Focus Merit

Category: All Current Affairs

A legal framework to prevent sexual harassment at the workplace

January 22, 2020

The Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Home Minister Amit Shah, which was constituted to strengthen the legal framework to prevent sexual harassment at the workplace, has finalised its recommendations. The recommendations, includes addition of new provisions to the Indian Penal Code, which will be put up for comments from the public.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Human Resource and Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal and Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani are among the other members of GoM. The GoM was constituted first in October 2018 in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement when many women shared their ordeal on social media.

The Women and Child Development Ministry had steered the Sexual Harassment of Women and Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act in 2013, which was applicable to government offices, the private sector, NGOs and the unorganised sector.

Yogeshwar Dutt & Deepa Malik inducted in All India Council of Sports

January 22, 2020

Paralympian Deepa Malik and wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt have been inducted in the All India Council of Sports (AICS) along with shooter Anjali Bhagwat, footballer Renedy Singh, mountaineer Bachendri Pal and former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.

AICS is an advisory body to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports which was formed in 2015 by the  then Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. Its term has also been extended by three years and veteran sports administrator K Malhotra will continue as President.

India starts thermal screening of passengers for Coronavirus

January 22, 2020

India on Tuesday expanded thermal screening of passengers arriving from China including Hong Kong to seven airports for preventing any entry of ‘Novel Corona Virus Disease (nCoV) in the country. Ministry of Civil Aviation has called for immediate implementation of the action plan and strict adherence by identified airports and all concerned airlines.

Following advisory from National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, the Ministry of Civil Aviation directed for all logistics support and arrangements to be made immediately with regard to screening of passengers arriving in India from China including Hong Kong at the identified airports i.e. Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Cochin along with three airports at Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata identified earlier.

Supreme Court forms committee to draft mediation law

January 22, 2020

The Supreme Court has set up a panel to firm up a draft legislation to give legal sanctity to disputes settled through mediation, which would then be sent to the government as a suggestion from the apex court. The panel, to be headed by mediator Niranjan Bhat, will recommend a code of conduct for mediators, who are legal experts.

On January 12, the committee met in Hyderabad to consider suggestions for a legislation put forth by mediators from all over India. The mediators emphasised on confidentiality, the voluntary nature of the process, neutrality, avoiding conflicts of interest, enforceability of settlement etc.

The other members of the panel, appointed by the Mediation and Project Conciliation Committee (MCPC) of the Supreme Court, included Justice K Kanan, former ASGs AS Chandok and PS Narsimha, senior advocates Sriram Panchu and JP Singh, and senior mediators Susheela S, Sadhna Ramchandran, Laila Ollapally, and Anil Xavier.

World Gold Outlook 2020: RBI at 6th position in buying gold abroad

January 22, 2020

“World Gold Outlook 2020” has been released by World Gold Council in which it placed Reserve Bank of India on 6th position in the largest buyer of sovereign gold abroad. RBI currently holds 625.2 tonnes of gold which is 6.6% of the country’s foreign exchange.

The other 5 countries that have bought more gold than India include China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey and Poland. Higher taxes have exacerbated the local gold price consumption. The recently introduces new hallmarking reforms are expected to increase consumer trust, remove inefficiencies, promote growth and improve confidence.

IIM Indore to provide training to Uttar Pradesh Police

January 22, 2020

The Indian Institute of Management Indore in Madhya Pradesh will teach lessons on crowd management and effective communication to Uttar Pradesh police. A memorandum of understanding for this project was signed by UP Director General of Police OP Singh and IIM Indore Director Professor Himanshu Rai in Lucknow on Tuesday.

Under the agreement, police will be trained in traffic management, data analysis, use of artificial intelligence, social media management among other aspects. The MoU comes at time when UP, as well as other states, are seeing protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, several of which have turned violent.

Hyderabad Metro partners with redBus to start carpool services

January 22, 2020

To strengthen its last mile connectivity project, Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited starts carpool service for train passengers in partnership with online bus ticketing platform redBus through an app “rPool“.

Dedicated space has been offered for rPool to set up kiosks for customer service, along with parking facilities for ride-givers through the app. In addition to this, rPool’s customer service executives posted at the stations will provide 1,000 metro smart cards to its customers.

Car pooling and bike pooling is an ideal solution to reduce congestion by sharing vehicles which allows office-goers to avail and offer rides in their personal cars and bikes. The concept would help the creation of sustainable and eco-friendly solutions for the burgeoning traffic problems in the city.

New Delhi: The Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2020

January 22, 2020

President Ram Nath Kovind distributed the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar, 2020 at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi to recognize the exceptional achievements of children in various fields like innovation, scholastic achievements, social service, arts and culture, sports and bravery. The prestigious award was given to 49 children between the age group of 5-18 years at a ceremony.

Ishan Sharma who saved a Russian tourist from two robbers, Omkar Singh who holds the world record for the youngest theoretical author and youngest pianist in India Gauri Mishra were among those who were given the Bal Shakti Puraskar 2020 by President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday.

Bharti Airtel to raise FDI in the company to 100%

January 22, 2020

The Bharti Airtel Ltd has received the approval from the Telecom department to increase the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the company to 100%. The approval will enable Bharti Airtel company to raise more funds as per its requirement.

The company also has the approval of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that allowed foreign investors to hold up to 74 percent stake in the company. Currently, foreign ownership in Bharti Airtel is 44.28%, after the share placement.

The approval comes few days before the company has to clear statutory liabilities of up to nearly Rs 35,586 crore, of which Rs 21,682 crore is licence fee and another Rs 13,904.01 crore is spectrum dues (excluding the dues of Telenor and Tata Teleservices).

Essel Finance’s MSME lending business acquired by Adani Capital

January 22, 2020

Essel Finance’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) loan business has been acquired by Adani Capital Private Ltd. Through the acquisition, Adani Capital has secured a loan book of around Rs 145 crore, 1100 customers and a staff strength of 40 professionals.

Adani Finserve, which primarily operates in western India, is aiming to gradually expand its geographic presence in central and east India, targeting states such as Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. Through the geographic expansion and organic growth, the company expects the business to reach ₹2,700-3,000 crore by the end of the next fiscal.