Daily Current Affairs 14 August 2024, OPSC Exam Current Affairs

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Pakistan athlete Arshad Nadeem to be honoured with Hilal-eImtiaz Award

• T he Javelin Throw gold medallist in the Paris Olympics 2024, Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem is set to be honoured with Hilal-e-Imtiaz by the country’s government.
• Hilal-e-Imtiaz is the second-highest civilian award given by the Government of Pakistan and Nadeem will get this award following his brilliant performance in the final of the competition.
• Pakistan’s athlete won gold with a throw of 92.97 meters, setting a new Olympic record and surpassing Denmark’s Andreas Thorkildsen’s mark from Beijing 2008.
• Grenada’s Anderson Peters secured bronze with a throw of 88.54 meters.
• India’s Neeraj Chopra fell short of retaining his gold medal, finishing with a best throw of 89.45 meters.
• Chopra became the second male athlete from post-independence India to win two Olympic medals in an individual event

Om Prakash Mathur Sworn in as 18th Governor of Sikkim

• Om Prakash Mathur was sworn in as the 18th Governor of Sikkim at Raj Bhavan, Gangtok. Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court, Justice Biswanath Somadder, administered the oath of office and secrecy.
• The Governor and Chief Minister also participated in a plantation drive at the Raj Bhavan premises under the campaign “Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam.”

SBI projects GDP growth of 7 pc in FY25

• The State Bank of India in a report project that India’s real GDP will grow by 7.0 per cent year-onyear in FY25, which is slightly lower than the RBI’s forecast of 7.2 per cent.

• The report noted that the slight downgrade by 20 basis points is based on the global headwinds that are beginning to materialize.
• The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India maintained its overall growth projection at 7.2 per cent for FY25.
• However, the MPC has revised its Q1FY25 growth estimate downward to 7.1 per cent, a 20-basis points reduction from its previous forecast

Former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh Dies

• Former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh passed away at the age of 93.
• A former Congress MP, K Natwar Singh was India’s External Affairs Minister for the period 2004-05 during the UPA-I government led by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
• He also served as ambassador to Pakistan and was attached to the office of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from 1966 to 1971.

Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki dies

• Susan Wojcicki, the former YouTube CEO and one of Google’s earliest employees, has passed away at the age of 56.
• Wojcicki, one of the most prominent women in tech, stepped down from her role at YouTube in 2023, a position she held for nine years.
• She was previously a senior vice-president for ad products at Google and became CEO of YouTube in 2014. Before Google, Wojcicki worked at Intel and Bain & Company.

MP: 1st State to provide cash to girls student to buy sanitary napkins

• The Dr Mohan Yadav government in Madhya Pradesh has become the first state government in India to provide cash to adolescent girls to buy sanitary napkins.
• The cash is being provided under the state government's Sanitation and Hygiene scheme. Many state governments in India provide free sanitary napkins to adolescent girls, but none of them give cash to the beneficiaries.
• Main features of the Cash for Sanitary Napkins scheme School girls from class seventh to twelfth are eligible for these cash benefits.
• They will get Rs three hundred for one year. The government has transferred more than 57 crore 18 lakh rupees to more than 19 lakh beneficiary girl students.

