Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 19th July 2021

What is in news : The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has decided to move an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha against the government on the three controversial farm laws

ADJOURNMENT MOTION

• Introduced only in the Lok Sabha to draw the attention of the House to a definite matter of urgent public importance.
• Matter proposed to be raised should be of such a character that something very grave which affects the whole country and its security has happened.
• Involves an element of censure against the government, therefore Rajya Sabha is not permitted to make use of this device.
• Is regarded as an extraordinary device as it interrupts the normal business of the House. It needs the support of 50 members to be admitted.

What is in news : Supreme Court is expected to begin hearing a fresh challenge to the provision allowing restitution of conjugal rights under Hindu personal laws.

What are CONJUGAL rights:

Conjugal rights

• Are rights created by marriage, i.e. right of the husband or the wife to the society of the other spouse.
• Recognises these rights— both in personal laws dealing with marriage, divorce etc, and in criminal law requiring payment of maintenance and alimony to a spouse.

How is it dealt in India : Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, which deals with restitution of conjugal rights, reads: “When either the husband or the wife has, without reasonable excuse, withdrawn from the society of the other, the aggrieved party may apply, by petition to the district court, for restitution of conjugal rights and the court, on being satisfied of the truth of the statements made in such petition and that there is no legal ground why the application should not be granted, may decree restitution of conjugal rights accordingly.”

Note : Both wife and husband to seek restitution of conjugal rights.

Why is it challenged :

• Violative of the fundamental right to privacy
• Although the provision of restitution of conjugal rights has been upheld by the Supreme Court earlier, legal experts have pointed out that the nine-judge Bench’s landmark verdict in the privacy case set the stage for potential challenges to several laws such as criminalisation of homosexuality, marital rape, restitution of conjugal rights, the two-finger test in rape investigations

What is in news : Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) has enabled map services in UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) App.

Details:

• Government of India all-in-one single, unified, secure, multi-channel, multi-lingual, multi-service mobile app
• Provides access to high impact services of various organizations of Centre and States. Presently it has 2000+ services.
• Aim - UMANG is to fast-track mobile governance in India.
• Developed by the National e-Governance Division (NeGD), Ministry of Electronics & IT.
• International version called ‘UMANG International’ was launched in 2020 to mark three years of UMANG. Select countries include USA, UK, Canada, Australia, UAE, Netherlands, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.
• Attained ‘Best m-Government service’ award at the 6th World Government Summit held at Dubai, UAE in February 2018.

SOCIAL ISSUES

What is in news : A recent study has signified that Girls who had access to free lunches provided at government schools had children with a higher height-to-age ratio than those who did not, said a new study on the inter-generational benefits of the midday meal scheme.

MID DAY MEAL SCHEME

• Launched in 1995 & Revamped in 2007
• One meal  is provided to all children enrolled in government schools, government-aided schools, local body schools, special training centres (STC), madrasas and maktabs supported under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)
• Objectives :
  • Increase the enrolment of the children belonging to disadvantaged sections in the schools
  • Leading enrolment to increased attendance in the schools.
  • To retain children studying in classes 1-8.
  • To provide nutritional support to the children of the elementary stage in drought-affected areas.

What is in news : Odisha's forest officials have announced measures to preserve the newly discovered tiny gecko species of the genus Hemiphyllodactylus.

Geckos:

• Reptiles (Colorful lizards)
• Found on all the continents except Antarctica
• Adapted to habitats from rainforests, to deserts, to cold mountain slopes.
• Most geckos are nocturnal, which means they are active at night
• Dday geckos are active during the day and depend on insects, fruits, and flower nectar.

Gecko in news :

• Ganjam Slender Gecko
• First spotted in Ganjam district, Odisha in 2014
• First non-island species of the genus which is distributed in lowland habitats
• Smallest member of the genus with a maximum body size of little over six cm

Location : Nepal

What is in news : Nepal has inked a USD 1.3 billion deal with Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) of India to develop a 679-megawatt hydropower project in eastern Nepal.

Facts :

• Second mega venture in Nepal, undertaken by India.
• Single largest foreign investment project.
• Will be developed under build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) model.
• Capacity - 679 MW
• Aim - Assisting people who live closer to hydropower project by uplifting their socio-economic levels by generating employment for locals and boosting local trade & industries

MAHITI FOR PRELIMS

Arun River

• Largest trans-Himalayan River that passes through Nepal.River d
• Drains into Sapta Kosi river system.
• In Tibet, it is known as Men Qu in upper reaches and as Peng Qu for most of its course towards north of Himalayan crests.

BOOT MODEL

• Form of project delivery method
• Usually used for large-scale infrastructure projects
• Private entity receives a concession from public sector to design, finance, construct, own, and operate a facility

What is in news : Recently, all member meeting of Shanghai cooperation organisation concluded

Issues discussed :

• Deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan
• Public health
• Economic recovery
• Combating terrorism & extremism

What did India say :

• Stop terror financing Deter digital facilitation
• Universal vaccination against Covid-19

About SCO :

• Charter signed in 2002
• Entered into force on September 19, 2003
• Original five members of SCO; China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan(Shangai 5 group )
• India & Pakistan joined on June 9, 2017 at Astana summit of SCO.

FATF GREY LIST

What is in news : As per the officials of FATF, the review of India’s anti-money laundering and countering terrorist financing regime has been postponed for the second time on account of the pandemic and is expected to take place by next year.

FATF

• Refers to the Financial Action Task Force
• Is the watchdog of global money laundering and terrorist financing.
• Is an inter-governmental body and was established by the G-7 summit held in Paris in 1989.

• There are 39 members
• India is a member of FATF.
• Besides these, there are associate members and observer organizations.
• Associate members - the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (EAG ), Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), etc.

FATF has 2 lists. They are:

Black List:

• High-risk jurisdictions have significant strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and financing of proliferation.
• For all countries identified as high-risk, the FATF calls on all members and urges all jurisdictions to apply enhanced due diligence, and, in the most serious cases, countries are called upon to apply counter-measures to protect the international financial system from money laundering,  terrorist financing, and proliferation financing (ML/TF/PF) risks emanating from the country.
• This list is often referred to as the “blacklist”.

Eg: North Korea, Iran

Grey List:

• Jurisdictions under increased monitoring are actively working with the FATF to address strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing.
• When the FATF places a jurisdiction under increased monitoring, it means the country has committed to resolving swiftly the identified strategic deficiencies within agreed timeframes and is subject to increased monitoring.
• This list is often referred to as the “grey list”.
• Eg: Pakistan

Consequences of Greylist for the countries:

• Economic sanctions will be imposed on the Greylist countries from the IMF, World Bank, and ADB.
• Those countries cannot get loans easily from IMF, World Bank, ADB, and other organizations.
• In these countries, there will be a reduction in international trade
• Also, there will be an international boycott on these countries.

• Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U), one of the world’s largest affordable housing Missions , has launched two unique initiatives, Khushiyon Ka Aashiyana- Short Film contest 2021 and Awas Par Samvaad – series of 75 seminars and workshops,to take ahead the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Housing for All’.
• Ladakh has become first Union Territory to vaccinate all residents and guest population; comprising of migrant labourers, hotel workers and Nepalese citizens earning their livelihood in the territory; with first dose of Covid-19 jab.