30.03.17 Daily Current Affairs

Lisbon Treaty

• Lisbon Treaty, international agreement that amended the Maastricht Treaty, Treaties of Rome, and other documents to simplify and streamline the institutions that govern the European Union (EU).
• The Lisbon Treaty, ratified by all 27 member states, entered into force on December 1, 2009.
• While it was not explicitly called a European constitution, the treaty addressed a number of issues that had been central to the 2004 EU draft constitution, an initiative that was scuttled after voters in France and the Netherlands rejected it in 2005.
• Britain became the first nation in history to trigger Article 50, the six-paragraph-long section of the Lisbon Treaty, briefly outlining the process for exiting the union.

Bravaria

• Why in news? India and Bavaria to Set up Joint Group to Identify Areas of Co-Operation in Water Sector.
• Bavaria has a rich experience of successfully cleaning the river Danube in Germany and India may benefit from their experience.
• Bavaria is a state in Southeastern Germany, bordering Liechtenstein, Austria and the Czech Republic.

Mission 11 Million

• ‘Mission 11 Million’ programme has been launched in coordination with FIFA in about 30 cities across the country. The primary objective of the programme is to engage more than 11 million children in activities relating to Football.
• In October, India will host the FIFA U-17 Football World Cup.

India becomes Net Exporter of Electricity for the first Time

• As per Central Electricity Authority, the Designated Authority of Government of India for Cross Border Trade of Electricity, 1st time India has turned around from a net importer of electricity to Net Exporter of electricity. During the current year 2016-17 (April to February 2017), India has exported around 5,798 Million Units to Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar which is 213 Million units more than the import of around 5,585 Million units from Bhutan. Export to Nepal and Bangladesh increased 2.5 and 2.8 times respectively in last three years.
• Export of power to Bangladesh from India got further boost with commissioning of 1st cross border Interconnection between Baharampur in India and Bheramara in Bangladesh at 400kV in September 2013. It was further augmented by commissioning of 2nd cross border Interconnection between Surjyamaninagar (Tripura) in India and South Comilla in Bangladesh. At present around 600 MW power is being exported to Bangladesh.
• A few more cross border links with neighbouring countries are in pipe line which would further increase export of Power.

29.03.17 Daily Current Affairs

North Eastern States of India and their Borders

• Assam: Has the following seven Indian states as it neighbor: Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, West Bengal; Assam has the maximum number of Indian States as its neighbor.
• Sikkim and Meghalaya are the only states in India to have only one other Indian state has their neighbor. West Bengal in case of Sikkim and Assam in case of Mehalaya.
• Mizoram is the southernmost state in the North East.

Greater Nagalim

• NSCN(IM) has been demanding the creation of a Greater Nagalim that includes large areas of Assam adjoining Nagaland, most of Manipur’s hill districts, Tirap, Longding and Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh, and parts of Myanmar.
• The NSCN(IM)’s Greater Nagalim map of “all contiguous Naga-inhabited areas” covers an area of about 1,20,000 sq km — more than 7 times Nagaland’s 16,527 sq km area.
• Nagaland was created in 1963 out of the then Naga Hills district of Assam and Tuensang Division of the then Northeast Frontier Agency NEFA (now Arunachal Pradesh).
• Home Ministry said in a statement: “Some media reports have appeared recently to the effect that the Government of India has agreed to carve out a larger Nagaland state by taking away the territories of the states contiguous to Nagaland. Such reports are erroneous. It is clarified that there is no such agreement or decision of the Government of India.”

