Daily Current Affairs and GK | 7 and 8 April 2024

Topic: International News

1. The relations with Ecuador have been suspended by Mexico.

• Mexico took this action following the arrest of former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas.
• On April 5, 2024, Jorge Glas was taken into custody by Ecuadorian officials from the Mexican embassy located in Quito.
• Jorge Glas had been found guilty of corruption twice.
• Since December, when he sought political asylum, Jorge Glas had been in embassy in Quito.
• Before making the arrest, police forcibly entered Mexico's embassy in Quito, according to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
• Glas's detention was described as an authoritarian act by the president of Mexico.
• The president of Mexico declared that Glas's detention violated both Mexican sovereignty and international law.
• The president of Ecuador previously declared that their country is sovereign and that they would not permit any criminal to remain free.

Topic: National News

2. Yoga Mahotsav has been organized at Pune, Maharashtra.

• It has been organized in celebration of the 75-day countdown to the International Day of Yoga.
• It has been organized at Wadia College Sports Ground, Pune (Maharastra).
• It has been jointly organized by Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga and National Institute of Naturopathy, Ministry of Ayush, Government of India. 
• During the celebration, the experts of Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga gave a live demonstration of Common Yoga Protocol.
• During the demonstration, over 5000 Yoga sadhaks performed the Common Yoga Protocol. 
• Common Yoga Protocol involves the simple and effective Yogic practices in the simplest form for healthy living.

Topic: Defence

3. 'On the Spot Unit Citation' has been awarded to INS Sharda by Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of the Naval Staff, during his visit to Southern Naval Command, Kochi.

• INS Sharda has been awarded this for successful conduct of anti-piracy operations.

• INS Sharda participated in the safe release of all 19 crew members of Iranian fishing vessel Omari.
• This vessel was held hostage by pirates off East coast of Somalia.
• INS Sharda’s helicopter and subsequently Prahar team was launched during early morning hours of 2 February 2024.
• INS Sharda is a Sukanya class patrol vessel of Indian Navy. It was commissioned in 1991.
• The Sukanya-class patrol vessels are large, offshore patrol ships of Indian Navy. They are named after notable women from Indian epics.

Topic: Sports

4. Kashmir's water queen, Bilquis Mir, creates history by becoming the first Indian woman jury member in the upcoming Olympic Games.

• Bilquis, who is known as the Aqua Woman of Kashmir Valley, has made significant contributions to water sports, especially kayaking and canoeing.
• Bilkis Mir's appointment as a jury member has been officially confirmed by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), marking another milestone in her illustrious career.
• Earlier, she represented India in canoeing and served as a coach for the national team of women.
• Her remarkable participation as the only Indian woman jury member at the 19th Asian Games (2022) in Hangzhou, China, underlines her extraordinary contribution to the sport.
• She has been awarded several global honors and accolades, including a State Award from the Government of Jammu and Kashmir.

Topic: Committees/Commissions/Taskforces

5. On 6 April, a 32-member Congress campaign committee approved by the AICC for the Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan.

• In this committee, Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Deputy CM Sachin Pilot, Congress candidate CP Joshi (Bhilwara), and Pratap Singh Khachariyawas (Jaipur) have been included.
• Surprisingly, Arjun Singh Bamania, who was made the party candidate from Banswara but failed to file nomination, has also been included in the campaign committee.
• This committee includes Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully, PCC Chief Govind Singh Dotasra, former Union Minister Jitendra Singh, former Minister Shanti Dhariwal, and former RTDC Chairman Dharmendra Rathore.

Topic: National Appointment

6. NCDFI elected Meenesh Shah as its chairman.

• On April 5, the National Cooperative Dairy Federation of India Limited (NCDFI) unanimously elected Dr. Meenesh Shah as Chairman in its board elections.
• Anand District Collector, IAS Praveen Chaudhary, who served as the returning officer, conducted the elections.
• Earlier on April 04, NCDFI elected eight directors unopposed on the Board in its General Body meeting.
• Apart from these elected directors, S. Regupathy, executive director of NDDB, is a nominee director on the board of NCDFI.
• National Cooperative Dairy Federation of India (NCDFI):
  • It aims to facilitate the working of dairy cooperatives through coordination, networking, and advocacy.
  • It was registered in December 1970. In 1984, it started working as the apex body of the cooperative dairy industry.
  • It is governed under the provisions of the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Act, 2023.
  • It has 20 regular members, 14 associate members, and the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) as its institutional member.

