Current Affairs Assam – November 29 - 30, 2019
( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of November 29 – 30, 2019 )
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November 29, 2019
Manoj Kumar takes over as new Tripura Chief Secretary
- The Tripura government appointed senior IAS officer Manoj Kumar as the new Chief Secretary.
- A 1990 batch Tripura cadre IAS officer, and currently Additional Chief Secretary, Electricity, Finance and Forest Departments, Manoj Kumar would succeed Usurupati Venkateswarlu, who is retiring from service on November 30.
- Manoj Kumar would look after the General Administration (Confidential and Cabinet, Personnel and training), Finance and Home (excluding Jail and Fire Service) Departments.
FACTFILE – Chief Secretary in States/UTs
- The post of Chief Secretary is the senior-most position held in the civil services of the states and union territories of India. The position is a cadre post for the Indian Administrative Service.
- Chief Secretaries are members of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) who are the administrative head of state governments. A Chief Secretary functions as the central point of interdepartmental coordination at the departmental level and is classified as being in the Apex Grade.
- Chief Secretary is considered to be the Chief Executive of the state government and considered to be ‘a linchpin’ in the administration.
- Chief Secretary of the state also acts as the ex-officio Chairman of the State Civil Service Board, which recommends transfer/postings of officers of All India Services and State Civil Services in the state.
- Chief Secretaries are chosen by the state’s Chief Minister.
- State Chief Secretaries are IAS officers generally equivalent in rank to a Secretary to Government of India and are placed 23rd on Indian Order of Precedence.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan introduced the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Bill, 2019
- Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan introduced the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Bill, 2019 in the Rajya Sabha.
- The Bill, which will replace the ordinance promulgated in September, has already received the Lok Sabha”s approval.
- Moving the the Health Minister said it would also ban online sales and advertising of e-cigarettes.
- The Bill is about prohibiting all commercial operations for the trade of e-cigarettes, which includes manufacturing, production, import, export, distribution, sale and advertising including online sales and advertising.
Uddhav Thackeray sworn-in as the CM of Maharashtra
- Shiv Sena President Uddhav B. Thackeray sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra at a function held in Shivaji Park. Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered the oath of office and secrecy to Thackeray.
- Thackeray is the third from the Shiv Sena to be Chief Minister after Manohar Joshi and Narayan Rane in the late 1990s.
Bill to regularise unauthorized colonies in Delhi passed in LS
- A Bill to regularize Delhi’s 1,731 unauthorised colonies was passed in the Lok Sabha with voice vote to benefit over 40 lakh residents who have been residing in such colonies for years.
- The Bill will provide special provision for the national capital by recognising the property rights of ownership or transfer or mortgage in favour of residents of such colonies who are possessing properties on the basis of power of attorney, agreement to sale, will, possession letter, or any other documents, including documents evidencing payment of consideration.
- The Bill seeks to levy stamp duty and registration charges on the amount mentioned in the conveyance deed or authorisation slip issued by the Delhi Development Authority and non-payment of any stamp duty and registration charges on any previous sale transactions made prior to the last transaction.
The Rajya Sabha passed the Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2019
- The Rajya Sabha passed the Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2019 by voice vote. Besides raising the monetary limit in collections, the Bill also provides for increasing commission for the person managing the fund to 7 per cent from 5 per cent.
- As per the bill, the collection limit for individuals has been raised to Rs 3 lakh, up from the present Rs 1 lakh. For firms, the limit would be 18 lakhs from Rs 6 lakh now.
- Introducing the bill Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur said that the collection limit has been raised in view of inflation rate since 2001.
- The Chit Fund Act, 1982 was enacted to provide for regulation of chit funds which have conventionally satisfied the financial needs of the low income households.
Industrial Relations Code bill introduced in LS
- The Central government introduced the Industrial Relations Code Bill 2019 in the Lok Sabha. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier had approved the Industrial Relations Code Bill, which is the third code under labour reforms.
- The Bill provides for setting up of a two-member tribunal (in place of one-member), thus introducing a concept that some of the important cases will be adjudicated jointly and the rest by a single-member resulting in speedier disposal of cases.
