Current Affairs Daily Digest – August 05 2019
1. Centre moves J K Reorganisation Bill a resolution to revoke Article of Jammu and Kashmir
The Government of India announced repealing Article 370 and introduced the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019 in the Rajya Sabha on 5 August. This will now repeal special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The resolutoin was passed by Home Minister Amit Shah in the upper house. The aborgation of Article 370 will make J&K an integral part of India.
The bill proposes Jammu and Kashmir as a Union Territory with a legislature, while Ladakh as a Union Territory without a legislature.
What is Article 370?
Article 370 was introduced in 1947 by Sheikh Abdullah the Prime Minister of Jammu & Kashmir. Article 370 of the Indian constitution gives autonomous status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The article is drafted as Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions in Part XXI of the Constitution. The Indian Constitution still describes it as a temporary provision.
Article 370 provided six special provisions for Jammu and Kashmir:
- The State is allowed to have its own Constitution.
- The Central legislative powers over the State were limited to the three subjects of defence, foreign affairs and communications.
- Only with the concurrence of the State Government, other constitutional powers of Indian Government could be extended to the State.
- The concurrence was only provisional. The State’s Constituent Assembly should ratify the provision.
- Until the State Constituent Assembly was formed, the State Government was given authority to give concurrence. Once the State Constituent Assembly finalised the scheme of powers and dispersed, no further extension of powers was possible.
- Only if the State’s Constituent Assembly approves the Article 370, it could be repealed or amended.
Under Article 370, the Centre has no power to declare financial emergency under Article 360 in the state. It can declare an emergency in the state only in case of war or external aggression.
2. DRDO successfully test fired QRSAM Missile
The Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully test-fired an indigenously developed Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile (QRSAM) from a mobile truck-based launch unit from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur, Odisha. It is an all-weather and all-terrain missile type. QRSAM missile has been developed for the Army. The entire mission was tracked by various electro-optical tracking systems, radar systems and telemetry systems.
3. Arun Lal awarded CAB’s Lifetime Achievement Award
Former India cricketer and Bengal captain Arun Lal conferred with Karthik Bose Lifetime Achievement award of the Cricket Association of Bengal’s (CAB’s) in Kolkata. Former Bengal captain Raju Mukherjee was also considered for 2091 Lifetime Achievement but CAB eventually picked Lal.
4. ISRO sets up Space Situational Awareness Control Centre in Bengaluru
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) laid foundation stone for Space Situational Awareness Control Centre in Bengaluru, Karnataka to protect Indian satellites from space debris. It will facilitate intensified activities foreseen for Space Situational Awareness & Management (SSAM), in view of the increasing debris population and operational space assets.
5. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty register epic win
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty etched a new chaptter in the history of Indian badminton as they became the first men’s doubles pair from the sub-continent to win the BWF Super-500 Tournament.
Saina Nehwal paved the way for breaching the Chinese wall, PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth made even bigger dents on the reputation of the dragon and now Satwik-Chirag extended it to another category by reaching Himalayan heights.
6. Federal Bank launches instant demat account opening facility
Federal Bank has launched a digital facility for instant online opening of demat accounts for its customers. Shyam Srinivasan, MD & CEO of Federal Bank, and G. V. Nageswara Rao, MD & CEO of National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL), jointly launched the new digital offering.
7. Vinesh Phogat wins 3rd successive gold in 53kg in Poland Open
Star India grappler Vinesh Phogat has bagged her third consecutive gold in women’s 53kg category after winning the Poland Open wrestling tournament in Warsaw. The 24-year-old prevailed 3-2 over local wrestler Roksana in the final of the competition. Vinesh had earlier beaten Sofia Mattson of Sweden, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist, in the quarterfinals of this international tournament.
8. Statue of Unity shortlisted for UK-based structural award
The Statue of Unity, a memorial to Sardar Patel, in Gujarat’s Kevadia town has been shortlisted for ‘The Structural Awards 2019’ of the UK-based Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE). The 182-m-tall statue was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 31 last year.
9. Hamilton brilliantly hunts down Verstappen to snatch Hungary victory
The Hungaroring has delivered some cracking races in its illustrious history but few were as thrilling as this year’s edition, as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen had a race-long ding-dong battle for the lead, with Mercedes playing a strategy masterstroke and Hamilton doing his bit by brilliantly hunting down the Red Bull driver to clinch a sensational victory.
10. Veteran Gujarati journalist Kanti Bhatt dies at 88
Veteran Gujarati journalist and columnist Kanti Bhatt died in Mumbai at the age of 88, days after he suffered a stroke. Kanti Bhatt was the founding editor of one of the leading Gujarati magazines, Abhiyan, which he launched with his wife Sheela, also a veteran journalist and member of the Editors Guild of India.
