23 JUNE 2021 CURRENT AFFAIRS

1.YOGA SACHITRA

Twenty-six years after the book was first published, the Directorate of Publications Division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has reprinted the revised edition of Yoga Sachitra on the occasion of the 7th International Day of Yoga.

About:

• This illustrated book is written by renowned Yoga expert Dharmavir singh Mahida, in Hindi.
• It beautifully encapsulates the eight limbs of Yoga- Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi- with a special focus on Yogasanas.

Source : PIB

2.‘WHO M-YOGA’ APP

PM Modi launched ‘WHO M-Yoga’ App while addressing on the occasion of 7th International Day of Yoga.

About:

• M-Yoga app will provide many videos of Yoga training and practice based on common Yoga protocol in many languages.
• M-Yoga app will help in spreading Yoga world over and will contribute to the efforts of ‘One World,One Health’.
• Currently the app is available in two of the six official languages of the UN i.e English and Hindi.
• In this work, Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga (MDNIY) played a pivotal role. 

Important Info :

• Be Healthy, Be Mobile (BHBM)
• The Ministry of AYUSH and the World Health Organization (WHO) had jointly undertaken a project in mid 2019, focussing on mobile-Yoga.
• It envisaged the concept of the ‘Be Healthy, Be Mobile’ (BHBM) under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to achieve Universal Health Coverage by 2030.
• Be Healthy, Be Mobile (BHBM) initiative is a global partnership led by WHO which supports the scale up of mobile health (m-Health) technology within the scope of the National Health system to combat non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

Source : PIB

3.SEVENTH INTERNATIONAL DAY OF YOGA (IDY)

The United Nations theme for 2021 is “Yoga for well-being”, which takes into account how the practice can promote the holistic health of every individual.

About:

• The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) during the 69th session proclaimed 21st June as the International Day of Yoga (IDY) in their resolution adopted on 11th December 2014 after PM Modi called for the day to be adopted as a global celebration of yoga.
• The date of 21 June was suggested as it is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and shares a special significance in many parts of the world.
• Since 2015, this Day has been observed all over the world in ever-growing numbers of participants. The first International Yoga Day celebration was organised at Rajpath in New Delhi on June 21, 2015.

Important Info :

• The World Health Organization (WHO) mentions yoga as a means to improve health in its Global Action Plan on Physical Activity 2018–2030: More active people for a healthier world.
• In its ‘Common Yoga Protocol’ from 2019, the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) lists Yama, Niyama, Āsana, Prāṇāyāma, Pratyāhāra, Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna, Samādhi, Bandhās and Mudrās, Ṣaṭkarmas,Yuktāhāra, Mantra-japa,Yukta-karma as popular yoga ‘sadhanas’. 

Source : Indian Express

4.206AB AND 206CCA OF THE INCOME-TAX ACT, 1961

Finance Act, 2021 inserted two new sections 206AB and 206CCA in the Income-tax Act 1961 which takes effect from 1st day of July, 2021.

About:

• These sections mandate tax deduction or tax collection at higher rate in case of certain non-filers (specified persons).
• Higher rate is twice the prescribed rate or 5%, whichever is higher.

Source : PIB

5.INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE CELEBRATION OF THE SOLSTICE

International Day of the Celebration of the Solstice was observed on June 21. The Day was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly on June 20th of 2019.

About:

• A solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun reaches its most northerly or southerly day-arc relative to the equator.
• Therefore, there are two solstices that occur annually:
• around June 21 (commonly known as "Summer Solstice" for being the first day of summer and the longest day of the year for those living north of the Equator; or the longest day of the summer season. It occurs when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer, or more specifically right over 23.5 degree north latitude.
• December 21 (commonly known as "Winter Solstice" for being the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year).
• The solstices, together with the equinoxes, are connected with seasons, harvests and livelihood. Therefore, many cultures celebrate various combinations of the solstices, the equinoxes, and the midpoints between them, leading to various holidays arising around these events. 

Source : Indian Express

6.BIOTECH-KISAN

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has issued a Special Call for North East Region as a part of its Mission Programme “Biotech-Krishi Innovation Science Application Network (Biotech-KISAN)”, with the aim to understand the local problems of the NER farmers and provide scientific solutions to those problems.

