Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the weapons of Mass destruction and their delivery systems (prohibition of unlawful activities) amendment Bill, 2022 with a voice vote.

The Bill moved by External affairs minister S. Jaishankar amends the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005.  The 2005 Act prohibits unlawful activities (such as manufacturing, transport, or transfer) related to weapons of mass destruction, and their means of delivery. 

Weapons of mass destruction are biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons. The present Bill bars persons from financing any prohibited activity related to weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems. To prevent persons from financing such activities, the central government may freeze, seize or attach their funds, financial assets, or economic resources (whether owned, held, or controlled directly or indirectly).

Parliament has passed the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2022 with Rajya Sabha approving it on Wednesday. Lok Sabha had already passed the Bill. The Bill amends the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 for inclusion of certain community in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Tripura. It includes the Darlong community as a sub-tribe of the Kuki tribe in the list of STs in Tripura.  

Replying to the debate on the Bill in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Renuka Singh Saruta said Tripura has 19 chief tribes and Darlong community is a sub tribe of Kuki tribe. She said the Narendra Modi government is doing a lot of work for the development of Scheduled Tribes in the country.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lauded India's food subsidy program which prevented the increased prevalence of extreme poverty in the country during Covid-19.  

In a report the IMF has said, the expansion of food transfers and subsidies make it an important instrument for poverty alleviation. Appreciating the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, the report demonstrated that the program provided insurance to the poor and prevented an increase in the prevalence of extreme poverty in the country.

It stated that doubling of entitlements in 2020 during pandemic helped maintain extreme poverty at the low 0.8 percent level. It also said, without any food subsidies, extreme poverty in the pandemic years would have increased by 1.05 per cent.

Ayush Ministry will celebrate Yoga Mahotsav on World Health Day at Red Fort in New Delhi tomorrow. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and several Union Ministers will demonstrate Common Yoga Protocol on 75th day of the countdown of the International Day of Yoga.

During the event, Members of the Parliament, Ambassadors of various countries, prominent Sports Celebrities and Yoga Gurus will participate.

The Ministry with its various stakeholders has chalked out a 100 days’ countdown programme of 8th International Day of Yoga wherein 100 organizations are promoting yoga in one hundred cities.

Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Wednesday launched the Digital Dashboard for District Ganga Committees Performance Monitoring System. In his address, Mr. Shekhawat stated that the Digital Dashboard launched will help the District Ganga Committees DGCs in enhancing people-river connect. Pointing out that some DGCs are not conducting regular meeting, he urged the District Magistrates to make sure that Ganga cleaning becomes a priority and under the chairmanship of District Magistrates cleanliness in River Ganga is ensured.

The Minister added that cleaning of Ganga means cleaning of all its tributaries and it is important that the district officials take ownership of the assets created under Namami Gange Programme in the Ganga Basin and ensure their smooth functioning.

Parliament has passed the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill 2022 with the Rajya Sabha approving it on Wednesday. The House also rejected the amendments moved by the opposition to refer the bill to the Select Committee. As many as 59 members voted in the favour of the amendments while 97 against it. The Lok Sabha has already passed the bill. The Bill seeks to authorise taking measurements of convicts and other persons for the purposes of identification and investigation in criminal matters and to preserve records.  It provides for legal sanction for taking appropriate body measurements of persons who are required to give such measurements which include finger-impressions, palm-print and foot-print impressions, photographs, iris and retina scan, physical, biological samples and their analysis among others.

The legislation also empowers the National Crime Records Bureau of India to collect, store and preserve the record of measurements and for sharing, dissemination, destruction and disposal of records.  The Bill provides for empowering police or prison officers to take measurements of any person who resists or refuses to give measurements. The new legislation also  replaces the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920

The NEET-UG 2022 for admission to undergraduate medical education in all medical institutions will be conducted on 17th July. The National Testing Agency NTA has started the NEET 2022 registration on the website
neet.nta.nic.in
and online submission of application form can be done through the website. The test will be held in 13 languages at test centres across the country. The languages are English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. The Entrance Test shall consist of 200 multiple choice questions from Physics, Chemistry, Botany, and Zoology. 50 questions in each subject will be divided into two Sections. The duration of the Examination will be 3 hours 20 minutes and will be held from 2 PM to 5:20 PM. The test will be held in approximately 543 cities in India and 14 Cities Outside India.

This year, there will be no upper age limit for appearing in NEET. Earlier, it used to be 25 years with a relaxation of 5 years for reserved category candidates.

The National Testing Agency, NTA released a revised schedule yesterday for the conduct of Joint Entrance Exam JEE Mains 2022. The schedule has been revised for both sessions 1 and 2.

The JEE Main Session 1 will now be held on 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, and 29th of June 2022.

The JEE Main Session 2 will now be held on 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30th of July 2022.

NTA said, the registration for Session 1 is over and the schedule for inviting the online application forms for Session 2 will be available soon.

The candidates have been advised to keep visiting websites
www.nta.ac.in
and
jeemain.nta.nic.in

Parliament has passed the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 with the Rajya Sabah approving it yesterday. The Amendments moved by the opposition were also negated. The Lok Sabha has already passed the bill.

The Bill seeks to further amend the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 and proposes to unify the three existing Municipal Corporations of Delhi into one Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

It envisages bringing about greater transparency, improved governance and more efficient delivery of civic service for the people of Delhi. It also limits the number of councilors from 272 to the maximum of 250. At present the three corporations in Delhi, North, South and East Delhi Municipal Corporations, have a total of 272 seats. While North and South corporations have 104 wards each, the East Corporation has 64 wards.

Ayush Ministry will celebrate Yoga Mahotsav on World Health Day at Red Fort in New Delhi tomorrow. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and several Union Ministers will demonstrate Common Yoga Protocol on 75th day of the countdown of the International Day of Yoga.

During the event, Members of the Parliament, Ambassadors of various countries, prominent Sports Celebrities and Yoga Gurus will participate.

The Ministry with its various stakeholders has chalked out a 100 days’ countdown programme of 8th International Day of Yoga wherein 100 organizations are promoting yoga in one hundred cities.