Animals are 'legal persons', all citizens their parents, orders Uttarakhand HCi
In a unique ruling, the Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday accorded the status of a "legal person or entity" to animals in the state, saying "they have a distinct persona with corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a living person".
A division bench of Justices Rajiv Sharma and Lokpal Singh bestowed the unique status on the animal kingdom while issuing a series of directions to prevent cruelty against animals.
The bench said the order was aimed "to protect and promote greater welfare of animals, including avian and aquatic, [and for this] animals are required to be conferred with the status of legal entity/ legal person".
The entire animal kingdom, including avian and aquatic ones, are declared as legal entities having a distinct persona with corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a living person.
The Uttarakahnd High Court in the past had given a similar right to river Ganga when it ordered that the river is a human entity and will enjoy all corresponding rights.
Cabinet approves DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2018
The Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill 2018. The primary intended purpose for enactment of the "DNA Based Technology (Use and Regulation) Bill 2018" is for expanding the application of DNA-based forensic technologies to support and strengthen the justice delivery system of the country.
The utility of DNA based technologies for solving crimes, and to identify missing persons, is well recognized across the world.
By providing for the mandatory accreditation and regulation of DNA laboratories, the Bill seeks to ensure that with the proposed expanded use of this technology in the country, there is also the assurance that the DNA test results are reliable and the data remain protected from misuse or abuse in terms of the privacy rights of our citizens.
DPCC notifies list of fuels permissible for industrial use
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has issued a notification with a list of fuels permissible for industrial use within the NCT of Delhi, a move which has been hailed by the Centre for Science and Environment.
All existing industrial units and commercial establishments who are currently using fuels that are not approved under the notification have been asked to switch over to approved fuels within 90 days.
“All other fuels will deemed unapproved and so disallowed for use in NCT of Delhi,” the notification read.
Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director-research and advocacy, CSE, said, “Dust particles in the air get coated with toxic substances from combustion and can go deep into the lungs. Cleaner fuels for combustion are an important step forward to reduce the toxicity of emissions.
Benjamin Netanyahu tells Europe to get tougher on Iran after France bomb plot
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Europe on Wednesday to take a harsher stance against Iran after an Iranian diplomat was arrested on suspicion of plotting to attack an Iranian opposition group in France.
An Austria-based Iranian diplomat was held in Germany, one of four people arrested on suspicion of plotting to bomb a meeting of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
"It was no coincidence that this attack was thwarted," Netanyahu said during a speech in northern Israel.
"I call on the leaders of Europe: stop financing the terrorist regime that is financing terrorism against you on your soil. Enough with the policy of appeasement and weakness regarding Iran."
Uttam Dhillon appointed as new head of the Drug Enforcement Administration
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday appointed Uttam Dhillon as the new head to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Mr. Dhillon took up the role of acting administrator after Robert Patterson retired after 30 years with the agency.
“With one American dying of a drug overdose every nine minutes, there can be no doubt that we are facing the deadliest drug epidemic in our history,” Mr. Sessions said in a statement. “The work of the Drug Enforcement Administration is critical to fighting this crisis, and President Trump and I are committed to continuing to give it the strong leadership it deserves.”
Mr. Dhillon has previously worked as the director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Counternarcotics Enforcement and as an associate deputy attorney general for the Justice Department.
Mr. Dhillon also worked in the White House as deputy counsel and deputy assistant to the president.
Govt approves hike in MSP for 14 Kharif crops: Check revised support prices for the summer-sown produce
The Centre on Wednesday raised the minimum support price (MSP) at which the government will buy all Kharif crops for the 2018-19 season. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), at its meeting, approved the MSP of 14 Kharif (summer-sown) crops.
The government has raised the MSP of the common rice variety by 13 percent. The government had fixed last year’s rice purchase price for the common variety at Rs 1,550 ($22.63) per 100 kilogrammes.
It also raised the support price for a superior rice variety to Rs 1,770, up from Rs 1,590 last year, home minister Rajnath Singh told reporters on Wednesday.
The hike in support prices will not impact food inflation and the government is confident in reining in rising consumer prices, Singh said.
The cabinet also raised the minimum support price for soybean and long staple cotton by 10.3 percent and 20.7 percent, to Rs 3,399 and Rs 5,450 respectively, Singh said.
RBI Issues License To Bank of China To Operate In India,
New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday issued license to Bank of China to operate in India, according to sources. According to reports, the decision was based on the commitment made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Chinese leadership.
Following this, the 106-year-old Bank of China will open a branch in India.
Last month Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President XiJinping ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Qingdao, China. During the meeting, they discussed the issues of security, economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.
Centre to set up e-waste recycling unit in Bengaluru
The Centre has announced a state-of-the-art e-waste recycling unit for Bengaluru, India’s technology capital which produces an estimated one lakh tonne of electronic waste a year. The Chemicals and Fertilizers Ministry, which is setting up the facility, said this is also India’s first such unit in the government sector.
The Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET), a research institute that comes under the ministry, will set up the unit in the next four months. The initiative will later be replicated at other places, Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers Ananth Kumar announced. He represents Bengaluru South in the Lok Sabha.
NRL becomes 1st oil PSU to introduce online legal compliance
Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) in Assam has become the first oil public sector undertaking (PSU) to adopt an online legal compliance system by introducing 'Legatrix'.
'Legatrix' is a onestop solution for effectively managing the organisations legal and regulatory compliances through monitoring control at different levels, a press release said.
It encompasses the requirements of laws like labour, taxation, IT, commercial, export-import, corporate laws and other industry-specific laws, it said.
This initiative augments the NRLs contribution towards the Digital India Mission and induces greater transparency in its operations, the release said.
JHARKHAND TO SET UP COUNTRY'S FIRST KHADI MALL: CM Jharkhand to set up country's first Khadi mall: CM
RANCHI: The first 'Khadi Mall' of the country will be opened here soon, Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das announced on Sunday.
"Within 15 days, land in the Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) campus will be made available to the Khadi Board to develop the country's first Khadi mall," he said while addressing the 'Karigar Panchayat' organized by the Khadi Board at the Tana Bhagat Indoor Stadium here.
Noting that handicrafts were being accorded priority in the state, Das said: "People in the villages are talented and so far 1.13 lakh artisans have been registered to be trained to make goods as per the needs of the market."