CLAT-2022 CURRENT AFFAIRS (24th SEPTEMBER)

CONTENT 

 

1. Lok Sabha passes Amendment Bill, 2021 

2. Prime Minister Modi to chair debate at UN Security Council on August 9 

3. Why Gilgit-Baltistan matters to India and Pakistan 

4. JOINT MILITARY TRAINING EXERCISE WITH SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANISATION (SCO) 

5. NHPC’s 510 MW Teesta-V Power Station, Sikkim conferred with ‘Blue Planet Prize’ by International Hydropower Association (IHA) 

 

 

 

Lok Sabha passes Amendment Bill, 2021 

 

 

• Lok Sabha on August 2, 2021, passed the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021. 

 

• The Insurance Business Amendment Bill was introduced by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha on July 30, 2021. 

 

• The bill seeks to amend the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act, 1972 to provide greater participation in the public sector insurance companies.

 

• The latest bill, which was passed by the Lower House of Parliament without any discussion, has been protested upon by the opposition and West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra. 

 

• A letter was also written to the Finance Minister, urging her not to privatize the public sector insurance companies.

 

• The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman refuted the charges by the opposition and said that the Central Government was not snatching any rights.

 

(SOURCE: PIB)

 

 

 

Prime Minister Modi to chair debate at UN Security Council on August 9 

 

 

• It will be the first time an Indian Prime Minister will chair an open debate at the United Nations Security Council. 

 

• India assumed the presidency of the UN Security Council for August. The country commenced its two-year tenure as a non-permanent member of the Security Council on January 1, 2021. 

 

• It is also India’s seventh term on the United Nations Security Council as a non-permanent member.

 

• The country has previously been a member of the UNSC in 1950-51, 1967-68, 1972-73, 1977-78, 1984-85, and 1991-92.

 

• India’s representative to the UN TS Tirumurti informed that India will be organizing events in three key areas- 

 

• Peacekeeping 

 

• Maritime security 

 

• Counter terrorism 

 

• The non-permanent members are elected by UN General Assembly for two-year tenure starting on January 1, with 5 replaced each year.

 

(SOURCE: THE PRINT) 

 

 

 

Why Gilgit-Baltistan matters to India and Pakistan

 

 

• Pakistan’s Law and Justice Ministry has finalised draft legislation to incorporate Gilgit-Baltistan, the region known before 2009 as Northern Areas, as a province of the country.

 

• Gilgit was part of the princely state of Jammu & Kashmir, but was ruled directly by the British, who had taken it on lease from Hari Singh, the Hindu ruler of the Muslim-majority state. 

 

• When Hari Singh acceded to India on October 26, 1947, the Gilgit Scouts rose in rebellion, led by their British commander Major William Alexander Brown. 

 

• The Gilgit Scouts also moved to take over Baltistan, which was then part of Ladakh, and captured Skardu, Kargil and Dras.

 

• In battles thereafter, Indian forces retook Kargil and Dras in August 1948. 

 

(SOURCE: INDIAN EXPRESS)

 

 

 

JOINT MILITARY TRAINING EXERCISE WITH SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANISATION (SCO)

 

 

• The 6^th Edition of Exercise PEACEFUL MISSION: 2021 of SCO Member States hosted by Russia at the Orenburg Region of South West Russia culminated on 24 September 2021. 

 

• The twelve days long joint training involving Armed Forces of all Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states was organised with an aim to foster close relations between SCO member states and to enhance abilities of the military leaders to command multinational military contingents.

 

• In this joint multinational exercise which began on 14^th September 2021, SCO member nations conducted joint training focusing on combating terrorism.

 

• All military contingents took part in the final joint exercise where-in multinational forces exhibited their tactical prowess, combat power and overwhelming dominance over terrorist groups. 

 

• The validation phase of the Exercise was witnessed by all Chiefs’ of the General Staff of the SCO member states.

 

• Gen Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) who is currently on a visit to Russia witnessed the validation exercise on 23 September 2021 and expressed great satisfaction on the high standards of synergy and close ties achieved among member states during the exercise.

 

(SOURCE: PIB)

 

 

 

NHPC’s 510 MW Teesta-V Power Station, Sikkim conferred with ‘Blue Planet Prize’ by International Hydropower Association (IHA)

 

 

• NHPC’s 510 MW Teesta-V Power Station located in the Himalayan State of Sikkim has been conferred with the prestigious Blue Planet Prize by International Hydropower Association (IHA). 

 

• The International Hydropower Association (IHA) is a London based non-profit membership association operating in 120 countries. 

 

• The power station has been built, owned and being operated by NHPC.

 

• The award for Teesta-V Power Station was announced yesterday during the World Hydropower Congress, 2021. 

 

• The award had been conferred to Teesta-V Power Station based on its sustainability assessment undertaken by a team of accredited lead assessors of IHA in 2019 using the Operation Stage tool of the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP) of IHA. 

 

• The IHA membership includes leading hydropower owners and operators, developers, designers, suppliers and consultants. 

 

• The IHA Blue Planet Prize is awarded to hydropower projects that demonstrate excellence in sustainable development.

 

• The Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP) is the leading international tool for measuring the sustainability of hydropower projects. 

 

• It offers a way to benchmark the performance of a hydropower project against a comprehensive range of environmental, social, technical and governance criteria. 

 

(SOURCE: PIB)