Daily Current Affairs – 24 December 2021 | Gkseries
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Daily Current Affairs 24 December 2021
Jharkhand assembly passes Bill to prevent mob violence, lynching
The Jharkhand Assembly passed the Prevention of Mob Violence and Mob Lynching Bill, 2021, which aims to protect the constitutional rights of individuals and avert mob brutalities in the state. After including one amendment, the Bill was passed and sent to the Governor for his assent. Once notified, Jharkhand will become the fourth state to bring in such a law after West Bengal, Rajasthan, and Manipur.
About the bill:
- The bill provides a jail term of 3 years to life imprisonment and fines of up to ₹25 lakh against those involved in mob lynching leading to “injury or death”.
- The Bill defines lynching as “any act or series of acts of violence or death or aiding, abetting or attempting an act of violence or death, whether spontaneous or planned, by a mob on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, and place of birth, language, dietary practices, sexual orientation, political affiliation, ethnicity or any other ground”.
- In case of a lynching incident leading to the victim suffering hurt, the convicts will be punished with imprisonment up to 3 years and a fine between ₹1 lakh to ₹3 lakh.
WADA report: India among world’s top three dope violators country
India among world’s top 3 dope violators in the latest WADA report – India has been inducted into the top three of the world’s biggest doping violators in a WADA report. Indian athletes were involved 152 times in dope-related activities in the year 2019 with bodybuilding, weightlifting and athletics contributing majorly to the country’s embarrassing record. The report has revealed the latest report published by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), which has put India into the top-three of the world’s biggest violators behind Russia (167) and Italy (157). Brazil (78) is at fourth and Iran (70) fifth positions.
About the report:
- Anti-Doping Organisations collected a total of 278,047 samples in 2019 and in which 2,701 (1 per cent) samples were found as Adverse Analytical Findings.
- Based on a compilation of the information received by WADA till January 31, 2021, 1,535 samples (57 %) were confirmed as ADRVs (sanctions), the world anti-doping watchdog.
- Among Olympic sports worldwide, athletics leads the number of dope offenders with 227 (18 per cent), followed by weightlifting with 160. Bodybuilding leads overall with 272.
State Bank of India acquired minority stake in JSW Cement for INR 100 crore
State Bank of India(SBI) acquired a minority stake (less than 50 percent) in JSW Cement Limited for an investment of INR 100 crore through Compulsory Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS). The public sector bank has invested in the company, a part of the $13 billion JSW Group, via compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS). The conversion of such CCPS into common equity will be linked to the company’s future business performance and valuation determined at the time of the proposed initial public offering.
The SBI transaction with JSW Cement comes close on the heels of the ₹1,500 crore investments made by two global private equity investors, Apollo Global Management Inc. (through its investment entity in Singapore) and Synergy Metals Investments Holding Ltd in JSW Cement earlier this year.
Tusshar Kapoor released his debut book ‘Bachelor Dad’
Tusshar Kapoor took to social media to share that he has written his first book titled Bachelor Dad. The actor became a single father to son Laksshya Kapoor via surrogacy in 2016. He has shared his journey of being a single father in the new book. The actor has shared his journey of the ‘slightly unconventional road to fatherhood’ in his debut book, Bachelor Dad. On the cover of the book, he can be seen carrying his son.
Announcing the book, Tusshar wrote, “I WROTE A BOOK! Becoming a father has been one of the most cherished moments of my life and my first book, Bachelor Dad, talks about how I took a slightly unconventional road to fatherhood.”
NITI Aayog tie-up with UN WFP to diversify food basket
NITI Aayog and United Nations World Food Programme (UN WFP) have agreed to diversify the food basket. Both the organisation signed a Statement of Intent on December 20, 2021. The partnership focuses on mainstreaming millets and supporting India in taking lead globally in knowledge exchange using the opportunity of 2023 as an International Year of Millets. The government of India observed 2018 as a year of millets.
Key Points:
- The partnership between NITI Aayog and UN WEP focuses to mainstream the millets and supporting India in taking a lead internationally in knowledge exchange amid the recognition of 2023 as an International Year of Millets.
- This partnership also aims to build resilient livelihoods for small-farmers and adaptation capacities towards climate change as well as transforming food systems.
- The Statement of Intent focuses on strategic and technical collaboration between both the parties, in order to strengthen climate resilient agriculture for enhanced food & nutrition security across India.
Advance tax collection rises 54% to Rs 4.60 lakh crore
According to the finance ministry, advance tax collection increased by 53.50%to Rs 4.60 lakh crore so far this fiscal year, indicating a recovery in the economy.
