Current Affairs 18th October 2018

Current Affairs 18th October 2018 - Important Points

• Government launched Swasth Bharat Yatra national campaign for food safety on - 16th October 2018
• RBI issues guidelines for facilitating money transfer among e-wallets
• Canada becomes second country to legalises use of cannabis on - 17th October 2018
• Spacecraft to be sent to Mercury in a first-of-its-kind mission  by - ESA
• Lady Irwin College, Ministry of Rural Development sign MoU for establishing  - ROSHNI
• Union Minister MJ Akbar resigned from his post over sexual harassment charges on - 17th October 2018
• NITI Aayog launched guiding principles for public-private partnership in treatment of NCDs  on - 17th October 2018
• Victims of child sexual abuse can file complaint at any time, irrespective of present age by - The Minister of Women and Child Development

Current Affairs 18th October 2018 - Details

Government launched Swasth Bharat Yatra national campaign for food safety on - 16th October 2018

The Union Government released National campaign “Swasth Bharat Yatra” on eve of ‘World Food Day’
celebrated on 16th October to educate people about eating safe food and be healthy. The campaign has
been released in collaboration with states and headed by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.
More about Swasth Bharat Yatra national campaign

• Under this plan, pan-India cycle rally is being prearranged to form consumer awareness about eating safe and nutritious food for becoming healthy and fighting against food adulteration.
• In this rally, approximately 7,500 cyclists were supposed to take part in more than 18,000 kilometres travelling across 6 tracks through almost every state and Union Territory more than 100 days to propagate a powerful message ‘Eat Right India’. The cyclathon will culminate in the national capital on January 27th, 2019.
• This campaign will not only mobilise masses but also form large pool of local community to withstand this movement. 

RBI issues guidelines for facilitating money transfer among e-wallets

Reserve Bank of India has allotted guiding principle for inter-operability among prepaid instruments including e-wallets. Inter-operability is technical ability that enables payment system to be utilised in
combination with other payment systems.
Reserve Bank of India Guidelines

• The rules are focused at promoting money transfer between e-wallets and digital transactions. They also extravagant needs for attaining inter-operability for mobile wallets, cards and standards for customer protection and grievance redressal.
• The inter-operability will be accomplished in phased manner like initially inter-operability of prepaid instruments released in form of wallets via Unified Payment Interface, and later between wallets and bank accounts via Unified Payment Interface, and inter-operability for prepaid instruments released in form of cards via card networks.
• The inter-operability between mobile wallets and between bank accounts and e-wallets will be permitted via UPI system.
• It will be simplified to all KYC-compliant Pre-Paid Instrument accounts and complete acceptance infrastructure.
• In case where Pre-Paid Instruments are released in form of cards, then cards will be joined to permitted card networks.
• Pre-Paid Instrument issuers must have board permitted policy for accomplishing Pre-Paid Instrument interoperability.
• This will permit Pre-Paid Instrument issuers, system providers and system applicants in different systems to undertake, clear and settle down payment transactions across systems without taking part in multiple systems.
• Card networks are also permitted to onboard Pre-Paid Instrument issuers to join their network. Non-bank Pre-Paid Instrument issuers are allowed to take part as members or associate members of permissible card networks.
• The inter-operability of Pre-Paid Instruments will facilitate transfer from one wallet to another via
  Unified Payment Interface. It will also facilitate transfer from wallets to bank also via Unified Payment Interface.
• Moreover, wallet organisations can now release cards and for this they don’t require to partner
  with banks for Unified Payment Interface and card issuance.
• It will thus enhance digital payments, expand financial penetration in long term.

Canada becomes second country to legalises use of cannabis on - 17th October 2018

Canada legalised the possession and usage of recreational cannabis on October 17th, 2018. After Uruguay, Canada has become the 2nd nation and the largest nation to do so.
The Canadian government will also pardon the Canadians imprisoned of possession of marijuana. PM Justin Trudeau would pardon people imprisoned in the past for possession of about 30 gm of marijuana.
An opinion for possession of marijuana permits United States Border Patrol mediators to avoid Canadian inhabitants from entering their nation since Ottawa shares that database with Washington.
Execution of sale The Government of Canada is designing to send the mail to 15 million families, through which new cannabis laws will be elucidated and public awareness campaigns will be programmed.
However, the government is worried about the readiness of the police to handle drug-impaired driving.
Legality of cannabis 

• Uruguay and Canada are the only nations that have fully legitimate the consumption and sale of recreational cannabis around the nation. In the USA, 9 states and the District of Columbia have legal sales and consumption although its leftovers federally illegal.
• Court rulings in Georgia and South Africa have directed to the legalization of personal cultivation and usage of cannabis, but not legal sales.
• Nations that have legalized the medical use of cannabis are Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Sri Lanka and the UK with effect from November 1st, 2018.
• Others have more restrictive laws that only permits the usage of certain cannabinoid drugs, including Sativex or Marinol.

Spacecraft to be sent to Mercury in a first-of-its-kind mission  by - ESA

In a 1st-of-its-kind mission, a United Kingdom-built spacecraft will set off for Mercury to regulate whether the plant, which is the closest to the Sun, contains water. The European Space Agency's ‘BepiColombo mission’ will direct 2 orbiters to explore the planet where the surface temperature is approximately 450 degrees Celsius. 
Important Highlights

• With the mission, the space agency optimisms to receive answers to the questions by the earlier missions including whether the planet witnesses’ water.
• The spacecraft will be initiated from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on October 20th and will take 7 years to reach Mercury, arriving in 2025.
• During its 5.2 billion miles travel, the spacecraft will make a complex series of fly-bys of Earth, Venus and Mercury to benefit it slow down enough to evade the mega gravitational pull of the Sun. 
• The mission is focused at increasing the present knowledge surrounding Mercury.
• Despite being the nearest to the Sun, the slope of the planet indicates that few of its areas are enduringly in shade and temperature can fall to -180 degrees Celsius, permitting formation of ice on the planet. 
• Through the mission, the scientists also seek to learn more about Mercury's magnetic field. However, some of the old missions discovered a magnetic field signifying that it may have a molten interior.

