Current Affairs search results for tag: national-news

1. Prime Minister inaugurates Kanpur Metro and Bina-Panki Multi Product Pipeline Project.

Tags: National News

 Kanpur Metro 

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 28 December 2021 inaugurated the first phase of Kanpur Metro.
• It is a nine Km long section from IIT Kanpur to Moti Jheel area.
• The total length of the project is 32 KM being built at the cost of Rs 11000 crore .
• European Investment bank is providing Rs 5552 core( euro 650 million ) loan for the Kanpur metro  project. 

Bina-Panki Multi Product Pipeline Project 

•  He also inaugurated the Bina-Panki Multiproduct Pipeline Project. 
• The pipeline extends from the Bina refinery in Madhya Pradesh to Panki in Kanpur and will help the region access petroleum products from the Bina refinery. 
• Bina oil refinery is in the Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh and it has been set up by Bharat Oman refinery.
• It is a joint venture of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited(BPCL) and OQ SAOC (formerly known as Oman Oil Company SAOC)).

2. United Arab Emirates issued its first civil marriage licence to a non-muslim couple

Tags: International News

• A Canadian couple were the first to marry under the new law on the personal status of non-Muslims in the Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi.
• UAE in November 2021 had announced that non-muslims would be allowed to marry, divorce and get joint child custody under civil law in Abu Dhabi according to a new decree issued by its ruler.
• The United Arab Emirates, where foreigners make up 90% of the approximately 10 ­million population has been amending its laws to present itself as a modernising force in a largely conservative region. 
• In the United Arab Emirates personal status laws on marriage and divorce had formerly been based on Islamic sharia principles, as in other Gulf states.

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Capital: Abu Dhabi

Currency: United Arab Emirates dirham

President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Prime minister: Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

About Abu Dhabi

• Abu Dhabi city in the emirate is the federal capital of the UAE.
• Abu Dhabi is the largest emirate in the United Arab Emirates, occupying 84 per cent of the national landmass territory. It has 200 islands and a long coastline stretching 700km.
• It is an oil-rich emirate and the second-most populous city of UAE, after Dubai.

Starting on January 1, 2022, the Emirates will become the only Gulf country not to observe weekends from Friday, the Muslim day of prayer, to Saturday.

3. UN Special Envoy calls for New Year’s ceasefire in Myanmar

Tags: International News

• United Nation’s special Envoy Noeleen Heyzer said she is deeply concerned by increased violence in Kayah state of Myanmar and other areas, which has displaced thousands of civilians, many of whom have fled the country for protection and assistance.
• “The people of Myanmar have already suffered tremendously and the socio-economic and humanitarian situation has been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Ms. Heyzer.  
• Ms. Heyzer urged all parties to act in the greater interest of the nation and to fully respect their obligations under international law to protect civilians, ensure free movement towards safety, and allow humanitarian access to those in need.  
• “To this end, she appeals for a New Year’s ceasefire throughout Myanmar,” the statement said.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Ms. Heyzer as his Special Envoy on Myanmar back in October 2021. She succeeded Christine Shraner Burgener, who had served since April 2018. 

Issue in Myanmar

Myanmar has been in sheer chaos since February 1, 2021, when the military junta overthrew the government and imprisoned the leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been sentenced to four years detention and faces multiple other criminal charges.

• At least 1,375 people have been killed and more than 8,000 jailed due to the protests and oppositions since the coup.

4. Kerala Tops NITI Health Index

Tags: National News

•  National Institution for Transforming India (NITI)  Aayog has  released the fourth edition of the  State Health Index  for 2019–20.

 Theme of the report 

• The report, titled “Healthy States, Progressive India”, ranks states and Union Territories on their year-on-year incremental performance in health outcomes as well as their overall status.

Who brings out the report 

• The report has been developed by NITI Aayog, with technical assistance from the World Bank, and in close consultation with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).

The Health Index is   a weighted  composite index based on 24 indicators in three domains:

• Health Outcomes
• Governance and Information 
• Key inputs and process

Highlights of the Report

NITI Aayog has divided the states into Larger States’, Smaller States’ and Union

Territories’.

Ranking of states 

•  Largest State 
• Amongst the Largest States   Kerala is the best performer states followed by Tamilnadu, Telangana ,Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
• The Bottom ranked state was  Uttar Pradesh  followed by Uttarakhand ,Rajasthan,Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.
• Smaller States 
• Amongst Smaller states,Mizoram topped the rank while Nagaland came at the bottom
• Union Territories .
• Amongst Union Territories , Dadra and  Nagar Haveli and  Daman & Diu topped the rank while Puduchhery was ranked at  the bottom.

