Morning Current Affairs Updates: 14 August 2017

Legendary sprinter Usain Bolt retires, his last race marred by injury

The greatest sprinter of modern times, Usain Bolt said good bye to the Athletics world on 13 August 2017. But the farewell ended in agony as he injured himself while running the last lap of the men's 4x100m relay race at the World Athletics Championships in London.

Running the final race of his career, the 30-year-old Bolt, after taking the baton from his Jamaican teammate Yohan Blake, suffered cramps on his left hamstring as he tried, in vain, to chase down his rivals in the race.
Bolt went down on his knees with hands on his head in dejection and was then lying alone on the tracks for a while before Blake and the other teammates, Julian Forte and Omar McLeod, gathered around him.

Jharkhand Assembly passes Religious Freedom Bill

Jharkhand Assembly has passed Religious Freedom Bill 2017. It aims to stop the forced conversions in the state. The bill will now be sent to the governor, following whose approval it would go to the President for assent.

While ruling NDA MLAs hailed it as a legislation that should have been implemented right when Jharkhand became a state, opposition members pointed out those penal provisions already exist in the Indian Penal Code.

Environment Minister launches ‘Gaj Yatra’ to mark World Elephant Day 2017

Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan, launched ‘Gaj Yatra’ on the occasion of World Elephant Day i.e. 12 August 2017. Gaj Yatra is a nationwide campaign to protect elephants. The campaign is planned to cover 12 elephant range states.

Calling for proactive, innovative and out-of-the-box ideas, Dr Vardhan said that efforts for elephant conservation must bring about a qualitative improvement by the next World Elephant Day.