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  • Current Affairs 24th July 2018

    Updated : 24-Jul-2018

    Current Affairs 24th July 2018 - Important Points

    • Tokyo 2020 committee officially launched Olympic mascots on - 22nd July 2018
    • Supreme Court lifted ban on protests at Jantar Mantar on - 23rd July 2018
    • India, Rwanda sign 8 agreements on - 23rd July 2018
    • Indian banks, financial institutions sign agreement to speed up bad loan resolution on - 23rd July 2018
    • Amendments in Bill to ban liquor to stop its misuse passed by - Bihar Assembly
    •  NITI Aayog signs SoI with Lupin Foundation for collaborating in Aspirational Districts on - 23rd July 2018
    • File a detailed affidavit related to appointment of Lokpal on - 24th July 2018

     Current Affairs 24th July 2018 - Details

    Tokyo 2020 committee officially launched Olympic mascots on - 22nd July 2018

    The Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee officially launched its Olympic mascots Miraitowa and Someity at a ceremony attended by Tokyo  Governor Yuriko Koike and Committee’s President Yoshiro Mori on July 22nd, 2018.

    More about Mascot Selection Process

    • The three final designs were chosen from the 2,042 entries submitted from all over Japan.
    • The winning mascots will be beating the other two competing pairs by a huge margin, and hence bagged 53 percent of the votes.
    • The mascots were designed by Japanese illustrator Ryo Taniguchi designed the mascots, he is the same guy who designs characters for language teaching books and companies
    • Approximately 17000 primary schools in Japan, around 70 percent of all such schools in the country, took part in voting, along with some Japanese schools abroad.

    More about 2020 Summer Olympics

    • 2020 Summer Olympics is officially known as the Games of the XXXII Olympiad and is also a major international multi-sport event.
    • The games are planned to be held from 24th July 2020 to 9th August 2020 in Tokyo, Japan.
      Tokyo was announced as the host city at the 125th IOC Session on 7th September 2013 in Buenos Aires in Argentina.
    • Tokyo previously hosted the 1964 Summer Olympic Games, and in 2020 will be becoming the fifth city to host the Summer Olympic Games more than once.
    • The city will also host the 2020 Summer Paralympics.

    Supreme Court lifted ban on protests at Jantar Mantar on - 23rd July 2018

    The Supreme Court of India ruled that there cannot be a "complete ban" on holding protests at Jantar Mantar or India Gate on July 23rd, 2018. The bench comprising Ashok Bhushan and Justices A K Sikri stated that there was a need to strike the balance between conflicting rights such as right to protest
    and right of citizens to live peacefully.

    Important Highlights

    • The apex court also stated that there cannot be a complete ban to hold protests at places like Boat Club and Jantar Mantar or near India Gate New Delhi.
    • The court directed the Centre to frame guidelines for the according sanctions in case of such events.

    Did you know?
    The National Green Tribunal had announced a ban on all kinds of protests around the Jantar Mantar on October 5th, 2017 in Delhi stating that such activities violated the environmental laws.

    India, Rwanda sign 8 agreements on - 23rd July 2018

    India and Rwanda signed eight agreements on July 23rd, 2018 following delegation-level talks between Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda.

    Modi and Kagame, both held wide-ranging talks and discussed a host of measures to boost bilateral strategic ties. Addressing a joint press conference, Prime Minister Modi assured Rwanda that India will be continuing to back the African country’s development. Rwanda President said PM Modi’s visit represents a milestone between both the countries.

    Important Highlights

    • The agreements were signed in the fields of trade, agriculture, leather, defence, and allied products and dairy.
    • India also extended two lines of credit worth $200 million to Rwanda:

    - For the industrial parks development and Kigali Special Economic Zone

    - For the three agricultural projects development in Rwanda

    • Prime Minister Narendra Modi also announced the opening of the first Indian diplomatic mission in the East African nation. 
    • The move will not only be establishing communication between the governments of both the countries but also will also enable facilities for consular, passport and visa.  
    • Other than this, a task force will be set up between both the countries to enable digital learning mediums for children.

    Other Details

    • Modi has become the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Rwanda when he landed in Kigali on the first leg of his three-nation tour to Africa. The Rwandan President personally received Modi at the airport.
    • During his visit, the Prime Minister is expected to visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial which is the final resting place of more than 2 lakh 50,000 victims of Genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda.
    • Modi will also be visiting the Rweru Model Village where he would be donating 200 cows under the Girinka programme, a scheme initiated by President Kagame in response to  the high rate of child malnutrition and as a means of accelerating poverty reduction and integrate livestock and crop farming.
    • Modi would take part in the India-Rwanda Business Forum.

    Did you know?

    The Prime Minister's visit to Rwanda is historic as Rwanda is an important gateway to Eastern Africa and alsoThe Rwandan President is the current Chair of the African Union.

    Indian banks, financial institutions sign agreement to speed up bad loan resolution on - 23rd July 2018

    Indian banks and financial institutions signed an inter-creditor agreement to fast-track the resolution of stressed assets of Rs 500 crore or above that are under consortium lending on July 23rd, 2018.

    The  Sunil Mehta Committee recommended the preparation of ICA  and under the aegis of IBA (Indian Banks' Association). It is a part of Project Sashakt, aiming to strengthen the credit culture, credit capacity and credit portfolio of public sector banks. The Boards of respective lenders approved this agreement.

