LOK VIRASAT
Films Division (FD) is organising Lok Virasat, a festival of films on folk art and painting starting from November 27, 2020.
About:
- an exclusive bouquet of documentary films on folk art and paintings - Lok Virasat - is being showcased, between November 27–29, 2020 on FD website and You Tube channel.
- The films being streamed include:
- The Kingdom of God , on the great Indian heritage of art and culture with focus on various folk art traditions,
- Bhavai - Fading Memories, a film on Bhavai - a folk art of Gujarat,
- Naman – Khele, a film on the ancient folk art performed in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra,
- Sahi Jata, The Fusion Cult, a film on the unique fusion of muscle and music in the form of folk art on the back-drop of the ancient Orissa town of Puri and
- Therukoothu : Dancing For Life , a film depicting the age old Tamil folk art.
PERIOD PRODUCTS (FREE PROVISION) (SCOTLAND) BILL
The Scottish parliament passed a landmark legislation that has made period products such as sanitary pads and tampons free of cost to those people who need them.
About:
- The bill is titled, “Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Bill” and was passed unanimously by the Scottish Parliament on November 24, making Scotland the first country to take such a step.
- The bill was passed with the aim of tackling “period poverty”, which is when some people who need period products struggle to afford them.
- One of its central objectives is to “end the silence and stigma” that surrounds menstruation and also aims to remove “gendered barriers”. The bill aims to ensure that those who menstruate have “reasonably convenient” access to period products free of charge.
SDGs INVESTOR MAP FOR INDIA
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Invest India have launched the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Investor Map for India.
About:
- It laid out 18 Investment Opportunities Areas (IOAs) in six critical SDG enabling sectors, that can help the country push forward on the trajectory of Sustainable Development.
- The six focus sectors identified in the map include education, healthcare, agriculture and allied activities, financial services, renewable energy and alternatives and sustainable environment.
- Of the 18 IOAs identified, 10 are already mature investable areas that have seen robust Private Equity and Venture Capital activity. The remaining eight IOAs are emerging opportunities, which have seen traction from early-stage investors.
- The map has also identified eight ‘white spaces’, which have seen investor interest and have the potential to grow into IOAs in five to six years with policy support and private sector participation.
INTERNATIONAL CRICKET COUNCIL (ICC)
New Zealand's Greg Barclay has been elected as the new independent chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
About:
- What is it? The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket.
- History: It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England and South Africa. It took up its current name in 1989.
- What it does? It organises world championship events such as Cricket World Cup, Women's Cricket World Cup, ICC T20 World Cup, ICC Women's T20 World Cup, ICC Champions Trophy and Under-19 Cricket World Cup.
- What it doesn’t?
- The ICC does not control bilateral fixtures between member countries (which include all Test matches), and neither does it govern domestic cricket within member countries.
- It does not make or alter the laws of the game, which have remained under the governance of the Marylebone Cricket Club since 1788.
- The ICC does not control bilateral fixtures between member countries (which include all Test matches), and neither does it govern domestic cricket within member countries.
- Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
ARCHERY ASSOCIATION OF INDIA
Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry has restored the government recognition to Archery Association of India as a Nation Sports Federation (NSF) for promotion and regulation of Archery Sport in the country.
About:
- Government recognition of AAI was withdrawn eight years back on account of failure to conduct its elections in accordance with the National Sports Development Code of India.
- Government recognition of AAI will be valid for one year.
- This comes after AAI's independent elections and revocation of suspension by the World Archery and Indian Olympic Association.
INDIA - AFGHANISTAN RELATIONS
India has announced the launch of Phase-IV of the High Impact Community Development Projects in Afghanistan. It envisages more than 100 projects worth 80 million dollars that India would undertake in Afghanistan.
About:
- External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said this during the 2020 Afghanistan Conference organized in Geneva. The two day conference was co-hosted by the United Nations, the Government of Afghanistan, and the Government of Finland.
- Dr Jaishankar also announced that India had just concluded with Afghanistan an agreement for the construction of the Shatoot dam, which would provide safe drinking water to two million residents of Kabul city.
- India had earlier built the 202-kilometer Phul-e-Khumri transmission line that provided electricity to Kabul city.
DRAFT MERCHANT SHIPPING BILL, 2020
Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has issued a draft of the Merchant Shipping Bill, 2020 for public consultation. It aims to repeal and replace the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 and the Coasting Vessels Act, 1838.
About:
- To improve welfare of Indian seafarers on abandoned vessels and safety of such vessels, the Bill has provisions for repatriation of abandoned seafarers have been enhanced, in line with the Maritime Labour Convention regulations.
- To promote ease of doing business, the Bill does away with requirement of general trading licence for Indian vessels.
- It also enables electronic means of registration, and grants statutory recognition to electronic agreements, records, and log-books, in addition to electronic licenses, certificates and payments, stated the release.
- The Bill has clauses to increase India’s tonnage and to make the vessel a tradeable asset.
- To promote India as a bankable shipping jurisdiction and avoid situations leading to wreck, the proposed Bill seeks to introduce for the first-time statutory framework for regulating maritime emergency response against maritime incidents
- To make India an active enforcement jurisdiction, the Bill incorporates powers of the Director-General to take action against vessels that are unsafe, and pose a threat to safety of life at sea and environment
- The Bill also encourages active enforcement of pollution prevention standards.
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (HRMS)
Indian Railway has launched a completely digitized online Human Resource Management System (HRMS).
About:
- HRMS is a high thrust project for Indian Railways to leverage improved productivity and employee satisfaction. It is a move to improve efficiency and productivity of the Railway system.
- HRMS is expected to create a big impact on the functioning of all the employees and will make them more tech savvy.
UNIQUE DOCUMENT IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (UDIN)
Finance Ministry has said, CBDT will validate Unique Document Identification Number (UDIN) generated from ICAI portal at the time of upload of Tax Audit Reports.
About:
- Unique Document Identification Number (UDIN) is a unique number given to documents attested by Chartered Accountants in Practice. It is an 18 digits system generated unique number which shall generated separately for each document.
- Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), in its gazette notification dated 2nd August, 2019, had made generation of UDIN from ICAI website mandatory for every kind of certificate/tax audit report and other attests made by their members as required by various regulators.
- This was introduced to curb fake certifications by non-CAs misrepresenting themselves as Chartered Accountants.
DEVI PRIYA
Well-known Telugu poet and Kendriya Sahitya Academy awardee Sheik Khaja Hussain, popularly known as Devi Priya, died at the age of 69.
About:
- Born in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, Devi Priya worked as journalist with popular Telugu and English dailies.
- He had also penned award-winning lyrics for several Telugu films and associated with Telugu literary movements since the early ‘70s.
- Devi Priya bagged the Sahitya Akademi Award 2017, for his book Gaali Rangu
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