Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 25 December 2021

SSC CGL Current Affairs

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 25 December 2021

::NATIONAL::

Karnataka Assembly passed the Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021

The contentious "Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021", popularly known as "Anti-conversion Bill", was passed by Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Thursday, amidst din. Congress partly vehemently opposed the bill, calling it "anti people", "inhuman", "anti constitutional", "anti poor" and "draconian", and urged that it should not be passed for any reason and should be withdrawn by the government.
JD(S) too expressed its opposition to the bill, which was introduced in the Assembly on Tuesday. The bill was passed by a voice vote, even as Congress members were protesting from the well of the House, demanding continuation of the debate on the bill, that began this morning. They were also expressing their anguish against some remarks made by Minister K S Eshwarappa, during his intervention in the debate.
Congress seemed to be on a back foot with the ruling BJP alleging that the bill was actually "initiated" by the Siddaramaiah led Congress administration, and placed documents to support its claim before the House. Though Siddaramaiah, who is now the Leader of Opposition, denied it, later on personally going through the records in the Speaker's office, accepted that as the CM he had then only asked the draft bill to be placed before the cabinet and no decision was taken in this regard, and hence it cannot be seen or projected as the intention of his government.
With Siddaramaiah alleging RSS' hand behind this bill, Chief Minister BasavarajBommai said, "RSS is committed to anti conversion, it is not a hidden secret, it is an open secret. Why did the Congress government in 2016 initiate the bill during its tenure following the RSS' policy? It is because Congress CM in Himachal Pradesh Virbhadra Singh had brought a similar law. You are a party to this bill." Bommai said the bill is both constitutional and legal, and aimed at getting rid of the menace of religious conversion.

::INTERNATIONAL::

US President Joe Biden bans imports of Xinjiang goods to stop forced labor in China's Xinjiang province

President Joe Biden signed a law virtually banning all imports from the Chinese region of Xinjiang in response to concerns over forced labour, as US companies find themselves caught in the diplomatic fray.
The bill, which was approved by Congress last week, bans the import of all goods from the region unless companies offer verifiable proof that production did not involve forced labour.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act sets its sights on three products in particular: cotton, of which Xinjiang is one of the world's major producers; tomatoes; and polysilicon, a material used to produce solar panels.
In a rare bipartisan move, the Senate last week unanimously voted to make the United States the first country to ban virtually all imports from the region.
The law gives the government "new tools to prevent goods made with forced labour in Xinjiang from entering US markets and to further promote accountability for persons and entities responsible for these abuses," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement, calling on China to end "genocide and crimes against humanity."
The law also requires the US president to impose sanctions on Chinese officials responsible for human rights abuses in the region.
An estimated 20 per cent of garments imported into the United States each year include some cotton from Xinjiang.
Rights experts, witnesses and the US government say more than one million Uyghurs and other Turkic-speaking Muslims are incarcerated in camps in an effort to root out their Islamic cultural traditions and forcibly assimilate them into China's Han majority.
Washington has described the campaign as genocide.
Republican opposition has criticized the White House for slow movement on the matter.

::ECONOMY::

Central Bank of India signs co-lending agreement with You Grow Capital

Ugro Capital announced that it has signed a co-lending agreement with Central Bank of India.
Under this partnership, the two entities aim to disburse uptoRs. 1000 crore to UGRO Capital's varied MSME segments under its programs like Pratham, Sanjeevani, Saathi, GRO MSME and Machinery financing, in next 12 months.
The Co-lending arrangement with Central Bank of India will work towards providing formal credit to underserved MSMEs at affordable rates across all product categories of U GRO Capital.
For the same, the bank will leverage U GRO's digital technology platform driven by a Data Tripod of GST, Banking and Bureau, in addition to the company's deep sectoral understanding and multi-channel distribution reach.

::SPORTS::

One needs to applaud Neeraj for implanting will of 'We Can' among youth

"Neeraj Chopra's victory has paved the way for a new chapter in the history of Indian Sports. The achievement has certainly lifted the morale of our country and built more interest and brought focus to the field of athletics. Over the past few years, other sports have taken the spotlight at the Olympics, and it's great to see athletics coming to the forefront once again," PT Usha told ANI.
She also urged people to applaud Neeraj for inspiring the youth by winning the gold medal in the men's javelin throw event at the Tokyo Olympics. He became only the second Indian individual gold medallist after AbhinavBindra.