Union Government notified new Plastic
Waste Management Rules to curb 6000
tonnes of plastic waste
21-MAR-2016
Union Environment Ministry on 18 March 2016 notified new Plastic Waste Management Rules to curb over 6000 tonnes of uncollected plastic waste generated daily by industries.
It made the rules related to usage and production of plastic to be more stringent as it tries to bring in more eco friendly society.
Rules related to plastic waste management to give thrust on plastic waste minimization, source segregation,recycling, involving waste pickers, recyclers and waste processors in collection of plastic waste were also reviewed and revised.
Key aspects of the new rules
• Rural areas have been included and Gram Panchayats were given responsibility and the concept of extended producer responsibility (EPR) is introduced.
• Responsibility of waste generators is being introduced.
• It also banned plastic carry bags thinner than 50 microns and the producers are asked to keep record of vendors to whom they supply raw material for manufacturing carry bags, plastic sheets and multilayered packaging to curb manufacturing of the products in the unorganized sector
• The rules also have the provision to fine retailers and street vendors who provide their products in plastic packaging which do not conform to the new rules.
• Individual and bulk (waste) generators like offices, commercial establishments, industries are to segregate the plastic waste at source and should handover the segregate waste and pay user fee as per bye-laws of the local bodies,
• Persons organising public events like marriages, public gatherings are responsible for the management of waste generated during these events. Minimum thickness of the plastic bags increased from 40-50microns.
• Introduction of collect back system of plastic waste by the producers/brand owners as per extended producers’ responsibility, Plastic bags will be available only with shopkeepers pre-registered with local bodies.
• Manufacturing and use of non-recyclable multi-layered plastic to be phased out in two years.
The Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Rules 2016 are issued by the Union environment ministry will replace the Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2011. Under the new EPR concept, producers are responsible for collecting waste generated from their products.
Former Danish PM Anker Joergensen
died
21-MAR-2016
Former Prime Minister of Denmark Anker Joergensen passed away on 20 March 2016 in Copenhagen. He was 93.
Joergensen served as the Prime Minister of the country from 1972 to 1973 and again from 1975 to 1982.
In 1950, Joergensen became a member of a trade union. He led the Danish Workers Union, SiD, between 1968 and 1972. While he served as the chairman of the Danish Workers Union, he was elected to the Parliament of Denmark for the first time in 1964.
Following the European Union Referendum of 1972 about whether Denmark should join the EU, Joergensen succeeded Jens Otto Krag as Prime Minister of Denmark. Joergensen held the position for 14 months until the 1973 election when he was succeeded by liberal Poul Hartling.
After just over a year in opposition, he returned as Prime Minister of Denmark with a Social Democratic minority government.
International Day for the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination 2016 observed
21-MAR-2016
21 March: International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 2016 was observed on 21 March 2016 with the theme Challenges and Achievements of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.
In 2016, the day is marked by the fifteenth anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action at the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in 2001.
How the day was proclaimed?
• On 21 March 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, against the apartheid pass laws.
• The United Nations General Assembly called on the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination and proclaimed the day in 1966.
About Durban Declaration and
Programme of Action
• The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action was adopted at the 2001 World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in South Africa.
• It is the most comprehensive framework for fighting racism and related forms of intolerance and discrimination.
• It represents the firm commitment of the international community to tackle the issues related to intolerance and discrimination, and serves as a basis for advocacy efforts worldwide.
• It contains a broad range of measures aimed at combating racism in all of its manifestations, and underscores the human rights of all groups suffering from racial discrimination. The document emphasizes their right to participate freely and equally in political, social, economic and cultural life.
World Sparrow Day 2016 observed
globally
21-MAR-2016
20 March: World Sparrow Day
The World Sparrow Day was observed across the world on 20 March 2016 with the theme Rise for the SPARROW-Experience the power of one. The theme has been inspired by the hope that more and more of us will celebrate the relationship between People and Sparrows.
The day is designated to raise awareness of the house sparrow and other common birds to urban environments, and of threats to their populations.
The sparrow, especially the common house sparrow, is one of the most ubiquitous birds on earth and is also one of the oldest companions of human beings.
The day is observed in almost 50 nations and involves leading ornithology institutions and bird organisations.
The Sparrow Day is an international initiative by the Nature Forever Society of India in collaboration with the Eco-Sys Action Foundation (France) and numerous other national and international organisations across the world. The first World Sparrow Day was celebrated in 2010 in different parts of the world.
