25 MARCH 2023

Topic 1: Legacy municipal waste

Context: Action plans under Swacch Bharat amounting to ₹3226 crore of Central Share (CS) assistance on remediation of legacy waste dumpsites have been approved so far.

What is legacy waste?

• Although the term “legacy waste” has not been defined in any official government
  document in India, it typically refers to aged municipal solid waste in landfills or
  dumpsites.
• There is no information on how old waste must be in order to qualify to be called legacy waste.
• Legacy waste is a mix of partially or completely decomposed biodegradable waste, plastic waste, textiles, metals, glass and other components.

Composition of legacy waste

• Typically, Indian dumpsites contain a mix of legacy waste and fresh municipal solid
  waste.
• However, the composition and characteristics of legacy waste are different
  from fresh municipal solid waste.
• The vintage of a landfill considerably influences the composition of the legacy
  waste it contains.
• Usually, “fines” are the single-largest component of legacy waste.
  • Fines in legacy waste are decomposed and mineralized organic waste
    mixed with silt, sand and fine fragments of construction and demolition (C&D)
    waste.
  • Fines constitute about 40–60 per cent of legacy waste.

Environmental and health hazards

• Landslides:
  • Open dumpsites or unscientific landfills are deemed to be closed when the landfill
    reaches an unstable height and additional dumping of waste can lead to landslides.
• Toxic leaching:
  • Unlined unscientific dumpsites produce toxic leachate that forms puddles in the surrounding area and seeps into the ground, polluting both surface-
    water and groundwater resources.
• Greenhouse gases:
  • Such dumpsites also release greenhouse gases like methane.
  • They are prone to dumpsite surface fires that result in rapid emission of dangerous pollutants into the atmosphere.

Legal framework and judicial interventions

• The Government of India has notified Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 for proper and effective management of municipal solid waste.
  • It defines the duties and responsibilities of local authorities and village panchayats of census towns and urban agglomerations for dumpsite remediation.
  • They have to investigate all open dumpsites and existing operational dumpsites for their potential of biomining and bioremediation.
  • If there is no potential for biomining or bioremediating a dumpsite, the Rules direct that it shall be scientifically capped as per landfill capping norms to prevent further damage to the environment.
• On July 17, 2019, the National Green Tribunal passed an order directing that capping of legacy waste would lead to huge environmental and health consequences.
  • The tribunal suggested biomining and bioremediation as environmentally safe and the most preferable approaches to dumpsite remediation.

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Topic 2: Arth Ganga Project

Context: Arth Ganga is a sustainable viable economic model conceptualized under “Namami-Gange” program to integrate people in the basin with Ganga Rejuvenation.

Key details:

• What is Arth Ganga?
  • It focuses on developing chances for economic livelihood to support the activities under Namami Gange Programme.
    • Namami Gange Programme is the government’s major initiative to clean up the Ganga and its tributaries.
• The government is focusing on six pillars under Arth Ganga.
  • Zero Budget Natural Farming, which encourages the use of cow dung as fertilizer through the Gobardhan initiative and chemical-free farming for 10 km on either side of the river.
  • Monetization and Reuse of Sludge and Wastewater, intends to reuse treated water in agriculture, commerce, and the generation of cash for Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).
  • By creating haats where locals may sell commodities, medications, and Ayurveda, Arth Ganga would also create opportunities for people to generate income.
  • To improve popular engagement by strengthening the relationships between the many river stakeholders.
  • To boost the cultural identity and tourism of Ganga and its surroundings via boat tourism, adventure activities, and yoga programs.
  • To aid in infrastructure reforms by bolstering local authorities for improved water governance.

What are the additional projects launched under it?

• Jalaj:
  • It was introduced in 26 locations on the main stem states of the Ganga basin and entails establishing a small business or floating mobile centre to encourage livelihood on the banks of the River Ganga.
• Sahakar Ganga Grams:
  • An agreement between NMCG and Sahakar Bharti aims to designate 75 villages in five states as “Sahakar Ganga Grams,” to encourage natural farming and make it easier to market natural farming/organic produce under the Ganga brand.
• ImAvatar:
  • A tourism-related webpage, aims to improve livelihood prospects throughout the Ganga basin by facilitating travel, marketing regional goods and preserving ghats and other assets built by NMCG.

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Topic 3: Rahul Gandhi disqualified

Context: Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi’s membership of Parliament has been cancelled following his conviction and sentencing by a local court in Surat recently.

Key details:

• A notification issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat said Rahul stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction iin terms of the provisions of Article 102(1)(e) of the Constitution of India read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
• Section 8 (3) of RPA:
  • Section 8 of the RP Act deals with disqualification of a lawmaker for conviction in certain offences.
  • The provision is aimed at preventing criminalisation of politics and keeping ‘tainted’ lawmakers from contesting elections.
  • Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 states that a person convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years shall be disqualified from the date of such conviction and shall continue to be disqualified for a further period of six years since his release.