India Maldives Sign two MoU on Cooperation during S.Jaishankar Visit

• India and the Maldives have decided to strengthen their bilateral relations by signing two memorandums of understanding (MoU) during the visit of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishnakar.
• Dr S. Jaishanker was on a three-day visit to the Maldives from 9 to 11 August 2024.
• Dr Jaishankar's visit was the first by an Indian minister to the Maldives since the Mohamed Muizzu government came to power in November 2023.
• Relations between India and the Maldives were strained due to President Muizzu's pro-China policies and his association with the India Out campaign in the Maldives.
• During his official visit to the Maldives, Dr. Jaishankar met President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu and Maldivian Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer.
• He also met a delegation from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) led by its President, Abdulla Shahid. As part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Ek Ped Maa ke Naam’ initiative and President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s 5 Million Tree Project, Dr Jaishankar, along with Maldivian Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer and Environment Minister Thoriq Ibrahim, planted a sapling at the Lonuziyaaraiy Park in Male.
• Two MoUs signed between India and Maldives
• During the visit of Dr Jaishnakar two Memorandum of Understanding were signed between the two countries. India will train 1000 Maldivian civil servants during the 2024-2029 period.
• The Indian payment system, Unified Payment Interface (UPI) will be introduced in Maldives.
• Jaishankar Inaugurated India assisted Project in Maldives .
• In the presence of President Muizzu, Dr S.Jaishankar and Maldivian Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer jointly inaugurated the Indian-funded project of a water and sewerage network in 28 islands of the Maldives.
• He also inaugurated the Indian-funded Addu Detour Link Bridge Project and the Addu Reclamation and Shore Protection Project.
• He also visited the Indian-funded Greater Male Connectivity Project (GMCP) site that will connect Male with the adjoining islands of Villingili, Gulhifalhu and Thilafushi.
• Six High-Impact Community Development Projects (HICDPs) related to mental health, special education, speech therapy, and street lighting, which are funded by Indian grants, were also inaugurated

• The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has raised concerns over reported attacks on Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh during the ongoing unrest in the country.
• It has asked the government to take possible steps to ensure their safety.
• Thousands of minority Hindu community members staged massive protest rallies in Bangladesh's capital and the north-eastern port city of Chattagram on Saturday, the second consecutive day, demanding protection amid nationwide vandalism that saw attacks on temples and their households and businesses.
• In terms of population, Bangladesh is the third-largest Hindu populated country of the world, after the neighboring countries of India and Nepal.
• Hinduism is the second-largest religion in 61 out of 64 districts of Bangladesh, but there is no Hindu majority district in Bangladesh.
• In October 2022, the Government of Bangladesh proclaimed that it is dedicated to ensuring the safety and security of the Hindu minority community, after attacks on Hindu temples during religious pujas, Hindu communities, temples, mandirs, and pandals.
• Several Hindu temples, households and businesses have been vandalised, and at least two Hindu leaders affiliated with former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League party have been killed in the violence since then.
• Media reports have flagged more and more cases of violence against minorities, including the massive vandalism and destruction at popular folk band Joler Gaan's frontman Rahul Ananda's residence on Monday, prompting the singer and his family to go into hiding.
• Five Hindus have been killed and there have been several cases of sexual assault. There have been 205 instances of attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh in the three-day period from August 5 to 8, according to a list compiled by the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council.
• The share of Hindus in Bangladesh's population dipped from 22% in 1951 to around 8% in 2022. Meanwhile, the share of Muslims in the population mix rose to over 91% from 76% in 1951.
• Between 1964 and 2013, over 11 million Hindus fled Bangladesh due to religious persecution, according to the Hindu American Foundation. It says 230,000 Hindus continue to leave the country every year.
• "Rural Hindus are the most likely on the receiving end of such victimisation, resulting in continuous migration and asset transfers out of Bangladesh into India over the last many decades, under all sorts of political regimes," says Rabbee, faculty member at University of Dallas.
• Ahead of the 2024 election, Sheikh Hasina, portrayed as a secular leader and painted pro-Hindu by her rivals, Hindus are considered to be mostly Awami League voters, though there is a chunk of the community that is also loyal to Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
• "After the 2018 election, a Hindu woman was gang-raped because she voted for the BNP.
• On August 10 and 11, lakhs of Hindus took to the streets of Dhaka to protest against the targeted attacks on them.
• They demanded protection and those behind the attacks be brought to book. The head of the military-backed interim government in Bangladesh and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus is slated to meet Hindu students and activists on Tuesday to listen to their grievances.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his congratulatory message to Yunus for his role as the head of the interim government also mentioned that Hindus in Bangladesh need to be protected. On Monday (August 12), Bangladesh's new Home Affairs Adviser, Sakhawat Hussain, apologised to the community for not being able to adequately protect them.

