Daily Current Affairs Quiz: August 2, 2021

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

Muslim Women Rights Day was observed on August 1 in India.

Year 2021 marks second anniversary of triple talaq bill which is officially called as Muslim Women Act (Protection of Rights on Marriage) passed in the Rajya Sabha.

About:

• Muslim Women Rights Day is observed on August 1 in the backdrop of Triple talaq bill that was approved in Parliament on August 1, 2019.
• Triple talaq bill was a great milestone in liberating Muslim women from shackles of social evil that came in form of divorce terms.
• Cases like ‘Shah Bano Begum & Ors vs Mohd. Ahmad Khan’, ‘Shayara Bano vs Union Of India and Ors’ laid the foundation stones for the move.
• Shayara Bano in her writ petition asked Supreme Court to consider the three practices- talaq-e-biddat, polygamy, nikah-halala- as unconstitutional.
• Cases were filing citing the violation of Articles 14, 15, 21, 25 of the Constitution.

Why this date is regarded as ‘Muslim Women Rights Day’?

The Triple Talaq law made ‘triple talaq’ a criminal offence. This law is considered as a crucial step because it ensured protection of Muslim women against gender inequality and empowerment by lawfully criminalising practice of instantaneous ‘talaq’. Hence this day is observed as Muslim Women Rights Day. This law seeks to promote women’s self-reliance, self-respect, and boost self-esteem because it strengthens fundamental and democratic rights of Muslim women.

About Triple Talaq Law

As per the Triple Talaq Act, declaration of talaq would be treated as a cognizable offence. Law provides for imprisonment of 3 years imprisonment along with a fine.

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS?

PV Sindhu, a 26-year-old badminton player, has become first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals after defeating ‘He Bingjiao’ of China.

About:

• Sindhu defeated ‘He Bingjiao’ by 21-13, 21-15 in women’s singles bronze medal match at Tokyo Olympics 2020.
• She is the first Indian woman to win Olympic silver and also the first Indian woman to finish on podium two times at Olympics.
• At Rio Olympics, Sindhu had won women’s singles badminton silver in her Olympics debut.
• She has become 2nd Indian athlete to win 2 Olympic medals in individual events following Sushil Kumar.
• Sushil Kumar had won wrestling bronze in 2008 in Beijing and went one step further to won Silver at London Games in which India achieved its best-ever tally of 6 medals.

Where does Sindhu stand internationally?

• Sindhu has become the 4th athlete to win multiple medals in women’s singles badminton category at Olympic Games.
• She has joined South Korea’s Bang Soo-Hyun who won silver at Barcelona Games in 1992 as well as gold medal in women’s singles badminton category at 1996 Atlanta Games.
• Apart from them, China’s Zhang Ning had won gold medal at 2004 Athens Games and defended it in Beijing.
• Indonesia’s Susi Susanti won 1992 Gold medal and won bronze at the 1996 Athens Games.

Who is PV Sindhu?

Sindhu is an Indian badminton player who came to limelight at international level after winning Asian Championships bronze medal in 2014. In the same year she also won bronze medals at Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. She also won her first of 5 World Championship medals in 2014 itself.

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to launch “e-RUPI Digital Payment Solution” on August 2, 2021. e-RUPI is an e-voucher-based payment solution.

• e-RUPI initiative will be launched to limit touch points between government and beneficiary.
• Platform will also ensure that benefits reach its intended beneficiaries in a targeted and leak-proof manner.
• e-RUPI is a one-time payment mechanism that will allow users to redeem voucher without using card, digital payments app or internet banking access.

What is e-RUPI Platform?

• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) developed e-RUPI platform on its UPI platform. It has on boarded banks to act as issuing entities.
• It was launched in collaboration with Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and National Health Authority.
• This platform was launched to ensure a leak-proof delivery of welfare services.
• Platform will be used to deliver services under schemes that are meant to provide drugs & nutritional support under Mother and Child welfare schemes, drugs & diagnostics under schemes such as Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, fertilizer subsidies and TB eradication programmes.
• Private sector can also leverage these digital vouchers under their employee welfare and corporate social responsibility programmes.

