CURRENT AFFAIRS   22-08-2020

NATIONAL SPORTS AWARDS 2020

What is in news?

Government of  India announced the National Sports Awards 2020. Cricketer Rohit Sharma, Para-Athlete Mariyappan Thangavelu, Table Tennis player Manika Batra, Wrestler Vinesh Phogat and Indian Women's Hockey team captain Rani Rampal will receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.

About:

• National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports.
• The Justice (retd) Mukundakam Sharma-led selection committee had recommended 29 names for the Arjuna Award to the Sports Ministry.The list also included Rio Olympics bronze medal-winning wrestler Sakshi and 2017 weightlifting world champion Mirabai, but the decision of bestowing the Arjuna on them was left to the discretion of Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju.
• In a first, the awards will be held virtually on August 29, the National Sports Day, instead of the Rashtrapati Bhavan this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rajiv Gandhi  Khel Ratna Award :

It is the highest sporting honour of India. It was instituted in 1991–92. The recipient(s) is/are honoured for their outstanding performance in the field of sports over a period of four years at international level.

Dronacharya Awards:

It was instituted in 1985 to honour eminent Coaches for producing medal winners at prestigious International sports events.

1. Dronacharya Award (Life- Time Category)

2. Regular Category :

 Arjuna Awards:

It was instituted in 1961. To be eligible for the Award, a sportsperson should have had not only good performance over the previous four years at the International level but also should have shown qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline.

Dhyan Chand Award:

It was instituted in 2002. It is an award for life-time achievements in sports.

Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award:

 It is the highest national recognition for outstanding achievements in the field of adventure on land, sea and air.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy:

It was instituted in 1956-57 to honour the top overall performing university in the Inter-University Tournaments.

Rashtriya Khel Protsahana Purushkar:

It was instituted from 2009 to recognize the corporate entities (both in private and public sector) and individuals who have played a visible role in the area of sports promotion and development.

MULGAONKAR PRINCIPLES

What is in news?

In the criticism against the Supreme Court’s ruling that held advocate Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt of court, his counsel has invoked the ‘Mulgaonkar principles’, urging the court to show restraint.

About:

• S Mulgaonkar v Unknown (1978) is a case that led to a landmark ruling on the subject of contempt.
• By a 2:1 majority, the court held Mulgaonkar, then editor of The Indian Express, not guilty of contempt although the same Bench had initiated the proceedings.
• Justices P Kailasam and Krishna Iyer formed the majority going against then Chief Justice of India M H Beg. Justice Iyer’s counsel of caution in exercising the contempt jurisdiction came to be called the Mulgaonkar principles.

What did Iyer’s ruling say?

• Underlining his reasons for not exercising the court’s power to punish for contempt, Justice Iyer said the first rule in the branch of power is a “wise economy of use by the Court of this branch of its jurisdiction”.
• He argued in favour of harmonising “the constitutional values of free criticism, the fourth estate included, and the need for a fearless curial process and its presiding functionary, the judge”.

VANDE  BHARAT

What is in news?

The Indian Railways has cancelled its global tender issued for manufacturing 44 sets of semi-high speed Vande Bharat trains. A fresh tender will be floated within a week as per Revised Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) order.

About:

• The move comes after Chinese joint venture company CRRC Pioneer Electric (India) Private Limited emerged as the only foreign bidder for the global tender floated for manufacturing 44 rakes of Vande Bharat trains in July.
• Indian Railways’ Integral Coach Factory, Chennai had floated a tender for manufacturing 44 rakes or train sets of semi-high speed Vande Bharat trains on July 10.
•  This comes at a time when India and China are involved in a tense border stand-off along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh.

Facts to remember :

• The ambitious ‘Make in India’ project involves the manufacturing of 44 train sets comprising 16 coaches each for Vande Bharat.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi had flagged off the maiden run of a Vande Bharat train on the New Delhi-Varanasi route on February 15, 2019.
• The second such train service between New Delhi and Shri Mata Vaishnodevi Katra was flagged off by home minister Amit Shah on October 3, 2019.

