Current Affair 1:

Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme:

 

In his Budget – 2015-16 speech , the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, proposed ‘Sovereign Gold Bond’ as an alternative financial asset, which would also act as a substitute for physical gold.

The features of the Bond are as under:

Current Affair 2:

Supreme Court: Penetrative sexual assault on a child below twelve years comes under ‘Aggravated Penetrative Sexual Assault.’

 

The Supreme Court, in State of U.P. vs. Sonu Kushwaha, held that penetrative sexual assault against a child under twelve years of age comes under Section 5 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act, 2012) and held that courts cannot impose lesser than the minimum sentences prescribed in the act.

If you want to read the case:

The two-judge bench of the apex court was hearing an appeal by the state against the judgement of Allahabad High Court that reduced the substantive sentence of the accused to seven years from the earlier ten years.

From clause (m) of Section 5 of the POCSO Act that defines the situations which can be considered as ‘Aggravated penetrative sexual assault’, it is clear that penetrative sexual assault on a child below twelve years comes under the definition of ‘aggravated penetrative sexual assault’.

Section 6 of the same act prescribes the punishment for the same.

The apex court held that the High court in this case erred by holding that the act committed by the respondent was not an aggravated penetrative sexual assault. The apex court further talked about the intent behind the POCSO Act and held that there is no provision to impose lesser punishments under the said act.

Current Affair 3:

Atal Vayo Abhyuday Yojana (AVYAY)

 

News:

Scope of the scheme is to implement Section 19 and 20 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007.

Section 19 of the Act inter alia states that the State Government may establish and maintain such number of old age homes at accessible places, as it may deem necessary.

The AVYAY will be implemented by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Another component under the AVYAY Scheme is Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY), to provide eligible senior citizens suffering from any of the age-related disability/ infirmity, with assisted living devices which can restore near normalcy in their bodily functions, overcoming the disability/ infirmity manifested such as low vision, hearing impairment, loss of teeth and loco-motor disabilities.

Current Affair 4:

Maputo Protocol

 

In July 2003, the African Union (AU) adopted the Maputo Protocol. Of the 55 member states, 44 have ratified or acceded to the Protocol on gender equality.

Current Affair 5:

Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB

)

News:

The Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) is the world's largest international organization in the field of election management.

It currently comprises 119 Election Management Bodies (EMBs) from 110 countries.

Election Commission of India is a part of A-WEB.

The A-WEB Secretariat engages in cooperation with other international organizations and NGOs in the field of election management.

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