1

Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has been adjudged the world’s best airport in the 25-40 million passengers per annum category in the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) awards given by the Airports Council International (ACI) for the year 2014. The airport improved from an ASQ score (measured on scale of 1 to 5) of 3.02 in 2007 to 4.90 in 2014. It was ranked second in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Padma Vibhushan Award 2015

S. No Name of the Awardee Discipline State/Domicile
1. Shri L. K. Advani Public Affairs Gujarat
2. Shri Amitabh Bachchan Art Maharashtra
3. Shri Prakash Singh Badal Public Affairs Punjab
4. Dr. D. Veerendra Heggade Social Work Karnataka
5. Shri Mohammad Yusuf Khan alias Dilip Kumar Art Maharashtra
6. Shri Jagadguru Ramanandacharya
Swami Rambhadracharya
Others Uttar Pradesh
7. Prof. Malur Ramaswamy Srinivasan Science and Engineering Tamil Nadu
8. Shri Kottayan K. Venugopal Public Affairs Delhi
9. Shri Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan (Foreigner) Trade and Industry France/UK

More details on Padma Award 2015

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC)

The National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) bill passed by Parliament in August this year has received President's assent. The new law facilitates the setting up of a commission for appointment of judges, replacing the 20-year-old collegium system, which has been under severe criticism. The bill, 124th amendment to the Constitution, grants Constitutional status to the NJAC and its composition which will be headed by the Chief Justice of India. Besides the CJI, the judiciary would be represented by two senior judges of the Supreme Court. Two eminent personalities and the Law Minister will be the other members of the body.

Saturday, January 3, 2015

The Planning Commission replace by NITI Aayog

The Planning Commission, which was established in 1950 was on 1st January replaced by a new body, NITI Aayog or National Institution for Transforming India, which will serve as a policy think-tank for the central as well as state governments and have Prime Minister as its chairperson. NITI Aayog will have a CEO and a vice chairperson, to be appointed by the Prime Minister, in addition to some full-time members and two part-time members, while four union ministers would serve as ex-officio members. The NITI Aayog will have a governing council comprising of all state chief ministers and Lt Governors and will work towards fostering a 'co-operative federalism' for providing a "national agenda" to the Centre and states.

#NITIAayog

Thursday, December 18, 2014

India launches largest rocket and unmanned capsule

The 630-tonne Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (MK III) blasted off from Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. The new rocket will be able to carry heavier satellites into space. India has successfully launched lighter satellites in recent years, but has faced problems sending up heavier payloads. The new rocket is capable of carrying communication satellites weighing 4,000kg, reports say, meaning India will not have to rely on foreign launchers to do so.  The rocket's main cargo was an Indian-made capsule capable of carrying two to three astronauts into space. #GSLVMKIII #ISRO #CurrentAffairs

Monday, November 10, 2014

New Cabinet Ministers & Minister of States

Shri Narendra Damodar Das Modi has been taken oath as 15th Prime Minister of India along with his cabinet minister & minister of state.

Cabinet Ministers

Minister's Name - Portfolio

Mr. Narendra Damodar Das Modi - Prime Minister of India, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy Department of Space, All important policy issues and all other portfolios not allocated to any Minister.

Mr. Rajnath Singh - Home Minister

Mr. Arun Jaitley - Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information and Broadcasting

Mr. Manohar Parrikar - Defence

Ms. Sushma Swaraj - External Affairs Minister

M Venkaiah Naidu - Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Parliamentary Affairs

Mr. Nitin Gatkari - Road Transport and Highways, Shipping

Mr. Suresh Prabhu - Railway Minister

Ms. Uma Bharti - Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation

Najma A. Heptulla - Minority Affairs

Ram Vilas Paswan - Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

Kalraj Mishra - Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

Ms. Maneka Gandhi - Women and Child Development

Mr. Anant Kumar - Chemicals and Fertilizers

Ravi Shankar Prasad - Communications and Information Technology

Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati - Civil Aviation

Anant Geete - Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises

Harsimrat Kaur Badal - Food Processing Industries

Narendra Singh Tomar - Mines, Steel

Jual Oram - Tribal Affairs Minister

Radha Mohan Singh - Agriculture Minister

Thaawar Chand Gehlot - Social justice and Empowerment

Smriti Irani - Human Resource Development

Jagat Prakash Nadda - Health and Family Welfare

Dr. Harsh Vardhan - Science and Technology and Earth Sciences

Birender Singh - Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water and Sanitation

D V Sadananda Gowda - Law and Justice

Ministers of State (Independent Charge)

Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy - Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge), MOS Parliamentary Affairs

Bandaru Dattatreya - Labour and Employment (Independent Charge)

Dr. Mahesh Sharma - Culture (Independent Charge), Tourism (Independent Charge), MOS Civil Aviation

Gen (Retd) V K Singh - Statistics and Programme (Independent Charge), External Affairs, Overseas Indian Affairs

Inderjit Singh Rao - Planning (Independent Charge), MOS Defence

Santosh Gangwar - Textiles (Independent Charge)

Shripad Yesso Naik - AYUSH (Independent Charge), MOS Health & Family Welfare

Dharmendra Pradhan - Petroleum and Natural Gas (Independent Charge)

Sarbananda Sonowal - Youth Affairs and Sports (Independent Charge)

Prakash Javadekar - Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Independent Charge)

Piyush Goyal - Power (Independent Charge), Coal (Independent Charge), New and Renewable Energy (Independent Charge)

Jitendra Singh - Prime Minister Office, Personnel, Public Grievances &Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Minister of Development of North Eastern Region (Independent Charge)

Nirmala Sitharaman - Commerce and Industry (Independent Charge)

Ministers of State

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi - MOS Minority Affairsation, MOS Parliamentary Affairs

Ram Kripal Yadav - Drinking Water & Sanitation

Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary - Home Affairs

Sanwar Lal Jat - Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation

Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundariya - Agriculture

Giriraj Singh - Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises

Hansraj Gangaram Ahir - Chemicals & Fertilizers

Manuskhbhai Dhanjibhai Vasava - Tribal Affairs

Ram Shankar Katheria - Human Resource Development

Y S Chowdary - Science and Technology and Earth Science

Jayant Sinha - Finance

Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore - Information & Broadcasting

Babul Supriyo - Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation

Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti - Food Processing Industries

Vijay Sampla - Social Justice & Empowerment

GM Siddeshwara - Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises

Manoj Sinha - Railways

Nihal Chand - Panchayati Raj

Upendra Kushwaha - HRD Ministry

P Radhakrishnan - Road Transport and Highways and Shipping

Kiren Rijiju - Home Affairs

Krishan Pal - Social Justice and Empowerment

Sanjeev Kumar Balyan - Agriculture

Mansukhbhai Dhanjibhai Vasava - Tribal Affairs

Raosaheb Dadarao Danve - Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

Vishnu Deo Sai - Mines, Steel, Labour and Employment

Sudarshan Bhagat - Social Justice and Empowerment