Mental Healthcare Bill 2016

• Rights of persons with mental illness: The Bill ensures every person shall have a right to access mental health care and treatment from mental health services run or funded by the appropriate government. The Bill also assures free treatment for such persons if they are homeless or belong to Below Poverty Line, even if they do not possess a BPL card.
• A person with mental illness shall have the right to confidentiality in respect of his mental health, mental healthcare, treatment and physical healthcare.
• (Note that NHP 2017 talks of an assurance based approach)
• Advance Directive: A person (who is not a minor) with mental illness shall have the right to make an advance directive that states how he/she wants to be treated for the illness and who his/her nominated representative shall be. The advance directive should be certified by a medical practitioner or registered with the Mental Health Board.
• If a mental health professional/ relative/care-giver does not wish to follow the directive while treating the person, he can make an application to the Mental Health Board to review/alter/cancel the advance directive.
• Mental Health Authority: The Bill empowers the government to set-up Central Mental Health Authority at national-level and State Mental Health Authority in every State. Every mental health institute and mental health practitioners including clinical psychologists, mental health nurses and psychiatric social workers will have to be registered with this Authority.
• A Mental Health Review Board will be constituted to protect the rights of persons with mental illness and manage advance directives.
• Suicide is Decriminalized: A person who attempts suicide shall be presumed to be suffering from mental illness at that time and will not be punished under the Indian Penal Code. The government shall have a duty to provide care, treatment and rehabilitation to a person, having severe stress and who attempted to commit suicide, to reduce the risk of recurrence of attempt to commit suicide.

Neutrino

A neutrino is a subatomic particle that is very similar to an electron, but has no electrical charge and a very small mass, which might even be zero.

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2015 was awarded jointly to Takaaki Kajita and Arthur B. McDonald “for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass”.

The so-called Standard Model of Particle Physics suggests the material universe is assumed to be built by a small number of fundamental particles:

* quarks

* electron-like particles called leptons

Quarks bind together through the strong interaction to make, for example, protons and neutrons. Leptons do not take part in the strong interaction, and only interact via the electromagnetic and weak forces. Quarks, at least in normal circumstances, exist only in bound states (Protons, Neutrons). Leptons, on the other hand, can be individually observed. 

We have experimental evidence for six different kinds of leptons – three negatively electrically charged leptons, and three electrically neutral. The best known electrically charged leptons are:

* the electron

* the muon

* the tauon

The three electrically neutral leptons are the neutrinos (ν). Associated to each charged lepton, there are three distinct kinds of neutrinos:

* the electron neutrino

* the muon neutrino

* the tauon neutrino

Finance Bill

• Finance Bill is a Money Bill: It only needs the approval of Lok Sabha, and Rajya Sabha may only make recommendations.
• It can propose legislative changes that are unrelated to taxation: This year, the Finance Bill has been passed by Lok Sabha with not only changes to applicable taxes, but also structural changes to institutions and sectors. For instance, the bill replaces certain existing Tribunals and transfer their functions to other Tribunals. It also allows the central government to specify the appointments, tenure, removal, and reappointment of chairpersons and members of Tribunals through Rules (and not laws, as is the current method).

Smart India Hackathon 2017

• All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) under the aegis of Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and in collaboration with i4c, My Gov, Persistent Systems, NASSCOM and Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodini (a charitable organisation) is conducting a unique initiative ‘Smart India Hackathon 2017’.
• For the first time ever, 29 different government ministries and departments came together and posed 598 problem statements to 30 lakh technical students from India.
• During the 36-hour Grand Finale scheduled to be held on April 1&2, 2017 teams of thousands of technology students will build innovative digital solutions for problems posed by different central govt. ministries/ departments.

28.03.17 Daily Current Affairs

World Conference on Environment

• The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the 3rd ‘World Conference on Environment’ organized by the National Green Tribunal in New Delhi on March 25, 2017.
• The President said recent studies and systematic reviews indicate that environmental factors are responsible for an estimated 24% of the global burden of disease in terms of healthy life years lost and 23 % of all deaths. Children are the worst sufferers of the adverse impact of environmental diseases. 24% of all deaths under the age of 15 are due to diarrhoea, malaria and respiratory diseases – all of which are environment related. 19% of the deaths caused by Cancer worldwide are attributed to carcinogens that unmindful industrialization produces.
• The President complimented the National Green Tribunal – India’s premier environment watch dog for facilitating this forum for wide ranging discussions on environmental issues of universal concern.

