Current Affairs 18th January 2019

Current Affairs 18th January 2019 - Important Points

• President gives assent to Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Act, 2019, on - 3rd January 2019
• Election Commission of India launches Voter Awareness Forums on - 16th January 2019
• Penalty on Chemists & Druggists Association of Baroda imposed by - CCI
• India’s Satyarup becomes world’s youngest mountaineer to climb 7 peaks, 7 volcano summits on - 16th January 2019
• First human rights TV channel Launched by  - International Observatory of Human Rights
• GST ministerial panel on lotteries  by - The Central government
• Government approves Capital Infusion to the Exim Bank by - The Union Cabinet 

Current Affairs 18th January 2019 - Details

President gives assent to Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Act, 2019, on - 3rd January 2019

The Right of Children to Free & Compulsory Education (Amendment) Act, 2019 which was approved by the Parliament on January 3rd, 2019 got the assent of the President of India on January 10th, 2019. It has now been reported in the Gazette of India. The bill pursues to do away with the no-detention policy in schools.
Importance

The legislation is noteworthy as it brings accountability in the elementary education system. The suggestion received the support of a majority of state governments. 
RTE amendment Bill: Important Provisions 

• The Bill pursues to amend the Right to Education Act to eliminate the “no-detention” policy in schools.
• Under the present provisions of the Act, no student can be held up to class VIII. 
• According to the modification, it would be left to the states to finalise whether to continue the no-detention policy.
• This Bill has been studied by a Parliamentary standing committee, which also suggested bringing back the concept of detention in schools.
• The policy has been brought back as it was felt that captivating children to repeat a class was discouraging, often forcing them to unrestraint school.
• The bill delivers for regular examination in classes V & VIII, & if a child fails, the modification bill grants a provision to give her/him extra opportunity to take a re-examination within 2 months.
  Such children will be provided with 2-month remedial teaching to do better in the re-examinations.

Election Commission of India launches Voter Awareness Forums on - 16th January 2019

The Election Commission of India on January 16th, 2019 released Voter Awareness Forum in New Delhi. Same Voter Awareness Forums were released by the Chief Electoral Officers in the state capitals & by District Election Officers in the districts instantaneously.
Objective
The main aim of the Voter Awareness Forums is to encourage informed & ethical electoral contribution, commencement from the 1st step, which is voter registration.
Main Highlights 

• The Election Commission has well-ordered all the respective nodal officers & agencies to instantly form the forums & simplify enrolment of all employees & officials on the electoral roll.
• The Voter Awareness Forums will ease members to check their names & other details on the electoral roll via online NVSP portal of the Election Commission of India & the voter helpline number 1950. 
• The half-day meeting was conducted to familiarise the officers from different Ministries & Federations with the concept of voter awareness forum and explaining them about their role as nodal officers of the Voter Awareness Forums.
• Same briefing sessions were organised across the nation by the Chief Electoral Officers & District Election Officers where nodal officers of govt and non-govt departments, CSOs, Corporate  media houses in the state & district were explained respectively.
• The voter awareness forum is a part of the Electoral Literacy Club program of the Election Commission of India.
• The Electoral Literacy Club program, which was released on 25th January, 2018, envisages formation of ELC in every educational institution & Chunav Pathshala at every booth to cover those outside the formal education system.

Penalty on Chemists & Druggists Association of Baroda imposed by - CCI

The Competition Commission of India- CCI, has forced a penalty on the Chemists & Druggists Association of Baroda after it found it to be in breaking of the provisions of the Competition Act, 2002.
The initiative was undertaken after a complaint filed with the Monopolies &  Restrictive Trade Practices Commission in 2009 claiming that the Chemists & Druggists Association of Baroda has indulged in restrictive trade practices. 
Main Highlights

• The complaint suspected that the Chemists &Druggists Association of Baroda, through its practices, was limiting & supervising the supply of drugs & medicines in the market by mandating “NOC” preceding to the appointment of stockists & payment of “Product Information Service” charges previous to the introduction of new products in the market by pharmaceutical corporations. 
• There were also accusations that Chemists & Druggists Association of Baroda was fixing the trade margins for the wholesalers as well as retailers. 
• The case was relocated to the Commission by Monopolies & Restrictive Trade Practices Commission under the provisions of Section 66(6) of the Act. 
• The Commission after forming a prima-facie opinion instructed the office of DG to conduct an investigation into the matter. The investigation accomplished by the Director-General recognized contravention on part of the Chemists & Druggists Association of Baroda. 
• Following complete enquiry, the Commission approved an order where it was found that the Chemists & Druggists Association of Baroda was imposing the need of mandatory No Objection Certificate & was also fixing margins for the wholesalers & retailers by enforcing the standards laid down by AIOCD. 

