Current Affairs-16.01.2021

16.01.21

UP Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020

• It makes religious conversion for marriage a non-bailable offence and the onus will be on the defendant to prove that conversion was not for marriage.
• The notice period to the District Magistrate for the religious conversion is two months.
• In case of conversion done by a woman for the sole purpose of marriage, the marriage would be declared null and void.
• Violation of the provisions of the law would invite a jail term of not less than one year extendable to five years with a fine of Rs. 15,000.
• If a minor woman or a woman from the Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) converts, the jail term would be a minimum of three years and could be extended to 10 years with a fine of Rs. 25,000.
• The ordinance also lays down strict action, including cancellation of registration of social organisations conducting mass conversions, which would invite a jail term of not less than three years and up to 10 years and a fine of Rs. 50,000.

Dakar Rally

• The Dakar Rally is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation.
• The 2020 edition was held in Saudi Arabia.
• The rally is open to amateur and professional entries, amateurs typically making up about eighty percent of the participants.
• The rally is an off-road endurance event. The terrain that the competitors traverse is much tougher than that used in conventional rallying, and the vehicles used are typically true off-road vehicles and motorcycles, rather than modified on-road vehicles.

Two Test Debutants from Tamil Nadu

• T Natarajan and Washington Sundar from Tamil Nadu make their Test debuts against Australia at the Gabba.
• It marks the first time that two players from Tamil Nadu have made debuts in the same Test match.

SWITCH UAV

• SWITCH UAV is an indigenous system built to cater to the most demanding surveillance operations of the Indian forces.
• This fixed-wing vertical take-off and landing UAV can be deployed at high altitudes and under harsh environments for day and night surveillance.
• The Indian Army has signed a $20-million contract with ideaForge to procure undisclosed quantities of a high-altitude variant of SWITCH UAV.

Deficit in Trade with China in 2020

• The trade deficit, between India and China, declined to a five year-low of 45.8 billion USD in 2020, the lowest since 2015.
• India’s overall imports declined, due to slump in domestic demand in 2020.here is, yet, no evidence to suggest India has replaced its import dependence on China by either sourcing those goods elsewhere or manufacturing them at home.
• The huge trade deficit with China could be attributed to two factors: narrow basket of commodities, mostly primary, that India exports to China and market access impediments for most of Indian agricultural products and the sectors where India is competitive in, such as pharmaceuticals, IT/IteS, etc.

Strategic Framework for Indo-Pacific

• The U.S. aims to help India become a net security provider in the region.
• U.S. aims to work with India “toward domestic economic reform” and greater leadership roles for India in the East Asia Summitand ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus.
• The U.S. also seeks to bolster common principles, including the peaceful resolution of disputes and the transparent infrastructure-debt practicesas per the strategy.
• The U.S. aims to support India’s “Act East” policy and “its aspiration to be a leading global power, highlighting its compatibility with the U.S., Japanese and Australian vision” of the Indo-Pacific.

Open Skies Policy

• Open Sky Agreements are bilateral agreements that the two countries negotiate to provide rights for airlines to offer international passenger and cargo services. It expands international passenger and cargo flights.
• India has Air Service Agreements (ASA) with 109 countries.
• The National Civil Aviation Policy (2016) allows the government to enter into an 'open sky' air services agreement on a reciprocal basis with South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations as well as countries beyond a 5,000 kilometre radius from New Delhi.
• It implies that nations within 5,000 kilometer of distance need to enter into a bilateral agreement and mutually determine the number of flights that their airlines can operate between the two countries.
• India has open sky agreements with Greece, Jamaica, Guyana, Finland, USA, Japan, etc.

Peace and Friendship Treaty

• Signed in 1950.
• The treaty talks about reciprocal treatment of Indian and Nepali citizens in the two countries, in residence, property, business and movement.
• It also establishes national treatment for both Indian and Nepalese businesses (i.e., once imported, foreign goods would be treated no differently than domestic goods).
• It also gives Nepal access to weaponry from India.

Army Day Celebrations

• Army Day is celebrated every year on 15th January in India to commemorate the jawans and the Indian Army.
• The Army Day celebrations, which began in 1949, will be observed for the 72nd time in 2020.
• Army Day is celebrated to mark Lt Gen K M Carriappa taking over as commander-in-chief of the Indian Army in 1949 from General Francis Butcher, the last British commander-in-chief of India.
• The Indian Army was established on April 1, 1895. Its motto is"Service before self."
• The 2020 Army Day parade in New Delhi will see for the first time a woman, Captain Tania Shergill, leading an all-men contingent.
• Apart from the three service chiefs, India’s first chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat will also attend the parade.

Only U.S. President to be impeached twice

• Donald Trump becomes first US President to be impeached twice.
• He was impeached by the U.S. House on a single charge of incitement of insurrection for his role in a riot by his supporters that left five dead and the Capitol ransacked, putting an indelible stain on his legacy with only a week left in his term.

CM Jan Awas Yojana

It is a public housing scheme started by Rajasthan CM VasundharaRaje on 15 Sept. 2015

Kalrav

• Bihar’s first state-level bird festival ‘Kalrav’ started at the Nagi-Nakti bird sanctuaries in the Jamui district, Bihar.
• It is a 3-day event and is expected to draw experts and bird lovers from all over the country.
• The name-‘kalrav’ means chirping of birds.
• Other Bird Sanctuaries of Bihar:Gautam Buddha bird sanctuary, Gaya, Kawar Jheel bird sanctuary, Bigusarai and Kusheshwarasthan bird sanctuary, Darbhanga