Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 21 March 2017

:: National ::

In a first in the country, the Uttarakhand High Court, declared that the rivers Ganga and Yamuna were “living persons.”On March 15, New Zealand river Whanganui became the first in the world to be granted a legal human status.
“…to protect the recognition and the faith of society, rivers Ganga and Yamuna are required to be declared as legal persons [or] living persons,” stated the court order.
“The Ganga and [the] Yamuna, all their tributaries, streams… are declared as juristic [or] legal persons [or] living entities having the status of a legal person with all corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a living person in order to preserve and conserve river Ganga and Yamuna,” it added.
The two rivers, which are sacred for the Hindus, sustain millions of people in the country.
However, they have been in a state of neglect and even though several government initiatives, including the Centre’s NamamiGange programme, are aimed at restoring their health, not much has been achieved yet.
The court ordered that the Director of the NamamiGange programme, the Uttarakhand Chief Secretary, and the Advocate-General of Uttarakhand would serve as “parents” for the rivers.
And they would be the human faces to “protect, conserve and preserve” the rivers and their tributaries.

Satellite imagery is being used to check illegal mining, which is a major problem, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar informed the Rajya Sabha.
He said that river mapping through satellites and licensing of up to 5 hectares of sand mining at the district level is being undertaken.
To keep track of trucks transporting sand, they are being issued bar-coded receipts, he said.

India and Pakistan began discussions on the Indus Water Commission after 22 months amid optimism that the meeting may lead to resumption of the composite dialogue between the neighbours.
Prior to the meeting, Pakistan’s Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif expressed the hope that both countries would respect the sanctity of the Indus Water Treaty.
Because of the Pakistani position, Kishenganga and Ratle were not discussed in the latest round of talks. But the designs of the PakalDul, Lower Kalnai and Miyar hydroelectric plants were taken up.
The talks were suspended in May 2015 after the Pakistani Commissioner objected to the designs of the Kishenganga and the Ratle hydropower projects of India.
Last year, the secretaries of power of both countries agreed to third-party resolution through the World Bank. But the World Bank announced late last year that Pakistan and India should hold bilateral talks.
Following the World Bank’s reluctance to pass an order, both sides would meet in Washington in April on the Rutle project.

The British government is set to officially kick-start the process of exiting the European Union next week. A spokesperson for Downing Street confirmed that the process would commence on March 29.
Britain would be the first country in the EU to trigger Article 50 — a section of the Lisbon Treaty that sets out how a member state could commence the process.
A country will cease to be a member of the EU two years after the triggering of Article 50 unless it reaches an agreement with the European Council to extend that period.
Triggering of Article 50 will take place after a crucial meeting of European heads of government in Rome, for the 60th anniversary of the Rome Treaties at which leaders are expected to adopt a declaration on their vision for the future of the union.
Britain has set out the parameters of what it hopes to negotiate in a white paper earlier this year, making it clear that it plans to end freedom of movement from the EU and would be willing to end its membership of the single market, and the European customs union to achieve this end.
The announcement of the timing for triggering Article 50 is likely to offer markets and businesses, preparing for Britain’s exit, a degree of certainty.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a Cabinet meeting which cleared the four bills to be introduced in Parliament for implementing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.
“With the Cabinet approval of these four bills, the GST regime in India is in the final stages of culmination and the GST law will most likely be implemented from July 1, 2017,” according to a statement released by the Finance Ministry.
The passage of the four GST-related Bills – the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Bill 2017, the Integrated GST (IGST) Bill 2017, the Union Territory GST Bill 2017 and the GST (Compensation to the States) Bill 2017 – will pave the way for the biggest reform in the area of indirect taxes in the history of independent India.
The Centre was likely to introduce the bills together in Parliament this week and secure an early passage to meet the proposed July 1 rollout target date for the new indirect tax regime.
Separately, States are expected to ratify the State GST Bills approved by the GST Council after getting them passed in the respective Assemblies.

Paytmsaid it will offer insurance cover for money stored in its wallets by users.
Money lost due to fraudulent transactions as a result of theft, burglary, loss of device or unauthorised access of user’s Paytm wallet will now be refunded. This cover is being provided to users at no additional cost.
Paytm wallet users will be insured up to a limit of Rs. 20,000 or their wallet balance whichever is lower, the statement said.The company has partnered with Reliance General Insurance for the scheme.
In case of phone loss or theft, the customer needs to report the same to Paytm via e-mail or by calling its customer care within 12 hours. Paytm claims to have about 20 crore wallet users in the country.
“Paytm’s QR code-based payment solution is already powering more than 5 million merchants today and is heavily used by consumers to pay for spends at kirana stores and tolls,” it said.