Current Affairs : August 30, 2011

Right to reject candidates in elections a tricky affair: Chief Election Commission

• According to the Election Commission, the demand for the right to reject candidates in elections as a ticklish affair.
  
• According to Chief Election Commissioner, S Y Quraishi, the proposed right of people to reject candidates required a bit of debate considering a situation of majority of the people rejecting all candidates. The poll authority would rather give voter education and ask them to come out in large numbers to choose a good candidate.
  
• According to Chief Election Commission the right to recall candidates has not been on the agenda of the Commission.
  

Nuclear Regulatory Authority of India Bill Approved by the Union Cabinet

• The Union Cabinet of India on 30 August 2011 cleared the Nuclear Regulatory Authority of India Bill that supports an Autonomous Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.
  
• The rules of implementation of nuclear liability law have been finalized by a high level panel.
  
• The bill would help setting up an authority that would subsume the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB).
  
• The AERB was set up in 1983 and it reports to the Atomic Energy Commission. 
  
• The bill proposed to give Nuclear Regulatory Authority of India (NRAI) full authority to stop construction work and order a shutdown of an operating nuclear plant.
  
• The bill would strengthen the country’s nuclear regulator by making it a statutory body.  It also proposed that the NRAI order cannot be challenged in a court of law.
  
• The authority will include renowned persons from engineering, environment, social, nuclear and finance areas.  
  
  

Supreme Court: Hiring a Lawyer not Mandatory for a Person to Fight his Case in Consumer Forum

• According to The Supreme Court, hiring a lawyer is not mandatory for a person to fight his case in a consumer forum and he can plead his case personally or through his agent.
  
• It ruled that it is clearly mentioned in the Consumer Protection Act that a person can plead his case through his agent and it will be against the consumer to force him to hire the services of an advocate for his case.
  
• The court rejected the plea of Bar Council of India which pleaded that only advocates should be allowed to appear before a consumer forum.
  

Country celebrates Eid-ul-Fitr

• Eid-ul-Fitr celebrated throughout the country with religious fervour and festivity marking the culmination of the holy month of Ramazan.
  
• Eid-ul-Fitr, popularly known as the “Festival of Breaking of the Fast”, occurs as soon as the new moon is sighted at the end of the month of fasting, namely Ramadan. This festival celebrates the end of Ramzan, the Muslim month of fasting.
  
  
  

Yoshihiko Noda elected as new Prime Minister of Japan

• Yoshihiko Noda elected as the new Prime Minister of Japan following the majority of votes in elections held at the House of Representatives.
  
• Noda becomes Japan’s sixth Prime Minister since 2006.
  

Kerala celebrates Atham festival

• Atham, harbingers the ten day long Onam festivities in Kerala. 
  
  
• Atham is celebrated to welcome the legendary king Mahabali who is believed to visit homes on Thiruvonam day. The Onam festivities culminate on the tenth day of Atham on Thiruvonam day.

  
  

To address mental health problem Government inks MoU with University of Melbourne

• A MoU was signed in Delhi between the Health and Family Welfare Ministry and University of Melbourne to address the problem of mental health in the country and the treatment gap on it.
  
• Four key pilot sites across India have been identified for the program
  
• Over the next two years, each of the four field sites will be supported by a tertiary care mental health institute and a local administrative committee representing the broad community stakeholders in partnership with the Health and Family Welfare ministry. 
  

Argentine football superstar Lionel Messi arrives in Kolkata

Argentine superstar Lionel Messi arrived in Kolkata for a friendly match against Venezuela

The above 5 questions are part of Daily Current Affairs 20 MCQs Series in GKToday Android Application. This series can be subscribed in the app only for Rs. 799/- for entire year. Download Now

Month: Current Affairs - August, 2011