Heartfully Presented By
AIMS DARE TO SUCCESS
MADE IN INDIA
⏬Telegram Channel ⬇
https://t.me/AIMSDARETOSUCCESS
💡YouTube Channel 🔗
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm-y_cHY75scDiG67Df62dw?sub_confirmation=1
⌛ Web Sites ⏰
👀 For All Competitive Exams Study Material 👀
https://www.aimsdaretosuccess.blogspot.com
👇 For Mathematics Study Material 👇
https://www.aimsdts.blogspot.com
🔦 For Any Queries 🔭
If u want to get FREE Study Material Please Add My number 9440345996 in Your All Groups
NATIONAL NOVEMBER 2015
- Villages pass resolution against Jaitapur project
Around 13 villages, surrounding the proposed 9900 MW Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project, have passed a resolution against the plant even as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is scheduled to visit India during which he is likely to seal the pending civil nuclear agreement.
Interestingly, the list not only includes villages which will be directly affected by the project but also those which are not but situated in the vicinity. The villagers will also be writing a letter to Mr. Abe, urging him to not sign any nuclear agreement.
Japanese companies Mitsubishi, Toshiba and Hitachi provide technology to French Areva and the U.S. – based Westinghouse and GE respectively. These companies are responsible for setting up nuclear plants at Jaitapur in Maharashtra, Mithivardi in Gujarat and Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh.
The 13 villages — Madban, Mithgavhane, Sakhri-Natye, Natye, Ambolgad, Dhaulvalli, Sagve, Solgaon, Dhopeshwar, Mogre, Rajwadi, Jaitapur and Devache Gothne — have decided to stand up against the project. The resolution cite radioactivity, nuclear waste, unproven EPR technology to be used in the project and cost of the electricity are the reasons behind their opposition.
While the land acquisition process for the project is already over, it has not moved ahead since several techno-commercial agreements are yet to be finalised. - Fee regulatory panel formed in Telangana
Telangana Government on 28th November constituted an Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee for professional courses offered in private unaided institutions in the State.
Retired High Court judge Justice P Swaroop Reddy has be made chairman of the committee and several experts from academia appointed as members. JNTUH registrar N Yadaiah, Gandhi Hospital Prof P V Chalam, Chartered Accountant GV Laxman Rao, advocate K Ravinder Reddy are among the few experts of various walks of life who are appointed as members.
Similarly, JNTUH vice chancellor (for engineering courses), Kaloji Narayana Rao Health University vice chancellor (for medical courses) and Osmania University vice chancellor (for B Ed and other courses) were appointed as members. The AFRC committee also has members from the Finance Department besides higher education council chairman, technical education official, Medical Council of India member, Bar Council of India member, National Council for Teacher Education member and others. - UGC proposes to launch world’s largest internet language site 'Bharatvani'
UGC, the apex body tasked with maintenance of standards in higher education, has proposed an all-inclusive and interactive portal, the largest internet language site in the world, where knowledge in all Indian languages will be collected and disseminated.
In a letter to Vice Chancellors, UGC has asked all universities and colleges to share digitised and non-digitised material in various languages available with them for the ambitious 'Bharatvani' project.
This project is being launched to accommodate and strengthen the oral tradition by disseminating and presenting the unwritten vernaculars, country's classical literature in different languages, develop e-content and present the country's linguistic diversity in cyberspace.
According to the Census of India, 2001 there are 122 scheduled and non-scheduled languages and 234 mother tongues. - India re-elected member of International Maritime Council
India has been re-elected unopposed to the Council of the International Maritime Organization under Category "B" at the 29th session of the Assembly of the IMO, held in London on 27 November.
The 29th Session of the IMO Assembly is being held at IMO Headquarters London from 23 November to 2 December, 2015. The session is attended by a high level Indian delegation led by Secretary (shipping) Rajive Kumar. India's overseas seaborne EXIM trade, which is presently about 600 million tonnes per annum, is expected to be quadrupled to about 2,200 million tons by 2020. India ranks amongst the top 20 ship owning countries of the world. - 46th IFFI concluded
The 46th International Film Festival of India came to a glittering and musical conclusion on 30th November. The prestigious Golden Peacock award for the best film went to Colombia's 'embrace of the serpent' and the award for the best actor female was jointly given to 5 women for their stellar roles in the same Turkish film.
The international jury led by film-maker Shekhar Kapur declared the awards for the best films. Colombian film 'Embrace of the Serpent' bagged Golden Peacock award for the Best Film. The Best Actor (Female) award was shared by five women actors of Turkish film 'mustang'. The special jury award went to the film 'sealed Cargo'
French actor Vincent Lindon won the best Actor (Male) award for the movie "The Measure of a Man". The best director award went to British Film director Peter Greenaway for his film 'Eisenstein in Guanajuato. The ICFT- UNESCO Fellini Prize given for the first time at IFFI went to the Bengali movie "Cinemawala" by Kaushik Ganguly.
The lifetime achievement award went to Russian filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov who sang a tune from a Raj Kapoor film on the occasion. - PM Modi strongly advocates de-linking of terrorism from religion
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 22nd November emphasized the need to de-link terrorism and religion. Addressing a gathering of Indian diaspora in Kuala Lumpur, Modi said terrorism is the biggest threat to the world. It knows no boundary, uses people religion but kills people of all faith. The Prime Minister said the only the distinction is that those who believe in humanity and those who do not. Without taking any organization name, the Prime Minister said internet couldn’t not be recruiting ground.
Mr Modi announced one million dollars for the Indian Community Welfare Fund that was set up in 1950s for encouraging people of Indian origin in higher education.
In a spree of announcements, Mr Modi said 9 VISA Connection Centres will be established in Malaysia to provide Indian Diaspora access to easy VISA services. He assured that India and Malaysia will work on recognition of the universities that offer higher education in the two countries. - UP earns place in Guinness for state govt’s green drive
Uttar Pradesh has earned itself a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the state government's green drive under which 10 lakh saplings were planted in one day within a span of eight hours.
According to state government, the earlier in the Guinness Book for plantation of maximum number of trees are 8 lakh 50 thousand in a single day. The certificate for UP's record-setting performance was awarded to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
On November 7, under the state government's 'Clean UP, Green UP' initiative, over 10 lakh saplings were planted at 10 locations in the state. Chief Minister himself planted trees in Hamirpur district. - Woman entitled for 'stridhan' after separation: Supreme Court
A woman who has been judicially separated from her husband can still invoke Domestic Violence law to get back her “stridhan” as it is her exclusive property, the Supreme Court has held.
The court explained that the distinction between divorce and judicial separation to bring home the point that a woman living separately from husband after a decree could be described as aggrieved person till the marriage was not annulled.
The court allowed a woman’s appeal against finding of the Tripura High Court, which had confirmed a magisterial court’s order rejecting her application for return of “stridhan”. Both the HC as well as the trial court had declined to entertain her plea, holding that the petitioner could not be termed an “aggrieved person” under the “Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 to seek any relief as she was judicially separated from husband.
The apex court held that as long as the status of the aggrieved person remains and ‘stridhan’ remains in the custody of the husband, the wife can always put forth her claim under the Domestic Violence Act.
Citing the law, the court said “aggrieved person” means any woman who is, or has been, in a domestic relationship with the respondent at any point of time and lived together in a shared household and who alleges to have been subjected to any act of domestic violence by the respondent.