World Sparrow Day aims to provide a meeting ground for people from different parts of the world to come together to play an important role in advocacy and in spreading the awareness on the need of conserving common biodiversity or species of lower conservation status.
What we can do for the conservation of
sparrows?
1. Put bird boxes and bird feeders outside your house or in your gardens.
2. Water-bowls or a bird-bath in the hot summer afternoon helps sparrows to re-hydrate.
3. Grow plants and hedges that are native to the place. This encourages sparrows to come back.
The rationale for celebrating World Sparrow Day is not only to commemorate the event for a day but to use it as a platform to underscore the need to conserve sparrows as well as the urban biodiversity.
Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka
won BNP Paribas Open titles
22-MAR-2016
World No 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Victoria Azarenka of Belarusia on 20 March 2016 won men's and women’s singles titles of the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Southern California.
Novak Djokovic defeated Milos Raonic of Canada 6-2, 6-0 in the men's final while Victoria Azarenka defeated top seed Serena Williams 6-4, 6-4.
Djokovic won his fifth Indian Wells title and third in a row. He equaled Rafael Nadal’s 27 ATP Masters titles.
On the other hand, Victoria Azarenka lifted her second BNP Paribas Open crown and her 19th singles title.
About BNP Paribas Open
• It is popularly known as Indian Wells open as it is held in Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Southern California.
• It is the largest two-week combined ATP World Tour Masters 1000 and WTA Premier professional tennis tournament in the world.
• It is held annually in March and features the top men and women professional players competing in a 96 singles draw and 32 doubles draw.
• The tournament offers more than 10 million US Dollars in prize money with each of the Champions earning 1 million US Dollars prize purse.
• It is the only professional tournament in the world that provides Hawkeye, the official line-challenge system for players, on all match courts for both main and qualifying rounds.
Akhilesh Ranjan Committee on
Taxation of E-Commerce submitted
report to Union Government
22-MAR-2016
A Committee on Taxation of e-commerce constituted by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to examine the business models for e-commerce submitted its report on 21 March 2016.
The Report of the Committee was received by the Government of India and taken into consideration in the preparation of Finance Bill, 2016.
The Report provides the view of the Committee on issues related to taxation of e-commerce and recent international developments in this area.
The Committee included officers of the CBDT, representatives from the industry, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and tax experts. The 8-member committee was headed by Akhilesh Ranjan, Joint Secretary (FT&TR-I), CBDT, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance.
Key recommendations of the
committee are:
• Equalization Levy may be imposed on payments to non-residents for specified services by a separate chapter in the Finance Act, 2016.
• The Equalization Levy should be chargeable on any sum that is received by a non resident from a resident in India or a permanent establishment in India as a consideration for the specified digital services.
• The rate of Equalization Levy may be between 6 to 8 percent of the gross sum received.
• Equalization Levy should not be charged unless the consideration received for specified services in a year from a person in India is more than one lakh rupees.
• Equalization Levy should also not be charged on payments received by a permanent establishment of a non-resident in India, which are attributable to that permanent establishment and taxable under Income-tax Act, 1961.
• Every person that has received any sum chargeable to Equalization Levy, would be required to pay the Equalization Levy chargeable on that sum to the union government.
• Every person that has received any sum chargeable to Equalization Levy, would be required to file a return of Sum chargeable to Equalization Levy as prescribed, if such total sum received by that person in a year exceeds ten crore rupees.
• Any income arising from a transaction on which Equalization Levy has been paid should be exempted from income-tax, by necessary amendment in Section 10 of the Income-tax Act, 1961.
• The definition of business connection in section 9 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 may be expanded to include the concept of significant economic presence.
• Work on exploring the possibility of deduction of Equalization Levy by the payment gateways should be initiated immediately.
• The implementation and impact of Equalization Levy may be monitored on a regular basis.
Union Government launched Pusa
Krishi mobile app to help farmers to
take the technology to farm fields
22-MAR-2016
Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on 21 March 2016 launched a new mobile app Pusa Krishi at the valedictory session of the three-day Krishi Unnati Mela in New Delhi. It will help the farmers to take the technology to farm fields.
The Mobile app will help the farmer to find easy solutions to the problems in their farm fields and also helps to get information about weather and accordingly they take measures to save crops.
The app will provide farmers with information related to new varieties of crops developed by Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), resource conserving cultivation practices as well as farm machinery and its implementation will help in increasing returns to farmers.
Besides, PM Narenda Modi had launched Kisan Suvidha mobile appduring the inaugural function of the mela, which aims at providing information to farmers on weather, market prices, farm machinery as well as identification and management of crop pest and diseases.