Current Affairs 14th September 2017

Current Affairs 14th September 2017 - Important Points

• Gay rights activist Edith Windsor passed away on - 12th September 2017
• Trump appoints Indian-American Raj Shah on - 12th September 2017
• Six months cooling period in divorce cases can be waived off declared by - Supreme Court
• JNPCT awarded with - Gateway Awards 2017
• Wood is Good' Campaign launched by - Union Minister of Environment, Harsh Vardhan
• National Hindi Diwas 2017 celebrated on - 14th September 2017
• Rajiv Kumar from NITI resigned from - DHFL board
• Constitutional law expert Pavani Parameswara Rao died on - 13th September 2017
• Indian Railways permits m-Aadhaar as ID proof for travellers as announced on - 13th September 2017
• Goa hosted 36th National Games announced by - The Indian Olympic Association

Current Affairs 14th September 2017 - Details

Gay rights activist Edith Windsor passed away on - 12th September 2017

Gay rights activist Edith Windsor, whose same-sex marriage fight led to a landmark US ruling, passed away on 12th September 2017.
It was Windsor's efforts that Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act in 2013, giving same-sex married couples federal recognition for the first time.

More about Edith Windsor

• Born on 20th June 1929, She was an American lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights activist.
• She was the lead plaintiff in the United States Supreme Court case United States v. Windsor, that overturned Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act successfully. In the United States of America,
• It was considered a landmark legal victory for the same-sex marriage movement.
• She had sued the US Government after being ordered to pay USD 363053 in federal estate tax after the death of her previous wife Thea Spyer.
• Windsor had argued that the provision of the law, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman prevented her from getting a tax deduction due to married couples, and hence it was unconstitutional.

Trump appoints Indian-American Raj Shah on - 12th September 2017

US President Donald Trump appointed Indian-American Raj Shah to a key position in his Communications team on 12th September 2017. The White House said in a statement that Shah will be serving as Deputy Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Press Secretary.
Prior to this, Shah was serving as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Communications Director. Trump has also appointed Hope Hicks as his Communications Director who was serving as Assistant to the President and Interim Communications Director earlier.

More about Raj Shah

• Shah is one of the handfuls of Trump’s aides who were given a post in the White House within hours of him being sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. Trump was sworn in as President on 20th January 2017.
• Shah was Director of Opposition Research in the Republican National Committee before moving to the White House.
• He belongs to a Gujrati family who migrated to the US in the 1980s.

Six months cooling period in divorce cases can be waived off declared by - Supreme Court

The Supreme Court (SC) stated on on 12th September 2017 that the cooling period of six months to give the decree of divorce under the 1955 Hindu law can be waived off by a trial court if there is no possibility of settlement between a couple. A Supreme Court bench of Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit gave this ruling.

The main aim of the cooling off period was to safeguard the marriage against a hurried decision if there was a possibility of differences to reconcile. But at the same time if there are chances of fresh rehabilitation and there are no chances of reunion, the court then should enable the parties to have a better option.

The estranged couples seeking divorce with mutual consent, can file waiver application after a week of filing the first motion. While conducting such proceedings, the trial court can use the medium of video conferencing also.

JNPCT awarded with - Gateway Awards 2017

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Container Terminal (JNPCT) was awarded with “Container Terminal of the Year” Award for the above 0.6 million TEUs category at the Gateway Awards 2017 which is a prestigious Gala Ceremony held in Mumbai on 7th September 2017.
The JNPT terminal won the award for its proactive strategies to ease congestion, smooth delivery of containers and revamping of infrastructure to support trade amidst even adverse conditions.
Neeraj Bansal, Deputy Chairman of JNPT said while accepting the award that the terminal has been able to create a proper growth momentum in the last few years as a result of various initiatives taken to enhance the overall efficiency of the terminal and the Port.
Bansal further stated that they would be continuing to further increase their efficiency levels.
Do you know?
The Gateway Media which is an institution pursuing excellence relentlessly, to recognise and promote best practices, innovation and motivation in the Indian Maritime industry, constituted this award.

'Wood is Good' Campaign launched by - Union Minister of Environment, Harsh Vardhan

Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change inaugurated a two-day conference on ‘Sustainable landscapes and forest ecosystems: Theory to Practice’ on 12th September 2017 in New Delhi.
On the occasion under the Forest-Plus program, the minister launched the ‘Wood is Good’ campaign.
The main aim behind this campaign is to promote wood as a climate-friendly resource and substitute to materials like steel and plastic as it is a renewable resource, having zero carbon footprint, unlikely to other materials that leave carbon footprint in their production.
While emphasizing on the need to create an enabling environment through baby steps like planting more trees, the environment minister also urged the public to deliberate and come out with out-of-the-box ideas and solutions on increasing the forest cover much above the stipulated 33 percent.
He also added that Innovation is the need of the hour. Innovation co-efficient now is more important than any other co-efficient.
This target is proposed to be achieved via a number of planned afforestation drives and initiatives.
Referring to the forests being an integral part of Indian culture and tradition, Harsh Vardhan said that India has managed to conserve and enhance its forest resources successfully.

