India At A Glance:  Top 10 National News Of This Week

by Shatakshi Gupta
  • Home Minister Amit Shah revealed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will place a golden rod near the speaker’s seat at the new Parliament House’s inauguration. The rod is of historical importance as it was given to Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, to mark the end of British rule and the start of Indian self-governance. Shah said that the rod is called “Sengol”, which comes from the Tamil word “Semmai”, meaning “Justice”.
  • Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah recently inaugurated the permanent campus of the National Academy of Coastal Policing at Dwarka in Gujarat. He stressed the BJP government’s focus on coastal security under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. The academy aims to train over three thousand security personnel every year.
  • Kiren Rijiju has stepped down as the Union Law Minister and will now head the Ministry of Earth Sciences. Arjun Ram Meghwal has been given independent charge as Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and Justice along with his existing portfolios. Rijiju became the Minister of Law and Justice on July 8, 2021. Before that, he was the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs and Sports from May 2019 to July 2021. Union Minister Jitendra Singh was in charge of the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
  • The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has made it easier and more efficient to wind up dormant companies by setting up the Center for Processing Accelerated Corporate Exits (C-PACE), which will centralize the process of winding up companies. This will reduce the burden on the Registry and keep it clean, providing more accurate and useful data to the stakeholders. The creation of C-PACE is part of MCA’s commitment to promote ease of doing business and ease of exit for companies.

Read more: Sports Affairs: Top 10 Sports News Of This Week

  • Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has announced the result of Civil Services Examination 2022. Women topped the list again with Ishita Kishore getting AIR 1 followed by Garima Lohia, Uma Harathi N and Smriti Mishra. Women dominated the top 10 positions this year. This year, a record number of women made it to the final list with a total percentage of 34%.
  • The expert committee appointed by the Supreme Court to probe the Adani-Hindenburg case released its report. Hindenburg, an American short-selling firm, published a report on January 24, 2023, claiming that Adani Group companies were overpriced and accused them of falsifying accounts. The opposition raised a lot of noise about this issue and when it reached the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court formed a special committee to investigate. The six-member panel said that based on SEBI’s explanation and the data available to it, it could not find any evidence of regulatory failure in the allegations of price manipulation. SEBI has identified 13 specific transactions that are considered suspicious and are being investigated.
  • Wrestlers have been protesting at Jantar Mantar for 32 days in a row demanding the arrest of former Wrestling Federation of India President Brij Bhushan Sharan. A mahapanchayat was also held at Khatkar toll on Thursday. Former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Satyapal Malik, Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat attended the event. Bajrang Punia said that we will surely win this fight. Brijbhushan says that he is untouchable, but I want to say that if we can bend our heads, we can also chop them off.

Read more: RBI Pulls Out 2000 Rupee Note from Circulation: Reasons, Deadline, Impact and History

  • The Reserve Bank will stop the circulation of 2000 note, but the existing notes will remain valid. 2000 note was introduced in November 2016. Then Prime Minister Narendra Modi had banned 500 and 1000 notes. Instead, a new note of 500 and 2000 was issued in the new design. RBI has not printed 2000 notes since 2018-19. RBI has asked banks to exchange 2000 notes from May 23 to September 30. Only notes of up to twenty thousand rupees can be exchanged at a time. But, there will be no limit on depositing these notes in the account. Banks will not issue 2000 notes from now on.
  • The Central Government has passed an ordinance regarding the rights of transfer, posting and vigilance of officers in the capital Delhi. Through this, the Central Government will set up the National Capital Civil Services Authority. This authority will have Delhi CM, Chief Secretary and Principal Home Secretary. This authority will decide on matters like transfer, posting and vigilance and send suggestions to the LG. Arvind Kejriwal is meeting opposition parties against the Centre’s ordinance on the issue of transfer-posting of officers in Delhi. On Tuesday, he went to Kolkata and met West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee seeking support.
  • The G-20 Tourism Working Group meeting ended in Kashmir’s Srinagar. After the meeting on the first day, the delegates visited Dal Lake at night. The foreign guests also enjoyed the famous Shikara boat ride of Kashmir. South actor Ramcharan Teja also joined this meeting. This meeting of the Tourism Working Group took place from May 22 to 24. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto has reached Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) on a three-day visit to oppose this meeting. China, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye did not participate in this meeting.