The apex court also directed the courts below to scrutinise facts of a case from all angles while keeping in mind that helpless and hapless “aggrieved person” under the 2005 Act approaches the court under the compelling circumstances. The woman’s plea was directed to magisterial court for fresh adjudication on merit. - AP Govt settles dispute with Pulinchintala evacuees
The rehabilitation woes of Pulichintala project evacuees were settled by the state government. The government arrives at a settlement with 1,315 displaced families. 1,116 families would be paid Rs 10 lakh each covering the cost of a house site and building a house, while 199 families will be accommodated in existing rehabilitation colonies. The evacuees hailing from the villages of Regalagadda, Govindapuram and Vemavaram are a happy lot
Under the agreement reached 1,116 families would be paid Rs 10 lakh each covering the cost of a house site and building a house but once the cash is paid, they would have to vacate the villages. The evacuees agreed and subsequently released Rs 78 crore for making payment at one go.- Earlier, the government rehabilitated 6,487 families of the 15 villages which came under submergence but the rehabilitation of 1,315 families was pending for over a decade due to their insistence on a particular village for relocation.
- Not only that every year the evacuees who were not rehabilitated were living in the villages which were being inundated during rainy season. Moving the villagers to safety every year had been going on for more than a decade.
- The evacuees hailed from the villages of Regalagadda, Govindapuram and Vemavaram.
- The rehabilitation package was delayed due to their insistence on their rehabilitation in the Bramhanapalle village. Government even purchased sites from private parties and a section of the villagers approached the court and stayed the government plan. A decade had passed by with no solution in sight.
- The government finally decided to just pay money for house site and building a house instead of building homes for the people as part of a rehabilitation package.
- The remaining families of 199 out of the 1,315 families are being accommodated in the existing rehabilitation colonies. The government also decided to pay the backlog wages under the NREGS to the project evacuees to non-agriculture labour for 750 days, agriculture labour for 625 days and small and marginal farm labourers for 500 days at the rate of Rs 237 per day. The evacuees are now a happy lot.
- Meanwhile, the district administration is spending Rs 20 crore on improving amenities in the rehabilitation colonies.
- Indo- Pak border in Jaisalmer lighted with Solar power
The Indo- Pak border in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan has lighted with solar power. In the first ever project of this kind in the country, Home ministry has set up 5 MW solar power plant at a cost of 6 crore and 45 lakh rupees in sarkari tala area.
The power generated by this plant will be sold by Solar Energy Corpoation at the rate of 5 rupees 45 paise per unit. If this project is successful, than in other border areas such solar plants will be installed. - Centre sanctions about Rs 940 cr financial aid to Tamil Nadu
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed to release a financial package of Rs 939.63 crore to the rain-battered state of Tamil Nadu to undertake immediate flood relief works. A central team is also being deputed to the affected areas in the state to assess the extent of damages. A release from the Union Government says further action will be taken after the submission of the report by the team.
Earlier, the Chief Minister of the state J.Jayalalithaa sought an on-account allocation of Rs 2000 crore to sustain the relief and rehabilitation works. In her memorandum submitted to the centre today, she has said the total damage due to the unprecedented rain in the recent history in the state has been worked out to be Rs 8481 crore. 169 people lost their lives due to the North East Monsoon that dislocated over 4 lakh people from their houses. - TRS wins Warangal LS bypoll
Counting of votes for Bye- Elections for Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Meghalaya, Manipur and Mizoram held on 24th November. Elections were held on 21st of this month for two Lok Sabha and five Assembly seats in these states.
In Telangana, Telanagana Rashtra Samithi has retained Warangal Lok Sabha seat in the bye-polls with a thumping majority. TRS candidate P Dayakar defeated his nearest congress rival and former union minister Sarvey Satyanarayana by a record majority of 4 lakhs 59 thousand and 92 votes.
This is the highest majority secured by any candidate in the elections to Warangal Parliamentary constituency and seventh highest in the history of Lok Sabha elections so far. Out of 23 candidates who were in the fray 22 candidates including candidates of the congress and the BJP lost their deposits in the election. The Congress, with one lakh 56 thousand and 315 votes and stood in the second position. With one lakh 30 thousand and 178 votes, BJP which contested in alliance with the TDP was confined to third place.
In Madhya Pradesh, Congress has snatched Ratlam-Jhabua Lok Sabha seat from BJP in bye-elections. Former union minister and Congress candidate Kantilal Bhuria defeated BJP’s Nirmala Bhuria over 88 thousand votes.
However BJP has retained Dewas legislative assembly seat. Gayatri Raje of BJP defeated J P Shastri of Congress over 30 thousand votes in this segment. The bye-poll was necessitated in Ratlam-Jhabua Lok Sabha seat after the death of BJP’s Dilip Singh Bhuria while Dewas assembly segment fell vacant after the death of BJP’s Tukojirao Pawar. - Govt prepones deadline for completion of rural road connectivity under PMGSY
Government has brought forward the target date for full completion of rural road connectivity under Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana, PMGSY by 3 years from 2022 to 2019.
According to Rural Development Minister Birender Singh the accelerated implementation will be achieved by providing enhanced financial allocation. The government has also decided to increase the annual allocation during this fiscal by 5,000 crore rupees. With this, the total Central allocation to states would be 15,100 crore rupees in 2015-16.
The Minister said, the enhanced level of Central allocation to States would help in providing connectivity to 29,000 eligible habitations in the next two years. - Integrated Police Command Control Centre In Hyderabad
Telangana State Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao has performed ground breaking ceremony for establishing a new Police Command and Control Centre in an extent of seven acres in Banjara Hills
The new command centre for which the government has earmarked Rs 320 crore in the current financial year would be scanning several parts of the city through 10,000 CCTV cameras. KCR announced an additional fund of Rs 700 crore. - In Telangana 231 mandals declared drought hit
The Telangana government on 24th November declared 231 mandals in the state as drought affected and sought Rs.1,000 crore as immediate relief from the Centre. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao also urged the central government to send a team to assess the drought situation.
The decision to declare 231 mandals -- one third of the total mandals -- as drought affected was taken at a meeting chaired by the chief minister to review the situation.
Rainfall was normal only in Khammam and Adilabad districts. Mahabubnagar, Medak, Nizamabad and Ranga Reddy districts were totally drought affected. Partial drought prevailed in the districts of Karimnagar, Nalgonda and Warangal.
KCR said his government had embarked on redesigning of irrigation projects to find a permanent solution to the frequent droughts. He said the government had also set a target of irrigating one crore acres of land by 2021. - Centre clears debt sharing between AP, Telangana
The Central Government on 24th November gave its opinion on the sharing of debts in the united Andhra Pradesh. It advised the governments of Telugu-speaking states to share the debts on the proportion of population ratio.
As per the directives, Andhra Pradesh has to share 58.38 per cent, while Telangana 41.62 per cent. The Finance Department of Andhra Pradesh wrote a letter to Center on the debts in the united AP in July this year. Responding to the letter, the Centre distributed the liabilities based on the population ratio. - UN launches campaign for action on violence against women
Iconic India Gate is being illuminated in orange colour on 25th November to commemorate International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, observed each year on November 25th around the world.
Delhi Metro is also displaying the messages of ending violence against women on panel boards of its traffic lines. Hundreds of monuments across the world are also being lit orange as part of United Nation's 'Orange the World' campaign effort to galvanise support for global action to end violence against women and girls.
According to UN Women, the United Nation's agency for gender equality, a staggering one in three women in the world have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.
It is expected that the colour orange, which has come to symbolise a bright and optimistic future free from violence against women and girls, will help unify the large-scale social mobilisation.