India’s Satyarup becomes world’s youngest mountaineer to climb 7 peaks, 7 volcano summits on - 16th January 2019

Indian mountaineer Satyarup Siddhanta on January 16th, 2019 became the world’s youngest mountaineer to hike the 7 highest peaks & volcanic summits across all continents afterward conquering Antarctica’s highest point Mount Sidley.
Satyarup summited Mt. Sidley at 6:28 am in the morning, at a temperature of -40 degree Celsius as per to the inReach Satellite Communicator he was carrying.
Records Broken

• Satyarup attained the unique feat at the age of 35 years & 262 days, forming a new world record by thrashing Australia's Daniel Bull who did it at the age of 36 years & 157 days.
• Thus, Satyarup also became the 1st Indian to conquer the 7 mountain peaks & 7 volcanic summits.
  Satyarup Siddhanta
• He is West Bengal-based software engineer professional, who presently works in Bengaluru, belongs to Haridevpur in South Kolkata. 
• Despite being an asthma patient, Satyarup grabs an illustrious record of winning several treacherous summits.
• The biggest challenge Satyarup had to face was managing his funds for such expensive expeditions.
• It was difficult to get sponsors. 
• However, he did not let this stop him & apart from funding, crowdfunding he took personal loans & sold his summit mementos to make his dream come true.
  Satyarup’s Summits-
  7 summits, 9 peaks
  1. Mt Kilimanjaro, Africa height 5895 m, on June 29th, 2012 & June 14th, 2018
  2. Mt Elbrus, Europe height 5642 m on June 27th, 2013
  3. Mt Aconcagua, South America height 6962m on January 13th, 2014
  4. Mt Denali, North America, height 6190m, on June 23th, 2014
  5. Mt Mont Blanc, Western Europe, height 4810m, on September 23th, 2014
  6. Mt Kosciuszko, Australia, height 2228 m, on June 12th, 2015
  7. Mt Everest, Asia, height 8848m, on May 21th, 2016
  8. Mt Carstenz, Oceania, height 4884 m, on June 13th, 2017
  9. Mt Vinson Massif, Antarctica, height 4892 m, on December 15th, 2017
  Volcanic Summits
  1. Mt Kilimanjaro
  2. Mt Elbrus
  3. Mt Ojos Del Salado, South America, height 6893 m on January 15th, 2018
  4. Mt Damavand, Asia, height 5610 m, on September 10th, 2018
  5. Mt Giluwe, Oceania, height 4367 m, on November 9th, 2018
  6. Mount Pico de Orizaba, North America on December 5th, 2018

First human rights TV channel Launched by  - International Observatory of Human Rights

The world’s 1st TV dedicated to human rights was released in London by the International Observatory
of Human Rights. It would be a web-based TV channel & would issue human rights matters to audiences in more than 20 nations across Europe, Latin America & the Middle East. The telecast of the channel can be viewed via the netgem.tv interactive platform. The programs are presently telecasted in English & eventually hopes to telecast in other languages including Farsi, Turkish, Arabic & Russian.
Important Highlights

• The Human Rights Channel goals to bring hidden stories ignored by mainstream media into person’s living rooms.
• The Channel would emphasis on matters including refugees, press freedom & the incarceration of
  journalists, extremism, female’s rights, LGBT issues & the dilemma of the world’s stateless people.
• The channel has the various programs in the pipeline including China 30 years after the crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy objections, the positive & negative influences of technology on females, & the human rights suggestions of Brexit, Britain’s departure from the EU.

GST ministerial panel on lotteries  by - The Central government

The Central government has established Goods and Services Tax ministerial panel on lotteries. The
ministerial panel will investigate the present Goods and Services Tax provisions associated to lotteries.
The panel will investigate the existing system under Goods and Services Tax wherein a state-organised
lottery entices 12% Goods and Services Tax while a state-authorised lottery attracts 28% GST tax.
The inter-ministerial panel is led by Maharashtra finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar & has West
Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra, Kerala finance minister Thomas Isaac, Assam’s Finance Minister
Himanta Biswa Sarma, Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, Goa Panchayat Minister Mauvin
Godinho, Karnataka Panchayat Minister Krishna Byre Gowda & Arunachal Tax & Excise Minister Jarkar Gamlin as associates.
Terms of Reference
Whether the difference in tax structure on lottery be sustained or a unvarying rate be prescribed for
both.
Whether private peoples authorised by the states are exploiting the lower rate & receiving enriched themselves at the cost of the state & propose measures to control it.
Inspect problems related to enforcement including the legal agenda to avoid evasion of tax on the lottery & propose suitable tax rate to address the issue.

Government approves Capital Infusion to the Exim Bank by - The Union Cabinet 

The Union Cabinet led by PM Narendra Modi has sanctioned a capital infusion of Rupees 6000 crore in
state-owned Export-Import Bank of India- Exim Bank, to increase its business.
Capital Infusion

• The government would release recapitalisation bonds to the tune of Rupees 6000 crore for capital
  infusion of Exim Bank. 
• The wealth infusion would occur in 2 tranches of Rupees 4500 crores in 2018-19 & Rupees 1500 crores in 2019-20 individually. 
• The government has also sanctioned an increase in the bank’s authorised wealth from Rupees 10000 crores to Rupees 20000 crores.
  Export-Import- EXIM Bank of India
  Export-Import Bank of India is a premier export finance institution of India. It was recognized in 1982 under the Export-Import Bank of India Act to encourage the Indian exports. Exim Bank contributions the Industries across wide avenues including import of technology, export product development, export production, export marketing, pre & post-shipment & abroad investment.