Current Affairs 9th July 2018

Current Affairs 9th July 2018 - Important Points

• 17th World Sanskrit Conference to begin between - 9th July to 13th July 2018
• First Indian to win gold at Gymnastics World Cup ? - Dipa Karmakar
• New five-judge constitution bench to hear challenge to Section 377 of IPC from - 10th July 2018

Current Affairs 9th July 2018 - Details

17th World Sanskrit Conference to begin between - 9th July to 13th July 2018

The 17th World Sanskrit Conference will going to be held from July 9th-13th, 2018 at Vancouver, Canada. The conference is set to be inaugurated by Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar. The Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia
will be hosting this five day event and it is expected to witness participation from over 500 scholars and delegates from more than 40 countries.

Important Highlights

• The conference will be providing an ideal platform to the scholars to exchange their knowledge by presenting papers on various subjects followed by discussions among the group members.
• There will be a special panel discussion on topics such as - Sanskrit Buddhist Manus,Mimamsa
• Beyond the Yagasala,History and Education of Women in Vedic Literature, the Yuktidipika forging a place for Sankhya, introducing Bhagavata Purana Commentaries and research on the Gargiyajyotisa.
• Over 500 papers on various themes are likely to be presented during World Sanskrit Conference.
• The Indian delegation participating in the 17th World Sanskrit Conference includes 10 scholars and two officers other than Union HRD Minister.

More about World Sanskrit Conference

• It is a premier international forum for professional researchers and educators of the Sanskrit language and its literatures and of the history, religion and  cultures of pre-modern South Asia.
• The conference is held in various countries across the globe once every three years with the support of the International Association of Sanskrit Studies. So far it has been held thrice in India.
• The 17th WSC is being held in Vancouver, Canada from July 9th-13th, 2018 for the first time.

First Indian to win gold at Gymnastics World Cup ? - Dipa Karmakar

Dipa Karmakar, one of India's leading gymnasts, scripted history on 8th July 2018 by becoming the first Indian gymnast to win a gold medal in the vault event of the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup at Mersin, Turkey. She won it after returning to action after a layoff of almost two years due to a knee injury. She is 24-year-old, hailing from Tripura had overall scored 14.150 to clinch the gold.

Important Highlights

• This is Dipa's first medal in a World Challenge Cup. She had also topped the qualification also with a score of 13.400.
• During her first attempt, Dipa had a difficulty score of 5.400 while collecting 8.700 in execution for a total of 14.100.
• Later on she improved the score in her second attempt to 14.200 (5.600+8.600), giving her a total 14.150 on an average.
• The contestants who came second and third included Rifda Irfanaluthfi of Indonesia, clinched the silver with 13.400 points and Goksu Uctas Sanli from Turkey,  took the bronze with a score of 13.200.
• Dipa had also qualified in the balance beam finals by finishing third in the qualification with a score of 11.850. However, she ended up finishing fourth in the overall event.
• Her coach, Bisheshwar Nandi accomanied her in the entire event.

New five-judge constitution bench to hear challenge to Section 377 of IPC from - 10th July 2018

A newly re-constituted five-judge constitution bench going to do the hearing of four crucial matters, including the much-contested case challenging the Constitutional validity of Section 377 of Indian Penal Code from July 10th, 2018.

Below are the four cases that have been listed for the hearing before the bench:

• Constitutional validity of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code criminalising homosexuality
• Validity of the ban on entry of women between the age of 15 to 50 years in the sanctum sanctorum of Sabrimala Temple 
• Validity of the Adultery Law under Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code,seeking to punish only men for adultery and treating women involved in the crime as victims.
• Whether a legislator can be disqualified on account of a charge sheet filed against him/her or should it be done only upon conviction?

A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud, Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justices R F Nariman, and Indu Malhotra
will be heading this five-judge bench.

Did you know?
The Delhi High Court legalised homosexual acts among consenting adults on back on July 2nd, 2009 holding that this 149 years old law making it a criminal offence was  violative of the fundamental rights whereas Supreme Court had in 2013 set aside the Delhi High Court's 2009 judgement again decriminalising sex between consenting adults of the same sex by  holding Section 377 of IPC as "illegal", and declared the sexual relationship between persons of the same sex as a criminal offence.