Daily Current Affairs 22 June 2024, OPSC Exam Current Affairs

Daily Current Affairs for OPSC Exam

Click Here To Download Daily Current Affairs 22 June 2024 PDF In English

What is ‘blood money’ in Islamic law? A case study:Nimisha Priya case

• The Centre has approved transfer of funds for preliminary discussions regarding the release of Nimisha Priya from a Yemeni prison. A sum of $40,000 will be transferred to persons concerned via the Indian Embassy in Sana’a. Priya, who hails from Palakkad, Kerala was found guilty of murdering a Yemeni citizen in 2017. She was apprehended while trying to flee the country and sentenced to death in 2018. Currently, Priya’s mother is in Yemen, trying to waive her death penalty by paying “blood money” to the murdered man’s family.

• According to Islamic law, victims of crimes have a say in how criminals are to be punished. In case of murder, this principle applies to the families of victims.
• Although murder is punished via the death penalty, the victim’s family (specifically, heirs) may choose to “forgive” the murderer in exchange for monetary compensation. This is the principle of diyya, or, as it is commonly referred to as, “blood money”.
• It can be traced to the Holy Quran. Scholars believe that the idea behind this is to encourage the virtue of forgiveness, while also providing reparative justice to the victims’ family. The scriptures do not set any specific amount as compensation, with the sum generally arrived at via negotiation between the murderer’s family/representatives and the victim’s family.
• Some Islamic countries, however, have set minimum compensation amounts

Nimisha Priya case: What is ‘blood money’ in Islamic law?

• The $40,000 payment being made now is to get negotiations started. Eventually, Priya’s family will likely have to pay close to $300,000-$400,000 to waive the death penalty.
• The ‘Save Nimisha Priya International Action Council’, formed in 2020, is in the process of raising required funds. The Nimisha Priya case After becoming a qualified nurse, Priya moved to Yemen in 2008. In 2011, she married Tomy Thomas in Kerala, with whom she returned to Yemen. She worked as a nurse, while he worked as an electrician. Both, however, dreamt of starting their own clinic. But as per Yemeni law, this required them to partner with a local. This is where Talal Abdo Mahdi comes into the picture. A regular at the clinic where Priya worked as a nurse, the couple approached Mahdi for help. Mahdi even came to Kerala in 2015, to attend the baptism of Priya’s daughter. While Priya returned to Yemen, the civil war prevented her husband and daughter from doing so. They remain in Kerala .
• In Yemen, Mahdi decided to take advantage of Priya. He opened a new clinic but refused to share his income with her. He also allegedly forged documents to show her as his wife. According to Priya’s family, what followed was a cycle of physical and sexual abuse. Priya was unable to leave because Mahdi had taken all her travel documents and passports. He also did not allow her to speak to her family in Kerala. One fine day, Priya, with the help of fellow nurse Hannan, tried to allegedly sedate Mahdi, in order to obtain her papers. But an overdose led to his death. Panicking, the duo decided to chop Mahdi’s body up, and dump it in a water tank. Both were eventually arrested.

CERT-In and Mastercard India signed MoU to Boost Cyber Security in Financial Sector

• Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) and Mastercard India have signed MoU for collaboration in cyber security to enhance India’s cyberresilience in the financial sector.
• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said, two entities will leverage their shared expertise to strengthen the financial sector’s cybersecurity incident response.
• Mastercard and CERT-In will hold training programs and workshops for cyber capacity building, latest market trends and best practices to enhance cyber security of financial sector organizations.
• The two entities will also share relevant cyber threat trends, technical information, threat intelligence, and vulnerability reports to strengthen the financial sector information security of India.

MSDE partners with Australian Government to energise Agriculture Sector of India with emerging skills

• The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), in collaboration with the Australian Government, hosted a comprehensive and productive roundtable to discuss the learnings from the Australia-India Critical Agriculture Skills Pilot Project.
• The six pilot projects nearing completion have been implemented in 4 states, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana.
• The findings were shared with MSDE and the Australian Government and subsequently 107 emerging job roles were mapped to identify the 5 critical emerging job roles in the agriculture sector for the pilot projects.

Avian Influenza Outbreak and Response Simulation Exercise held at Bhopal

• The Department of Animal Husbandry, in partnership with the World Bank has organized an Avian Influenza Outbreak and Response Simulation Exercise in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
• This workshop comes at a crucial time as we face unusual outbreaks of Avian Influenza in Kerala and witness a global trend of spillovers to non-poultry species, including cattle. The two-day workshop aims to enhance preparedness and response capabilities for avian influenza outbreaks.

• Capital – Bhopal
• Chief Minister – Dr Mohan Yadav (replace Shivraj Singh Chauhan)
• Deputy CM – Jagdish Devda & Rajendra Shukla
• Speaker of Madhya Pradesh Assembly – Narendra Singh Tomar
• Governor – Mangubhai C. Patel
• Lok Shaba Seats – 29
• Rajya Sabha Seats – 11
• Legislative Assembly Seats – 230

Mark Rutte appoint as new secretary-general of NATO

• Mark Rutte will be appointed as the new secretary general of NATO .
• Mark Rutte will succeed Jens Stoltenberg. Rutte has been the PM of Netherlands for 14 years.
• Rutte will take over NATO’s leadership at a critical time.
• His new job will begin by Oct. 2, just over a month before the U.S. election, which will shape the fate of the military alliance that has served as Eastern Europe’s most successful deterrence to an aggressive Russia.

• Founded - 1949
• Headquarters - Brussels, Belgium
• Secretary General- Mark Rutte
• Member countries -32 (32nd Sweden, 31st Finland)
• Founding Members - United States, Canada, and ten European countries, including Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United Kingdom.
• NATO is a military alliance between North American and European countries.