    Important Highlights

    • In this pact, each resolution plan will going to be submitted by the lead lender to an Overseeing Committee.
    • The lead lender ( lender with the highest exposure), shall be authorised to formulate the resolution plan,presented to the lenders for their approval.
    • Under the deal, the decision making will be by way of approval of 'majority lenders'- those with 66 percent share in the aggregate exposure.
    • Once a resolution plan is approved by the majority lenders, it will bind all the lenders that are a party to the ICA.
    • Each resolution plan ,formulated in terms of the agreement shall be in compliance with the RBI circular and all other applicable laws and guidelines.

    Amendments in Bill to ban liquor to stop its misuse passed by - Bihar Assembly

    The Bihar Assembly passed the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2018 on July 23rd, 2018 to amend some of the stringent provisions of the prohibition law in order to prevent its misuse and make the quantum of punishment proportionate to the nature of the offence.

    While the prohibition was introduced in the state with unanimous support from the supporting parties, the opposition, which were seeking the declaration of Bihar as ‘drought-hit’,  staged a walkout before the bill was taken up for its consideration.

    Bill's main objective is to stop misuse of law provisions against the innocent and bring the punishment in proportion to the crime. The bill contains 16 amendments that offer relief to people found in violating the various provisions of the law.

    Important Highlights of the amended Bill

    • The prohibition law earlier provided for a 5-year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 lakh, for those who consume liquor or caught in an inebriated state.
    • With the new changes, the first-time offenders will be paying a fine of Rs 50,000, failing which, they will need to undergo a prison term of 3 months.
    • The offence has now been made bailable.
    • On the other hand, the repeat offenders will be punished with a prison term of not less than a year and a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh.
    • Those causing disturbance or violence in an inebriated state or facilitating consumption of liquor on their premises will continue to attract a prison term not shorter than five years and penalty of not less than Rs 1 lakh.
    • For those who are guilty of manufacture, storage and illegal trade in liquor, the prohibition law earlier provided for a maximum term of life imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh.
    • Under the new amendment, the first offence of this nature will be punishable with a prison sentence of at least five years and a fine of not less than Rs 1 lakh, while subsequent offences will be punishable with a prison term of at least 10 years and a fine of not less than Rs 5 lakh.
    • The new amendment would also be removing the provision for imposition of a collective fine and banishing of notorious and habitual offenders from a district.
    • It also removes the provision to book all the adult members of a household if liquor is found in the house.

    Did you know?
    On November 26th, 2015, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had announced that all types of alcohol would be banned  in the state from April 1st, 2016. A complete ban on all liquor items was declared on April 5th, 2016.

     NITI Aayog signs SoI with Lupin Foundation for collaborating in Aspirational Districts on - 23rd July 2018

    The NITI Aayog and Lupin Foundation signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) to collaborate in Aspirational Districts Program on July 23rd, 2018. The SoI was signed by Yaduvendra Mathur, Additional Secretary of NITI Aayog and Sita Ram Gupta, Executive Director of Lupin Foundation.

    Key Highlights

    • The NITI Aayog and Lupin Foundation will be collaborating to improve indicators in education, health & nutrition, financial inclusion  and skill development, agriculture and water resources and basic infrastructure in Aspirational Districts of India.
    • Lupin Foundation, along with the NITI Aayog, will be working in three states - Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
    • The collaboration will be facilitating the creation of an ideal template to develop economic strength, technological viability and moral leadership  across three districts in these 3 states as part of Phase I of the cooperation.
    • Lupin Foundation will be working towards three main pillars of ensuring integrated developmental policy in the model states  Social development - It will be including initiatives for health, education and women empowerment.
    • Economic empowerment – It will be focusing on interventions in spheres of animal husbandry, agriculture and skill enhancement.
    • Infrastructure development - Lupin will be looping to establish durable infra in the form of school buildings, internal roads and water resources.

    Phase I of cooperation between Lupin Foundation and NITI Aayog

    Phase I of cooperation between Lupin Foundation and NITI Aayog will be focusing on the districts of Dholpur in Rajasthan, Nandurbar in Maharashtra and Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh.
    It will be helping to develop a comprehensive district-level action plan that integrates various initiatives and interventions.

    More about Aspirational District Program

    • In January 2018, PM Narendra Modi launched the ‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ program aiming to effectively and quickly transform some  of the most underdeveloped districts of the country.

    The broad features of the program are:

    1) Collaboration of Central, State level ‘Prabhari’ Officers & District Collectors 

    2) Convergence of Central & State Schemes

    3)Competition among districts driven by a Mass Movement or a Jan Andolan

    • The program aiming to focus on the strength of each district, identify low-hanging fruits for measure progress, immediate improvement and rank districts.
    • It is also supporting Government’s initiative of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ to raise the living standards of its citizens and ensure inclusive growth for all.
    • The Government has chosen 49 key performance indicators to measure progress of the districts under this program.
    • Districts are encouraged to first catch-up with the best district within their state, and aspire to become one of the best in the country subsequently.

    File a detailed affidavit related to appointment of Lokpal on - 24th July 2018

    The Supreme Court asked the Union Government to file a detailed affidavit mentioning all the steps being taken for setting up a search committee for  suggesting probable names for the appointment of Lokpal on July 24th, 2018.

    The Supreme Court bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Navin Sinha and Justice R. Bhanumathi expressed dissatisfaction over the Centre’s response on appointment  of search committee members.

    The bench described the affidavit filed by the Centre as "insufficient” and directed the Department of Personnel and Training to file a fresh affidavit with  full particulars in 4 weeks time. On July 2nd, 2018, the Supreme Court directed the Centre to inform it within 10 days about the time frame to appoint the anti-graft ombudsman Lokpal in India.