Daily Current Affairs and GK | 25 and 26 August 2024

Topic: International News

1. Australia's 'right to disconnect' law is about to come into force.

• From August 26, Australian workers will have the right to ignore their bosses outside of work hours, as a new law includes a “right to disconnect”.
• The law, passed in February, protects employees who refuse to monitor, read or respond to their employers' communications outside of work hours.
• Similar laws giving employees the right to turn off their mobile devices are already in place in France, Germany and other EU countries.
• When the law was passed by Parliament earlier this year, it was criticised by employers' groups, who said it was hastily drafted and had flaws.
• The law allows for certain circumstances where an employee’s right to refuse is unreasonable, depending on factors such as their role, the reason for the contact and how it was made.

Topic: Sports

2. Cricketer Shikhar Dhawan announced his retirement.

• Shikhar Dhawan, one of India's finest white-ball batsmen, has announced his retirement from all forms of international and domestic cricket.
• The left-handed batsman has played 37 Tests, 167 ODIs and 68 T20Is for Team India.
• Dhawan was also popularly known as Mr. ICC for his impressive batting figures in the ODI tournament.
• He has scored a total of 10,867 runs in international cricket, including 6793 runs in ODIs.
• Dhawan has scored 17 centuries and 39 half-centuries in ODIs.
• In his 222-match IPL career, Dhawan has amassed 6,769 runs and is a once-time championship winner with Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016.
• In December 2022, he last played for India in the ODI series against Bangladesh.

Topic: State News/Odisha

3. Odisha government Subhadra Yojana to empower over 1 crore women.

• Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi approved Subhadra Yojana for women's empowerment.
• Women aged between 21 and 60 will be eligible for the Subhadra Yojana.
• A total of Rs 10,000 per annum will be paid in two instalments of Rs 5000 each on Rakhi Purnima Day and International Women's Day (March 8).
• An eligible woman beneficiary will get Rs 50,000 in total in five years.
• The payment will be made directly to the beneficiary's Aadhaar-enabled single-holder (DBT) bank account.
• A Subhadra Debit Card will also be issued to the beneficiaries.
• 100 beneficiaries with maximum digital transactions will be identified in each Gram Panchayat and Urban Local Body.
• Rs 500 will be given as an additional incentive to each of them.

Topic: Books and Author

4. Soumya Swaminathan released the autobiography of activist Kalpana Sankar.

• Soumya Swaminathan released a book titled ‘The Scientist Entrepreneur: Empowering Millions of Women’.
• It is an autobiography written by Kalpana Sankar.
• Swaady Martin, Chairperson and CEO of Yswara, received the first copy of this book.
• Dr. Soumya spoke about the significant role of NGOs in bridging the gap between the government and the community.