Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Daily Current Affairs, 17th September 2019
VisionIAS
18:13
1) Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Amendment Bill, 2019 implemented
•As per the Amendment Act, the Estate officer will issue short Show cause notice of three days before eviction of the unauthorized occupant from Government accommodation.
2) India’s 1st National Antimicrobial Resistance Hub set up in Kolkata
•The centre was jointly inaugurated by the ICMR, in association with the U.S. Consulate of Kolkata and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
3) ECGC launches scheme “Nirvik” to ease the lending process
•During the launch, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal revealed that Central government will give support of Rs 8,500 crore to Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India in the next 5 years.
4) Bangladesh School project wins Aga Khan Architecture Award
•The architect of the project Saif Ul Haque designed a school which remains on the ground during dry season and floats when the area is submerged in water during monsoon. He utilised only the local material-bamboo, used tyres and steel drums for constructing the amphibious structure for school.
5) GSTN makes Aadhaar verification mandatory for new dealers from Jan 2020
•The step has been taken to check malpractices in Goods and Services Tax. In the first phase, Aadhaar authentication will be mandatory for new dealers. Afterwards, all those enrolled on GSTN would be asked to provide their Aadhaar numbers.
6) Trilateral Exercise “SITMEX” Commences at Port Blair
•A maiden trilateral exercise SITMEX, involving Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), Royal Thailand Navy (RTN) and Indian Navy (IN) started at Port Blair. The exercise aims to bolster the maritime inter-relationships among the Singapore Thailand and India, and contribute significantly to enhance the overall maritime security in the region. This would also strengthen the mutual confidence amongst three navies in terms of interoperability and development of a common understanding of procedures.
7) Agnes Kharshiing conferred the 11th International Hrant Dink Award
•The two activists were presented the award that commemorates the memory of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was killed in 2007, in Istanbul. The Hrant Dink Award is presented every year to individuals, organisations or groups that work for a world free from discrimination, racism and violence.
8) Bangladesh PM receives Dr Kalam Smriti International Excellence Award
•The award has been instituted in the memory of former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. The award is given every year to honour statesmen or leaders who have shown excellence in respective fields to achieve the best for their countries.
9) Ramkumar Ramamoorthy appointed as CMD of Cognizant India
Vision IAS Monthly Current Affairs August 2019 [Hindi Medium]
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15:50
Vision IAS Monthly Current Affairs August 2019 [Hindi Medium]
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The HINDU Notes – 17th September 2019
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15:42
📰 ‘Delighted’ by Trump’s decision to join Houston rally, says Modi
''It highlights the strength of the relationship and recognition of contribution of Indian community to American society and economy,” he says
•Prime Minister Narendra Modi has welcomed the White House announcement that U.S. President Donald Trump will join the “Howdy Modi” event for Indian-Americans on September 22 in Houston, Texas. He said he was ‘delighted’ by the decision.
•“The special gesture of President [Donald Trump] to join us in Houston highlights the strength of the relationship and recognition of the contribution of the Indian community to American society and economy,” Mr Modi tweeted.
•Organisers of the “Howdy Modi” event, which is expected to bring about 50,000 Indian Americans to the NRG stadium in Houston, said they had been informed about the possibility of Mr. Trump at the event about “8-10 days” ago, but had been told to wait for a formal White House announcement.
•The President’s decision has also cleared some of the worries over a plan by a group called “Friends of Kashmir” to stage a “peaceful rally” against Mr. Modi's appearance, as the U.S. secret service would ensure none of the protesters can gather too close to the venue.
•Officials have also been concerned about 20 U.S. Congressmen, mostly Democrats, who have written petitions to the President and Congress, criticising the Indian government’s moves on Kashmir, and demanding an end to detentions and the communication lockdown in Jammu and Kashmir. As a result, those involved in the event are also keen on ensuring “bipartisan support”, and stressed the number of Democrat and the Republican lawmakers who will attend, highlighting attendance of Senate majority leader and Democratic party member Steny Hoyer at the rally.
•“This unique event brings together the President of the world’s most influential democracy, the Prime Minister of the world’s largest democracy, and a bipartisan delegation of Governors, Members of Congress, Mayors, and other public officials,” a statement by the organisers, the Texas India forum, said.
•Details of the format of Mr. Trump’s appearance are still being worked out, said head of the BJP’s foreign affairs department, Vijay Chauthaiwale, who landed in Houston to make preparations just hours before the White House announcement. Mr. Modi has been previously joined by heads of state when he addressed the Indian diaspora in Canada, U.K., Israel, Kenya and Sweden. It also remains to be seen whether Mr. Modi will speak primarily in Hindi during the event, as he did in the previous events in other countries.
•Members of the Indian immigrant community in Houston said they were particularly happy about Mr. Trump’s decision, as one of the themes of the event, expected to be showcased in a film at the beginning is “navigating the complexity of having a hyphenated identity as an Indian and an American”. The Houston rally had been proposed in 2017 as well, when Mr. Modi last visited the U.S., but had been put off over concerns that a large gathering of immigrants would send a problematic message to the Trump administration which has taken a very tough line on immigration.
