October GK notes Part II

• India would have 100 % electrification for all by May 1, 2017 was the announcement made by the Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal. He has the confident that 100 per cent electrification in rural, Left-Wing Extremism(LWE) districts and dense forests would be achieved by May 1, 2017, a year ahead of the schedule Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

• Supreme Court has widened the scope of the Domestic Violence Act by ordering deletion of the words “adult male” from it, paving the way for prosecution of women and even non-adults for subjecting a woman relative to violence and harassment.The apex court has ordered striking down of the two words from section 2(q) of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, which deals with respondents who can be sued and prosecuted under the Act for harassing a married woman in her matrimonial home.

• India donated Rs.9.3 million (ZAR 2 million) to the Nelson Mandela Foundation to help it in its welfare work for the people of South Africa.

• The Union Government is going to commemorate the birth centenary of social activist and former RSS leader Nanaji Deshmukh from October 11, 2016 to October 11, 2017. It was announced by the Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma during inaugural programmeorganised on the eve of the birth centenary celebrations. 

• The Centre has brought final draft of the National Water Framework Bill, 2016, that stresses managing water at basin-level and “right measurement” of State’s contribution to river system to resolve conflicts.

• Home Minister Rajnath Singh would inaugurate the 10-day ‘Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav’ (RSM) at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi.

• Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (Independent charge) for Culture and Tourism chaired the “First Meeting of the Re-constituted Central Advisory Board on Culture (CABC) in new Delhi.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Vadodara to inaugurate the international terminal at Harni airport on October 22 016.Harni is only the second “green building” airport in country. He would also attend a programme to distribute man-made limbs and other implements to more than 8000 ‘Divyangs’ (disabled persons) in the city. 

• Prime Minister Modi inaugurated three state-run mega hydro power of 1,752 MW capacity in Himachal Pradesh during his day-long maiden visit to the state.He dedicated the 520 Megawatt generation capacity third phase of Parbati hydro power project, 412 Megawatt Rampur project and 800 Megawatt Kol Dam power project to the nation.

• After visiting Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana and he launched two schemes-National SC/ST Huband Zero Defect Zero Effect scheme.

• India’s second eco-friendly airport in Vadodara is all set to open its doors to passengers.The facility has also been rated by Green Ratings of International Habitat Assessment, the highest national rating for green buildings considered by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)

• Activist Irom Sharmila formed a new political party named People’s Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA) ahead of the Assembly polls in Manipur in 2017.

• Supreme Court has appointed an independent auditor to monitor the financial transactions of BCCI and set a threshold beyond which the board will have to take permission from the Lodha Panel.

• The Central Government has proposed a four-slab rate structure for the Goods & Services Tax, ranging from zero to 26 per cent, at a meeting of the GST Council.

• PM Modi launched #Sandesh2Soldiers campaign through which people can send their Diwali greetings and messages to soldiers guarding the nation’s frontiers to boost their morale

• Centre is planning to fast-track four projects in Indus river basin to increase irrigation area in Jammu and Kashmir by nearly 2.05 lakh acres. PM Modi had chaired a meeting to review the 56-year-old Indus Waters Treaty (IWT)last month.

• The first meeting of National Committee on Trade Facilitation (NCTF) was held in New Delhi. The meeting was chaired by Cabinet Secretary P.K.Sinha.

• Finance minister Arun Jaitley released first instalment of special assistance of Rs 1,093.34 crore out of Rs.2000 crore to Jammu & Kashmir for repair and permanent restoration of damaged public buildings such as such as schools, colleges, hospitals, bus stations under Prime Minister Reconstruction Plan which was announced on November 7, 2015

• Govt to invest Rs.1 Lakh Crore to boost road, Inland, Water Transport in Assam to improve connectivity.

• Election Commission of India (ECI) unveiled three IT based Systems – Samadhan, Suvidha, and Sugam to make the election process smooth, effective and transparent.

• The Centre has changed the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 enabling service voters, including armed forces personnel, to cast their vote in elections through e-postal ballot.

• The Supreme Court gave the final decision that it wouldnot re-examine its1995 verdict on Hindutva at this stage as it is not the reference for hearing electoral malpractice issues. The 1995 judgment defined Hindutva ‘as a way of life and not a religion’. SC mentioned it that it wasn’t keen to revisit the debate about philosophy of Hinduism but made it clear religion shouldn’t be used in elections.

• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched the SMS alert service for quarterly Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) for salaried class and also be sent to deductors who have either failed to deposit taxes deducted to e-file their TDS returns by the due date.

• Akshat Prakash, student of Delhi Public School(DPS) has launched an initiative ‘Bagit challenge‘ to involve schools in the national mission towards cleanliness. Prakash from Indirapuram, Ghaziabad.

• The Union Cabinet has cleared 2 percent hike in dearness allowance (DA). The hike will be effective from July 2016.Ahead of Diwali, this move is likely to bring some cheers to around 50 lakh employeesworking with the central government as well as 58 lakh more pensioners.

• The Union Cabinet under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the establishment and operationalization of a National Academic Depository (NAD), which is aimed at bringing another dimension and enhancement of the vision of Digital India.

• The cabinet gave in-principle approval to strategic stake sales in some state-owned companies on the recommendations of the government think tank NITI Aayog. The strategic sale will involve a management control transfer as the shareholding of the government would come down to below 50 per cent.

• The pensioners identity cards given to retired employees would have national emblem as the Home Ministry has cleared a proposal in this regard. The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions has been considering a proposal of issuing identity cards to all the pensioners.

• Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav announced to remove upper age limit for widows and divorced women who are all applying for government jobs. The age limit for government exam is-in general the maximum age limit for Non-Gazetted Posts is 28 years and for Gazetted Posts upper age limit is 26 years.

• The Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has laid the foundation stone of National Institute of Archaeology at Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh

• Union Cabinet given its ex-post facto approval on October 27, 2016 to formation of the Indian Institute of Science Education & Research (IISER) at Berhampur in Odisha under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.

• First Workshop on the use of International Household Survey Network Toolkitwas inagurated by D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation in New Delhi. He also launched the new Website of the Ministry.

• The Delhi government has announced a three-tier air treatment system to deal with rising air pollution in city. It includes setting up of wind purification units, mist fountains and virtual chimney at five major traffic intersections on trial basis.

• The Union Government has ratified a fund of Rs.100crore for various road development works in Vijayapura District under Central Road Fund was announced by Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation Ramesh Jigajng.

• The Inter-State Council has been reconstituted by PM Narendra Modi to facilitate coordination between states and the centre.The new list excludes Smriti Irani, D.V. Sadananda Gowda and HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar is included in the list. The standing committee of the Inter State Council was also reconstituted. It was Chaired by the Home Minister, this committee has SushmaSwaraj, Jaitley, Naidu, and Gadkari, along with chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Chattisgarh, Tripura, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh

PLACES IN NEWS (1 marks)

• Abhaneri’ festival would be held at the Abhaneri village in Dausa district, Rajsthan to promote rural tourism in the area for two days.The festival would witness artistes performing ShehnaiVaadan, puppet show, Behrupia, Raavanhatha, among others at Chand Baori and Harshat Mata temple.

• A major step was taken towards ensuring safety of bridges in the country, when the Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkari formally launched the Indian Bridge Management System (IBMS) in New Delhi.

• Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis declared Nagpur as the first digital district of India in Mumbai. All 776 gram panchayats in Nagpur district have been digitally transformed.

• Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi in the presence of Chief Minister V Narayansamy declared Velrampet lake and surrounding area as open defecation free.

• The Union Cabinet here approved “mini Ratna” public sector undertaking HLL Lifecare to sub-lease its land for setting up the country’s first medical devices manufacturing park in Chennai.

• Madhya Pradesh’s diamond mineral block had been auctioned. The block was believed to have a precious stone deposit worth Rs 106 crore .This is the first diamond mineral block of the country which has gone under the hammer. Hatupur Diamond mineral block was successfully auctioned at Panna district in the Madhya Pradesh.

• The five-day long Durga Puja was celebrated by the Hindu community throughout the state of Nagaland. The Puja celebration began with Sasthi Puja, followed by Mahasaptami, Mahaashtami, Mahanavami, and the Bijaya Dashami, when the celebration would culminate.

• Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis launched the Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration (MCIA), spread over 7,000 square feet at Nariman Point in south Mumbai.

• Telangana, carved out of Andhra Pradesh, came into existence on June 2, 2014 as the 29th state of India with 10 districts.The state government carried out the biggest administrative reform, creating 21 new districts. The total number of districts in the state went up to 31 from 10.

• The Union Cabinet has approved the setting up of an Indian Institute of Management school in Jammu among other approvals that were cleared. The announcement of the establishment of an IIM in Jammu comes as part of PM Narendra Modi’s development package for Jammu and Kashmir. The project will involve a cost of Rs.61.90 crore in temporary campus for the initial four years from 2016 to 2020.

• Petroleum and Natural Gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated the National Seismic Programme(NSP) at Taranga in Baleswar district of Odisha. The NSP aimed to undertake a fresh appraisal in all sedimentary basins across India, especially where no/scanty data is available, to have a better understanding of the hydrocarbon potential of India.

• Odisha celebrated Kumar Purnima festival. It is celebrated on the last day of the Ashwin month, the Kumar Purnima festival is the occasion to observe the birthday of Lord Kartikeswara, the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.

• Suresh Prabhu inaugurated and dedicated the “Okha-Kanalus and Porbandar-Wansjaliya Sections in Gujarat of Western Railways as Green Corridor Sections.

• Arunachal Pradesh is one of the land of tribes. The festivals here are abound with zest and life – based on aspects related to nature and agriculture. Dance is the soul of all the festivals here; performed with pride and belief.

• First ‘Happiness Junction’ of India was inaugurated in Bihar’s Sonepur railway station of the East Central Railway (ECR) by Sonepur Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Manoj Kumar Aggarwal.

• The Uttarakhand High Court ordered a complete ban on the sale of whitener in the state following the death of a teenager from sniffing an excess of it for a kick in the district.

• Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced that the state government has decided to observe 2017 as the “Garib KalyanVarsh”, with schemes to be spread next year for the poor.

• After Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh became Open Defecation Free (ODF) state said by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on October 29, 2016. The hill state of Himachal has become the first large state has successfully achieved a total rural sanitation coverage of 100 per cent in the state in its all 12 districts.

• Haryana become the first state to give the benefit of 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) to its employees with effect from January 1, 2017 said by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.After Haryana, Odisha Government announces to implement recommendations of 7th Pay Commission for its employees from January next year

• Railway Minister launches a new train service between AnandVihar to Ballia in Uttar Pradesh through video-conferencing in New Delhi.

• The Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the function to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the High Court of Delhi. The theme of the Golden Jubilee Celeberations has been fixed as “Justice for all”

• India’s first ‘Design Yatra’ launched by the Institute of Indian Interior Designer(IIID) in Kerala to spread awareness and take designs to the masses, India’s first ‘Design Yatra’,launched by the Institute of Indian Interior Designers(IIID)