Landmark Historical Events

• Mahatma Gandhi returned to India in 1915
• Champaran Satyagraha – 1917 (centenary year being celebrated)
• Ahmedabad mill-worker’s strike – 1918
• Lucknow Pact – 1916

TROPEX

• The navy’s annual Theatre Readiness Operational Exercise (TROPEX) got underway on January 24.
• The month-long exercise will have ships and aircraft of both the Western and Eastern Naval Commands, as also assets from the Indian Air Force, Indian Army and the Indian Coast Guard exercising together.
• The exercise is aimed at testing combat readiness of the combined fleets of the Indian Navy, and the assets of the Indian Air Force, Indian Army and the Indian Coast Guard. It will also strengthen interoperability and joint operations in a complex environment.

G-20 Framework Working Group

• G20 Leaders at the Pittsburgh Summit held in September 2009 had committed to work together to ensure that global growth is strong, sustainable and balanced. To that end, the Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth was launched.
• G-20 Framework Working Group (FWG) is one of the core working groups of G-20. The mandate of FWG is to deliberate on the challenges facing the global economy and the policy options that countries can use to address these challenges. It is co-chaired by Canada and India.
• Since the inception of the FWG in 2009, this is the fourth occasion that India is hosting this meeting.
• In the forthcoming meeting in Varanasi, one important focus of the G-20 FWG will be to deliberate on the inclusive growth agenda of G-20 and to formulate a framework that will enable countries to help frame country specific inclusive growth policies.

National Commission for Scheduled Tribes

• The Central Government and the State Governments are required to consult the Commission on all major policy matters affecting Scheduled Tribes.
• The Commission can suo moto take cognisance of violation of constitutional and other legal safeguards of Scheduled Tribes.

Brahma Kumaris

• Brahma Kumaris is a worldwide spiritual movement dedicated to personal transformation and world renewal. Founded in India in 1937, Brahma Kumaris has spread to over 110 countries on all continents and has had an extensive impact in many sectors as an international NGO. However, their real commitment is to helping individuals transform their perspective of the world from material to spiritual.
• The spiritual headquarters of Brahma Kumaris is in Mount Abu, India. Brahma Kumaris is the largest spiritual organisation in the world led by women.
• Although women hold the top administrative positions, the women who hold these positions have always made decisions in partnership with the men.
• Brahma Kumaris was founded by Dada Lekhraj Kripalani, a retired Indian businessman, in 1937 in Hyderabad, a city now in Pakistan.

27.03.17 Daily Current Affairs

Titu Mir

• Nearly 190 years after his death, Syed Mir Nisar Ali, or Titu Mir, a peasant leader, who led the Narkelberia Uprising in 1831 — often considered the first armed peasant uprising against the British — has made a controversial comeback in Bengal’s politics through a chapter in a prescribed tenth grade history textbook.
• Celebrated in folklore as a peasant leader, Titu Mir remains a controversial political figure in Bengal for his religious identity as an Islamic preacher after he converted to Wahabism.
• The current row has been sparked by the chapter in the textbook, approved by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, that claims Titu Mir “killed” many Hindus and destroyed several temples.

Neem Coated Urea

Benefits of Urea coated with Neem

• Improvement in soil health;
• Reduction in costs with respect to plant protection chemicals;
• Reduction in pest and disease attack;
• An increase  in  yield  of  paddy,  sugarcane,  maize,  soybean  and  tur/red  gram  to  an  extent  of  79%,  17.5%,  7.14%, 7.4% and 16.88% respectively;
• Diversion of highly subsidized urea towards non-agricultural purposes negligible among farmers after the introduction of the mandatory policy of production and distribution of only Neem coated urea.