Prevention is the theme of this year's UNiTE campaign, a 16 days -long activism against Gender-Based Violence starting from today and lasting upto 10th December, the International Human Rights Day. - CDs can be considered as proof: Supreme Court
In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court has allowed compact discs (CDs) to be treated as a document under the law and said that litigants should be allowed to prove or disprove such electronic proof in judicial proceedings. The apex court, without deciding on the authenticity of a CD in a case, permitted accused Shamsher Singh Verma to bring on record the taped telephonic conversations to prove his innocence in a child sexual abuse case. - No sale of liquor in Bihar from 1st April next year
In Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on 26th November announced ban on sale of liquor from April 1st of the 2016. In the Just concluded elections, his party has promised prohibition in the election manifesto. Nitish Kumar ordered the excise department is working on new liquor policy. - Marathi, Bengali films shortlisted for UNESCO Fellini Medal
Marathi film Katyar Kaljat Ghusali directed by Subodh Bhave and Kaushik Gangualy Bengali film Cinemawala are among the twelve films shortlisted for UNESCO Fellini Medal.
International Film Festival India (IFFI) 2015 in collaboration with the International Council for Film, Television and Audiovisual Communication (ICFT), Paris will present a special ICFT prize consisting of the UNESCO Fellini Medal. The award goes to a film, which reflects the ideals promoted by UNESCO.
The other films competing for the Fellinin Medal include Among the Believers, Mina Walking, Embrace of the Serpent, The Last Reel, The Pearl Button, Land and Shade, Enclave, Wawa no Cidal, . Ain and Valiya Chirakulla Pakshikal.
When Italian film director Federico Fellini died in 1993, UNESCO’s Member States had just adopted a General Conference resolution calling for the safeguarding of the cinematographic heritage.
An appeal was launched to the international community inviting governments, industry and the public to participate in a campaign to keep the seventh art alive. The Fellini medal was first unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1995. - Govt makes use of plastic waste in road construction mandatory
The government has made it mandatory to use waste plastic along with bituminous mixes for road construction to overcome the growing problem of disposal of plastic waste in India's urban centers.
Road developers will now have to use waste plastic along with hot mixes for constructing bitumen roads within 50 km of periphery of any city that has a population of over five lakh.
In recently released guidelines, the government said that in case of non-availability of waste plastic, the developer has to seek the road transport & highways ministry's approval for constructing only bitumen roads. According to the reports, India generates 56 lakh tonne of plastic waste annually.
As per a study by the Central Pollution Control Board, 60 large cities in India generate over 15,000 tonne of plastic waste every day. Delhi generates close to 7,000 tonne of waste every day, of which over 10 per cent is pure plastic but cannot be disposed even by waste-to-energy plants because of environmental reasons. In an observation earlier this year, the Supreme Court had said that the country was sitting on a plastic time bomb. - Telangana Government in favour of private varsities Act
Telangana state Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on 26th November asked Education Minister Kadiyam Srihari about his thoughts on allowing private universities in the State and how an Act in this regard could be brought about. According to Chief Minister if such an Act is made, it will allow private players to set up universities in the State which will help lakhs of students. - Lok Sabha adopts resolution committing to uphold Constitution
The Lok Sabha on 27th November adopted a resolution affirming commitment to the principles and ideals of the Constitution and resolve to uphold and maintain its sanctity and supremacy. The resolution was adopted at the end of the two day special sittings of the House on commitment to India's constitution to commemorate 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Dr B R Ambedkar.
The resolution read out by the Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said, the House resolved to protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of the country and its democratic, socialist and secular character. The House also resolved to maintain transparency, probity and accountability in public life and dedicate itself to equality and social justice and contribute to the task of building a strong republic. - In-principle nod for martyr status for paramilitary personnel
Personnel from the paramilitary forces who die in the line of duty will be accorded the status of a martyr. The Home Ministry has given an in-principle approval for it. This was disclosed by the Border Security Force (BSF) Director General D K Pathak.
Associations of retired paramilitary forces and those serving them have been seeking martyr status for personnel, who sacrifice their lives for the country. The 7th Central Pay Commission has also batted for granting martyr status to personnel of central paramilitary forces, on the lines of armed forces. - Kerala to have NRI Commission
The Kerala cabinet decided to set up a NRI Commission. With this, Kerala becomes the second state after Punjab to have such a body. A retired high court judge will be the chairman, and the members will comprise a retired Indian Administrative Service officer, two representatives of the Kerala diaspora and a state government official of the rank of a joint secretary.
Even though there is a special NRI Police Cell, there are limitations in its functioning but with the commission being a quasi-judicial body, diaspora complainants can engage a lawyer who will be appearing before the panel and the complainant need not waste his/her time, unlike when police handles such cases.
The Kerala diaspora has always been regarded as the backbone of the state economy and latest studies reveal that the number of Kerala emigrants as in 2014 was 23.63 lakh, with 90 percent settled in various Middle Eastern and Gulf countries. During the 12-month period ending March 1, 2014, their total remittances stood at Rs.72,680 crore. - Villages pass resolution against Jaitapur project
Around 13 villages, surrounding the proposed 9900 MW Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project, have passed a resolution against the plant even as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is scheduled to visit India during which he is likely to seal the pending civil nuclear agreement.
Interestingly, the list not only includes villages which will be directly affected by the project but also those which are not but situated in the vicinity. The villagers will also be writing a letter to Mr. Abe, urging him to not sign any nuclear agreement.
Japanese companies Mitsubishi, Toshiba and Hitachi provide technology to French Areva and the U.S. – based Westinghouse and GE respectively. These companies are responsible for setting up nuclear plants at Jaitapur in Maharashtra, Mithivardi in Gujarat and Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh.
The 13 villages — Madban, Mithgavhane, Sakhri-Natye, Natye, Ambolgad, Dhaulvalli, Sagve, Solgaon, Dhopeshwar, Mogre, Rajwadi, Jaitapur and Devache Gothne — have decided to stand up against the project. The resolution cite radioactivity, nuclear waste, unproven EPR technology to be used in the project and cost of the electricity are the reasons behind their opposition.
While the land acquisition process for the project is already over, it has not moved ahead since several techno-commercial agreements are yet to be finalised. - Fee regulatory panel formed in Telangana
Telangana Government on 28th Novbember constituted an Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee for professional courses offered in private unaided institutions in the State.
Retired High Court judge Justice P Swaroop Reddy has be made chairman of the committee and several experts from academia appointed as members. JNTUH registrar N Yadaiah, Gandhi Hospital Prof P V Chalam, Chartered Accountant GV Laxman Rao, advocate K Ravinder Reddy are among the few experts of various walks of life who are appointed as members.
Similarly, JNTUH vice chancellor (for engineering courses), Kaloji Narayana Rao Health University vice chancellor (for medical courses) and Osmania University vice chancellor (for B Ed and other courses) were appointed as members. The AFRC committee also has members from the Finance Department besides higher education council chairman, technical education official, Medical Council of India member, Bar Council of India member, National Council for Teacher Education member and others. - Telecom panel approves in-principle Trai's views on spectrum cap
Inter-ministerial panel telecom commission has in-principle approved Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai) recommendation on determining spectrum holding limits and sought suggestions from the sector regulator to implement it in future auctions.
The spectrum cap — the limit of radiowaves a telecom operator can hold for providing wireless services — is 50 per cent in a spectrum band identified fit for transmitting mobile signals and 25 per cent of the total such spectrum assigned in a telecom circle.
Trai in July had said that unallocated telecom spectrum should also be counted while determining limit of radiowaves that a company can hold — a suggestion if implemented would widen capacity of telcos to hold more spectrum.
According to telecom sector experts, Trai's rules will improve other operator's ability to buy more spectrum which will lead to not only decongesting networks but also help in facilitating much-needed market consolidation. The panel, which is represented by Secretaries from DoT, Finance, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and others, will then firm up its recommendation on the matter which will be send to the Telecom Minister for final approval.
As per an expert, if Trai's view is implemented then it will enable Bharti Airtel acquire an additional 5 MHz of spectrum in Delhi in either 1800 or 2100 MHz band-- both these can be used for 4G services.
