21 FEBRUARY 2022 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS | UPSC CDS CAPF AFCAT NDA SSB

1. ELECTION SYMBOLS

Bicycle, the election symbol of the Samajwadi Party (SP) became the target of BJP leaders after Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an election rally in Hardoi appeared to link the SP’s symbol with the 2008 Ahmedabad terror blasts.

About:

As per the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, the Election Commission allots symbols for anyone contesting in polls.
A person contesting on behalf of a recognised political party will inherit the party's symbol.
An independent candidate or someone contesting on behalf of an unrecognised political party has to approach the Commission and get a symbol allotted from the list of 'free' symbols available.
- A candidate will have to provide three symbols from the free list at the time of submission of nomination papers, one of which will be allocated to him/her.
- Any choice other than from the EC's list will be summarily rejected.
In the case of a recognised political party, the Commission allows it to 'reserve' a symbol.
- For example, if a political party recognised in a particular State wishes to contest in elections in another State, it can 'reserve' the symbol being used by it.
- The Commission will oblige, provided the symbol is not being used by anyone else.
Two or more recognised political parties can have the same symbol provided they are not contenders in the same State or Union Territory.
- Both Federal Party of Manipur and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) use 'Rising Sun' as their symbol.
- But if one of the parties wish to open their account in the other State, it will have to contest on a different symbol.
- The ECI may also derecognise a political party if it has not polled at least 6 % of votes or won two seats in the State elections. In case of a national party, it should have polled minimum 6 % votes and 2 MLAs in at least four States.
- Until 1997, unrecognised parties would lose their symbols. Later, the EC modified its order to allow them to retain its symbol.

Source : Indian Express

2. NABIN CHANDRA SEN

The nation is remembering revolutionary Bengali poet and writer Nabin Chandra Sen on his 175th birth anniversary.

About:

He described the battle of Plassey and the arrival of British rule in India as “A Night of Eternal Gloom”.
Nabin Chandra Sen's novel-in-verse Bhanumati and memoir of his travels 'Prabaser Patra' brought him fame.
His five-volume autobiography, Aamar Jiban-My Life is an important document chronicling the politics and social aspirations of the Bengali literati in the late nineteenth century.

Source : All India Radio

3. PRESIDENT’S FLEET REVIEW

President Ram Nath Kovind will take part in the Indian Navy’s 12th Presidential Fleet Review.

About:

President’s Fleet Review is the country’s President taking stock of the Navy’s capability.
It takes place once under every President, who is the supreme commander of the armed forces.
The President is taken on one of the Naval ships, which is called the President’s Yacht, to look at all the ships docked on one of the Naval ports.
The President’s Yacht this year “is an indigenously built Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel, INS Sumitra, which will lead the Presidential Column. The yacht will be distinguished by the Ashoka Emblem on her side and will fly the President’s Standard on the Mast”.
The idea is to showcase not all the Navy’s ships, but every type of ship — and the kind of capabilities it has at that time. The review also includes merchant ships.
In the current fleet review, which will take place in Vishakhapatnam, Kovind will review over 60 ships and submarines, and 55 aircraft, from the Navy and the Coast Guard.

How many of these reviews have been held?

There have been 11 President’s Fleet Reviews since Independence.
The first was conducted in 1953, under Dr Rajendra Prasad. The next one was done not by the President but by the then Defence Minister, Y B Chavan, in 1964.
Since then, it has been the President reviewing the fleet.
The last one was done in 2016, under President Pranab Mukherjee.
The reviews in 2001 and 2016 were International Fleet Reviews, in which some vessels from other countries also participated.

Source : Indian Express

4. WORLD DAY OF SOCIAL JUSTICE

The World Day of Social Justice was observed on February 20, 2022. This year's theme is achieving social justice through formal employment.

About:

The day is aimed at raising voice against social injustice and address the issues of illiteracy, religious and physical discrimination, poverty, race and ethnicity.
In 2007, the United Nations General Assembly had declared this day as World Day of Social Justice. The global goals are a universal call for social justice that seek to address poverty and inequality to leave no one behind.

Source : All India Radio

5. NON-BANKING FINANCIAL COMPANIES (NBFCs)

The Reserve Bank of India extended the timeline by six months for Non-Banking Financial Companies to adhere to the new NPA recognition norms.

About:

Earlier the regulator had set March 31 deadline for non-bank lenders to upgrade NPAs only after all arrears and principal dues are paid. It said that NBFCs will have time till September 30 to put in place the necessary systems to implement this provision.
The RBI also clarified that loans classified as NPA will be upgraded to standard category only if all dues are paid.
In case of borrowers having more than one credit facility from a lending institution, loan accounts shall be upgraded from NPA to standard asset category only upon repayment of entire arrears of interest and principal pertaining to all the credit facilities.
The new RBI rules require NBFCs to treat such accounts as NPA until the borrower updates the account by paying all the EMIs due.