Hallmarks

• Hallmarks are official marks used as a guarantee of purity or fitness of precious metal articles.
• The Hallmarking Scheme is a voluntary scheme being operated by BIS under the BIS Act 1986. BIS is operating the scheme through its network of Regional/ Branch Offices all over the country.
• As per this scheme the licence is granted to a jeweler for certification of purity of gold (or silver) jewellery. A licensee jeweler has to get the jewellery hallmarked through any of the BIS recognized Assaying and hallmarking centres (no hallmarking center has been set up by Central Government or by Bureau of Indian Standards. Hallmarking centres are generally set up by private entrepreneurs).

Nikshay

• To monitor the Revised National Tuberculosis Programme (RNTCP) effectively, a web enabled and case based monitoring application called NIKSHAY has been developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC).
• “IT based E-Nikshay platform has been made user-friendly so that Private Doctors find it easy to notify.”

25.03.17 Daily Current Affairs

Laws and rules relating to National Flag

• Non statutory instructions issued by the Government from time to time
• Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 195
• Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971
• Flag Code of India, 2002, is an attempt to bring together all such laws, conventions, practices and instructions for the guidance and benefit of all concerned.

Election Symbols

(Context AIADMK factional feud for party symbol)

• As per the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, the Election Commission allots symbols for anyone contesting in polls.
• A person contesting on behalf of a recognised political party will inherit the party’s symbol. An independent candidate or someone contesting on behalf of an unrecognised political party has to approach the Commission and get a symbol allotted from the list of ‘free’ symbols available.
• Two or more recognised political parties can have the same symbol provided they are not contenders in the same State or Union Territory. Both Federal Party of Manipur and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) use ‘Rising Sun’ as their symbol. But if one of the parties wish to open their account in the other State, it will have to contest on a different symbol. This is why the Bahujan Samaj Party will have to choose a different symbol if it contests in Assam, since Asom Gana Parishad also uses ‘Elephant’ symbol.
• In case a recognised political party splits, the Commission decides which faction can use the symbol. In the case of Samajwadi Party, the EC allotted ‘Bicycle’ to the Akhilesh Yadav faction. The Commission may also choose to freeze the symbol and ask both factions to contest in fresh symbols, just as how it did with AIADMK’s ‘Two Leaves’ now and with Congress in 1969 when the party had split as Congress (R) and Congress (O).
• State Election Commissions are concerned with elections to panchayats and municipalities. They play no role in allotment of/settling disputes related to symbols of recognised parties.

National Commission for ST

• It is a constitutional body.
• The Central Government and State Governments are required to consult the Commission on all major policy matters affecting the STs.
• It can recommend measures to be taken to prevent alienation of tribal people from land.

Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana

• “Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana”, a ‘Scheme for providing Physical Aids and Assisted-living Devices for Senior citizens belonging to BPL category’ will be launched in District Nellore, Andhra Pradesh on 1st April, 2017.
• The scheme will be implemented through the sole implementing agency, ‘Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation (ALIMCO)’, (a PSU under M/o SJ&E), which will undertake one year free maintenance of the aids & assisted living devices.
• As per the Census figures of 2011, the population of senior citizens in India is 10.38 crore. More than 70% of the population of senior citizens live in rural areas of the country. A sizeable percentage (5.2%) of the senior citizens suffers from some sort of disabilities related to old age.

Miscellaneous Information

‘Limbu’ and ‘Tamang’ tribes can be found in North East India

24.03.17 Daily Current Affairs

Uniting for Consensus

• Uniting for Consensus (UfC) is a movement, nicknamed the Coffee Club, that developed in the 1990s in opposition to the possible expansion of permanent seats in the United Nations Security Council. Under the leadership of Italy, it aims to counter the bids for permanent seats proposed by G4 nations (Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan) and is calling for a consensus before any decision is reached on the form and size of the Security Council.
• Turkey is also a member of the Uniting for Consensus group of countries that oppose U.N. Security Council Memberships to be increased, another source of friction between the two countries, where India would like to see some flexibility.