The regulator definition will also help Airtel's ability to buy additional spectrum for mobile internet services in nine more telecom circles including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Kolkata, Tamil Nadu. Double bedroom launched in Hyderabad
The Telangana government is planning to construct 60,000 double bedroom houses in 119 Assembly constituencies in the State at a cost of Rs 4,000 crore in the next three years. This was announced by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao while formally launching his government’s flagship programme of constructing two-bedroom houses for the poor at IDH Colony near Bhoiguda in Secunderabad on 16th November.
It was on Vijaya Dasami on October 3, 2014 that KCR had promised that two bedroom houses would be constructed at IDH Colony by next Vijaya Dasami in 2015. The double bedroom houses were built with all amenities like road, drainage, water, power and others. KCR gave away the house site pattas to as many as 396 beneficiaries at the programme. Each house was built in 580 sqft area with all facilities. - HC seeks to know Telangana steps to save distressed ryots
The Hyderabad high court on 16th November sought to know from the Telangana government the steps being taken to save farmers from despair due to recurrent crop failures. The bench of acting Chief Justice Dilip B Bhosale and Justice S V Bhatt was dealing with petitions deploring official apathy towards farmers and the prevailing agrarian crisis.
Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) chief Prof Kodandaram got the high court nod to be one of the petitioners on 16th November. His counsel B Rachana told the court that though several farmers committed suicide in Telangana, the state did not declare drought. "Such a declaration will bring in central assistance," she said.
Though AP has filed its counter in this case, Telangana is yet to do so. Its counsel sought some more time to file the same. The bench gave him a week's time to file the counter. - Govt to impart digital literacy training to 52.5 lakh by 2016
Government has advanced the deadline for making 52.5 lakh people digitally literate, under National Digital Literacy Mission, by a year to 2016 than end of 2017 fixed earlier.
The Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (DISHA) or National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLM) Scheme has been formulated to impart IT training to 52.5 lakh persons, including Anganwadi and ASHA workers and authorised ration dealers in all states/UTs across the country so that the non-IT literate citizens are trained to become IT literate. - Chittoor’s mayor shot dead in AP
In Andhra Pradesh, the Mayor of Chittoor Katari Anuradha belonging to the ruling Telugu Desam Party was shot and stabbed to death in her chamber by some unknown miscreants. Her husband Katari Mohan, a senior TDP leader sustained two bullet injuries and was shifted to the Christian Medical College (CMC) Hospital in Vellore, Tamil Nadu from the local hospital as his condition deteriorated further.
The incident occurred in the Chittoor Municipal Corporation office premises when the Mayor and her husband were in the Mayor’s Chamber. The couple were shot at point blank and were also attacked with knives. The attackers escaped immediately from the spot leaving the injured in a pool of blood. Anuradha, the first woman mayor of the town died before being taken to hospital. - India moves up 6 spots to 108 on global gender index
India's ranking on the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index has moved up six spots to 108 in 2015 from 114 in 2014. Iceland leads the ranking, followed by Norway, Finland and Sweden. Among the developing economies, China ranks ahead of India at 91, while Brazil was ranked 85 out of 145 countries.
The Global Gender Gap Index is constructed on the basis of the gap between men and women in each country across four sub-indices, namely, economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.
On each of the sub-indices, India fares poorly with the exception of political empowerment. The jump in overall rankings over the previous year is largely because the percentage of women in ministerial positions has more than doubled from nine per cent in 2014 to 22 per cent in 2015.
According to the report, India has "improved across most sub-indices, and, in fact, is the region's most-improved country on political empowerment. Nevertheless, it has regressed on economic participation and opportunity and is the world's least-improved country on the health and survival sub-index".
On the sub-index of economic participation and opportunity which measures the gap between men and women in labour force participation, remuneration and advancement, India ranks 139 out of 145 countries.
Among the BRICS, South Africa has improved its labour force participation gap by 18 per cent, while India has widened its gap by seven per cent. On this index, India ranks behind even Saudi Arabia.
India's poor performance on the index is largely due to a decrease in wage equality for similar work and less female labour force participation. This poor score places the country third-lowest in the region.
On educational attainment, which is estimated by calculating the gap between women's and men's current access to education, India ranks 125, behind countries such as Gambia, Tajikistan and Nepal.
Similarly, on health and survival India fares poorly. It ranks 143, well behind countries like Pakistan, Liberia and Mozambique.
A country's performance on this index is calculated by estimating the difference between women's and men's health through the sex ratio at birth and the gap between their life expectancy.
According to the report, while India's performance on educational attainment, and health and survival scores have improved, the country ranks third-lowest in the region and third-lowest in the world on both sub-indices.
On political empowerment, India ranks higher at nine largely due to the sharp increase in women in ministerial positions. While India gets the benefit of having a woman as Prime Minister, the increase in the ratio of women to men in minister-level positions and the ratio of women to men in parliamentary positions has also helped its position. - Supreme Court asks Centre to formulate draft memorandum of procedure for appointments of judges
The Supreme Court on 18th November asked the Centre to formulate a draft memorandum of procedure based on suggestions for appointments of judges to be made by collegium. The Apex court dispersed to decide whether five judge bench can alter the procedure set out by the nine judge bench. - Cabinet approval setting up NARF in Hyderabad
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the proposal of the Department of Health Research in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for setting up of a National Resource Facility for Bio-medical Research (NARF) at Genome Valley in Hyderabad by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR). The estimated project cost is Rs. 338.58 crores and the resource center is expected to be functional by 2018-19.
The institution will be the first of its kind for quality laboratory animals for basic and applied biomedical research in the country. It will be developed as a world-class facility for breeding and housing of animals such as primates, cabines and other specialized models such as transgenic and knockout rodents required for testing of various R&D products.
The facility will create, develop and provide access to a range of laboratory animals and related technological resources for advancement of biomedical research in the country, mainly to facilitate research in medical colleges, research and academic institutions, universities and Biotech/Bio-pharma companies.
The facility will also provide training facilities for personnel in the specialized areas in the field of biomedical research.
The State Government has allotted 102.69 acres of land at Genome Valley, Hyderabad, free of cost, to the ICMR for Establishment of National Animal Resource Facility (NARF) for Biomedical Research. - TS govt sought report on drought-hit mandals
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao asked the chief secretary to finalize the number of drought hit mandals as per central guidelines in Telangana from the "preliminary reports submitted by the district collectors. The officials have been asked to submit their report in the next three or four days
As per the report submitted by the committee headed by the chief secretary, 225 of the 459 agriculture mandals were identified as drought-hit. The committee submitted its report to the chief minister in October first week. While the state government chose to sit on the report, the Centre on November 10 announced Rs 1,540 crore in drought related aid for the neighbouring Karnataka, which sought an assistance of Rs 3,050 crore in September.
The release from the CMO said as per the preliminary reports, the number of drought-hit mandals in Telangana is a little over 200. Once a fresh report is submitted to the chief minister, it would be forwarded to the central government for financial assistance, the release added.
Among other states that have sought central relief are Odisha, which has sought about Rs 3,500 crore, Madhya Pradesh Rs 2,400 crore, Chhattisgarh Rs 4,000 crore and Maharashtra sought Rs 4,330 crore. According to official records, 307 districts across the country have been declared drought-hit and 20 states, including Andhra Pradesh, have sent their reports on crop losses by October 15. - TS village first step for Intel’s Ek Kadam Unnati Ki Aur
Chipmaker Intel has rolled out its ‘Ek Kadam Unnati Ki Aur’ programme towards rural digitisation in 10 States from Nadimpalle village in Telangana.
Announcing the setting up of the first Unnati Kendra at the village in Mahabubnagar district, Intel vice-president , Sales and Marketing Group and Managing Director-South Asia Debjani Ghosh said the company will work with Central and the State governments to identify “best framework” for digitisation.