National Hindi Diwas 2017 celebrated on - 14th September 2017

National Hindi Divas (Hindi Day) was observed across the nation on 14th September 2017 in order to promote Hindi as Indian Matra Bhasha (mother tongue) and to propagate Hindi language and its values and cultural heritage.

The day is marked by Hindi poetry sessions, literary festivals, Essay writing competitions in Hindi, Hindi speech contests and many other events. Lila App is also launched by Union Government during Hindi Diwas Celebrations, This app uses Artificial Intelligence to teach Hindi in various languages.

Rajiv Kumar from NITI resigned from - DHFL board

Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar has resigned from his post of independent director in the board of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation which is the third largest home loan & housing finance company in India.
The move came after Kumar got the top position of the government think tank in Niti Aayog.
DHFL in an official notice stated that “Dr. Rajiv Kumar as an independent director on the board of the company has expressed his desire to resign from the position of an independent director since 7th August 2015 through his letter dated 4th September 2017 due to his appointment as Vice Chairman Niti Aayog.” The corporation further stated that the board of directors of the company has accepted Kumar’s resignation with effect from 11th September 2017.
More about Rajiv Kumar

• The noted economist was appointed to the position of Niti Aayog Vice Chairman on 5th August 2017, succeeding Arvind Panagariya, who announced his sudden decision to resign in order to return to the field of academics in the US.
• Kumar officially took over the position on 1st September 2017.
• Kumar served as the chief economist of the Confederation of Indian Industries and has held many senior positions at  the Finance Ministry, Indian Ministry of Industries and the Asian Development Bank previously.
• He has also served as the Director and Chief Executive of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations previously and been a board member of many international and national institutions including the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center in Riyadh, the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and Asia in Jakarta, the SBI, and the IIFT (Indian Institute of Foreign Trade).

Constitutional law expert Pavani Parameswara Rao died on - 13th September 2017

Senior Supreme Court lawyer Pavani Parameswara Rao passed away on 13th September 2017 following by a cardiac arrest in New Delhi.
He had helped to develop the argument against the legal challenge to President’s Rule in four BJP-ruled states, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992.

More about Pavani Parameswara Rao

• Born on 1st July 1933, Rao obtained his bachelor’s degree from V.R. College, Nellore, Andhra University and his LL.B. and LL.M. from Osmania University, Hyderabad.
• He started his career by teaching law in the Delhi University in 1961.
• He was enrolled as an Advocate by the Bar Council of Delhi in 1967 and thereafter started practice in the Supreme Court itself.
• He served as an Advocate-on-Record for the Andhra Pradesh State and a Junior Standing Counsel for the Union Government before he was designated as Senior Advocate in August 1976 by the Supreme Court.
• Soon after demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992, President's Rule was imposed in the four BJP-ruled states.
• When these proclamations were challenged in the Supreme Court by renowned lawyers, Rao defended the Proclamations representing the Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh states which were under President's Rule that time.
• He conceived, developed and presented the argument on the basis of secularism which is part of the Constituition's basic structure and convinced the Court that all the four BJP Governments had acted in concert and violated the basic feature of secularism by encouraging, mobilising and supporting the Kar Sevaks who demolished Babri Masjid.
• At the end, The Supreme Court upheld all the four Proclamations with no dissent only on this ground.
• He was elected the Supreme Court Bar Association president in 1991.
• He was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2006.
• On 4th March 2010, he was awarded an LL.D. (Honoris Causa) in recognition of his great contributions to the cause of public interest.

Indian Railways permits m-Aadhaar as ID proof for travellers as announced on - 13th September 2017

Indian Railways permitted passengers to show m-Aadhaar, digital version of the Aadhaar card, as proof of identity in any reserved class on 13th September 2017.

A passenger needs to open the app and enter his/her password to show the card, for the purpose of showing ID proof. Passengers can undertake the train journey in any reserved class only after showing m-Aadhaar on their mobile after entering the password.

The m-Aadhaar is a mobile app launched by the Unique Identification Authority of India on which a person can download his/her Aadhaar card. But, it can only be downloaded on the mobile number to which Aadhaar has been linked.

The Union Government issued the Aadhaar Card to Indian citizens. It is issued and managed by UIDAI,
a statutory authority established under the provisions of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 on 12th
July 2016 under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). It is an identification document.

Goa hosted 36th National Games announced by - The Indian Olympic Association

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) formally awarded the rights to host the 36th National Games to Goa on 13th September 2017 . State sports minister Manohar Ajgaonkar made this announcement.
Ajgaonkar said that IOA Secretary General Rajeev Mehta, in a letter to Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, had previosuly conferred the rights to the state to host the sporting event in coming November 2017.

 More about National Games

• These games comprises many disciplines where sportsmen from the different states participate against each other on a national level.
• The National Games were initially known as the Indian Olympic Games.
• The Indian chapter of the Olympic movement was born in early 1920s where India participated in the 1920 Antwerp Olympics.
• A provisional Indian Olympic Association came about by 1924, and the Indian Olympic Games were held in February 1924 in Delhi to select Indian competitors for the 1924 Antwerp Olympics.
• The games were then held after every two years, and were renamed in 1940 as National Games during the 9th Games in Bombay.
• The first Modern National Games on the lines of the Olympics were held in New Delhi in 1985.