Current Affair Quiz, 29 August 2018

The Personal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018 eliminates leprosy as a ground for dissolution of marriage or divorce. It is an attempt to end the discrimination against leprosy persons in various central laws: The Divorce Act, 1869; the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939; the Special Marriage Act, 1954; the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955; and the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act of 1956. The Bill is meant to provide for the integration of leprosy patients into the mainstream. Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. It usually affects the skin and peripheral nerves, but has a wide range of clinical manifestations. According to WHO, leprosy affected 2,12,000 people globally in 2015. India alone reported 1,27,326 new cases, accounting for 60% of new cases globally.

The committee, chaired by Corporate Affairs Secretary Injeti Srinivas, has recently submitted final report on review of penal provisions of Company Act 2013 to the Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Arun Jaitley. The Committee recommended that the existing rigour of the law should continue for serious offences, covering six categories, whereas for lapses that are essentially technical or procedural in nature, mainly falling under two categories may be shifted to in-house adjudication process. The report makes recommendations for de-clogging the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) through significant reduction in compounding cases before the Tribunal. The Committee was constituted by the Union government in July 2018 to review the existing framework dealing with offences under the Companies Act, 2013 and related matters and make recommendations to promote better corporate compliance.

The 2018 Krishi Kumbh International Conference and Exhibition will be held at Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research (Telibagh) in Lucknow from October 26, which will be organized by the Government of Uttar Pradesh. The aim of the 3-day conference is to provide a platform to farmers, technical experts and entrepreneurs for exchange of knowledge and expertise in the field of agriculture sector. It also aims at increasing the agriculture production by adopting advance technologies. In it, farmers from all 75 districts National & International agriculture scientist, representatives from industries & policy maker from Central and State govt. will participate.

Indian shot putter Tejinder Pal Singh Toor from Punjab has clinched Gold in men’s Shot-Put event with a record-shattering throw at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games on August 25. He threw the iron ball to 20.75m to win the gold and set a national as well as Asian Games record. The previous mark of 20.57m was set by Sultan Abdulmajeed Al-Hebshi of Saudi Arabia at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games in China. With this, Tajinder became the first Indian to win the men’s shot put gold at the Asian Games since Bahadur Singh Sagoo, who had thrown a best of 19.03m to win the gold in Busan in 2002. This is the 8th gold medal for India in men’s shot put in the history of the Asian Games.

Moody’s Investors Service has recently released its Global Macro Outlook for 2018-19. In it, the Indian economy is expected to grow by about 7.5% in 2018 and 2019 as it is largely resilient to external pressures like those from higher oil prices. However, the rating agency expects the India’s economy to grow at a higher rate of 7.7% in the first quarter of 2018. Apart from this, Moody’s put G-20 growth at 3.3% in 2018 and 3.1% in 2019. The advanced economies will grow 2.3% in 2018 and 2% in 2019.

Kuldip Nayar (95), the Veteran journalist, author and human rights activist, has passed away in New Delhi on August 23, 2018. Nayar, a former editor of the Indian Express, was also the author of 15 books including “Without Fear: The Life and Trial of Bhagat Singh”, “India after Nehru” and “Emergency Retold”. In his autobiography ‘Beyond The Lines’, he wrote about his interview with Pakistan’s nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, during which the latter revealed that Pakistan had a nuclear device well before it was thought to have had it. During Emergency, he was jailed under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act for leading a protest against the excesses of the administration. In 2015, he was honoured with ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ for his contribution to journalism at the 8th edition of the Ramnath Goenka Excellence awards. Nayar also served as High Commissioner of India to the UK in 1990 and as a member of the Rajya Sabha.

Iran has launched its first state-of-the-art domestic fighter jet “Kowsar” at a defense show in Tehran on August 23, 2018. The jet is a fourth-generation fighter, with advanced avionics and multi-purpose radar. It is designed and manufactured by domestic military experts. It is dual-cockpit, single engine jet with single tail fin. It resembles US-made F-5F Tiger (first flew in 1974), which is variant of 1950s-era US Northrop F-5 fighter that is a long-time mainstay of Iranian Air Force. It can be used for short aerial support missions and is equipped with systems that promote precision targeting. The acronym “Kowsar” refers river in paradise in Islam and also the title of a chapter in the Koran.

In Rajasthan, India’s largest Startup incubation and acceleration- Bhamashah Techno Hub – was inaugurated by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in Jaipur On August 23, 2018. The purpose of the techno hub is to create an ecosystem for promoting state’s youth for entrepreneurship. The hub would be able to accommodate over 700 startup ventures with one lakh square feet incubation space and also help them to get connected with potential investors. In it, free space, easier funding avenues and mentorship will also be provided to startup.

On August 20, Indian Shooter Deepak Kumar claimed Silver in the Men’s 10-metre Air Rifle event with a score of 247.7 points at the Jakarta Asian Games 2018 in Indonesia. In the Men’s Trap, Lakshay clinched the silver medal with an impressive 43 from 50 shots. Earlier, Wrestler Bajrang Punia had given India its first Gold of the Games in the 65 kg division.

The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has become the first Public Sector Unit (PSU) to make a transaction on the “TReDS platform”. The transaction was financed by Bank of Baroda (BoB) and since stands settled. The TReDS platform is an online electronic institutional mechanism for facilitating the financing of trade receivables of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) through multiple financiers. The acronym ‘TReDS’ stands for Trade Receivables Discounting System. In October 2017, the central government mandated all major PSUs to join TReDS platform to facilitate payments to MSME vendors. RXIL (Receivables Exchange of India), which is India’s first TReDS platform, is promoted by the National Stock Exchange, Small Industries Development Bank of India, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and Yes Bank.