Telangana IT Secretary Jayesh Ranjan said the State government plans to take its e-panchayat initiative, launched on October 2 in 100 villages, to thousands of other rural areas. Noting that e-panchayat is independent of the Intel’s programme, he said under the State government initiative a range of services, from issue of birth certificates, access to social welfare schemes, banking, purchase of insurance policies to training programmes are being made available.
Each of the e-panchayat facility, under which two desktops, a laptop, printer, scanner and large LED screen are to be provided to all the 8,750 village panchayats, entailed an expenditure of Rs. 2.5 lakh, he said. A woman from the village will manage the facility.
Ek Kadam Unnati Ki Aur, he replied to a query, seeks to spread digital literacy, popularise Intel’s PC on stick device that converts a TV into computing device and offer content from partners such as HP and Snapdeal. The State government, he added, was planning to offer its Mana TV on DTH platform and on Internet. - Govt puts high priority on Interlinking of river initiative
Government has taken up Interlinking of River (ILR) programme under National Perspective Plan on a high priority. According to Water Resources Ministry, Ken - Betwa Link Project, Damanganga - Pinjal Link Project and Par-Tapi-Narmada link project have been completed. It said, the various clearances in respect of Ken-Betwa link project, Phase-I are in the advanced stage of processing.
In addition to National Perspective Plan on interlinking of rivers, National Water Development Agency has taken up the proposals of Intra-State river linking in a vigorous manner. The Ministry said, pre-feasibility reports of 35 Intra-State river linking have been prepared and submitted to concerned State governments.
It said, detailed project reports of two Intra-State river linking projects namely Burhi Gandak-Noon-Baya-Ganga and Kosi-Mechi have already been prepared and submitted to government of Bihar.
The Interlinking of Rivers Programme is critical for enhancing water and food security of the country especially in the water short, drought prone and rainfed farming areas. The Ministry said, government is committed to the Implementation of the ILR Programme through consensus and cooperation of the concerned State Governments. - World Congress on Disaster Management kicks off in Vizag
The second World Congress on Disaster Management started on 19th November Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The Congress is jointly being hosted by the Andhra Pradesh government and Disaster Management, Infrastructure and Control Society (DMICS).
The Second World Congress on Disaster Management will address among a host of other issues- the interconnected, complex and emerging risks in present societies.
The Congress will further explore various dimensions of natural and manmade hazards, vulnerabilities and exposures, their impacts across sectors, and the various efforts and initiatives for building resilience at all levels besides sharing knowledge, experience and discussing strategic and operational level issues for reducing the risks of disasters.
The outcome of the congress will be presented to the government as recommendations. It is estimated that about 1,500 delegates and policy makers from about 100 countries are likely to participate.
The four-day meet will comprise technical sessions, exhibitions, paper presentations and cultural events. The first congress was held in Hyderabad in 2008. - Govt asks six states to submit report on drought situation
The Centre on 19th November asked six drought affected states including Odisha to submit a memorandum for drought relief assistance at the earliest.
The agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh has asked drought affected states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh to immediately intimate the number of drought affected districts and whether drought has been declared in these areas.
The release also said on the receipt of this information, Centre's team will visit states to take stock of the situation and assess the assistance required. - Nitish-Kumar led new Bihar govt sworn in
Senior JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar on 20th November sworn in as chief minister of Bihar for the 5th time. Governor Ramnath Kovind administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr. Kumar and 28 council of minister of new government. Lalu Prasad’s son Tejaswi Yadav and Tejpratap Yadav were sworn in as cabinet ministers. Nitish Kumar has kept department of home affairs, Information and public relations, and general administration department under him.
In council of ministers 28 legislators including some MLCs took oath. 12 legislators each from JD(U) and RJD quota has got berth in new government. - Govt to maintain centralised data on pending litigations
Despite being perceived as the biggest litigant, the government does not maintain a centralised data of pending cases where it is a party. But this is now set to change as the Law Ministry has embarked upon an ambitious project to streamline litigation related data and make it available at a single point.
The Legal Information Management and Briefing System (LIMBS) conceived by the Law Ministry can capture information pertaining to different courts and tribunals and categorise them into various sets of management information system reports for concerned officials to take action
It can send reminders through SMS to official to provide alerts about particular cases coming up for hearing. Law Secretary P K Malhotra has urged other Union Secretaries appoint a joint secretary level officer as the project coordinator to implement LIMBS.
However, the court cases are monitored by the concerned departments and there is no centralised system for collecting information with regard to pendency and status of these cases
According to a status note on the National Litigation Policy pending before the Union Cabinet for approval, government enjoys the dubious distinction of being the largest litigant in the courts involving a big draught on public exchequer. Though there are no official estimates, the Law Ministry believes government is a party in 46 per cent of the cases being contested in various courts, including tribunals, in the country. - President inaugurates first ever World Indology Conference
Indian President Pranab Mukherjee on 21st November inaugurated the first ever three-day World Indology Conference at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
On this occasion, A 'Distinguished Indologist' Award was also presented to Prof Heinrich Freiherr Von Stietencron from Germany.
According to the President of India the three-day conference will discuss various aspects of civilization which will be a source enlightenment and inspiration for people. President also said that global popularisation Yoga will productively safeguard the physical and mental well being of those who adopt it. He also also encouraged youth to study and learn about Ayurvedic practices. - Silchar-Lumding broad gauge rail line in Assam
Indian Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu on 21st November inaugurated the landmark Silchar-Lumding broad gauge rail line in Assam. The rail line brings Assam’s underdeveloped but strategically important Barak Valley on the broad gauge map.
The Lumding-Silchar line is a milestone for connectivity in the northeast region and one of the largest gauge conversion projects of Indian Railways. It cost around 3, 500 crore rupees.
The Lumding-Silchar Gauge Conversion Project under the Northeast Frontier Railway was sanctioned in 1996-97 and was declared a National Project in 2004. The project was hit by insurgency from 2006 to 2009. The Territorial Army had to be deployed to take on the insurgents. The line passes through 21 tunnels and has 75 major bridges and 340 minor bridges along the track. - Grand Alliance wins over two-third majority in Bihar Assembly elections
In Bihar, the Grand Alliance has registered a big win by securing 178 seats in the 243-member legislative assembly, marching well ahead of the two-third mark of 162. Of this, RJD bagged 80 seats, JDU 71 and Congress 27. NDA has secured 58 seats of which BJP has got 53 seats. LJP and RLSP have bagged two seats each while HAM has got one seat. Others have won seven seats.
RJD President Lalu Prasad's two sons Tej Pratap and Tejashvi Yadav have won their seats from Mahua and Raghopur assembly constituenies.
The legislative assembly election was being held over five-phases in Bihar through October–November 2015
This election saw highest voter turnout in Bihar assembly polls since 2000, with overall 56.8% voter turnout in this election
The Grand Alliance- It consists of- Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal, and Indian National Congress
- Janata dal contested in 101 seats and won 71
- Rashtriya Janata Dal contested in 101 and won 80
- Indian national Congress contested in 41 and won 27
NDA alliance- Bharatiya Janata Party – contested in 159, won 53
- Lok Janshakti Party- contested 40, won 2
- Rashtriya Lok Samata Party- contested 23, won 2
- Hindustani Awam Morcha, contested 21, won 1
- House panel seeks views on climate impact on food
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture has sought expert and individual views on tackling food security in the face of the growing impact of climate change on crops.
Headed by BJP leader Hukum Deo Narayan Yadav, the panel has invited suggestions within three weeks on subjects such as the need to evolve new varieties of crops that can withstand climatic fluctuation, improved methods of irrigation, popularisation of consumption of crops/fruits that can provide better nutrition, developing indigenous varieties of cattle that can withstand extreme climatic stress, among other things. After getting the suggestions, the Standing Committee will take oral evidence on the subject. - Telangana launches cleanliness drive under Swachh Hyderabad initiative
In Telangana state, a major drive to keep Hyderabad clean has been launched under the Swachh Hyderabad initiative in line with the Swachh Bharat programme. Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao has formally flagged off over one thousand auto trollies at a special programme to collect segregated garbage at source.