• Is the authority of the Speaker final in this regard?
  • The Supreme Court in its ruling in Lok Prahari v Union of India (2018) clarified that a disqualification triggered by a conviction will be reversed if the conviction is stayed by a court.
  • The notification by the House Secretariat regarding Rahul will cease to be in effect if and when his conviction is stayed.
• What are Article 102(1)(e) of the Constitution:
  • Article 102 of the Constitution deals with grounds for disqualification of a parliamentarian.
  • Sub-clause (e) of Article 102(1) says an MP will lose his membership of the House if he is so disqualified by or under any law made by Parliament.
  • The law in this case is the RP Act.

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Topic 4: PENCIL portal

Context: PENCIL portal being used for effective enforcement of Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, Minister of State for Labour and Employment informed the Rajya Sabha.

About the PENCIL Portal:

• The Ministry of Labour and Employment launched the Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour (PENCiL) portal to rehabilitate child labour in the country.
• This portal enables the citizens to raise a complaint and report incidents of child labour through effective tracking and monitoring mechanism.
• Aims:
  • Engaging the Central Government, State Government, District, civil society and the public in eradicating child labour to achieve the target of child labour free society.
  • To build a strong authentication mechanism for implementing and monitoring both the enforcement of the legislative provisions and effective implementation of the NCLP.
  • to facilitate convergence and provides better coordination between the Governments departments and the general public.
• Features:
  • The PENCiL portal facilitates the monitoring complaints and reports as per the requirements of Government departments for the effective monitoring for the pending reports.
  • All the complaint filed by the citizen gets assigned automatically by the system to the respective Nodal Officer for the rescue, rehabilitation and mainstreaming of the child labourer.
  • Successful mainstreaming into legal schools of all children who have been withdrawn from child labour and rehabilitated through the NCLPS.
• Components:
  • Child Tracking System:
    • The child monitoring is done at the district manager level or through the record card maintained by the NCLP project manager.
    • The progress of the child is recorded quarterly on the index card
  • Complaint Corner:
    • This feature allows anyone to file a complaint about incidents of child or youth labor.
  • State Government:
    • The portal provides access to a government resource center that monitors the implementation of the Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 2016 and the NCLP system.
  • National Child Labour Project:
    • NCLP publicizes reports and financial statements on the Pencil website.
  • Convergence:
    • The rescued children aged 5-8 years have been admitted to Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) school.
    • The rescued children between  8 and 14 are admitted to the Special Training Center of NCLP.
    • The rescued adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18 are admitted to the Saksham Skill Development Centre.
• Implementation Process
  • All complaints filed will be received by the District Nodal Officers (DNOs) who are nominated by the Districts.
  • After receiving the complaints, the rescue measures will be taken within the time frame of 48 hours.

About the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) ActThe Government has enacted the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 which was amended in 2016. The amended Act is called the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) [CALPR] Act, 1986. The Act provides for complete prohibition of work or employment of children below 14 years in any occupation and process and adolescents in the age group of 14 to 18 years in hazardous occupations and processes.The amendment also provides for stricter punishment of employers for violation of the Act and made the offence as cognizable.The Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 is enforced by the State Government except in railway administration, major port, mine, oil field where Central Government is the appropriate Government.Ministry of Labour & Employment has been implementing National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme for rehabilitation of child labourers through District Project Societies under the chairmanship of the District Magistrate. Under the NCLP scheme, the children in the age group of 9-14 years are rescued / withdrawn from work and enrolled in the NCLP Special Training Centres (STCs) before being mainstreamed into formal education system. NCLP scheme has now been subsumed under Samagara Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) Scheme.

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Topic 5: New Development Bank

Context: Former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has been unanimously elected as the head of New Development Bank (NDB).

About NDB:

• What is it?
  • The New Development Bank (NDB) was formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank.
  • It is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).
  • The Agreement on the New Development Bank entered into force in July 2015, with the official declaration of all five states that have signed it.
• Purpose:
  • The Bank shall support public or private projects through loans, guarantees, equity participation and other financial instruments.
  • The NDB shall cooperate with international organizations and other financial entities, and provide technical assistance for projects to be supported by the Bank.
• Corpus:
  • The initial authorized capital of the bank is $100 billion divided into 1 million shares having a par value of $100,000 each.
  • The initial subscribed capital of the bank was equally distributed among the founding members – Brazil, Russia, India, People’s Republic of China, South Africa.
• Voting Powers:
  • Every member will have one vote and that no member would have any veto powers.
• Headquarter:
  • Shanghai, China.
• Regional Offices:
  • Johannesburg, South Africa
  • São Paulo, Brazil
  • GIFT City, India
  • Moscow, Russia

• Main organs of the bank are:
  • Board of Governors
  • Board of Directors
  • President and Vice-Presidents
• President and Vice President:
  • The NDB President is elected on a rotational basis from one of the founding members.
  • There are four Vice Presidents from each of the other four founding members.
  • K. V. Kamath, from India, is the first elected president of the NDB.

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Topic 6: Finance Bill

Context: The Finance Bill 2023 has been passed by the Lok Sabha with several amendments introduced by Union Finance Minister.