About:

• Biotech-KISAN is a scientist-farmer partnership scheme launched in 2017 for agriculture innovation.
• Its objective is to connect science laboratories with the farmers to find out innovative solutions and technologies to be applied at farm level.
• Under this scheme, so far 146 Biotech-KISAN Hubs have been established covering all 15 agroclimatic zones and110 Aspirational Districts in the country.

Important Info :

• Recent development
• The present call specifically focuses on the North East Region as it is predominantly agrarian with70% of its workforce engaged in agriculture and allied sector for livelihood.
• The region produces merely 1.5 per cent of country‘s food grain and continues to be a net importer of food grains even for its domestic consumption. 

Source : PIB

7.SPECIAL PROCEDURES BRANCH OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva has responded the concerns raised by Special Procedures Branch of the Human Rights Council regarding India’s Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

About:

• The term ‘special procedures’ refers to the list of mechanisms established by the Human Rights Council to report and advise on human rights from a thematic and country-specific perspective.
• Special procedures cover all human rights: civil, cultural, economic, political and social as well as issues relating to specific groups.
• Special procedures mandate-holders are either an individual (called a Special Rapporteur (SR) or Independent Expert (IE)) or a Working Group (WG) of five members.
• Mandate holders serve in their personal capacities, they are not UN staff and do not receive salaries or other financial remuneration for their work.
• A mandate-holder’s tenure in a given function, whether it is a thematic or country mandate, is limited to a maximum of six years.
• They are non-paid and elected for 3-year mandates that can be reconducted for another three years.
• Mandate holders are appointed by the Human Rights Council and their work is supported by the OHCHR.
• As part of their mandates, special procedures examine, advise and publicly report on human rights issues and situations.
• Special procedures report annually to the Human Rights Council; the majority of the mandates also report annually to the General Assembly.

Source : PIB

8.KURALOI (A) NORTH MINES

The Kuraloi (A) North mine has been successfully auctioned.

About:

• The Kuraloi (A) North mine has been successfully auctioned with Vedanta Limited in the second attempt of the first Tranche of Auction under Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation)Act, 1957, the Ministry of Coal informed.
• Kuraloi (A) North is located in Odisha. 

Source : PIB

9.DIVYANGTA KHEL KENDRAS

Union minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot announced establishment of five ’Divyangta Khel Kendras’ in different parts of country.

About:

• They have been established while looking at the interest towards the sports among the Divyangjan of the country and their good performance in Paralympics.
• He also distributed aids and assistive devices to ‘Divyangjan’ under the Assistance to Disabled Persons (ADIP) Scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
• ADIP is one of the most popular schemes for providing assistive aids and appliance to Divyangjans.
• It is organized by Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO), a Public Sector Undertaking under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The Corporation started manufacturing artificial aids in 1976. 

Source : PIB

10.DRAFT AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSUMER PROTECTION (E-COMMERCE) RULES, 2020

The Government of India is sharing a draft of the proposed amendments to the Consumer Protection (E-commerce) Rules, 2020.

The proposed amendments are as follows:

• To ensure compliance of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 and Rules, appointment of
• Chief Compliance Officer, a nodal contact person for 24x7 coordination with law enforcement agencies, and
• Resident Grievance Officer for redressing of the grievances of the consumers on the e-commerce platform, has been proposed.
• Putting in place a framework for registration of every e-commerce entity with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) for allotment of registration number. Registration of e-commerce entities would help create a database of genuine e-commerce entities
• To protect the interests of consumers, mis-selling has been prohibited i.e selling goods and services entities selling goods or services by deliberate misrepresentation of information by such entities about such goods or services.
• To ensure that consumers are aware about the expiry date of the products they are buying on the e-commerce platform all sellers on marketplace e-commerce entities and all inventory e-commerce entities to provide best before or use before date to enable consumers to make an informed purchase decision.
• To ensure that the domestic manufacturers and suppliers get a fair and equal treatment on the e-commerce platform it has been provided that where an e-commerce entity offers imported goods or services, it shall incorporate a filter mechanism to identify goods based on country of origin.
• To ensure that consumers are not adversely affected in the event where a seller fails to deliver the goods or services, provisions of Fall-back liability for every marketplace e-commerce entity have been provided.

Source : PIB