He also launched distribution of two dustbins to each of 44 lakh households for segregate dry and wet garbage separately. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is providing the dustbins of two colours to every household and it will be completed by the month-end.
The state government is spending about Rs.42 crore on garbage bins for segregation of dry solid waste or non-biodegradable and recyclable, and wet municipal solid waste or biodegradable waste, which is mandatory as per the Municipal Solid Waste Rules and National Green Tribunal orders. - OROP issues for judicial committee
Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has said that any issue relating to OROP can be taken up with the judicial committee set up by government to make it fool-proof. Mr. Modi said this while visiting military installations associated with the 1965 Indo-Pak war and interacting with the troops. - Hyderabad Records Highest Level of Office Net Absorption
According to the latest report on commercial office space market released by Cushman & Wakefield, a global property consultant, net absorption in the eight cities (including Mumbai, Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), Kolkata, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad) in July-September quarter declined by over 50 percent to 5.4 million sqft (msf) over same period last year, but Hyderabad staged a comeback.
Hyderabad in Telangana recorded highest levels of office net absorption and Mumbai leads pre-commitment in Q3 2015 (July-September) while Bangalore saw a decline in both net absorption and pre-commitments in the same period. - India ranks 127th on gender inequality index out of 142 countries: Report
India ranks 141st out of 142 nations and 2062 districts in the world that are categorized as gender critical when it comes to health and survival of women as compared to men. As a whole the country ranks 127th on gender inequality index and 114th on gender gap in the world.
Pam Rajput, chairperson of the high-level committee on status of women, formed by the central government revealed that India needs 200 million more women to join the formal workforce to improve the GDP as targeted in 2025.
As per McKinsey's report in 2013—The Power of Parity: How advancing women's equality can add $12 trillion to global growth of which Indian alone can contribute to $700 billion and upping the country's GDP by 1.4 points.
On 12th November, the report of the committee with shocking revelations was discussed at length during the International Conference on Gender Equality 2015, organized by UN Women and Kerala government. This event was of prime importance for Kerala as it released the first ever policies for transgender community in the state.
The report claims that only 30.3% of women are in the workforce in India as per the World Bank WDI report among the eight South East Asian countries and ranks 134th in the world when it comes to economic participation of women. Nepal has the highest with 83.1% women formally employed.
Rajput says that this is after 40 years that the country is looking at a comprehensive report on status of women after 1974 and has sent recommendations to the Centre to frame a national action plan that would commit to zero tolerance towards violence against women. - IISc breaks into list of top 100 universities
The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore broke India's poor ranking spell by making a debut in the world's top 100 universities for engineering and technology.
IISc made its entry at 99th spot in a list that remains dominated by US institutions with Stanford, CalTech and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the top three positions in the 'Times Higher Education (THE) Ranking for Engineering & Technology'.
This year's stand out success story has to be India, making its debut in this prestigious engineering and technology ranking, which represents the top few per cent of world universities for these subject disciplines.
THE has singled out the year as one of Asian progress, with the US holding 31 positions down from 34 last year while Asia holds 25 positions in the Top 100, up from 18 last year. Asian universities occupied six positions in the Top 30 this year, with Japan, China, Kora, Taiwan and India all improving their representation, while Singapore and Hong Kong maintained theirs. - Right to maintenance of Hindu widow is spiritual & moral right: Supreme Court
Supreme Court has ruled that the right to maintenance of a Hindu widow is not a "mere formality" but a spiritual and moral right. A bench, headed by Justice M Y Eqbal, ruled that such right can be judicially enforced upon by claiming "absolute right" on the property given to her for sustaining herself.
The apex court upheld a verdict of Andhra Pradesh High Court which was in favour of a widow who had transferred the property willed to her by her husband for her lifetime to a relative. - Manohar Parrikar dedicates Indian Navy’s Boeing P-8I to nation
Giving a boost to the firepower and arsenal of the Indian Armed Forces, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on 13th November dedicated the Boeing P 8 I (Poseidon Eight India) Long Range Maritime Patrol aircraft to the nation, at INS Rajali, Arakkonam, India's premiere Naval Air Station in southern India, about 70 Km off Chennai.
The P-8I aircraft is a variant of the P-8A Poseidon aircraft that Boeing developed as a replacement for the US Navy’s ageing P-3 fleet.
Indian Navy became the first international customer for the P-8 aircraft with the conclusion of the nearly US $ 2.1 billion contract on 01 Jan 2009 for a total of eight aircraft. The first aircraft arrived in India on the 15 May 2013 and as of date; all eight aircraft have been inducted into the Indian Navy and are fully integrated into its operations.
The P-8I aircraft is equipped for long range anti submarine warfare, anti -surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in support of broad area, maritime and littoral operations. Its communication and sensor suite includes indigenous equipment developed by defence PSUs and private manufacturers.
With its high speed and high endurance of about 10 hours, the aircraft is capable of thrusting a punitive response and maintaining a watch over India’s immediate and extended areas of interest. - Telangana to allow motor insurance in digital form
Telangana Government has decided Vehicle owners to carry their motor insurance policies in digital form. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has asked all general insurers to issue policies in the electronic form in addition to a physical copy.
As a part of its digital initiative, the Government of Telangana has agreed o recognise the electronic version of motor insurance policies as evidence of insurance of vehicles. Electronic motor policies will lead to cost efficiency, faster delivery of policies and help curb fraud, the official added.
Verification of electronic policies can be done with a Quick Response (QR) Code to make it easier for the enforcement agencies. The insurance regulator has also prescribed that the general insurers should incorporate a QR code. Further, they may set up a self-service portal for the benefit of existing policyholders whose policies do not have a QR code.
In case of existing motor insurance policies submitted for endorsements or modifications on or after December 1, the polices will be issued an endorsement whether in electronic or physical form only along with a QR Code.
From January 1, 2016, things will become easier as a mechanism by which a mobile version of an electronic policy being developed will be in place. It can be downloaded on to any Smartphone. - Naval Ship “Vishwakarma” commissioned
Shipwright School, a premier technical establishment and alma mater for Naval Architect Officers, Shipwright Officers and Shipwright Sailors of the Indian Navy, has been commissioned as Indian Naval Ship “Vishwakarma” by Admiral RK Dhowan, Chief of the Naval Staff, at a formal ceremony held on 14th November at Visakhapatnam.
Vice-Admiral Satish Soni, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command, Vice-Admiral Sunil Lamba, Flag Officer-Commanding-in-Chief and Southern Naval Command were among those present on the occasion. The event commenced with an impressive parade which was reviewed by the Chief of Naval Staff. Thereafter, Commodore Ajay Ghule, Commanding Officer (Designate) read out the Commissioning Warrant.
This was followed by hoisting of the Naval Ensign and playing of the National Anthem, in accordance with the time honoured customs and traditions of the Indian Navy. This would go a long way transforming the Indian Navy to a designer’s and builder’s Navy in keeping with the “Make in India” vision. He also highlighted Navy’s commitment and resolve for Make in India. - International Children's Film Festival of India begins in Hyderabad
Minister of I and B Rajyavardan Singh Rathod has kick started the 19th edition of the International Children's Film Festival of India in Hyderabad on 14th November. He formally thrown open the week long children's film festival by releasing balloons. - Railways launches ‘Vikalp’ for waitlisted passengers to get confirmed berth
Railways on 1st November kick started a new scheme under which wait listed passengers can get confirmed accommodation in next alternative train if they opt for the option while booking their tickets online. Known as Vikalp, the alternative train accommodation scheme will take off in trains running on Delhi-Lucknow and Delhi-Jammu sectors from today on a pilot basis. The Vikalp scheme will initially be available only for the tickets booked through internet for six months and option will be limited to mail and express trains on the two selected routes. - SC notice to Centre over improper implementation of MGNREGA
The Supreme Court on 2nd November took note of a PIL alleging improper implementation of MGNREGA in terms of timely payment of wages and compensation and asked the government to make the payments promptly.
