National Current Affairs January 2015
- Gujrat hosts the 18th National Conference on e-Governance .
- Union Government formed NITI Aayog to replace Planning Commission.
- Union Government on 1 January 2015 set up the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog.
- NITI Aayog will replace the 65 year old Planning Commission and will be headed by Prime Minister of India.
- It will have a governing council comprising CMs of all the states and Lt. Governors of Union Territories.
- The NITI Aayog will also have a Vice-Chairperson and a Chief Executive Officer who will be appointed by the Prime Minister.
- Commemorative Postage stamps on Swachh Bharat Mission released by Union Government.
- President signed National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014
- The Bill will set up National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) replacing collegiums system to appoint judges of higher judiciary.
- Main Features of the NJAC Act, 2014
- 1. It gives NJAC a Constitutional status for appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and the High Courts.
- 2. It also gives the executive an equal role in the appointment of judges to the highest judiciary, as a constitutional body.
- 3. Now the judges in the Supreme Court and the High Courts will be appointed by the President in consultation with the NJAC.
- Composition of NJAC:
- The NJAC has the Chief Justice of India as Chairperson and two senior-most judges of the Supreme Court as members, apart from the Union Law Minister and two eminent personalities, one of whom would be nominated from among the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, minorities, the Other Backward Classes or women.
- Union Ministry of Defence announced Republic Day 2015 Parade Awards:
- Services category: Brigade of Guards Regiment and Sikh Regiment jointly won the best marching contingents award in the Republic Day Parade 2015.
- Para-Military Forces: Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) contingent won the best contingent award.
- Tableaux Category: First position won by Maharashtra Tableau. Jharkhand tableau won the second best and the third position went to Karnataka Tableau.
- ErosNow tied up with RailTel to provide Video Streaming Services to Rail Passengers.
- 66th Republic Day celebrated across the country:
- Main theme : Women Empowerment (Nari Shakti).
- US President Barack Obama was the Chief Guest.
- For the first time all-women contingent of Indian Army, Navy and Air Force was wistnessed at the Republic Day parade.
- For the first time, a US President attended the parade as Chief Guest.
- US President was honoured by the Guard of Honour at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
- The Guard of Honour was led by Wing Commander Puja Thakur. She has become the first woman to give Guard of Honour to a major foreign dignitary at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
- India-US declared Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region.
- Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna made it to Guinness World Records for opening record number of accounts.
- India signed an agreement on transfer of sentenced persons with Hong Kong.
- India signed MoU with South Africa for developing Youth Enterprises.
- Prime Minister of Bhutan Lyonchhen Tshering Tobgay visited India.
- Former PM Manmohan Singh adopted Pachim Bekeli Gaon Panchyat under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana.
- Pachim Bekeli Gaon Panchyat is located in Kamrup district of Assam.
- National Conclave on ending under-nutrition among tribal children held in Odisha.
At the conclave participants reaffirmed their commitment agenda to end chronic under-nutrition of tribal children across nine Schedule V States. - India and Australia signed MoU for skill and infrastructural development in sports.
- Idukki in Kerala became first District of India to have Complete Rural Broadband Coverage.
- Ministry of Railways inaugurated India’s first CNG powered train.
- World Bank signed tripartite agreement for smart cities initiatives during Vibrant Gujarat Summit.
- President signed Ordinance to amend Mines and Minerals Development & Regulation Act, 1957.The ordinance paves way for introduction of competitive bidding for allocation of mines of iron ore and other non-coal minerals.
- Australia launched Online Visa Pilot Programme for Indian business and tourism visitors.
- 13th Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas 2015 concluded on 9 January 2015 in Gujarat
- The chief guest of the 13th PBD was Guyana President Donald Ramotar. The theme of 2015 PBD was Bharat ko jano and Bharat ko mano
- Union Government launched integrated women safety mobile app called Himmat.