Current Affairs 20th July 2018

Current Affairs 20th July 2018 - Important Points

• 'Ganga Vriksharopan Abhiyan’ in five Ganga Basin States organised by - National Mission for Clean Ganga
• Israel’s new law gives only Jews right of self-determination on - 19th July 2018
•  Government to launch Student Police Cadet Programme on - 21st July 2018
• India, Japan hold 4th round of Maritime Affairs Dialogue on - 19th July 2018
• Rajya Sabha passed Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013 on - 19th July 2018

   Current Affairs 20th July 2018 - Details

'Ganga Vriksharopan Abhiyan’ in five Ganga Basin States organised by - National Mission for Clean Ganga

The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) organised the ‘Ganga Vriksharopan Abhiyan’ in five main Ganga basin states – Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal.
This week-long afforestation drive was organised during July 9th to July 15th, 2018 as ‘Shubharambh Saptah’.

The State Forest Departments of these five states did act as the Nodal Agencies for the smooth and effective execution of the campaign. While, DFOs (Divisional Forest
Officers) were designated as the district level Nodal Officers and CCF (Chief Conservator of Forest) at the State level for the event.

Apart from these states, various organisations took part in this drive such as the NYKS (Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan), GVM (Ganga Vichar Manch), NGOs and educational institutions.

Key Highlights of the ‘Ganga Vriksharopan Abhiyan’

• The campaign was initiated as part of the FIG (Forest Interventions in Ganga) component of Namami Gange Program.
• It was aimed to bring greater awareness among people and other stakeholders regarding the importance of afforestation for the Ganga Rejuvenation task.
• A number of schools, colleges and departments were requested to “Adopt a Plant” to turn this campaign into a people’s movement. Various workshops,seminars,lectures, drawing and painting competitions are being organised for the same purpose.
• Plantation activities were carried out with great enthusiasm all along the River Ganga banks with participation of local people.
• Formal events to mark the campaign were held at more than 100 locations. In Uttar Pradesh, this program is merged with the Ganga Haritima Abhiyan.
• Some of the plants which were sown during the campaign are Jamun, Arjun, Gutal, Siras,Kanji, Sheesham, Farmis, Chhitvan, Mango, Neem, Semal, Jungal Jalebi, Gulmohar, Kadam, Sagwan, Saal, Mahogni, Ber, Bamboo, Karaonda, Ashwagandha, Curry Patta, Jathrofa, Beheda, Dhatura, Sarpgandha etc.
• In order to implement the afforestation project in a scientific manner, FRI (Forest Research Institute), Dehradun was assigned the project to prepare a DPR (Detailed Project Report) on the basis of which the State Forest Departments would carry out their plantation activities.

Israel’s new law gives only Jews right of self-determination on - 19th July 2018

Israel passed a law declaring that only Jews have the right of self-determination in the country. This controversial bill has defined the country as an exclusively Jewish state.  It is being called racist and on the verge of being apartheid by the members of the Arab minority in the country.

The state law, which was backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government, was passed by a vote of 62 in favour, 55 against and two abstentions in the 120-member parliament after months of political argument. Speaking after the vote, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that this is a defining moment in the annals of Zionism and the Israel history.

Important Highlights

• This law was enacted immediatly after the 70th anniversary of the birth of the state of Israel.
• This law mentioned that Israel is the historic homeland of the Jewish people thereby they have an exclusive right to national self-determination in it.
• The bill also taken off Arabic of its designation as an official language alongside Hebrew, downgrading it to a special status enabling its continued use within Israeli institutions.
• Advancing Jewish settlement as a national interest is stated in the bill and the "whole and united" Jerusalem is its capital.

 Government to launch Student Police Cadet Programme on - 21st July 2018

The Student Police Cadet (SPC) Programme will going to launch nationally on July 21st, 2018 by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in the presence of the Union Human Resources Minister Prakash Javadekar and the Chief Minister of Haryana Manohar Lal.

Objective

The SPC programme seeks to build a bridge between the Police and the larger community through school students by inculcating values and ethics  in them through classes in school and outside.

Important Highlights

• The program will be focusing on students of class 8 and 9 and special care will be taken to ensure that it does not increase the workload of the students.
• The program will not having any prescribed text book and nor will it be included in any exam.
  Only one class is proposed in a month under its schedule.

Other Details

The program will be steered by a state level committee headed by Home Department with the Principal Secretary, the Principal Secretary, Education and  Director General of Police as members.

A similar committee will also be formed at the district level, headed by the District Magistrate with the District Inspector of Schools and Superintendent of Police as members. The Centre has released an amount worth Rs 67 crores to the states for the implementation of the programme.

Other than this, an amount of Rs 50,000 will be earmarked for each school to be spent on training , educational aids and contingency. The program shall first going to be implemented in government schools, in both urban and rural areas

India, Japan hold 4th round of Maritime Affairs Dialogue on - 19th July 2018

India and Japan held the 4th round of Maritime Affairs Dialogue in New Delhi on 19th July, 2018. Key issues related to the Indo-Pacific region and maritime security were discussed during this dialogue. Pankaj Sharma, Joint Secretary (Disarmament and International Security Affairs) in the External Affairs Ministry led the Indian delegation, while Ambassador Kansuke Nagaoka, Policy Planning and International Security Policy in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs led the Japanese side.

The dialogue meet provided a platform to Japan and India to exchange views on various topics of mutual interest including:

• The Indo-Pacific region
• Maritime security
• Cooperation in HADR (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief)
• SAR (Search and Rescue)

Rajya Sabha passed Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013 on - 19th July 2018

The Rajya Sabha passed the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013 by a voice vote on July 19th, 2018. The Bill is seeking to amend the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. It was introduced in the Rajya Sabha after thorough deliberations with the Standing Committee and the Law Commission and at last after consultations in the Select Committee. Now the Bill will going to be tabled in the Lok Sabha.

The Bill makes the act to bring a public servant an offence.

Provisions given in the Bill

• The Bill has introduced the offence of giving a bribe as a direct offence. However, a person who is compelled to give a bribe will not be charged with the offence, if he reports the matter to law enforcement authorities within seven days after giving it.
• The Bill also made specific provisions related to give a bribe to a public servant, and giving a bribe by a commercial organisation.
• The Bill also redefined criminal misconduct to only cover misappropriation of property and possession of disproportionate assets.