A bench comprising Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justice Amitava Roy said, States should wake up and make prompt payments, while issuing notice to the Ministry of Rural Development.
The apex court was hearing a plea by RTI activist Aruna Roy and others. The petitioners have claimed that irregularities in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) have eroded the entire objective of securing livelihood for the people of rural India. - Jual Oram inaugurates National Tribal Crafts Mela 'Aadishilp'
Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram on 2nd November inaugurated 11th National Tribal Crafts Mela Aadishilp in Delhi. More than 90 tribal artisans from all over the country are showcasing the unique and exquisite tribal artefacts at the fare at INA Dilli Haat which will remain till 11th of this month.
According to TRIFED Executive Director S.K Gullaiya, the main objective of organising Aadishilp is to give tribal artisans an opportunity to showcase and sell their traditional art and craft works directly to the customers and get their valuable feedback. Aadishilp provides them a platform for direct interface with art and craft lovers, share their talent with the urban elite and know the customers taste and preferences.
The hand crafted items, handloom products, dry flowers, cane and bamboo products, tribal jewellery, Dhokra craft, tribal weaves and embroidery, tribal paintings and lot more are being presented by these artisans in the exhibition. - Govt to organize first International film festival for persons with disabilities
The first International Film Festival for Persons with Disabilities organised by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment will be held in New Delhi from 1st to 3rd December.
A total of 40 films have been selected for screening during the three day festival, out of which 13 are Indian and 24 foreign films. Yellow, a National Award winning Marathi feature film, will be the inaugural movie of the Festival. An inclusive audience, including school children, experts and differently-abled persons will be invited in the screenings. Several workshops on children, film directing and screen writing will also be conducted. - Google gets government nod to beam internet from balloons
Internet giant Google is working with the government on a pilot project for providing internet connectivity by using large balloons.
Google, under its Project Loon, is using big balloons floating at a height of 20-kilometres above Earth surface for transmission of internet services. It has already tested this technology in New Zealand, California (the US) and Brazil.
Google approached government to set up the Loon project and drone-based internet transmission. Government has approved testing of Loon project only as of now. A committee under chairmanship of Secretary, DeitY, has been formed to work on it. Google may initially partner with BSNL for testing this technology by using broadband spectrum in 2.6GHz band.
The technology, used for 4G services, has potential to replace mobile towers as it can directly transmit signals on 4G mobile phones. As per Google, each balloon can provide connectivity to a ground area about 40 km in diameter using a wireless communications technology called LTE or 4G.
To use LTE, Project Loon partners with telecommunications companies to share cellular spectrum so that people will be able to access the Internet everywhere directly from their phones and other LTE-enabled devices. Google uses solar panel and wind to power electronic equipment in the balloon throughout the day. - AP Cabinet decides to set up Kapu quota commission
The Cabinet on 2nd November decided to establish a commission to finalise the guidelines of including the community in the list of Backward Classes (BCs).
The commission will study the modalities of extending reservation in education and employment to the numerically strong community and suggest measures to avoid running into any legal hurdles. Further, the Cabinet decided to allocate Rs.100 crore for different welfare measures exclusively for Kapus and ensure regular financial support for the Kapu Corporation.
In other significant decisions, the Government decided to consider including more administrative units in the list of drought-affected mandals and decided to auction 430-odd government-owned liquor outlets.
Heeding to the Opposition demand, the Cabinet decided to re-examine the possibility of adding more mandals to the drought-hit list. The Government had declared 196 mandals in 13 districts as drought-hit but there was an uproar from the Opposition that many mandals with deficit rainfall were left out. By the next Cabinet meeting, more mandals are likely to be added to the list.
The decision to put 438 government-owned liquor outlets on the auction block is a complete reversal of the TDP Government’s decision back in July to keep 10 per cent of the 4380 liquor vends for itself. That was billed as a major departure from earlier policy, and meant to ensure that liquor was sold to people at the maximum retail price (MRP). But staffing and logistics problems ensure that the policy never got going, and on Monday the Cabinet decided to put even those outlets up for auction. Through this basement sale of 438 outlets, the Government aims to generate about Rs.700 crore. - Daughters cannot inherit ancestral property if father died before 2005: SC
Supreme Court has said that a daughter's right to ancestral property does not arise if the father died before the amendment to Hindu law came into force in 2005. Apex court held that amended provisions of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, do not have retrospective effect. The father would have to be alive on 9th of September, 2005, if the daughter were to become a co-sharer with her male siblings.
The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 did not give daughters inheritance rights in ancestral property. However, the Congress-led UPA government modified this Act on September 9th, 2005.
Earlier, women could only ask for sustenance from a joint Hindu family. The only restriction in force after the passage of this amendment was that women could not ask for a share if the property had been alienated or partitioned before December 20, 2004, the date the Bill was introduced. But now the Supreme Court has added this new restriction. - Uber rape case: life term for convict
In Uber rape case, Delhi court pronounces life imprisonment for convict Shiv Kumar Yadav; Yadav held guilty of offence of rape, endangering life of victim; criminal intimidation and causing hurt.
The accused driver Shiv Kumar Yadav has been held guilty of raping a woman passenger in his taxi and trying to strangulate her while committing the act last year. The Court had on 20th of last month held Yadav guilty of offences under various sections of the IPC.
The incident took place on the night of December 5 last year when the victim, a finance executive working in Gurgaon, was heading back to her house. Accused driver Shiv Kumar Yadav was arrested on December 7, 2014 from Mathura and is currently in judicial custody. - Govt. to SC: Make collegium transparent
The Supreme Court on 3rd November observed that there can't be wholesale changes in the collegium system of appointing higher judiciary. The Apex court has stressed on 4 important aspects, transparency, minimum eligibility criteria, secretariat of collegium and its composition and how to deal with complaints that comes against prospective appointment.
The Supreme Court also nominated two lawyers to collect suggestions on these aspects for improving the collegium system.
Appearing for the Union Govt, Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi told the apex court that the Collegium should not act without recording reasons while appointing a particular person as a judge. He also said a prescribed criteria and minimum eligibility for the appointment of judges should be in the public domain. The Supreme Court will review the suggestions and inputs from the parties on 5th November. - Nuclear accident liability: no exemption for foreign suppliers
Foreign suppliers of nuclear power plants such as GE, Areva and Westinghouse will not be exempt from liability if an accident occurs, under the insurance structure proposed by the government for such plants. However, the direction in which negotiations are heading might leave domestic suppliers such as L&T free from such a liability.
According to Sekhar Basu, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, foreign suppliers will need to take a cover of Rs. 1,500 crore from their insurance provider. This amount is the same as that the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd is to take.
However, NPCIL can access the India Nuclear Insurance Pool, which will not be available to foreign suppliers. The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act provides the right of recourse to NPCIL and allows it to sue suppliers in case of an accident. - Rajasthan govt relaxes two-child policy for its employees
Rajasthan Cabinet has decided to relax the two-child policy which was applicable to the state government employees, allowing them to have a third child in case of remarriage. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.
As per a government notification in June 2000, a candidate having more than two children is not eligible for government recruitment. An employee, whose third child is born after recruitment, is not given promotion for five years.
