DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS- 22 OCTOBER 2019

2019-10-22 | Team PendulumEdu

1. Winter Session of Parliament begins from 18^th November

The Winter session of the Parliament will begin from 18^th November and will continue till 13^th December.

There are three sessions of the Parliament in a year; these are:

1. Budget Session (February to May)

2. Monsoon Session (July to September)

3. Winter Session (November to December)

There should not be a gap of more than six months between the two sessions of the Parliament. The Parliament should meet at least two times in a year.

2. India ready to sign agreement on Kartarpur Corridor

India has agreed to sign an agreement on Kartarpur Corridor following the demand of the pilgrims to visit Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib without a visa and to operationalize the corridor before 550^th Birth anniversary of Guru Nanak (12^th November). India has also urged Pakistan to waive off a $20 service fee on pilgrims to visit the Gurudwara.

Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara is built on the site where Guru Nanak Dev took his last breath in 1539. The Gurudwara is located near Ravi river in the Narowal district of Pakistan.

3. Supreme Court directs Central government to rebuild Ravidas temple at its original place

Against the backdrop of demolition of the temple on the orders of the Supreme Court and protests against by various Dalit organizations, the court has now asked the Centre to rebuild Saint Ravidas temple in Tughlaqabad area of Delhi at the same place, and it would be double the original size.

The apex court also said that there should be no commercial activity within and around the temple complex, including the paid parking lot. 

Saint Ravidas was a poet-saint of the Bhakti Movement and a contemporary of Saint Kabir. His devotional songs have been included in the Guru Granth Sahib.

 4. General Elections in Canada

Early trends of Canada’s General Election show Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ahead of his rivals in 139 of the 338 electoral districts. A total of 170 seats are required to form a majority government.

Canada has a parliamentary democracy with constitutional monarchy where the Prime Minister is the head of the government while Monarch is the head of the State. India has borrowed a quasi-federal form of Government, i.e. a federal system with a strong central government from Canadian Constitution.

5. A 2-day India-Bangladesh Stakeholders’ Meet kicks off in Guwahati

A 70-member delegation from India and Bangladesh will be participating in the two-day Stakeholders’ meet at Guwahati in Assam. The focus will be on improving connectivity and trade expansion with ASEAN as well as Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal, keeping in view Assam.

There will be technical sessions to focus upon road agreements, port use agreements, etc. besides Business meet on agriculture, mines and minerals, tea and infrastructure.

6. Training of Nepali Officers on ‘Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism’ in Bengaluru

The second batch of 18 officers of the Government of Nepal is undergoing training on ‘Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism’ at the Regional Centre of National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics (NACIN) in Bengaluru.

The first batch had completed its training on 24 August 2019, while the third batch of 21 officers will be trained in December 2019.

NACIN is the World Customs Organisation (WCO) Regional Training Centre (RTC) for the Asia Pacific. The institute is administered by the Central Board of Excise & Customs, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance.

7. SBI seeks help from the government to revive Rs 1 lakh crore gas plants

State Bank of India, the largest lender in the country, has asked for the government policy intervention to revive gas-based plants with a capacity of around 25,000 MW and worth Rs 1 lakh crore and rescue them from becoming non-performing assets.

The bank also urged to bring Natural gas under the ambit of GST.

8. China considers WTO permission to impose $2.4 billion tariffs on US goods

Amid seeking ways to resolve the trade war between China and the US, China seeks permission from World Trade Organization to impose $2.4 billion tariffs on US goods to compensate for the dispute that continued since 2012 and non-compliance by the United States with previous WTO rulings.

The case started in 2012 after the US had imposed duties on various Chinese goods covering thermal paper, solar panels, drill pipe, etc. which concluded in favour of China, but the US did not comply with the rulings and kept on applying illegal duties.

9. Speaker of the British Parliament refused to allow voting on Brexit deal

The speaker in the British Parliament has denied voting on the Brexit deal when only ten days are left with the United Kingdom to leave the EU on 31^st October. The politicians in Britain are still to decide whether to leave with a deal or without a deal or consider another referendum. 

Brexit is the term used for the British exit from the European Union for which a referendum was held in June 2016, which turned out to be in favour of an exit from EU. The withdrawal was to conclude on 29^th March 2019, but due to the voting against the withdrawal agreement in the British Parliament three times, the deadline has been extended to 31^st October 2019.

10. NITI Aayog directed to draft Vision Document 2035

NITI Aayog has been directed by PMO to draft Vision Document 2035 through the participation of best subject experts to address the major issues like Low Exports, Stagnant Rural income, Unemployment, Improving Governance, etc.

Vision Document 2035 will be a 15-year long term vision for India commencing from 2020.

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