(In the context of visit of Erdogan to India)

Human Development Report 2016

• India slipped down one place from 130 to 131 among the 188 countries ranked in terms of human development, says the 2016 Human Development Report (HDR) released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
• India’s human development index (HDI) value of 0.624 puts it in the “medium human development” category, alongside countries such as Congo, Namibia and Pakistan.
• It is ranked third among the SAARC countries, behind Sri Lanka (73) and the Maldives (105), both of which figure in the “high human development” category.
• India still has the lowest rank among the BRICS nations.

HE Projects on Indus and tributaries

• Miyar
• Lower Kalnai
• Pakal Dul
• Kishenganga
• Ratle

Amendment to RTE

• The Union Cabinet recently approved an amendment to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 which will consequently improve the learning outcomes of children.
• According to Section 23 of the RTE Act, teachers at elementary level who, at the commencement of this Act, did not possess the minimum qualifications as laid down under the RTE Act, need to acquire these within a period of five years i.e., 31st March, 2015. However, several State governments have reported that about a fifth of the teachers are yet to attain the minimum qualifications. In order to ensure that all teachers, in position as on 31st March, 2015, acquire the minimum qualifications prescribed by the academic authority, it is necessary to carry out appropriate amendment in the RTE Act, 2009 to extend the period for such training for four years up to 31st March, 2019.

Aari Work

• ‘Aari work’ technique, a sequined embroidery chain stitch rooted in the Kutch area of Gujarat.
• Emma Watson’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ outfits were hand embroidered in Bhuj using the above technique.
• Aari embroidery is practiced in various regions such as in Kashmir and Kutch (Gujarat).

Copra

• The Union Cabinet recently approved a hike in the Minimum Support Price of Copra.
• Copra is a coconut product. Coconut oil is extracted from it, and it is also consumed as a dry fruit.
• In India, coconut is cultivated mainly in the coastal tracts of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh (these four account for about 90 per cent of the total production in India) Orissa, West Bengal, Pondicherry, and Maharashtra and in the islands of Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar. Of late, coconut cultivation has been introduced to suitable locations in non-traditional states including Assam, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Tripura, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh and in the hinterland regions of the coconut growing states.

Standards for Drinking Water

• Indian Standards has set standards for drinking water. However, this standard is only voluntary in nature and not legally supported for enforcement. This standard has two limits: Desirable limits & Maximum permissible or cause for rejection limits
• If any parameter exceeds the cause for rejection limit, that water is considered as contaminated. Broadly speaking, water is defined as contaminated if it is biologically contaminated (presence of microscopic organisms such as E. coli, zoo-plankton etc) or chemical contamination exceeds permissible limits (e.g. excess fluoride, salinity, etc).
• Whereas Arsenic contamination is concentrated in states drained by the Rivers Ganga, Brahmaputra and their tributaries, the same is not the case with Fluoride contamination of water.
• Rajasthan, Telangana, West Bengal, Karnataka and Bihar are some states affected badly by fluoride contamination.

National Water Quality Sub Mission on Arsenic and Fluoride

• Government on 22^nd March launched National Water Quality Sub Mission on Arsenic and Fluoride to provide safe drinking water to about 28,000 affected habitations in the country by March 2021 with an outlay of Rs 25,000 crore.
• West Bengal is badly affected by the problem of arsenic, Rajasthan suffers from presence of fluoride in drinking water with serious health hazards.
• Shri Tomar said that Government is committed to providing tap water on a sustained basis in every household by 2030 as per the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for which Rs 23,000 crore of central fund will be required annually till the target is achieved.