The first Health Report 2017  was released by the NITI Aayog in 2018 

5. Government directs Automobile Industry to produce flex-fuel vehicles in India

Tags: National News

 Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has  asked automobile manufacturers to manufacture flex-fuel vehicles(FFV) and  flex-fuel   strong hybrid electric vehicles (FFV-SHEV) complying with BS-6 norms within six months.

• This is part of the government effort to reduce its dependencies on fossil fuel like petrol, diesel,CNG in vehicles. 
•  This will reduce greenhouse gas emission from the vehicle and help India in achieving its commitment to reduce the total  projected carbon emission by one billion tonnes by 2030.
• It will also reduce import of petroleum as a fuel.

Flex Fuel Vehicle

• FFVs are vehicles that are capable of running on more than one fuel variant. 
• Flex fuel vehicles are capable of running on a combination of 100% petrol or 100% bioethanol and their blends.
• Hybrid Electric Vehicles have both the conventional internal combustion engine (which uses petrol or diesel as fuel )and   an electric motor which is stored in a battery.

6. UAE has lifted ban on import of Poultry products from India

Tags: International News

• The United Arab Emirates has lifted the ban on the import of eggs and other poultry products from India .
• The ban was lifted after India assured UAE that it will follow bio safety norms set by the World Health Organisations for Animal Health to prevent infection from Bird flu.
•  UAE banned import of poultry products five years back on the concern over bird flu.
• UAE is the third largest trade partner of India after  China and the United States with a bilateral trade of around USD60 billion last year.
• It is  the third largest  export market for India after the U.S and China

7. FCRA license of Missionaries of Charity not renewed by the Government of India

Tags: National News

• According to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs the license of the Mother Teresa founded Non-Governmental Oragnisation (NGO) Missionaries of Charity license has not been under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) 2010, renewed due to certain adverse input received by the ministry against the NGO.
• A  First Information Report (FIR) was filed on 12 December 2021 against  one of its children’s homes in Vadodara following allegations of religious conversions made by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).
•  The license of the NGO is set to lapse on 31 December 2021.
• The NGO has clarified that its bank account has not been frozen.
• Under the FCRA NGO, in India has to open account in the New Delhi Main Branch (NDMB) of the State Bank of India (SBI).

What is FCRA 

•  The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act 2010 regulates the receipts of foreign contribution foreign contribution received by certain Individuals, companies, Political Parties, association or NGO resident in India .
• The government can ban receipt of foreign contributions if it feels that it harms the national interest.
• It can also cancel the license of the Associations, NGO if they do not follow the procedure mentioned in the law.
• The law is administered by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. 

 Mother Teresa

Mother Mary Teresa born as Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in Skopje now in North Macedonia. She was a Roman Catholic nun who came to India and founded Missionaries of Charity in 1950 in Kolkata.

The Missionaries of Charity was formed to serve the poor and destitute.

She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

8. Covaxin likely to be only COVID-19 vaccine for children between 15-18 years

Tags: National News

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi,while addressing the nation on 25th December 2021, announced that vaccination against Covid-19 for children between 15-18 years will start from January 3, 2022.
• Bharat Biotech's Covaxin is the only Covid-19 vaccine which will be administered, for now, to children in the age group of 15-18 years.
• The children will be able to register on the CoWIN app from January 1 using their student ID Card because some might not have Aadhaar or other identity cards.
• The estimated population to be covered in this category is seven to eight crores.

9. India hand over relief material to Mozambique under Mission Sagar

Tags: International News

• Naval ship INS Kesari entered the Port of Maputo in Mozambique to deliver 500 tonnes of food aid as well as defence equipment, under the eight edition of Mission Sagar by the Navy to assist friendly foreign countries in the region.
• India handed over two Fast Interceptor Craft (FIC) and other self-defence equipment to Mozambique to assist in its capacity building as the Central African nation battles growing terror threats of Islmaic state also called as Daesh.

Mission SAGAR

• Mission SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) was launched by the Government on May 10, 2020 to provide assistance to the countries in the Indian Ocean Region.
• It is being conducted in close coordination with the Ministry of External Affairs, and other agencies of the Government agencies 

 Mozambique 

It is a Southern African country along the Indian Ocean coast.

Capital: Maputo

Currency:  Mozambican metical

President: Filipe Nyusi

10. Government of India to set up a panel on AFSPA

Tags: National News

• Union Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India has set up a high-level committee chaired by a Secretary-level officer to examine the possibility of withdrawing the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in Nagaland.
•  Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India Vivek Joshi will head the five-member committee and Additional Secretary in the Union Home Ministry Piyush Goel will be its Member-Secretary. The Chief Secretary and Director General of Police of Nagaland and the DGP of Assam Rifles will be the other members of the committee.
• The committee will submit its report within 45 days.

• For detail and background of the issue see 6 December 2021 post.

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