20th July Daily Current Affairs – English

Revenue of state parties: BRS tops

• An organization called Society for Democratic Reforms has released a report analyzing the financial situation of 39 parties out of 57 state parties in the country for 2022-23.
• The total revenue of 39 state parties in FY 2022-23 is Rs 1,740 crore.
• Bharat Rashtra Samithi tops the list of state parties with highest revenue.
• The ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal is second and the DMK is third in Tamil Nadu.
• In this, electoral bonds and voluntary donations are shown to be the main source of income for the parties.

For state party status:

• For a registered political party to be recognized by the Election Commission as a state party, it must win 3 percent of the total seats in the assembly elections.
• Or win one out of every 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
• In Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly elections with 6 percent of the votes, win one Lok Sabha constituency or 2 Legislative Assembly constituencies, or get 8 percent of the votes.
• Only if any one of these conditions is fulfilled, the recognition as a ‘State Party’ will be granted.

6 New Bills in Budget Session:

• The 2nd session of the newly constituted 18th Lok Sabha will begin on July 22.
• The full financial position report is due in this session on July 23.
• 6 new bills are going to be tabled by the central government in this session of the financial statement.
• A Finance Bill implementing the proposed taxes is about to be introduced and passed.
• Disaster Management Amendment Bill 2024: Amendments are being brought in the Disaster Management Bill 2024 to clarify and coordinate the contributions of various organizations involved in disaster management.
• Coffee (Encouragement and Development) Bill: This bill seeks to promote and develop the Indian coffee industry and modernizes the Coffee Board and improves its functioning.
• The Rubber (Promotion, Development) Bill, 2024 is being introduced to modernize the functioning of the Rabb industry to promote and develop it.
• The Civil Aviation Bill is titled in Hindi and introduced as Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak Bill- 2024.
• The Bill is also proposed to address the ambiguity and simplify the Aviation Act of 1934.

“NITI Aayog” Ninth Executive Committee Meeting: Delhi

• Central Planning Commission was abolished and replaced by “NITI Aayog”.
• “NITI Aayog” is chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the Ninth Executive Committee meeting of NITI Aayog on July 27.
• The Council, the apex body of NITI Aayog, will be attended by all Chief Ministers, Lt. Governors of Union Territories and several Union Ministers.
• This is the first NITI Aayog Executive Committee meeting after Prime Minister Modi took office for the 3rd term.
• NITI Aayog is a body set up in 2015 to replace India’s Central Planning Commission, the National Agency for Transforming India.
• It plays a very important role in the economic development of India.
• The Fund aims to create a shared vision of national development strategies, sectors and priorities, with active involvement of states.
• The Central Planning Commission was established on 15 March 1950 to allocate funds for development and development projects in the states after Indian independence.
• The then Prime Minister Nehru was the first chairman of this planning committee.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi dissolved the Central Planning Commission and replaced the Planning Commission with a new body called Niti Aayog on 1 January 2015, giving priority to the states.

Privatization of Public Sector Banks:

• The central government has decided to pass the amendment bill in the budget session to carry out reforms in the banking sector in order to privatize the public sector banks.
• Prime Minister Indira Gandhi nationalized 14 banks on July 19, 1969.
• In the past few years many public sector banks have been merged in the name of administrative convenience and creation of larger banks.
• In 2020, the central government merged some of the smaller public sector banks with larger banks.
• This reduced the number of public sector bodies in the country from 27 to 12.

July 20: International Chess Day

• International Chess Day is celebrated on July 20 to commemorate the founding of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in 1924.
• This day was officially recognized by the United Nations in 2019.

July 20: International Moon Day

• Moon Day celebrates the first man’s steps on the moon in 1969.
• International Moon Day is observed around the world on July 20 to celebrate the anniversary of the first man landing on the moon as part of the Apollo 11 lunar mission.

Important Facts:

1. The state cabinet approved a bill to provide 100 per cent reservation for Kannadigas in private jobs in Karnataka.
2. It is Article 361 of the constitution which protects the governors from any criminal prosecution.
3. Elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus hemorrhagic (EEHV-HD) is responsible for increasing mortality in elephants.
4. Vinay Kwatra has been appointed as the new Indian ambassador to the US.
5. Argentina is at the top of FIFA’s international rankings for women’s football teams.
6. The 9th Women’s Asia Cup cricket tournament begins in Sri Lanka.