- It also provides for imparting flexibility to the exit provisions relating to retrenchment and others, for which the threshold for prior approval of appropriate government has been kept unchanged at 100 employees, but added a provision for changing such number of employees through notification.
- The Bill also provides for definition of Fixed Term Employment and that it would not lead to any notice period and payment of compensation on retrenchment excluded.
- It also provides for vesting of powers with the government officers for adjudication of disputes involving penalty as fines thereby lessening the burden on tribunals.
November 30, 2019
Water conservation projects commissioned in Hailakandi
- Under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan, water conservation projects will be set up in several schools in Hailakandi district of Barak Valley.
- Deputy Commissioner, Keerthi Jalli commissioned such projects in two educational institutions under the Katlicherra education block.
- Inaugurating the first water conservation project at Sahabad ME Madrassa, Deputy Commissioner Jalli called upon the students to conserve water and make judicious use of the precious resource at school and at home.
Biren Singha gets Guruji Adya Sarma award
- The Guruji Adya Sarma Award 2019 was presented to renowned sculptor Biren Singha at a function held at the Nalbari Harimandir premises.
- The award comprising Rs 25,000 in cash, a memento, citation, sarai, cheleng sador, japi, etc.was presented by Nalbari Deputy Commissioner Bharat Bhusan Dev Choudhury.
- Mobile theatre group Brindaban Theatre in collaboration with Nalbari Harimandir Committee presents the award every year.
The Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2019 moved in Lok Sabha
- The government in the Lok Sabha moved a Bill for rationalising and facilitating the licensing procedures for use of firearms by individuals as well as to curb crimes committed by using illegal firearms and provide effective deterrence against violation of law.
- The Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which seeks amendment to the Arms Act, 1959, provides for enhancement of period of arms licence from three years to five years and also to issue arms licence in electronic form.
- Union Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy, while introducing the Bill, said the move is to deal with the future issues as the fire power and sophistication of illegal firearms have increased over the years.
- The trans-border dimensions of illegal arms trafficking are causing threat to internal security.
- To prevent the usage of illicit firearms so trafficked has also become a prime concern.
- To effectively curb crimes related to or committed by using illegal firearms and to provide effective deterrence against violation of law, there is an urgent need to strengthen the existing legislative framework by making appropriate amendments in the Arms Act, 1959.
- The Bill seeks to enhance punishment for existing offences such as illegal manufacture, sale, transfer; illegal acquiring, possessing or carrying prohibited arms or prohibited ammunition; and illegal manufacture, sale, transfer, conversion, import, export, of firearms.
- The Arms Act, 1959, which was enacted to consolidate and amend the law relating to arms and ammunition, and the rules made thereunder regulate the acquisition, possession, use, manufacture, transfer, sale, transport, export and import of arms and ammunition and punishment for contravention in order to curb illegal weapons and violence stemming from them.
Indian-Origin Researcher turns banana plant into packaging material
- An Indian-origin researcher-led team at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) announced it has discovered a novel way to turn banana plantation waste into packaging material that is not only biodegradable but also recyclable.
- Associate Professor Jayashree Arcot and Professor Martina Stenzel looked at ways to convert agricultural waste into something that could value-add to the industry it came from, while potentially solving problems for another.
- Using a reliable supply of pseudostem material from banana plants grown at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, the duo set to work in extracting cellulose to test its suitability as a packaging alternative.
- The team brought the pseudostem into the lab and chopped it into pieces, dried it at very low temperatures in a drying oven, and then milled it into a very fine powder.
- The team then took this powder and washed it with a very soft chemical treatment.
- When processed, the material has a consistency similar to baking paper.
- Depending on the intended thickness, the material could be used in a number of different formats in food packaging.
- The material is also recyclable. Tests with food have proved that it poses no contamination risks.
Toshiba ink EoI with Kerala Govt for making lithium-ion batteries
- The Toshiba Group signed an Expression of Interest with the Kerala government for technology transfer and manufacturing lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries for electric vehicles.
- The agreement is an outcome of the Japan visit by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at the head of a high-level state delegation and was signed in Tokyo at the investment seminar organised in the Japanese capital.
- Vijayan addressed the Kerala State Investment Promotion Seminar organised with the participation of 150 major Japanese investors at the Indian Embassy, Tokyo.
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