Daily Current Affairs and GK | 4 September 2024

Topic: State News/West Bengal

1. On September 3, the anti-rape ‘Aparajita’ bill was passed in the West Bengal Assembly.

• The proposed bill provides for the death penalty for persons convicted of rape if their acts result in the death or vegetative state of the victim.
• Additionally, it provides for life imprisonment without parole for those convicted of rape and gang rape.
• The title of this law is 'Aparajita Women and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Law and Amendment) Bill 2024'.
• The law aims to strengthen protection for women and children by amending and introducing new provisions relating to rape and sexual offences.
• Under the bill, an Aparajita Task Force will be formed, in which punishment will be given within 21 days of the preliminary report.
• Routes on which nurses and female doctors travel will be covered. For this, the state's govt has sanctioned Rs 120 crores.
• A two-day special session of the Assembly has been called on September 2, 2024, in the wake of the rape-murder of a woman doctor at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in August.
• The bill was introduced by state Law Minister Malay Ghatak.

Topic: Sports

2. In the ongoing Paris Paralympics 2024, Sheetal Devi and Rakesh Kumar won bronze medal in the archery mixed team event.

• The pair of Shital Devi and Rakesh Kumar won the bronze medal in the compound open archery mixed team event.
• The Indian team performed remarkably and defeated Italy's Eleonora Sarti and Matteo Bonacina with a score of 156-155.
• Sheetal Devi, 17, from Jammu district is the first and only active female archer in the world to participate in archery without hands.
• In another feat, Indian shuttler Suhas Yathiraj secured his second consecutive silver medal in the men's singles SL4 category at the ongoing Paris Paralympic Games.
• Suhas lost to local favorite Lukas Mazur with a scoreline of 9-21, 13-21.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Economy/Banking/Finance

3. World Bank increased India’s growth forecast for FY25 to 7%.

• World Bank raised India’s growth forecast for Fiscal Year 2024-25 by 40 basis points to 7 per cent. Its earlier forecast was 6.6 per cent.
• The debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to decline from 83.9 per cent in FY23/24 to 82 per cent by FY26/27.
• The current account deficit is expected to remain at around 1-1.6 per cent of GDP up to FY26/27.
• In recent years, the global trade landscape has witnessed protectionism.
• India’s robust growth prospects along with declining inflation will help in reducing extreme poverty.
• India can boost its growth further by using its global trade potential.
• India should adopt a three-pronged approach for achieving the $1 trillion merchandise export target by reducing trade costs further, lowering trade barriers, and deepening trade integration.

Topic: Indian Economy

4. SEBI to implement a single corporate filing system across exchanges.

• SEBI will soon implement a single corporate filing system across stock exchanges.
• This new system will simplify the process for companies and ensure that investors receive timely and consistent information across all exchanges.
• It will reduce the burden on companies that have to file the same disclosure separately on multiple stock exchanges.
• This change means that once a company submits a disclosure to one exchange, it will become automatically available on other.