Source : All India Radio

6. VIGYAN SARVATRA PUJYATE

As part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, The Government of India is holding a week-long commemoration titled Vigyan Sarvatra Pujyate from February 22 to 28 simultaneously in 75 locations across the length and breadth of the country.

About:

As a feather in the cap, a science & technology mega expo, National Science Book Fair are being held in New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru stadium .
This event is jointly organised by Department of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology, CSIR, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Indian Council of Medical Research, AICTE and DRDO under the leadership of the office of the Principal Scientific Officer to the Government of India and the Ministry of Culture.
Vigyan Prasar, an autonomous organization of DST with a mandate to promote science communication in the country, is the coordinating agency.
The programmes have been grouped under four themes.
- The first theme is `from the annals of the history of S&T’.
- The second theme is, ‘Milestones of Modern S&T’.
- The third theme is `Swadeshi Paramparik Inventions and Innovations’.
- The fourth theme is `transforming India’.

Source : PIB

7. MUNICH SECURITY CONFERENCE

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar held a series of one-to-one meetings with Ministers from Europe, Asia and other parts of the world on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

About:

The Munich Security Conference is an annual conference on international security policy that has been held in Munich, Bavaria, Germany since 1963.
Over the past four decades the Munich Security Conference has become the most important independent forum for the exchange of views by international security policy decision-makers.
Each year it brings together about 350 senior figures from more than 70 countries around the world to engage in an intensive debate on current and future security challenges.
The list of attendees includes heads of states, governments and international organizations, ministers, members of parliament, high-ranking representatives of armed forces, science, civil society, as well as business and media.
The conference is held annually in February. The venue is the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.

Source : All India Radio

8. INDIAN HOME RULE SOCIETY (IHRS)

Under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, Government of India organized an event to recall the foundation of IHRS in London on 18 Feb, 1905 which sought to promote the cause of self-rule in British India.

About:

The organisation was founded by Shyamji Krishna Varma, with support from a number of prominent Indian nationalists in Britain at the time including Bhikaji Cama, Dadabhai Naoroji and Sardarsinhji Ravaji S. R. Rana.
It was intended to be a rival organisation to the British Committee of the Indian National Congress that was the main avenue of the loyalist opinion at the time.
The Indian Home Rule Society was a metropolitan organisation modelled after Victorian public institutions of the time. It had a written constitution and the stated aims to secure Home Rule for India and to carry on a genuine Indian propaganda in this country by all practicable means.
The IHRS was open for membership to Indians only and found significant support amongst Indian students and other Indian populations in Britain. It recruited young Indian activists and maintained close contact with revolutionary movements in India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had brought the ashes of Shyamji Krishna Varma back to India from Switzerland in 2003 when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat. Mr Modi got the reinstatement certificate of Shyamji Krishna Varma from UK when he visited there in 2015.

Source : All India Radio

9. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has made it voluntary for listed companies to separate the role of chairperson and managing director or Chief Executive Officer.

About:

Separation of roles was to become mandatory from April 1, 2022, for top 500 companies.
However, in its board meeting this afternoon, the market regulator cited various industry representations, highlighting the constraints posed by the prevailing pandemic situation to make the separation of roles requirement voluntary.
The reprieve will benefit more than 150 companies, which currently have the same individual as chairperson and MD/CEO. Some of the top companies that will benefit from the move are Reliance Industries (where Mukesh Ambani holds both posts), Hindustan Unilever (Sanjiv Mehta), Bajaj Finserv (Sanjiv Bajaj), and Adani Ports (Gautam Adani).
A chairperson is the head of the board, while the MD/CEO is the head of management, who is supposed to report to the board. The rationale behind the separation of the two posts was to have “a better and more balanced governance structure”, the regulator said.

Source : Business Standard

10. PROSTITUTION

A film starring actor Alia Bhatt is facing legal trouble after individuals claiming to be family members of the main protagonist, Gangubai Kathiawadi, have objected to her portrayal in the film.

About:

Ganga Harjeevandas Kathiawadi was a native of Gujarat who earned a name for herself as one of Mumbai’s well-known and influential brothel owners in the 50s and 60s.
She was an Indian mafia woman and madam of a brothel in the Kamathipura area of the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Gangubai is said to have been a proponent of the rights of commercial sex workers and apparently lobbied with politicians on this issue.
Her life was documented in the 2011 book, Mafia Queens of Mumbai, by writer and journalist Hussain Zaidi. Gangubai Kathiawadi is an upcoming Indian Hindi-language biographical crime film based on a chapter of Zaidi's book, and directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Important Info :

Ministry of Women and Child Development implements the Ujjawala Scheme which is a comprehensive scheme for prevention of trafficking and rescue, rehabilitation and re-integration of victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation.

Source : Indian Express

21 FEBRUARY 2022 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS | UPSC CDS CAPF AFCAT NDA SSB

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