Working Mechanism of e-RUPI

e-RUPI will be delivered to mobile phones of beneficiaries through SMS-string or a QR code. It will be like a prepaid gift-voucher that can be redeemed at specific accepting centres without any credit or debit card, mobile app or internet banking. It will connect sponsors of the services with beneficiaries and service providers digitally without any physical interface.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

• In order to promote AYUSH in Madhya Pradesh and to link it with employment, the government has made the ‘Devaranya’ scheme.
• The scheme has been made to provide employment to the people living in the tribal areas of the state.
• A complete value chain for the production of AYUSH medicines will be developed in the state through Devarnya Yojana. Self-help groups will also play an important role in this work.
• For this, medicinal plants should be cultivated in the beautiful plains of the villages.  AYUSH and tourism will be brought together.

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

• Puri has become the first city in India where people can avail high-quality drinking water directly from the tap on a 24-hour basis.
• It has enabled the people of Puri to collect quality drinking water directly from the tap. Henceforth, people need not have to store or filter drinking water.
• The project would benefit 2.5 lakh citizens of Puri and 2 crore tourists who visit the tourist place every year. They need not have to move around with water bottles.
• Puri would no more be burdened with 400 metric tonnes of plastic waste. Water fountains have been developed at 400 locations in Puri.

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS?

• The Centre is setting up the Garima Grihas for transgender persons are with the help of community-based organizations.
• Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment A. Narayanaswamy informed Lok Sabha, 12 pilot shelter homes have been initiated with the aim of providing safe and secure shelter to transgender persons.
• The Garima Grihas for transgender persons is being set up with the help of community-based organizations. Such shelter homes have been set up in the states of Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha.

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

• The Indore city of Madhya Pradesh, or the cleanest city of India, has become the only city from the country to be selected for International Clean Air Catalyst Programme.
• The project will be operated for a period of five years to purify the air in the city with the cooperation of Indore Municipal Corporation and Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board.
• Under the project, USAID and partners will work with local communities to better understand local pollution sources and identify, test, accelerate, and scale solutions for cleaner, healthier air.
• Clean Air Catalyst is a new flagship programme launched by The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and a global consortium of organisations, led by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to combat air pollution in low and middle-income countries by accelerating clean air solutions.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

• Karnataka has become the first state in the country to provide one per cent reservation for the ‘transgender community in all the government services.
• The government submitted a report to the High Court in this regard informing that a notification had already been issued after amending the Karnataka Civil Service (General Recruitment) Rule, 1977.
• The specifies one per cent reservation in all general as well as reserve categories for the third gender. Whenever a notification is published inviting applications for government jobs, the ‘others’ column must be added along with male and female columns.
• The notification also underlines that there should not be any discrimination against transgenders in the process of selection. In case of non-availability of transgender candidates, the job could be given to male or female from the same category, the notification notes.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

• The Kerala Police launched a new initiative called the Pink Protection project for the protection of women in public, private and digital spaces.
• The Pink Protection project aims to prevent dowry-related issues, cyber-bullying & humiliation in public places. It has 10 components, one of which is activating the existing Pink Police Patrol system, named Pink Janamaithri Beat.
• They will collect information from panchayat members, neighbours and other locals and hand it over to the Station House Officers for further action.
• The Pink Beat system, in which specially trained women police officers have been deployed, will be present at Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and private buses and in front of schools, colleges and other public places including bus stops.
• Pink control rooms have been set up in all 14 districts to coordinate the activities.
• The Pink Shadow Patrol team will also be deployed to detect the presence of anti-socials in crowded areas and to take action.
• A bullet patrol team of woman police officers called “Pink Romeo” was also launched as part of the project.

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS?

• PM Modi has launched multiple educational initiatives including the Academic Bank of Credit that will provide multiple entries and exit options for students in Higher education.
• Academic Bank of Credit is envisaged as a digital bank that holds the credit earned by a student in any course.
• Academic Bank of Credit is a major instrument for facilitating multidisciplinary and holistic education and multiple entry and exit in higher education.
• Academic Bank of Credit and the Artificial Intelligence programme to make the youth future-oriented and open the way for an AI-driven economy.