Direct tax collections for 2021-22, as on December 16, present that internet collections are at Rs 9.45 lakh crore in contrast to Rs 5.88 lakh crore over the year-ago interval, representing a rise of 60.8%, the ministry stated in an announcement.
The cumulative advance tax collections for the primary, second and third quarter of 2021-22 stand at Rs 4,59,917.1 crore as on December 16, 2021, towards advance tax collections of Rs 2,99,620.5 crore for the corresponding interval of 2020-21, displaying a development of about 53.5 per cent.
National Consumer Rights Day 2021
Every Year 24th December is observed as National Consumer Day with a specific theme in India. On this day the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 had received the assent of the president. The Act aims to provide consumers with effective safeguards against different types of exploitation, such as defective goods, deficiency in services, and unfair trade practices.
Consumer Protection Act in India guarantees six basic rights to consumers:
- Right to choose the product
- Right to be protected from all kinds of hazardous goods
- Right to be informed about the performance and quality of all products
- Right to be heard in all decision-making processes related to consumer interests
- Right to seek redressal, whenever consumer rights have been infringed
- Right to complete consumer education
History of National Consumer Rights Day:
The National Consumer Rights Day was celebrated for the first time in 1986 under the Consumer Protection Act. It’s different from World Consumer Day, which is celebrated annually on March 15. The Consumer Protection Act came into force in 1986. In 2019, the Consumer Protection Act 1986 was revised. Later, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution announced the CPA 2019 bill put to effect on July 20, 2020.
Mastercard and Google Pay tie-up for tokenisation for card-based payments
Mastercard and Google have announced the rollout of tokenization that will enable Google Pay users to safely transact using their Mastercard credit and debit cards while enjoying a hassle-free experience. Through tokenization, Mastercard cardholders can make payments through a secure digital token without having to share their credit or debit card details such as card number, expiry date, etc. with a merchant.
With this collaboration, Google Pay Android users can scan and pay across all Bharat QR-enabled merchants, tap-and-pay, and make in-app transactions through their Mastercard debit and credit card. For a convenient registration, users will have to do a one-time setup by entering their card details and their OTP to add their card on the Google Pay app.
Mastercard said this initiative is an extension of Mastercard’s long-standing collaboration with Google and will go a long way towards enabling India’s digital economy.
O.P. Jindal Global University won the “Digital Innovation of the Year” award
O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) has won the “Digital Innovation of the Year” award at the distinguished Times Higher Education (THE) Asia Awards 2021 for creating a free, cloud-based application to help schools and universities manage data. JGU was the only Indian University to be shortlisted for the “Digital Innovation of the Year”.
JGU’s win at the THE Awards is a recognition of JGU’s successful digital transformation and impact over the last 2 years. This award is also a reflection of JGU’s commitment to ensure continued education for its students during the ongoing pandemic. In March 2020 we were faced with one of the most unprecedented crises of our time.
Times Higher Education Awards Asia 2021 winners:
| Category | Winner |
| Leadership and Management Team of the Year | Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (India) |
| Workplace of the Year | Saint Joseph University of Beirut (Lebanon) |
| International Strategy of the Year | Hangzhou Dianzi University of Hong Kong |
| Teaching and Learning Strategy of the Year | National University of Singapore |
| THE Datapoints Social Impact Award | Institute Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (Indonesia) |
| THE Datapoints Improved Performance Award | University Utara (Malaysia) |
| Excellence and Innovation in the Arts | Hong Kong Baptist University |
| Technological or Digital Innovation of the Year | O.P. Jindal Global University (India) |
| Outstanding Support for Students | University Teknologi Petronas (Malaysia) |
| Student Recruitment Campaign of the Year | Hanoi University of Science and Technology (Vietnam) |
Pritzker Prize-winning architect Richard Rogers passes away
Richard Rogers, a British-Italian Pritzker Prize-winning architect of Jewish descent, passed away in his home in London at the age of 88.
Rogers received the Pritzker Prize, also known as the Nobel Prize of Architecture, in 2007. He was also awarded the Royal Gold Medal in 1985 and the American Institute of Architect’s Gold Medal in 2019. He received the Knight Bachelor in 1991 and he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. He was the architect of the new World Trade Center (3 World Trade Center) in New York City, United States, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France and the Millennium Dome in London, UK.
Oriental Insurance categorised as public shareholder in Axis Bank
Axis Bank has announced the approval to reclassify Oriental Insurance Company Ltd (OICL) from promoter category to public category shareholder in the bank. In October, applications were made to BSE and NSE for reclassification of The New Oriental Insurance Co to public category from promoter category.
At present, OICL holds a 0.16 per cent stake in Axis Bank. Currently, BSE & NSE gave approval for the reclassification of New Oriental Insurance Company to the public category from the promoter category.