ASEAN-INDIA NETWORK OF THINK TANKS (AINTT)

What is in news?

The Ministry of External Affairs in partnership with the Foreign Ministry of Thailand has organized the 6th Round Table of ASEAN-India Network of Think Tanks (AINTT).

About:

• The theme of the two day Round Table was 'ASEAN-India: Strengthening Partnership in the Post COVID Era'.
• More than 400 people from academia, industry, government and diplomatic community attended the Round Table.
• The ASEAN-India Round Table comprising think tanks, policy makers, scholars, media and business representatives was established at the 7th ASEAN-India Summit in Thailand in 2009 to provide policy inputs to Governments on future direction of cooperation.

RAJIV KUMAR

What is in news?

Former finance secretary Rajiv Kumar has been appointed new election commissioner. He will replace Ashok Lavasa, who resigned earlier this week.

Appointment of Election Commissioners:

• The power to appoint the CEC and the ECs lies with the President of India under Article 324(2) of the Constitution, which states that “the President shall fix the number of ECs in a manner he sees fit, subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament”. Thus, Article 324(2) left it open for the Parliament to legislate on the issue.
• But, in the absence of any Parliamentary law governing the appointment issue, the ECs are appointed by the government of the day, without pursuing any consultation process. There is no concept of collegium and no involvement of the opposition.
• The Commissioners are appointed for a 6-year period, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.

Facts to remember :

Qualification:

• There are no prescribed qualifications for their appointment, although convention dictates that only senior (serving or retired) civil servants, of the rank of the Cabinet Secretary or Secretary to the GoI or an equivalent rank, will be appointed.
• The Supreme Court in Bhagwati Prashad Dixit Ghorewala vs Rajiv Gandhi rejected the contention that the CEC should possess qualifications similar to that of a Supreme Court judge, despite being placed on par with them in terms of the removal process.

UNION PEACE ACCORD III

What is in news?

The government of Myanmar and ten armed ethnic groups signed a framework agreement for the implementation of the National Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) at Nay Pyi Taw at the end of the 4th session of the Union Peace Conference - 21st Century Panglong.

About:

• The accord opens a door to solving misunderstanding regarding the NCA and difficulties faced in its implementation.
• The peace accord called Union Peace Accord III contains 15 provisions to implement the NCA. These include troop deployment, protocol to deal with skirmishes between government troops and the armed groups among others.
• The agreement contains a step by step peace process for implementation beyond 2020 in working for peace, democratic reform, federalism and national reconciliation.

Facts to remember :

• Currently, the 4th round of the peace process is being held between the government and armed ethnic groups that signed the NCA.
• The peace process in Myanmar was started In 2011 by President Thein Sein to end the long standing conflict with ethnic armed groups active in the country.
• A National Ceasefire Accord (NCA) was signed in October 2015 with armed ethnic groups. Subsequently the dialogue to initiate a political peace process was started in 2016 which is continuing.

CLEAN PLATES CAMPAIGN

What is in news?

China’s President Xi Jinping called on his country’s citizens to drastically cut down on food waste in a new initiative called the ‘Clean Plates Campaign’.

About:

• The push came as the Covid-19 pandemic, devastating floods and worsening relations with major international partners have raised fears about food shortage in the world’s most populous country.
• Xi announced the campaign, promising to strengthen legislation and other mechanisms in support, calling the problem of food waste in the country “shocking and distressing”. Studies in recent years show that China produces around 17-18 million tonnes of food waste annually.
• Restaurants, catering associations and even the military have swiftly responded to the President’s appeal by introducing new measures.
• Following Xi’s announcement, the State-run media ran “exposes” on restaurant customers ordering more than they could eat, as well as named and shamed a growing number of shows with people live-streaming themselves eating large quantities and varieties of food.