Topic: National Appointment

7. Rajeev Singhal appointed as managing director of Tata International.

• On April 1, Tata International, the global trading and distribution arm of the Tata Group, announced the appointment of Rajeev Singhal as its Managing Director (MD).
• Appointed to the new post with effect from April 1, Singhal replaced Anand Sen, who retires on March 31, 2024.
• Earlier, Singhal was the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Tata International.
• With over 36 years of experience, Singhal moved from Tata Steel, where he held various positions, including Vice President, Marketing, and Flat Products Sales.
• With manufacturing capabilities in select businesses, Tata International Limited is a leading trading and distribution company with a network of offices and subsidiaries spread across more than 29 countries in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

8. Parivartan Chintan, a Tri-Service Conference held in New Delhi on 8 April 2024.

• The aim of this conference is to generate fresh and new ideas, reforms and initiatives to propel jointness and integration efforts.
• Chief of Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan chaired the day long discussions.
• It was the first ever conference of the Heads of all Tri-Services Institutions, the Department of Military Affairs, Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff and the three Services.
• Officers from different service brackets recommended measures to achieve the “Joint and Integrated” end state with celerity.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: International Appointments

9. Peter Pellegrini is the winner of presidential elections in Slovakia.

• Peter Pellegrini defeated opposition candidate Ivan Korcok.
• Peter Pellegrini is a close ally of Prime Minister Robert Fico.
• While Peter Pellegrini got 53% of the vote, Korcok received 47% votes.
• Peter Pellegrini currently serves as Parliament speaker.
• In September 2023, parliamentary elections were won by Fico’s leftist Smer (Direction) party.
• Peter Pellegrini will succeed Zuzana Čaputová, who announced she would not seek re-election.
• In Slovakia, President chooses the Prime Minister after parliamentary elections.
• President swears in the new government and appoints Constitutional Court judges.
• Slovakia:
  • It is a landlocked country in Central Europe.       
  • Poland borders it to the north and Ukraine borders it to the east.
  • Hungary borders it to the south, Austria borders it to the west and Czech Republic borders it to the North West.   
  • Its capital is Bratislava and type of government is unitary parliamentary republic.

Topic: State News/ Ladakh

10. To maintain peace and public tranquility in the Leh district of Ladakh, Section 144 has been imposed from 5 April.

• With the implementation of Section 144, written permission will have to be taken from the District Magistrate Office of Leh to take out any kind of procession, rally, or march.
• It has also been ordered not to make any such statement that may disturb the communal harmony and peace or that may create any problem related to law and order in the district.
• This imposition came just two days before the proposed 'Pashmina March' in the Changthang area by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk to highlight the declining pasture land of the Union Territory (UT).
• No procession, rally, march, etc. will be taken out by anyone without prior permission and no person will use any vehicle or other loudspeaker without permission.
• This order comes in the wake of ongoing protests in Ladakh demanding statehood and inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
• Recently sat on a 21-day fast, Mr Wangchuk is planning a march towards the Changthang area on April 7.
• According to him, this march will highlight the dwindling grazing land and emerging threats from big Indian industrialists and China.
• Ladakh Police has also issued a circular to reduce the speed of mobile data service in Leh to 2G.

Topic: Indian Polity

11. The line between ‘judicial activism’ and ‘judicial overreach’ highlighted by former CJI Ranjan Gogoi.

• On April 5, former CJI Ranjan Gogoi distinguished between 'judicial activism' and 'judicial overreach', saying that it is the responsibility of the judiciary to know when to act as a catalyst for change and when to maintain the status quo.
• He also underlined the need for judicial systems to adapt to changing times, which is being recognized globally.
• He said during the delivering the keynote address on the 76th Foundation Day of Gauhati High Court.
• Judicial activism is not the same as judicial overreach. The first is a peacemaker and the latter is a trespasser”.
• He said 'bold' judicial activism brings with it the risk that decisions, even when made in good faith, sometimes lead to unintended consequences, muddying the waters of legal certainty.
• He stated that the advent of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has marked a revolutionary change in the legal landscape.
• It has 'transformed the judiciary from a passive arbiter of disputes into an active force for social change and has sometimes even brought about debatable changes in political life and values.'
• However, the former CJI stated that PIL is also like a double-edged sword.
• On the one hand, PIL has been instrumental in bringing about historic changes in various areas including environmental protection, human rights, and government accountability.
• On the other hand, the wide latitude provided by PIL can sometimes be seen as judicial overreach, in which courts encroach on the domain traditionally reserved for the legislative and executive branches and harm political morality.

Topic: Important Days

12. World Health Day 2024: 7 April

• Every year on 7 April, World Health Day is celebrated.
• It is celebrated to mark the foundation day of the World Health Organization, which was founded in 1948.
• The day is celebrated to raise awareness about global health issues and highlight the importance of wellness.
• The theme of World Health Day 2024 is ‘My Health, My Right’.
• WHO is an autonomous organization that works under the United Nations (UN) to promote health issues at the global level.
• The World Health Assembly (WHA) was formed to oversee the work of WHO.
• The year 2020 was declared the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife by the World Health Assembly.