Current affairs : October 21, 2016 for all competetive exams
Triple talaq a highly misused custom: NCW
Asking the government to scrap the triple talaq system to protect the
rights of Muslim women, the National Commission of Women (NCW) has observed
that the system was a “highly misused” custom.
- The commission also observed that this issue cannot
be linked to the Uniform Civil Code.
- The commission has received several representations
from Muslim women who said they felt “disempowered” because of the
practice of triple talaq.
‘Triple Talaq’ is a procedure of divorce under the Sharia Law which is a
body of the Islamic law. Under this, a husband can divorce his wife by
pronouncing ‘Talaq’ thrice.
The Finance Ministry
announced the sixth tranche of sovereign gold bonds. The duration of
the bond will be for a period of eight years with exit option from the
fifth year to be exercised on the interest payment dates.
- Applications for the bonds will be accepted from October 24 to November 2, 2016 and the bonds will be issued on November 17.
Mortgage lender HDFC has raised Rs 500 crore through the sale of Masala
Bonds. HDFC has raised a total of Rs 5,000 crore through issuance of
rupee-denominated bonds in four tranches.
- The rupee-denominated bonds or masala bonds are instruments through which Indian entities can raise funds by accessing overseas capital markets, while the bond investors hold the currency risk.
In order to get more attention and protection to Kashmir’s Red stag, the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has decided to put Red
Stag on the critically endangered species list.
- The organisation is also aiming to enhance the conservation efforts to increase its declining population.
The World Bank has pledged 2
billion US dollars aid to Bangladesh to tackle climate change.
- The Bank's president Jim Yong Kim said that Bangladesh is extremely vulnerable to climate change accounting for almost 70% of all storm surges in the world.
China is all set to deploy the world’s largest outdoor air purifier and is designed by a Dutch
engineer.
- It will be deployed in its smog-hit capital Beijing.
- The tower can clean 30,000 cubic metres of air per hour through its patented ozone-free ion technology.
Britain’s efforts to
strengthen its relationship with India and individual States as it seeks better
non-EU alliances gathered pace as Foreign Office Minister Alok Sharma visited
India on October 20,2016.
- The visit is important as it comes within four days of the Ministry of External Affairs announcing that Prime Minister Theresa May will visit India during November 6-8 accompanied by a business delegation, starting her first visit outside the EU.
Noted British statistician
Sir David Cox was named the inaugural recipient of the International Prize in
Statistics. He is honoured for Survival Analysis Model Applied in Medicine,
Science, and Engineering.
- Like the acclaimed Fields Medal, Abel Prize, Turing Award and Nobel Prize, the International Prize in Statistics is considered the highest honor in its field. It will be bestowed every other year to an individual or team for major achievements using statistics to advance science, technology and human welfare.
The Indian Boxing Council, a
licensing body for the country’s professional boxers, has been inducted into
the World Boxing Organisation with voting rights in the WBO’s annual convention
at Puerto Rico.
- IBC President Brig. PKM Raja attended the meet in which the Indian body was welcomed into the fold by WBO founder Chairman Luis Batista Salas.
Indian Railways have won the
World Railway Shooting Championship Cup held at Saint Mandrier, France.
- Indian Railways team won a total 10 medals – 5 Gold,
3 Silver and 2 Bronze to bag the Overall Championship at the 15th USIC-
International Shooting World Championship.
- The Western Railways members along with Coach Anuja Tere Jung represented Team India. The team won Gold in 50 Meter Rifle Event, defeating Germany and France.
The Indian football team
achieved its best FIFA ranking in over six years when the side jumped 11 places
to be 137th in the latest list released.
- India, who defeated 114th ranked Puerto Rico in an International Friendly in Mumbai in September, garnered 230 points for the month.