Lady Irwin College, Ministry of Rural Development sign MoU for establishing  - ROSHNI

The Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- National Rural Livelihood Mission, under the Union Ministry of Rural
Development inked the MoU with the Lady Irwin College for beginning ROSHNI- Centre of Women Collectives led Social Action. 
ROSHNI is officially and financially backed by UNICEF India that also works as a technical support unit at National level for Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- National Rural Livelihood Mission and is surrounded in the Department of Development Communication and Extension, Lady Irwin College, New Delhi.
More about ROSHNI

• Though India has made noteworthy strides in cultivating maternal survival, many encounters still persevere for females to attain their development and economic potential.
• About 1 in 10 girls marry in young age, every 5th female of reproductive age group is under-nourished and every 2nd woman is anaemic.
• A model that takes the much-needed emphasis on female’s nutrition and that validates layering of Food, Health, Nutrition and WASH interventions on Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- National Rural Livelihood Mission platforms is Swabhimaan. 
• Swabhimaan makes the last mile supply of Food Health Nutrition and WSAH interventions, which has been considered a voluntary purpose for field mobilisers for too long.
• Swabhimaan is a cooperative initiative of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- National Rural Livelihood Mission and UNICEF India in 5 poorest Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- National Rural Livelihood Mission resource blocks in 4 districts of 3 Indian states Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
• ROSHNI goals to work with females collectives for social action on Food Health Nutrition and WASH interventions for subsidiary implementation of convergent action plan under POSHAN Abhiyaan. 

Union Minister MJ Akbar resigned from his post over sexual harassment charges on - 17th October 2018

Union Minister of State for External Affairs, MJ Akbar, resigned from his position on October 17th, 2018 over sexual harassment allegations against him by numerous female journalists in the wake of #MeToo movement. Akbar's resignation came 2 days after he filed a criminal defamation grievance in a Delhi’s Patiala House Court against journalist Priya Ramani, who was the 1st to put #MeToo charges against Akbar.
Following Ramani's complaint, about 20 females came out in support of Priya Ramani, condemning Akbar of sexual harassment and unsuitable behaviour when he worked as an Editor in 'The Asian Age' newspaper.
#MeToo movement in India

• The #MeToo campaign 1st started as a hashtag on Twitter in 2017, when Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was suspected of sexual harassment by more than 70 females.
• Almost after a year, the movement has now initiated in the Bollywood, Indian film industry where it is scattering through India. 
• The #MeToo movement initiated after former Bollywood actress Tanushree Dutta suspected that Nana Patekar sexually harassed her on a film set in 2008. However, Patekar has refused Dutta's charges.
• The movement has freshly gained momentum in India as extra females have started sharing their experiences of sexual harassment on social media. 
• To name a few, these brave female actresses are Kangana Ranaut, actress Sandhya Mridul, writer-director-producer Vinta Nanda, singer Sona Mohapatra, journalist Avantika Mehta, writer Mahima Kukreja, reporter Anoo Bhuyan, journalist Sandhya Menon, and many more.

NITI Aayog launched guiding principles for public-private partnership in treatment of NCDs  on - 17th October 2018

NITI Aayog on October 17th, 2018 released the model instructions for Public-Private partnership in Non-Communicable Diseases.  Under the guiding principles, the private partner will invest in advancing, building and deploying human resources. They will be accountable for operational management and service delivery. 
Key Highlights

• The model guiding principles propose that the state governments will provide the essential physical space.
• They also propose that the tariff structure for the services offered under the Non-Communicable Diseases care facility may be connected to the present state and central government health insurance plan.
• Further, in case a government health insurance plan is initiated in a state following the adoption of Centre Government Health Scheme tariff, the tariff rates would be reviewed in accordance with the newly introduced scheme in the state.
• All categories including trusts, businesses will also be permitted to bid for the project and no limitations will be forced on any of these categories.
• The freshly released guiding principles will assist streamline private participation and inspire world-class infrastructure and patient care in the health sector.

Victims of child sexual abuse can file complaint at any time, irrespective of present age by - The Minister of Women and Child Development

The Minister of Women and Child Development, Maneka Gandhi elucidated freshly that a victim of child sexual abuse can lodge a complaint at any time irrespective of his or her current age. She further advised the victims to report the cases through POCSO e-Box. 
The illumination came after Women and Child Development Ministry accessed with the Ministry of Law in view of the overriding provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act over other criminal laws and necessities of mandatory reporting of such offences.
The Law Ministry after examining the provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act with regard to the provisions of Code of Criminal Procedure recommended that there appears no period of restriction mentioned in Section 19 in regard to reporting of the offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
Key Highlights 

• The Law Ministry distinguished that the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act does not deliver for any period of limitation for reporting the child sexual offences. 
• After this, the Women and Child Development Ministry informed that ‘now any victim, at any age, can complain about the sexual abuse faced by him/her as a child’.
• She said that investigations have also demonstrated that the child continues to carry the trauma of sexual abuse till very late in life.
• Hence, in order to overwhelmed this trauma, many grown-up people have started coming out to report the exploitation faced by them as children.