DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS 18 December 2021
Raising Legal Age of Marriage for Women
- Union Cabinet cleared a proposal to bring uniformity in the marriageable age of men and women.
- By amending the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006 and other personal law, the legal age of marriage of women will be raised rom 18 to 21 years.
- The decision is based on the recommendation of a four-member task force led by Jaya Jaitley. It was set up to re-examine the age of marriage and its correlation to health and social indices such as infant mortality, maternal mortality, and nutrition levels among mothers and children.
6 Nuclear Reactors to be Set up at Jaitapur Maharashtra
- the Centre has given in-principle (first step ) approval for setting up of six nuclear power reactors at Jaitapur in Maharashtra.
- The Jaitpur Project is a key component of the strategic partnership between India and France.
- Jaitapur would be the world’s most powerful nuclear power plant. There would be six state-of-the-art Evolutionary Power Reactors with an installed capacity of 9.6 GWe that will produce low carbon electricity.
- The six nuclear power reactors, which will have a capacity of 1,650 MW each, will be set up with technical cooperation from France.
- It would provide electricity to seven crore households. That’s huge. It’s a complex project. Both countries are dedicated to reaching an agreement.
- This project will embody the strong partnership between India and France, a commitment to low carbon future, and will directly benefit Maharashtra with thousands of local jobs
Water Innovation Challenges Initiative
- The second edition of water innovation challenges was announced to address the global water woes through innovations.
- It was announced by the Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog and the Royal Embassy of Denmark to India as part of the Indo-Danish Bilateral Green Strategic partnership in 2020.
- An important driving force in the green transition – and the Green Strategic Partnership – is technology, especially entrepreneurship driven technology.
- The water challenge will foster this, but also bring it to on the ground implementation.
- This collaboration will provide solutions to improve sustainable water supply in India and at the global level.
- The winners of the challenges will also represent India at the International Water Congress 2022.
Indo-France 3rd Annual Defence Dialogue
- The third Annual Defence Dialogue between India and France took place between Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh and French Minister for Armed Forces Ms Florence Parly in New Delhi on December 17, 2021. A wide range of bilateral, regional, defence and defence industrial cooperation issues were discussed in the annual meeting.
- The Ministers reviewed the existing military-to-military cooperation, which has increased in spite of pandemic challenges. They discussed ways to increase defence cooperation in all domains. India and France have recently concluded their annual bilateral Army Exercise, Shakti, with focus on counter-terrorist operations, in France in November 2021. Defence industrial cooperation was discussed with focus on future collaborations and co-production between the two countries.
- The Ministers acknowledged their convergences on number of strategic and defence issues. They expressed commitment to work together to enhance cooperation in bilateral, regional, and multilateral forums. France is the current chair of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium and shall take over the Presidency of European Union from January 01, 2022. The two Ministers decided to work closely on several issues during the French Presidency.
- Earlier, Ms Florence Parly called on Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and paid tribute to Indian soldiers at the National War Memorial. She is expected to meet with other Indian dignitaries during her visit.
India, US announces new program supporting innovations to tackle climate and clean energy challenges
- India and the US have announced a new program supporting innovations to tackle climate and clean energy challenges.
- The program titled ‘Technology-based Energy Solutions: Innovations for Net Zero’ constitutes a call for Ignition Grants by the United States-India Science and Technology Endowment Fund. It will identify and support ‘technology showstoppers or promising joint India-US Science and Tech-based entrepreneurial initiatives in this area.
- The launch of the US-India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 partnership in April this year reiterated the commitment of both nations to work together to achieve their ambitious climate and clean energy targets and to strengthen bilateral collaborations.
- The new program aligns with the goals of the US-India strategic Clean Energy Partnership and will be administered by the bi-national Indo-US Science and Technology Forum.
Bhutan announces its highest civilian award to PM Modi
- On the occasion of Bhutan’s national day, Bhutan has decided to confer its highest civilian award Ngadag Pel gi Khorlo or The Order of The Druk Gyaplo to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a tweet today, Prime Minister of Bhutan Dr Lotay Tshering said, his majesty has pronounced Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name for the highest civilian decoration Ngadag Pel gi Khorlo.