Cabinet approves Central Sector Scheme “National Forensic Infrastructure Enhancement Scheme” (NFIES)

• The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal of Ministry of Home Affairs for Central Sector Scheme “National Forensic Infrastructure Enhancement Scheme (NFIES)” with a total financial outlay of Rs. 2254.43 crore during the period from 2024-25 to 2028-29.
• Financial outlay of the Central Sector Scheme will be provisioned by the Ministry of Home Affairs from its own budget.
• The Cabinet has approved the following components under this Scheme:

1. Establishment of Campuses of the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU) in the country.
2. Establishment of Central Forensic Science Laboratories in the country.
3. Enhancement of existing infrastructure of the Delhi Campus of the NFSU.

Union Cabinet approves development of Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Varanasi, UP

• The Union Cabinet chaired by PM Modi has approved the proposal of Airports Authority of India (AAI) for development of Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Varanasi including Construction of New Terminal Building, Apron Extension, Runway Extension, Parallel Taxi Track & Allied works.
• The New Terminal Building, which encompasses an area of 75,000 sqm is designed for a capacity of 6 MPPA and for handling 5000 Peak Hour Passengers (PHP). The estimated financial outgo will be Rs. 2869.65 Crore for enhancing the passenger handling capacity of the airport to 9.9 million passengers per annum (MPPA) from the existing 3.9 MPPA.

HAL Receives Rs 45,000 Crore RFP from MoD for 156 Indigenous Light Combat Helicopters

• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), based in Bengaluru, has received a Request for Proposal (RFP) from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for the procurement of 156 Light Combat Helicopters (LCHs) Prachand, estimated to cost Rs 45,000 crore.
• The MoD issued this RFP under Regulation 30 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015. Of the 156 LCHs, 90 are allocated for the Indian Army (IA) and 66 for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

• The LCH Prachand is the first indigenous Multi-Role Combat Helicopter, designed and manufactured by HAL in collaboration with French engine-maker Safran.
• It is the world’s only attack helicopter capable of landing and taking off at an altitude of 5,000 meters (16,400 ft), suitable for operations in high-altitude areas like the Siachen glacier and Eastern Ladakh.
• The LCH is a 5-8 tonne class dedicated combat helicopter, powered by twin Shakti engines.
• It features a countermeasure dispensing system that protects it from enemy radar detection.

• HAL is a Navratna Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
• Established- 1940
• Headquarters- Bengaluru, Karnataka
• Chairman and Managing Director (CMD)- C.B. Ananthakrishnan

Arjun Erigaisi wins Stepan Avagyan Memorial 2024

• India’s highest-rated chess player GM Arjun Erigaisi continued his top run as he dominated the 10-player field to win the Stepan Avagyan Memorial 2024 in Jermuk, Armenia , with a round to spare.
• India’s highest-rated chess player GM Arjun Erigaisi continued his top run as he dominated the 10-player field to win the Stepan Avagyan Memorial 2024 on Monday in Jermuk, Armenia, with a round to spare.

Neeraj Chopra wins Gold in Paavo Nurmi Games 2024

• Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra has won the gold medal in the men’s javelin event at the prestigious Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland .
• Neeraj Chopra took the Gold with a best effort of 85.97m, well short of his seasonbest effort. Much to the surprise of the 8-man field, 26- year-old Toni Keranen won silver with a personal best attempt of 84.19m.
• He bettered the likes of Anderson Peters and Keshorn Walcott, who failed to finish in the top 3. 2022 champion Oliver Helander took bronze with a best attempt of 83.96

PM Modi unveils 1,500 crore Multiple Development Projects in J&K

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of 84 major developmental projects worth more than Rs 1500 crore in Jammu and Kashmir.
• Additionally, the Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone for projects like the improvement of the Chenani-Patnitop-Nashri Section, the development of Industrial Estates and the construction of six Government Degree Colleges.
• The Prime Minister also launched the Competitiveness Improvement in Agriculture and Allied Sectors (JKCIP) Project worth Rs 1,800 crore. The project will be implemented in 90 Blocks across 20 districts of Jammu and Kashmir and will have the project outreach of 300,000 households covering 15 lakh beneficiaries.

Ukraine launches World’s first Unmanned Systems Forces

• Ukraine has established the world’s first standalone military branch solely dedicated to unmanned systems, known as the Unmanned Systems Forces (USF).
• The USF was officially launched by the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in Kyiv, Ukraine. USF aims to enhance capabilities in unmanned and robotic warfare across air, sea, and ground domains during combat operations.
• It focuses on advancing the development and deployment of unmanned systems for military purposes.

World Refugee Day

• World Refugee Day is observed every year on 20 June.
• The day is dedicated to raising awareness about the plight of refugees worldwide and promoting their inclusion and acceptance in host communities. World Refugee Day is commemorated with the hope of finding a lasting solution to the global refugee crisis and providing a safe place for all displaced people. It also serves as a reminder of the importance of international cooperation and solidarity in addressing this issue.
• Theme 2024 – For a World Where Refugees Are Welcomed
• Trent Boult announces retirement from international cricket

• New Zealand’s left-arm fast bowler Trent Boult has announced his retirement from International Cricket.
• Trent Boult made his international debut for New Zealand in 2011, and he represented the Black Cap (New Zealand team) in all the formats of the games – Test matches, One Day Internationals (ODIs) and T 20 Internationals.
• He also has the distinction of appearing in all the finals of the three formats of the games. He played in the first ICC World Test Championship final held at Lords, England, in 2021 against India. The final was won by New Zealand by 8 wickets.