Current Affairs 8th January 2019

Current Affairs 8th January 2019 - Important Points

• Lok Sabha passes bill to eliminate leprosy as ground for divorce on - 7th January 2019
• Government to soon make Aadhaar connecting with driving licence compulsory on - 6th January 2019
• 2019 Golden Globe Awards: Bohemian Rhapsody wins Best Picture Drama on - 7th January 2019
• Chief of Staff Kevin Sweeney  from  United States - Resigned 
• The Impact of Crude Price Shock on CAD, Inflation & Fiscal Deficit by -  The Reserve Bank of India 
• Law to make Islam compatible with socialism passed by -  China
• Rail Kumbh Seva Mobile Application  released by - North Central Railway
• Pulses to states under the scheme of Central Government sold by - Nafed 

Current Affairs 8th January 2019 - Details

Lok Sabha passes bill to eliminate leprosy as ground for divorce on - 7th January 2019

The Lok Sabha on January 7th, 2019 applicationroved the Personal Laws (Amendment Bill), 2018, which pursues to eliminate leprosy as a ground for divorce due to the reason that it is now a curable disease as against the previous belief of it being incurable.
The Bill pursues to amend 5 personal laws- the Hindu Marriage Act 1955, Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939, Divorce Act (for Christians) 1869, Special Marriage Act 1954 & the Hindu Adoptions & Maintenance Act 1956- to eliminate leprosy as a ground for divorce.
Important Points

• Leprosy as a ground for divorce is a ‘discriminatory’ provision.
• The 1st attempt towards eradicating the bias against people suffering from the leprosy was done in 2008 when the National Human Rights Commission had underlined the necessity to make modifications in certain personal laws & other legislations.
• In 2010, the UN General Assembly accepted a Resolution on the “Elimination of discrimination against individual suffering from leprosy & their family members’, which was inked & ratified by India. 
• Subsequently, the 20th Law Commission of India in its 256th Report named ‘Eliminating Discrimination Against Individuals Affected by Leprosy” had suggested repeal of laws & provisions that were prejudiced against leprosy- affected people.
• In 2014, the Supreme Court had also asked the Centre &the state governments to take the required steps for rehabilitation & integration of leprosy-affected people into the mainstream including the steps to repeal the necessities where leprosy has been treated as a stigmatic disability.
• Thus, Government finalised to omit such discriminatory provisions from the Personal Laws.

Government to soon make Aadhaar connecting with driving licence compulsory on - 6th January 2019

The Union Government will soon make it compulsory for connecting Aadhaar number with driving licences, according to Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
The Minister for Law, Electronics & IT said that the Government is soon going to bring a law that will make the connecting process compulsory. The Minister was delivering his presidential address at the continuing 106th Indian Science Congress in Jalandhar on January 6th, 2019. 
Need for linking Aadhaar with driving license

• Currently, the guilty individual who causes an accident flees the scene &  gets a duplicate licence which aids him escape blame & prosecution. 
• However, with the Aadhaar connection, one can change his/her name but cannot change his/her biometrics, neither iris nor his/her fingerprints. 
• Hence, connecting Aadhaar with DLs would prevent guilty individuals from escaping the scene of an accident & then getting duplicate licences.
• The moment anyone will try to get a duplicate licence, the system will notify that the individual already has a driving licence & should not be given a new one.

2019 Golden Globe Awards: Bohemian Rhapsody wins Best Picture Drama on - 7th January 2019

The 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards were declared on January 7th, 2019 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, USA. These yearly awards honour the best in Motion Pictures & Television for the year 2018.
Present year’s programme was hosted by actors Andy Samberg & Sandra Oh, who took over from 2018 host, comedian Seth Meyers. Sandra Oh joined a small group of actors who secured an award in the same ceremony they hosted.
Important Points

• The Globes present year pulled a twist at the end of the ceremony, with Green Book & Bohemian Rhapsody staging upset victories.
• While Green Book completed with 3 awards-the maximums for the evening, Bohemian Rhapsody- the Queen biopic & Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma won2 each.
• Though ‘A Star Is Born’ was the odds-on favourite for the Best Motion Picture (Drama), ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ gained the award.
• The other major awards consisted Best Actress in Motion Picture (Drama), which was given to Glenn Close for the film ‘The Wife’ & Best Actor in Motion Picture (Drama) that was given to Rami Malek for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ & Best Director - Motion Picture that was given to Alfonso Cuaron for the film ‘Roma’.
• Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper, measured by many as the favourites to secure Best Actress & Best Actor Drama awards, returned home empty handed.

Chief of Staff Kevin Sweeney  from  United States - Resigned 

Kevin Sweeney, the chief of staff of the United States Department of Defence, has declared his resignation from the position. Explaining his decision, Rear Admiral Sweeney informed in a statement that "the time is right to return to the private sector".
Important Points

• Défense Secretary Chief of Staff Kevin Sweeney worked in this role since January 2017.
• He is now the 3rd senior Pentagon official to resign since President Donald Trump declared the withdrawal of United States troops from Syria.
• His resignation closely follows that of United States Secretary of Défense James Mattis who stood down in December after recognizing policy differences with the United States president.
• General Mattis left his position early, after initially planning to stay in his role until February 2019.
• Mattis chooses Sweeney to be his chief of staff in early 2017. Sweeney retired as a Rear Admiral’s post from the United States Navy in 2014.