23.03.17 Daily Current Affairs

Members of Multilateral Forums

• Members of SAARC: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
• Members of ASEAN: Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore.
• Members of BIMSTEC: India, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
• Common between SAARC and BIMSTEC: India, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka
• Common between ASEAN AND BIMSTEC: Myanmar and Thailand

Grand Challenge India

• The Grand Challenges India (GCI) is a mission-directed research initiative, collaboratively launched in 2012 under the umbrella of Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of BioTechnology and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
• As India transitions from Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals, the GCI partnership has ushered a new wave of innovative solutions to help address issues that are inextricably linked to social impact.
• It is working towards funding innovative solutions to societal problems not only within India but also has a reference to the developing nations.
• The GCI covers all kinds of health and developmental priorities, ranging from maternal and child health, infectious diseases, vaccines, point-of-care diagnostics, agriculture, food and nutrition to other related arenas of developing nations as per individual requirements.
• The first GCI meeting is being held this year.

Dev Raj Sikka

• Dev Raj Sikka, former director of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, who first proposed a link between the El Nino phenomenon and the Indian monsoon, died recently.
• Sikka, who began his career at the India Meteorological Department, was also credited with being among the pioneers of developing weather models and computer-modelling techniques to forecast the monsoon.
• Also known as Monsoon Man in some circles.

International Solar Alliance

• The ISA was launched as a coalition of solar resource-rich countries on the first day of the Paris Climate Conference or CoP21 (2015).
• It is a coalition of solar resource-rich countries lying fully or partially between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn to specifically address energy needs by tapping solar energy from the sun.
• ISA has been envisioned as a dedicated platform which will contribute towards the common goal of increasing utilization and promotion of solar energy and solar applications in its prospective member countries to help the world transition to a low-carbon and greener society.
• A Declaration was unveiled on the occasion to launch the International Solar Alliance of countries dedicated to the promotion of solar energy in Paris on 30 November, 2015. The Paris Declaration on ISA states that the countries share the collective ambition to undertake innovative and concerted efforts for reducing the cost of finance and cost of technology for immediate deployment of competitive solar generation and formulate financial instruments to effectively mobilize more than US$1000 billion dollars in investments that will be required by 2030 for the massive deployment of affordable solar energy and to pave the way for future solar generation, storage and good technologies for each prospective member countries’ individual needs.
• India has offered to meet ISA Secretariat expenses for initial five years, and has also made a contribution of Rs.175 Crore for creating ISA Corpus fund. In addition, Government of India (GOI) has offered training support for prospective ISA member countries at the National Institute of Solar Energy and also support to prospective ISA member countries for demonstration projects for solar home lighting, solar pumps for farmers and for other solar applications. The GOI has dedicated 5 acres of land in the National Institute of Solar Energy campus for the construction ISA Headquarters.

About NISE:

National Institute of Solar Energy, an autonomous institution of Ministry of New and Renewable (MNRE), is the apex National R&D institution in the field Solar Energy. The Government of India has converted 25 year old Solar Energy Centre (SEC) under MNRE to an autonomous institution in September, 2013 to assist the Ministry in implementing the National Solar Mission and to coordinate research, technology and other related works. HQ: Gurgaon, Haryana

International Day of Forests

• The United Nations celebrates the International Day of Forests annually on the 21st of March.
• Forests provide clean air, water and energy. Sustainably managed forests can provide renewable and carbon neutral energy for a greener future. Greater investment in technological innovation and in sustainably managed forests is the key to increasing forests’ role as a major source of renewable energy.
• Wood provides the world with more energy than solar, hydroelectric or wind power, accounting for roughly 45 percent (27 in Africa, 13 in Latin America and the Caribbean and 5 in Asia-Oceania) of current global renewable energy supply.
• Strategically placed trees in urban areas can cool the air by between 2 to 8 degrees Centigrade.

