Exam Power: 23 April 2018 Today Current Affairs

Exam Power: 23 April 2018 Current Affairs

World Book Day is observed on 23rd April

World Book Day or World Book and Copyright Day (also known as International Day of the Book or World Book Days) is a yearly event on April 23rd, organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), to promote reading, publishing and copyright. In the United Kingdom, the day is recognized on the first Thursday in March. World Book Day was celebrated for the first time on 23 April 1995.

President signs ordinance to provide death penalty to rapists of girls below 12 years

President Ram Nath Kovind on April 22, 2018 promulgated an ordinance that provides for stringent punishment, including death penalty, for those convicted of raping girls below the age of 12 years.

The President’s approval followed Union Cabinet’s approval of the ordinance on April 21, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held an emergency meeting in response to nationwide outrage in the wake of a series of shocking rape cases.

The ordinance- Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance 2018 stipulates stringent punishment for those guilty of rape, particularly of girls below the age of 16 and 12 years. The ordinance also orders death sentence to those guilty of raping girls below the age of 12 years.

Key Features of the Ordinance

• According to Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance 2018, new fast-track courts will be set up to deal with rape  cases and special forensic kits for such cases will be given to all police stations and hospitals in the long term.

• Under the new law, the minimum punishment in case of rape of women has been increased from rigorous imprisonment of seven years to 10 years, extendable to life imprisonment.

• In the case of rape of girls under the age of 16 years, the minimum punishment has been increased from 10 years to 20 years, extendable to life imprisonment, which means jail term till the convict’s ‘natural life’’.

• In the case of gangrape of girls below the age of 16 years, the punishment will invariably be imprisonment for the rest of convict’s life.

• In the case of rape of girls below the age of 12 years, stringent punishment has been provided with a minimum jail term of 20 years, which may go up to life imprisonment or even death penalty.

• In the case of gangrape of girls under 12 years of age, the punishment would be jail term for the rest of the life or death penalty.

Other details

• With the promulgation of the ordinance by the President, the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Evidence Act, the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act will now stand amended.

• The law has also prescribed a mandatory deadline of two months for the investigation and trial of all rape cases, enabling speedy investigation.

• A six-month time limit for the disposal of appeals in rape cases has also been prescribed.

• There will also be no provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of rape or gang rape of a girl under 16 years.

• The court would be required to give a notice of 15 days to a public prosecutor and the representative of the victim before deciding bail applications in case of rape of girls below 16 years of age.

• Besides, the National Crime Records Bureau will maintain a national database and profile of sexual offenders.

• The data will be regularly shared with the states and Union territories for tracking, monitoring and investigation, including verification of antecedents of sex offenders by the police.

• The present scheme of One Stop Centres for assistance to victims will also be extended to all districts in the country.

Union Cabinet Nod To Restructured Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan Scheme

The Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved a restructured Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan scheme aimed at making rural local bodies self-sustainable, financially stable and more efficient.

According to the Union Panchayati Raj Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, PM Narendra Modi will launch Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan scheme in Mandla in Madhya Pradesh on the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day.

Indian Animation Expert Bhimsain Khurana Passes Away

Indian animation pioneer and multiple National Award winner Bhimsain Khurana had passed away.

He was 82. Khurana was known for films like “Gharaonda” and for iconic animation shorts like “Ek Anek Ekta”. 

His unforgettable work includes “Ek chidiya, anek chidiya” song.

In 1970, he made his debut with his first animation short “The Climb”, which earned him the Silver Hugo Award in the Chicago Film Festival.

World’s oldest person dies in Japan at age of 117

• The world's oldest person, a 117-year-old Japanese woman, has died.
• Nabi Tajima died of old age in a hospital Saturday evening in the town of Kikai in southern Japan, town official Susumu Yoshiyuki confirmed.
• She had been hospitalized since January.
• Tajima, born on Aug. 4, 1900, was the last known person born in the 19th century. She raised seven sons and two daughters and reportedly had more than 160 descendants, including great-great-great grandchildren. Her town of Kikai is a small island of about 7,000 people halfway between Okinawa and Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's four main islands.

TCS is the first Indian Company With 100 Billion Dollar Market Value

Tata Consultancy Servicescreated the history as the market capitalization of the company has hit the 100 billion dollar mark, making it the first Indian company to achieve the mark.

TCS shares rose by 2% to Rs. 3476.75, pushing the market capitalization of India's biggest outsourcer to Rs. 6,64,918 crore.

Shares of TCS had surged by nearly 7% recently, making investors richer by over Rs. 40,000 crores in a day.

Deepika Padukone, Virat Kohli Among TIME's 100 Most Influential People

The TIME Magazine released the 100 Most Influential People List of 2018 designating individuals whose time is now.

The 2018 list features the names of four self-made Indians- Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone, Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli, Ola co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal and Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella.

The list also features the US President Donald Trump.

The list of 100 Most Influential People of 2018 includes the names of actress Nicole Kidman, 'Wonder Women' starring Gal Gadot, Prince Harry and his fiance Meghan Markle and singers Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez.

Sources : PIB, The Hindu, Jagranjosh,TOI