The Impact of Crude Price Shock on CAD, Inflation & Fiscal Deficit by -  The Reserve Bank of India 

The Reserve Bank of India has published a paper titled “The Impact of Crude Price Shock on CAD,
Inflation & Fiscal Deficit’. The paper outlines how the crude price shock will have a contrary influence on
Current Account Deficit- CAD, Inflation & Fiscal Deficit.
Important Highlights

• Since India is deeply dependent on oil imports for meeting its domestic need, it remains susceptible to global crude price shocks.
• An upsurge in crude price worsens the Current Account Deficit & this adverse impact cannot be
  suggestively contained through higher growth. Hence a crude price shock will consequence in high
  Current Account Deficit to GDP ratio.
• The crude price of USD 85 per barrel in the worst scenario will result in deficit upsurges by USD 106.4 billion, which is 3.61% of the GDP on account of the oil shock.
• Every rise of USD 10 per barrel in crude prices results into an extra USD 12.5 billion deficit. This is
  applicationroximately 43 bps of the nation’s GDP. Hence every USD 10 per barrel upsurge in crude price will shoot up the Current Account Deficit/GDP ratio by 43 bps.
• It is projected that a USD 10 per barrel rise in crude price at the price of USD 65 per barrel will result into a 49 basis points rise in headline inflation & a USD 10 per barrel rise in crude price at the price of USD 55 per barrel gives around a 58 bps increase in headline inflation.
• If the government chooses not to pass on the USD 10 per barrel rise in crude price to customers the fiscal deficit would rise by 43 bps.

Law to make Islam compatible with socialism passed by -  China

The Peoples Republic of China has applicationroved a new law to legalize Islam & make it more
compatible with socialism by “Sinicizing Islam”.
Necessity for the new law

• China has about 20 million Muslims & Islam is one of the 5 formally recognised religions in atheist
  China. Even then the leading officials in the Chinese government have often associated the religion to ‘mental disease’ which ‘necessities to be cured’.
• China has imprisoned above One million Muslim Uyghur’s at the indoctrination camps of Xinjiang.
• Many heavy-handed measures including confiscating copies of the Quran, delivering diktats to Muslims not to raise beards, & not choose names for their wards which sound too Islamic, have been witnessed in China.
• Therefore, to address the criticisms China has brought in a law to ‘Sinicise’ Islam.
  China justifies the move
• The Chinese Media qualifying the law has stated that the modern nations are secular & diverse in a
  globalized world. But the renewal & spread of religion have affected secular society.
• Fundamentalism has caused extra religious violence. Religious nationalism is threatening nations’ legitimate governments & is coming out as social instability.

Rail Kumbh Seva Mobile Application  released by - North Central Railway

Rail Kumbh Seva Mobile Application has been released by the North Central Railway to assist the
devotees arriving in Allahabad for the Kumbh Mela.
More about the Mobile Applicationlication

• The Mobile Application ‘Rail Kumbh Seva’ has been outlined to provide critical & valuable data to the devotees, tourists & other passengers who will visit Allahabad during the Kumbh Mela days.
• The application will guide the devotees in many ways including-
• The application will benefit to navigate through the city & the mela grounds.
• The application will also provide data regarding all the ‘Mela special’ trains that will be run during the Kumbh period.
• The application will deliver a link to the subscribers to buy both unreserved & reserved train tickets.
• The application will benefit in knowing their present location & also benefit in getting directions to reach railway stations, the mela zone, major hotels, bus stations & other facilities within Allahabad city.
• The application will also provide info about passenger amenities available at the stations including
  parking lots, refreshment rooms, waiting rooms, book stall, food plaza, ATMs & train enquiry
  Kumbh Mela at Allahabad
• During a continuing war between the demons & the demigods for the possession of the elixir of
  immortality (Amrit), few drops fell to earth at 4 places including Allahabad, Haridwar, Nasik, & Ujjain. 
• At each of the 4 places, Kumbh Mela is organised. At Allahabad, the drop of Amrit is believed to be dropped near Sangam & people gather near the Sangam during Kumbh Mela to purge themselves of all sins by taking a dip in the waters & attain Moksha.
• The Kumbh Mela is organised in these 4 places based on the astrological calculations it returns to each place after a gap of 12 years.

Pulses to states under the scheme of Central Government sold by - Nafed 

The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd- Nafed has vended more than
Five lakh tonnes pulses to 10 States & a UT at discounted rates under the scheme of central government.
Need for scheme

• The 1st of its kind scheme was initiated by the central government to clear the stock obtained during the past few years & recover nutritional indicators for poor households. The aims of the scheme are:
• Making pulses available to poor people at reasonable rates.
• Lessening of the sale of pulses, obtained by the government procurement firms, in the open market as it often dips in the mandi prices of the freshly harvested crop, which in turn is in contradiction of the interests of farmers.
  Features of the scheme
• The subsidised price of the pulses is Rupees 15 lower than the calculated average mandi price of any of the pulses.
• There is no limit on how much a State can purchase from ‘National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd’ under the scheme, but the states are needed to justify the demand.
• The states are needed to distribute the pulses only through welfare schemes & should generate the evidence.