“Circular Economy”

• “A circular economy is one in which economic development and environmental sustainability are interdependent, with a strong emphasis on minimising pollution, while maximising reuse and recycling.”
• A circular economy is an industrial system in which the potential use of goods and materials is optimized and their elements returned to the system at the end of their viable life cycles.
• The philosophy is based on a holistic perspective of processes and technologies that goes beyond the focus of delivery, inventory and traditional views of cost. The underlying principle is that responsible products and practices are not only good for the environment, but are also important for long-term profitability.
• The circular economy is in direct opposition to consumerist culture, which is considered a linear structure that is sometimes expressed as take, make, dispose. Waste is an integral element of consumerism because its emphasis is on promoting the purchase of new goods — which often translates to disposing of older but still viable products.

United Nations’ Water Development Programme’s World Water Development Report (WWDR)

• 2017 Title: Wastewater: The Untapped Resource
• Report notes that more than 80% of the world’s wastewater — over 95% in some least developed countries — is released into the environment untreated.
• The WWDR estimates that for every $1 spent on sanitation, society benefits by an estimated $5.5, and notes that “neglecting the opportunities arising from improved wastewater management is nothing less than unthinkable in the context of a circular economy”.
• Last year, for example, the World Economic Forum warned that the water crisis would be the greatest global risk faced by people and economies over the next 10 years.

22.03.17 Daily Current Affairs

River Ganga and Yamuna have been declared as ‘living persons’ by the Uttarakhand High Court

The Uttarakhand High Court, on Monday, declared that the rivers Ganga and Yamuna, all their tributaries and streams were “living persons”, having the status of a legal person with all corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a living person. The court ordered that the Director of the Namami Gange programme, the Uttarakhand Chief Secretary, and the Advocate-General of Uttarakhand would serve as “parents” for the rivers and would be the human faces to “protect, conserve and preserve” the rivers and their tributaries.

A river in New Zealand, The Whanganui River, was the first in the world to be granted the same legal rights as a person (March 15th, 2017). The NZ Parliament passed a bill recognising the river as a legal entity. The river’s interests will be represented by two people – one from the Maori tribes (who had been fighting for over 160 years to get this recognition for their river) and one from the crown.

India-based Neutrino Observatory

West Bodi Hills in Tamil Nadu will be the place where above observatory will be located.

Since the laboratory cavern needs to be more than 1000 m underground (so that there is at least 1000 m cover all-round to absorb/reduce natural cosmic radiation), the choice of site is primarily dictated by the rock quality, in order to obtain a stable safe environment for such long-term activity. Geologically, southern Indian mountains have the most compact, dense rock while the Himalayas are mostly metamorphic sedimentary rock. The mountains of Tamil Nadu (Specifically, the West Bodi Hills), in general, are the most attractive possibility, offering stable dense rocks with maximum safety for locating such a laboratory.

Interesting Facts on Neutrino

We led neutrino research when our physicists used a gold mine at Kolar in Karnataka to set up what was then (1960s) the world’s deepest underground laboratory. This was called the Kolar Gold Field Lab.

Neutrinos are so abundant among us that every second, there are more than 100 trillion of them passing right through each of us — we never even notice them. This is the reason why INO needs to be built deep into the earth — 1,300 metres into the earth. At this depth, it would be able to keep itself away from all the trillions of neutrinos produced in the atmosphere and which would otherwise choke an over-the-ground neutrino detector.

Can neutrinos cause cancer? Not at all! Neutrinos are the least harmful of all elementary particles, as they almost never react with solid bodies. A few people with whom we have discussed this topic, tend to confuse the “neutrino” for the “neutron”. This has also led to the confusion that neutrinos can be weaponised, which is far from the truth.

Special Notified Zone for Diamond

India Diamond Trading Centre, the only Special Notified Zone in the country, enables rough diamonds to enter and exit duty-free, for the purpose of viewing.

Amendments have been made to our laws to enable rough diamonds to enter and exit, duty free for the purpose of viewing. The Special Notified Zone at the Bharat Diamond Bourse became operational in November, 2015. This has already shown good results. Earlier only eighty to ninety big merchants used to get access to global rough diamonds by travelling to Belgium, Africa and Israel. Now, about three thousand small and medium merchants have this privilege through the new Special Notified Zone.