Key details:

• The Finance Minister introduced 64 official amendments to the bill.
• The key amendments are:
  • Mutual funds having less than 35% AUM in domestic equity to lose indexation benefit, to be taxed as short-term capital gains. 
  • Enhanced tax benefits to offshore banking units operating in GIFT city, offshore banking units to get 100% deduction on income for 10 years. 
  • Tax on royalty or technical fee earned by foreign (non-resident) companies hiked from 10% to 20%. 
  • No change in tax on non-par savings insurance products ( ₹5 lakh cap remains). 
  • No change in taxation REITS/InviTs despite representation (Income from REITS to be taxed as ‘income from other sources’ and not as capital gains). 
  • The securities transaction tax (STT) on the sale of options has been increased to ₹2,100 on a turnover of ₹1 crore, while on the sale of futures contracts, STT has been raised to ₹12,500 on ₹1 crore of turnover, indicating a 25% hike

What is a Finance Bill?

• As per Article 110 of the Constitution of India, the Finance Bill is a Money Bill.
• The Finance Bill is a part of the Union Budget, stipulating all the legal amendments required for the changes in taxation proposed by the Finance Minister.
• Who decides the Bill is a Finance Bill?
  • The Speaker of the Lok Sabha is authorised to decide whether the Bill is a Money Bill or not.
  • The Speaker’s decision shall be deemed to be final.

Features of the Finance Bill

• Finance Bills are divided into three classes –
  • Finance Bill Category I,
  • Finance Bill Category II, and
  • the Money Bill.
• All money bills are financial bills, but not all financial bills are money bills.
• Article 110 states that a Bill shall be deemed to be a Money Bill if it contains only provisions dealing with all or any of the following matters:
  • the imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax;
  • the regulation of the borrowing of money or the giving of any guarantee by the Government of India;
  • the custody of the consolidated Fund or the Contingency Fund of India, the payment of moneys into or the withdrawal of moneys from any such Fund;
  • the appropriation of moneys out of the Consolidated Fund of India;
  • the declaring of any expenditure to be expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund of India or the increasing of the amount of any such expenditure;
  • the receipt of money on account of the Consolidated Fund of India or the public account of India or the custody or issue of such money or the audit of the accounts of the Union or of a State;

Difference between a Money Bill and the Finance Bill

• A Money Bill has to be introduced in the Lok Sabha as per Section 110 of the Constitution.
  • Then, it is transmitted to the Rajya Sabha for its recommendations.
  • The Rajya Sabha has to return the Bill with recommendations in 14 days.
  •  However, the Lok Sabha can reject all or some of the recommendations.
• Article 117 of the Constitution categorically lays down that a Bill shall not be introduced or moved except with the President’s recommendation under some special provisions.  

Why Finance Bill is needed

• The Union Budget proposes many tax changes for the upcoming financial year.
• The Finance Bill seeks to insert amendments into all those laws concerned, without having to bring out a separate amendment law for each of those Acts.
• The Finance Bill overrides and makes changes in the existing laws wherever required.

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Topic 7: Rabies

Context: Government of India launches National Rabies Control Programme (NRCP) for prevention and control of Rabies

What is Rabies?

• What is it?
  • Rabies is a preventable viral disease most often transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal.
• Infection:
  • The rabies virus infects the central nervous system of mammals, ultimately causing disease in the brain and death.
  • The vast majority of rabies cases occur in wild animals like bats, raccoons, skunks, and foxes, although any mammal can get rabies.
• The rabies virus:
  • Rabies is caused by lyssaviruses, including the rabies virus and Australian bat lyssavirus.
  • Rabies virus belongs to the order Mononegavirales, viruses with a nonsegmented, negative-stranded RNA genomes.

• Prevention:
  • In people who have been exposed to rabies, the rabies vaccine and sometimes rabies immunoglobulin are effective in preventing the disease if the person receives the treatment before the start of rabies symptoms.
• Global prevalence:
  • Rabies is present in more than 150 countries and on all continents except Antarctica.
  • It is classified as a neglected tropical disease.

• Treatment
  • After exposure and before symptoms begin, a series of shots can treat potential rabies infections.
• Rabies vaccine

Government Initiatives:

• The Central Government has launched the National Rabies Control Programme (NRCP) for prevention and control of Rabies.
• The Strategies of the National Rabies Control Program are:
  • provision of rabies vaccine & rabies immunoglobulin through national free drug initiatives
  • training on appropriate animal bite management, prevention and control of rabies, surveillance and intersectoral coordination
  • strengthening surveillance of animal bites and rabies deaths reporting
  • creating awareness about rabies prevention

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Topic 8: LaQshya Programme

Context: 2,660 Labour Rooms and 1989 Maternity Operation Theatres have been certified facilities under the LaQshya programme.

About the LaQshya programme:

• LaQshya is a quality improvement initiative which aims to ensure Quality of Care during intrapartum and immediate post-partum period in Labour Room and Maternity OT.
• It is launched by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
• Aims:
  • Reduce maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality
  • Improve quality of care during delivery and immediate post-partum period
  • Enhance satisfaction of beneficiaries, positive birthing experience and provide Respectful Maternity Care (RMC) to all pregnant women attending public health facilities.
• Target Beneficiaries:
  • LaQshya program will benefit every pregnant woman and newborn delivering in public health institutions.

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