Daily Current Affairs and GK | 22 November 2019

1. Assam’s new Land Policy 2019

• Recently, the Assam Government has released its new Land Policy 2019.
• The new Land policy is prepared by the Revenue and Disaster Management Department.
• The new Land policy is prepared after 30 years since the last policy, which was developed in 1989.
• The policy laid special focus to allotments, settlements and disputes regarding land and would pay special attention to safeguard the interest of people native of Assam.
• Chief Minister of Assam: Sarbananda Sonowal.

2. UIDAI has opened up 21 new Aadhaar Seva Kendras

• UIDAI has recently opened up 21 new Aadhaar Seva Kendras for enrollment and updating of Aadhaar related services.
• UIDAI has decided to open 114 Aadhaar Seva Kendras in 53 cities, out of which 21 have started functioning in Delhi, Agra, Hisar, Bhopal, Chennai, Lucknow, Patna, Dehradun, Guwahati, etc.
• Presently, there are 35000 Aadhaar enrollment centres in the country which are run by banks, post offices, state governments, etc.
• The Kendras will charge a nominal fee of Rs.50 for updating Aadhaar details while Aadhaar enrollment will be free of cost.
• UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India):
  • It is a statutory organization that works under the aegis of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India. It was established in 2016.
  • It has issued the Aadhaar Card, which is a 12 digit unique identification number provided to every Indian resident. To get an Aadhaar number, one needs to provide proofs of identity, residence and Date of Birth. Also, biometrics of 10 fingers, irises and a photograph are collected during the enrolment process.

3. Discussion on Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019 in Rajya Sabha

• After passing it from Lok Sabha in August 2019, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019 was recently tabled in Rajya Sabha.
• The bill aims to remove the social stigma attached and the rejection faced by the Transgender persons.
• According to the bill, a transgender person is such whose present gender does not match the gender assigned to that person at the time of birth.
• The bill prohibits any discrimination against a Transgender person in matters of health care facilities, education, employment, residence, and other facilities.
• During the discussion on the bill in Rajya Sabha, demands came for the establishment of a welfare board for Transgenders.
• Some of the members demanded to send the bill to the Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha for further investigations.
• Select Committee: It is a committee appointed by the Council of States when any member move as an amendment under rule 125 of the Rajya Sabha Rules and Procedures that the bill should be referred to the Select Committee.

4. Mahinda Rajapaksa elected as new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka

• Mahinda Rajapaksa has sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka after Ranil Wickremesinghe resigned from the post.
• He was administered the oath of office by Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
• Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is the elder brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
• Mahinda Rajapaksa has served as the former President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015.

5. Mullaperiyar Dam in Kerala is declared as safe

• Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat announced that the Mullaperiyar Dam is all safe to use.
• A three-member supervisory committee inspected the dam in June 2019 and gave clearance to the Dam as it is safe to be used.
• Mullaperiyar Dam is built on the river Periyar in the Idukki District of Kerala. It is 124 years old. Every year inspection is done before and after the monsoon to check the safety of the dam.

6. Aalmi Tablighi Ijtima: World's biggest Islamic Convocation begins in Bhopal

• World’s largest Islamic convocation has begun in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
• It has started on 22 November and will last for four days.
• It is estimated that around 1 million people from 54 countries are going to attend the convocation.
• There will be no intervention and affiliation from any of the political parties in the convocation.
• The convocation provides a platform for spreading spiritual and religious messages to Muslims around the world.
• It was started in the era of Nawabs of Bhopal and it is continued till date. The first conference was held in 1944 and was attended by only 14 people.

7. Execution of Mission Himayat in Jammu & Kashmir

• The mission Himayat is being effectively implemented in the union territory of J&K by sanctioning 42 projects.
• These sanctioned projects will be used to provide skill-oriented training to around 68,134 youths.
• 63 training centres have already been set up in J&K and outside to impart 3 to 12 months training to youths in skill development. After this, the placement is provided to every trained student.
• In addition to this, the 15 years old buses will now be replaced by new eco-friendly and fuel-efficient buses under the new Jammu and Kashmir Transport Subsidy Scheme.

8. Potential Diarrhoea Vaccine developed by researchers in Sweden

• A potential Diarrhoea Vaccine has been developed by the researchers of the Gothenburg University in Sweden.
• The vaccine is proved to be safe and effective in a clinical trial which was done in Bangladesh. In the clinical trial, around 80-100% of children in the age group of 2-5 years and around 50-80% of infants in the age group of 6-11 months responded positively to the vaccine.
• Development in vaccination of Diarrhoea is one of the priorities of the World Health Organisation.
• Diarrhoea: It is abnormal functioning of the bowel movements. It is generally caused by consuming contaminated food or water. It can be caused by bacteria, virus or parasites.

9. International Film Festival of India (IFFI) features Russia as the Focus country

• Every year a country is selected to showcase its cinematographic achievements at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) and it is featured as the Focus Country of that year.
• This year at IFFI, Russia is selected as the Focus country with 8 Russian movies to be showcased.
• The inaugural Russian feature film is ‘The Hero’. The film displays the thrills and adventures going on in the life of a spy who has graduated from a secret service school.
• IFFI: It is an international film festival in which films from various countries are showcased. This year it is being organized in Goa from 20-28 November.

10. India gets three gold medals in Shooting at ISSF World Cup

• Manu Bhaker made a world record by securing the gold medal in women's junior 10 m air pistol event.
• Elavenil Valarivan secured top honours by clinching the gold medal in women's 10 m air rifle competition.
• Divyansh Panwar secured the gold medal in men's 10 m air rifle competition.
• India ranks on the top with 3 gold medals, followed by China (2 gold, 1 silver & 1 bronze).

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The newly opened Aadhar Seva Kendras are going to provide which of the following services?

1. Enrollment for Aadhaar Card number
2. Alteration in Aadhar Card details
3. Updating biometrics
4. All of the above

Correct Answer: d

2. Who is elected as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka?

1. Gotabaya Rajapaksa
2. Mahinda Rajapaksa
3. Ranil Wickremsinghe
4. Basil Rajapaksa

Correct Answer: b

3. In which of the following districts of Kerala, the Mullaperiyar Dam situated?

1. Ernakulam
2. Idukki
3. Kollam
4. Kottayam

Correct Answer: b

4. What is Aalmi Tablighi Ijtima?

1. Religious-spiritual convocation
2. The other name of Prophet in Islam
3. A terrorist organization
4. A kind of Islamic ritual during the Haj

Correct Answer: a

5. Mission Himayat is operational in which of the following states/UTs?

1. Manipur
2. Assam
3. Jammu and Kashmir
4. Chandigarh

Correct Answer: c