Calcutta High Court orders CBI probe into doctor rape-murder case

• The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged rape and murder of a 31-year-old woman doctor at R G Kar Medical College Hospital.
• The court also asked the West Bengal Police to hand over the case diary and other related documents to the CBI by 10 am on Wednesday.
• The postgraduate student was found dead in the seminar hall at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital on Friday, setting off massive protests by doctors across the state initially and later in several cities in other states, too.
• The Kolkata police set up a special investigation team, which has so far arrested Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer attached to its force.

NMC asks medical colleges to ensure safe workplace, send report within 48 hrs of each incident

• The country’s apex medical education regulator, the National Medical Commission (NMC), has issued a notice to all medical colleges and institutions to ensure a safe working environment. Measures such as installing CCTV cameras in sensitive areas and availability of adequate security staff have been suggested.
• The NMC notice states: “All medical colleges are requested to develop a policy for a safe work environment within the college and hospital campus for all the staff members including faculty, medical students, and resident doctors.
• The policy should ensure adequate safety measures at OPD, wards, casualty, hostels and other open areas in the campus and residential quarters.”

Jitendra Singh launches ‘Amrit Gyan Kosh’ and ‘Faculty Development’ Portals under Mission Karmayogi

• Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh has launched the ‘Amrit Gyan Kosh’ Portal and ‘Faculty Development portal’ at the Civil Service Training Institutions Convention at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.
• It marks a paradigm shift in how we approach civil service training and it also envisions a future-ready civil service rooted in Indian ethos, with a global perspective.
• Dr. Jitendra Singh also launched 13 Quality Improvement Plans (QIP), a roadmap for continuous enhancement of our training institutions.
• He also granted accreditation to 20 ministries. Dr. Singh highlighted that the core of the mission is continuous learning and competency-driven capacity building.

SLRTC and Army Welfare Association sign MoU to Promote Indian Sign Language

• The Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) signed an MoU with the Army Welfare Association Society (AWES), in New Delhi.
• This collaboration is expected to bring benefits to the educational ecosystem, empowering educators and fostering an inclusive environment for students.
• By enhancing the capabilities of Army Public School faculty in Indian Sign Language, the partnership aims to create a more accessible and supportive learning environment for students who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Assam launches ‘Nijut Moina Scheme’ to boost girls’ education and combat child marriage

• Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma has launched the ‘Nijut Moina Scheme’ , an initiative aimed at eradicating child marriages by empowering female students and promoting education over early marriage.
• The scheme is designed to provide monthly financial assistance to female students from higher secondary to post-graduate levels.
• The Rs.1500 crore scheme will benefit 10 lakh girls in four years. The initiative comes a year after Assam Police arrested over 4,000 people in crackdowns against child marriage.
• The ‘Nijut Moina’ scheme is universal, allowing students to voluntarily opt out if they do not want to avail of it.

Raj Kumar Chaudhary appointed as CMD of NHPC Ltd

• Raj Kumar Chaudhary has been appointed as the new Chairman & Managing Director of NHPC Limited. Prior to his current appointment, Chaudhary held the critical position of Director (Technical) at NHPC.
• At 59 years old, Shri Chaudhary brings a wealth of expertise to the role, having joined NHPC in 1989 as a Probationary Executive (Civil) at the Koel Karo Hydro-Electric Project in Jharkhand.

Paul Kagame became Rwanda’s President consecutively for the fourth term

• Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame was sworn in for his fourth term after securing over 99 per cent of the vote.
• The oath of office was administered by Chief Justice Faustin Ntezilyayo, during which Kagame pledged to uphold peace, national sovereignty, and national unity.
• Only two out of eight candidates were allowed to run in the presidential race, and those who criticised Kagame were barred from participating.