It was also decided by the Cabinet that permission from Finance department and Department of personnel will not be required for engaging retired government employees on contract basis in government departments. - Railways to have independent mechanism to fix fares
Railways is planning to set up an independent institutional mechanism for deciding passenger fares and freight tariff based on efficiency. According to Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, the Railways will have an institutional mechanism which will take into account the efficiency to decide passenger fare and freight rate. He further said that there will be a new law enacted by Parliament for the purpose. The Minister said, the Government will consult with Opposition on this and a new law be legislated.
Mr Prabhu also said that Railways is taking initiatives to save 5,000 crore rupees on energy bill in the next three years. He said energy bill is the second biggest challenge for Railways. Currently Railways spend about 22,000 crore rupees on diesel and about 13,000 crore rupees on electricity. - President launches research initiative IMPRINT
Indian President Pranab Mukherjee on 5th November launched IMPRINT India, a joint initiative of country's top educational institutes, aimed at developing a roadmap for research to solve major engineering and technology challenges relevant to India at present.
The initiative is based on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's suggestion that research done by institutions of national importance must be linked with immediate requirements of the society at large.
According to Pranab Mukherjee it is necessary to develop in our students a scientific temper, which allows the flight of imagination beyond the realm of grades and classrooms.
The objectives of this initiative are:- To identify areas of immediate relevance to society requiring innovation
- Direct scientific research into identified areas
- Ensure higher funding support for research into these areas and measure outcomes of the research effort with reference to impact on the standard of living in the rural and urban areas.
- Ground Zero Summit 2015 inaugurated
Indian Home minister Rajnath Singh on 5th November inaugurated the Ground Zero Summit 2015 being organized in the national capital to provide opportunities to establish and strengthen relationships between corporate, public sector undertakings (PSUs), government departments, security and defence establishments. - Collegium system to public scrutiny
The Supreme Court on 5th November threw open the collegium system to public scrutiny and invited the common man from every part of the country to give his opinion on what kind of persons should be appointed as judges of the highest courts.
Judicial appointments to the Supreme Court and the High Courts were based entirely on the Memoranda of Procedure framed after a nine-judge Bench of the Supreme Court established the collegium system. The public had never been consulted in these matters. - AP Govt. diverts tribal land for bauxite mining
The Andhra Pradesh State Government has decided to divert 1,212 hectares in Chintapalli and Jerrila reserve forest in Narsipatnam division for bauxite mining.
In orders issued the Government said the legal status of the forest land being diverted would remain unchanged and directed the Forest Department to raise and maintain compensatory afforestation on non-forest land equal in extent to the land that is being diverted for mining.
Fencing, protection and regeneration of the safety area as also afforestation of degraded forest land elsewhere is required to be done at project cost. The user agency should involve locals in the afforestation drive wherever necessary.
It should restrict mining to 35 hectares a year and the mining should be block by block the order said. The agency should obtain environmental clearance in accordance with the provisions of the Environmental (Protection) Act 1986 and the period of diversion of the forest land should be co-terminus with the period of the mining lease proposed to be granted. The user agency should implement a comprehensive wild life protection and management plan in consultation with the State Forest Department, it added. - Centre will set up nationwide emergency response system for women
The Centre will set up a Nationwide Emergency Response System to provide emergency assistance to the women in distress. In case of any kind of emergency or in distress, the women can seek assistance on telephone number 112. - Chhota Rajan brought to India; CBI meets Mumbai Police
The Maharashtra Government transferred all cases related to Rajan to the CBI because of its expertise in "handling transnational crimes". Underworld don Chhota Rajan landed at the Air Force Station in Palam in a special chartered plane on 6th November.
He was brought in from Bali after due procedure, escorted by officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation, Mumbai police and the Delhi police Special Cell to the CBI headquarters. Ahead of his arrival in India, Maharashtra government handed over all cases related to the underworld don to the CBI. Rajan faces 70 criminal cases under various sections of TADA, POTA and MCOCA in Mumbai.
After being arrested Rajan had expressed reservation about being lodged in a Mumbai jail, fearing that his arch-rival and India's most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim may target him there. In 2000, there was an attempt on Rajan's life when Dawood's men tracked him down to a hotel in Bangkok but he managed a dramatic escape by jumping from the first floor of the hotel.
The 55-year-old gangster's real name is Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje. He will be kept in the national capital where various investigating agencies will question him. Chhota Rajan claims to have evidence to nail Dawood Ibrahim and his links with Pakistan's ISI. - Chhota Rajan sent to 10 days CBI custody
A Delhi court on 7th November sent Underworld don Chhota Rajan to a ten day CBI custody. The custody has been given in the fake passport case. Due to security reasons, the proceedings of the court were conducted at the CBI headquarters. Once a close aide of Dawood Ibrahim, Rajan was brought to New Delhi from Indonesia on 6th November.
The gangster was on the run for 27 years and has been brought to the country to face trial in over 70 cases of murder, extortion and smuggling of drugs in Delhi and Mumbai. - IIT panel recommends major changes in entrance exam structure from 2017
The Committee of Eminent Persons constituted by the Council of Indian Institute of Technology has recommended changes in the structure of Joint Entrance Examination, JEE from 2017. The Committee headed by Prof. Ashok Misra submitted its report to the Human Resource Development Minister earlier this week which aimed at weaning away IIT aspirants from the dependence on coaching institutes.
In its report, the Committee has recommended setting up a National Testing Service by early next year to conduct an Aptitude Test to examine the scientific aptitude and innovative thinking ability.
It said, the Aptitude test may be offered 2 or more times in a year and would be an online test. Based on the performance, about 4 lakh candidates will be short-listed for taking the JEE which will be on the lines of the current JEE (Advanced).
After this, ranks will be issued to more than 40,000 students who can seek admission in IITs and NITs based on a common counselling.
It has also been suggested that the IITs should set up a system for developing mock JEE examinations which will help students prepare for the JEE and wean them away from the coaching industry.
The HRD Ministry has decided to put the recommendations of the committee in public domain for wide consultations. It was also decided that the JEE 2016 will be conducted in the same manner as 2015, with an enhanced intake from 1.5 lakh to two lakh into the JEE (Advanced) stage. - Government to set up control room for daily review of air pollution in Delhi
The Centre on 7th November decided to set up a control room to undertake daily review of pollution level and monitor air quality in Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR). Noting that the recent 15-day long smog in Singapore was a warning to all cities including Delhi to become more serious about the issue, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said that the control room will be set up at the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
To bring in more accountability, he said his Ministry will soon issue directions under Section 18 of Air Act to improve the air quality in Delhi and NCR.
The ministry statement while communicating about the meeting said that while Punjab government has started an awareness programme to educate farmers on the ill-effects of burning paddy stubble and biomass, the Rajasthan government had already banned stubble burning in the state through a notification issued in August this year.
In Punjab, mechanised road cleaning has been started in Mohali and it will soon be expanded to include other cities. The Rajasthan government has increased the number of PUC checkpoints from 475 to 800, the statement said. - Andhra Pradesh Govt. decided to set up a hub for manufacturing medical equipment
According to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, the state government had decided to set up a hub for manufacturing medical equipment in the State. In order to strengthen the medical equipment manufacturing sector, the State government had evolved plans to introduce a comprehensive policy relating to promotion of medical equipment manufacturing units.
The Chief Minister said that the State government had decided to promote exports and the Make In India programme launched by the Centre would go a long way in achieving the desired targets in this regard. It is estimated that the market size of the medical equipment manufacturing sector is about Rs.16,000 crore, and 78 per cent of the medical equipment was being imported right now.
This was because of the absence of proper talent and the required infrastructure to promote the sector besides high costs involved in the manufacture of medical equipment as also the trust on domestic brands. The forum favoured setting up of a common facility of device testing lab.
No comments:
Post a Comment