•“As an Indian American, I am proud to see Houston preparing to welcome PM Modi. Houston is the energy capital of the world and the most diverse city in America,” Indo American chamber of commerce founder Jagdip Ahluwalia told The Hindu. “The news of our President, Donald Trump joining this is a sign of the growing importance of the U.S.-India relationship,” he added.
📰 SC finds death, terror, violence from 1990 ‘formidable reasons’ for J&K lockdown
Upsc Mains 2019 Most Probable Questions With Answers Volume 2 PDF
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Upsc Mains 2019 Most Probable Questions With Answers Volume 1 PDF
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08:12
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THE HINDU NEWSPAPER IMPORTANT ARTICLES 17.09.2019
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06:40
Monday, September 16, 2019
Daily Current Affairs, 16th September 2019
VisionIAS
18:33
1) International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer: 16 September
•Theme of the day for 2019: 32 Years and Healing.
•The theme for this year celebrates over three decades of remarkable international cooperation to protect the ozone layer and the climate under the Montreal Protocol. The Montreal Protocol has led to the phase-out of 99 per cent of ozone-depleting chemicals in refrigerators, air-conditioners and many other products.
2) MoC Ravi Shankar Prasad launches Maritime Communication Services in India
•The Maritime Connectivity will enable high-end support to those in the sea by providing access to Voice, Data and Video services while travelling on sailing vessels, cruise liners, ships in India, using satellite technology. Nelco, India’s leading VSAT solutions provider is the first Indian company that will now provide quality broadband services to the maritime sector.
3) St. Vincent and Grenadines, 79th country to join India-led ISA
•The International Solar Alliance is a group of 121 solar resource-rich countries with headquarters in Gurugram, India. The organisation aims to deploy over 1,000 gigawatts of solar energy and mobilise more than USD 1,000 billion into solar power by 2030, according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
4) White Water Rafting Expedition ‘Rudrashila’ Flagged off at Jaisalmer
•The expedition christened ‘Rudrashila’ has been organised to commemorate the 75th Raising day of the Kalidhar Battalion. ‘Rudrashila’ takes its name from the famed Rudraprayag tributary of the Ganges River in the Mountains of Uttarakhand. ‘Kalidhar Battalion’ was raised on 01 November 1943 and has participated in all major operations of the Indian Army including two overseas assignments in Korea in 1953 and UN peacekeeping mission in Congo in 2005-06.
5) Justice P Lakshmana Reddy appointed as first Lokayukta of Andhra Pradesh
•Justice P Lakshmana Reddy would serve in the office of Lokayukta for 5 years. He is the first Lokayukta to be assuming charge since the state bifurcated in 2014.
6) Lakshya Sen wins Belgian International Badminton title
The HINDU Notes – 16th September 2019
VisionIAS
12:44
📰 Effort worth emulation: On Rajasthan’s public information portal
Rajasthan’s Jan Soochna portal is a step in the right direction for transparency in governance
•Fourteen years since the implementation of the groundbreaking Right to Information (RTI) Act, which has helped shed light on government works and administration, the launch of the “Jan Soochna Portal” (public information portal) by the Rajasthan government on Friday marks a milestone in increasing transparency and accountability in governance. The portal details various schemes run by 13 government departments — the employment guarantee programme, sanitation, the public distribution system among others, by not only explaining the schemes but also providing real time information on beneficiaries, authorities in charge, progress, etc. The information provided is in-depth, covering the whole gamut from the districts, blocks and panchayats, allowing access to details of schemes implemented at these levels. This is a laudable effort by the State government which is worthy of emulation by other States. The RTI Act had dealt with the citizen’s right to know about public information and required public authorities to expeditiously provide information on request from the citizenry. This aspect of the Act brought a sea change in accountability and has led to the possibility of a well-informed citizenry on the workings of the government.
•While RTI filings have increased exponentially and RTI-activism has become part and parcel of civil society, there have been dilutions in the Act pertaining to the appointments of information commissioners, therefore impinging on their autonomy. Besides, the response rate to RTI requests has also slowed down compared to the flurry in the immediate aftermath of the Act’s implementation. These problems with the RTI law apart, it is important to note that Section 4(2) of the Act, which specifically enjoins upon public authorities to publish information pro-actively, has not been implemented holistically so far. While government departments have successfully taken to e-governance and there has been a rapid release of public information on various government-run websites, this information has often been parcelled, dispersed and difficult to parse. Some of the better maintained central websites have also tended to deploy “dashboard” information, which is meant more to showcase data and records rather than release structured information for extensive study and for the knowledge of the citizenry. As a one-shot portal for public information on government programmes, the JSP, therefore, can advance the objective of transparency. The challenge would be to ensure that the information flow remains unhampered over time. Besides this, it is important to educate the citizenry about the use of data on the portal. While digital connectivity and literacy have increased over time, these have not adequately translated into digital knowledge of public affairs.
📰 A dilution that falls short of the law