- In a Facebook message, Prime Minister Office of Bhutan said, his majesty highlighted all the unconditional friendship and support Narendra Modi has extended over the years and particularly during Covid-19 pandemic. Congratulating Narendra Modi, Dr. Lotay Tshering said, in all interactions, seen Mr. Modi as a great, spiritual human being. He said, he is looking forward to celebrating the honour in person.
- AIR correspondent reports, The charismatic persona of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won him the admiration of people all across the globe. As a result, many countries have honoured him with their highest civilian awards. Likewise, many non-governmental organisations and foundations have also conferred prestigious awards on him. In 2016, he received the highest civilian awards from Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan.
- In 2018, he was conferred the highest honour of Palestine. In 2019, the United Arab Emirates honoured the Indian Prime Minister with the Order of Zyed Award. In the same year, Russia, Bahrain and the Maldives also conferred Mr Modi with their respective highest civilian awards.
- In 2020, Mr Modi received the prestigious Legion of Merit from the United States of America. Other prestigious awards given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at international forums include the Seoul Peace Prize and Champions of the Earth Award which is United Nation’s highest environmental honour.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also received the First-ever Philip Kotler Presidential award, Global Goalkeeper’ Award by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Global Energy and Environment Leadership Award by the Cambridge Energy Research Associates.
World Bank Unveils 93 billion Support aid for Poorest Nation to recover from Covid-19 Crisis
- The World Bank’s fund to help the world’s poorest nations got a $93 billion injection of cash to help scale up aid for pandemic recovery and other programs, the institution announced Wednesday.
- It was the biggest replenishment ever for the International Development Association (IDA), which provides grants for 74 countries, most of which are in Africa, the Washington-based development lender said.
- The package includes $23.5 billion of contributions from 48 high- and middle-income countries as well as financing raised in the capital markets and the World Bank’s own contributions, according to a statement.
- Today’s generous commitment by our partners is a critical step toward supporting poor countries in their efforts to recover from the Covid-19 crisis, World Bank President David Malpass said.
- The IDA fund is replenished every three years, but because of the pandemic, the latest cash injection was pulled forward by a year and will be in place through June 2025.
- The World Bank said the funds will help countries better prepare for future crises, including pandemics, financial shocks, and natural disasters.
- While the funds will support countries globally, resources are increasingly going to Africa, which will receive about 70 percent of the funding.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
- “Sarda Act” is associated with
- Defence Cooperation
- Child Marriage
- Diplomatic Immunity
- Covid Relief Measures
ANSWER: B
- The Hindu Marriage Act was passed in
- 1955
- 1965
- 1975
- 1985
ANSWER: A
- Prohibition of Child Marriage Act was passed in
- 1955
- 1985
- 2006
- 2009
ANSWER: C
- Atomic Energy Act was passed in
- 1952
- 1962
- 1972
- 1982
ANSWER: B
- A three-stage nuclear power programme was formulated by ______ in India
- Vikram Sarabhi
- Homi Bhabha
- A P J Kalam
- C V Raman
ANSWER: B
- Which of the following Nuclear Power plants in Operation
- Jaitapur (Maharashtra)
- Kovvada (Andhra Pradesh)
- Mithi Virdi (Gujarat)
- Tarapur (Maharashtra)
ANSWER: D
- Capital of Denmark
- Copenhagen
- Kolding
- Geneva
- Aarhus
ANSWER: A
- The Order of The Druk Gyaplo is highest civilian honour of which country
- China
- Japan
- Bhutan
- Nepal
ANSWER: C
- First-ever Philip Kotler Presidential award presented to
- Narendra Modi
- Joe Biden
- Donald Trump
- Xi Jinping
ANSWER: A
- The Seoul Peace Prize 2020 was given to
- Angela Merkel
- Denis Mukwege
- Narendra Modi
- Thomas Bach
ANSWER: D
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