India is the world’s largest manufacturer of cut and polished diamonds.

GST Related Legislations

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the following four GST related bills:

The Central Goods and Services Tax Bill 2017 – provisions for levy and collection of tax on intra-state supply of goods or services or both by the Central Government.

The Integrated Goods and Services Tax Bill 2017 – provisions for levy and collection of tax on inter-state supply of goods or services or both by the Central Government.

The Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Bill 2017 – provisions for levy and collection of tax on intra-UT supply of goods and services in the Union Territories without legislature. Union Territory GST is akin to States Goods and Services Tax (SGST) which shall be levied and collected by the States/Union Territories on intra-state supply of goods or services or both.

The Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to the States) Bill 2017 (The Compensation Bill) – provides for compensation to the states for loss of revenue arising on account of implementation of the goods and services tax for a period of five years as per section 18 of the Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, 2016.

Indian Sign Language Research and Training Center

Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) is an autonomous organization of the Government of India established under Society Registration Act, 1860 under the aegis of Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) under Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The main objectives of the ISLRTC are:

* to develop manpower for using, teaching and conducting research in Indian Sign Language (ISL),

* to promote the use of ISL as an educational mode,

* to carry out research in collaboration with universities, national and international bodies to create linguistic records in ISL,

* to train and orient various professionals (and community leaders and the public at large for understanding and using Indian Sign Language) and

* to collaborate with organizations of the Deaf.

Components of a Positive Attitude

Your attitude, your general outlook on life, largely determines your experience of reality. It affects how you perceive others, and how they see you. Positive people are motivated to pursue worthy ambitions and keep their eyes focused on what matters most in any moment.

An article published in the January 2007 Gallup Management Journal notes that the components of a positive attitude, collectively called positive psychological capital, can be learned.

Components of a Positive Attitude:

Hope

It is the ability to stay focused on your goals and change paths when needed to succeed.

Hope is perseverance. People with a positive attitude are able to look through the difficulties they face today and believe they can find a way through or around those difficulties.

To learn hope, focus on goals that are challenging, yet attainable and brainstorm multiple ways to achieve those goals.

Recognize that you can influence your forward movement and sustain your activities until you reach your goals.

Optimism

People with a positive attitude exhibit optimism, the belief in the best possible outcome of a decision or action and that negative circumstances are temporary.

Optimism must be grounded in reality; for example, a person cannot jump from a tree and optimistically expect to overcome the laws of gravity.

Optimists are proactive. They see the "up-side" to every situation and create the results they desire through sheer tenacity.

Optimism is a self-fulfilling attitude--you see what you look for and what you focus on begins to increase.

Resiliency

Positive people exhibit resiliency, the ability to “bounce back” from difficult circumstances.

Resiliency, or hardiness, has three attitudinal components: commitment, control and challenge.

Commitment is the willingness to stay engaged rather than become isolated during hard times, choosing to be involved in life’s next step.

Control is the willingness to try and influence the outcome of challenging circumstances, such as talking to your boss about the many different roles you can fill when the possibility of lay-offs occur.

Challenge is the ability to view each situation as an opportunity to learn.

Enthusiasm

Isaac D'Israeli, famed British scholar, once wrote "Enthusiasm is that secret and harmonious spirit which hovers over the production of genius."

Enthusiasm is a sense of intense, purposeful passion held toward any object or topic.

Enthusiasm inspires you to cultivate your abilities, to move forward despite uncertainty, to continually transcend obstacles which are placed in the way of progress.

An enthusiastic person is driven. He is not captive to inhibition, because his will to succeed is always more powerful than his fear.

Kindness

Kindness is a desire to help others without any evident promise of reward.

However, the act of doing something for someone else benefits both giver and receiver on many levels.

The act of giving removes your attention from worry and places it on how you can positively affect the world around you.

Kindness repairs injury and removes contradictory emotions like hate, contempt and resentment. Kindness, in essence, brings people together.