04-03-22 Daily-Kerala-KPSC Current Affairs

After a delay of almost two years, authorities have managed to get the expert appraisal committee to recommend environmental impact assessment (EIA) clearance for the integrated urban regeneration & water transport system (IURWTS) project. Still, the project should get approval from theNational Board of Wildlife(NBWL) to get theEIAclearance.

It was in last month that theKerala Coastal Zone Management Authority(KCZMA) gave coastal management zone clearance for the project. The Mangalavanam bird sanctuary, which is considered as the lungs of the city, is just 670m away from the nearest project location. So, the approval from NBWL is mandatory. Once the nod from NBWL is received, the project would get the final EIA approval. As part of the project, around 5,000 trees will have to be cut down.Kochi Metro Rail Ltd(KMRL) in its report submitted before the expert appraisal committee for EIA approval states that 10 times the number of saplings would be planted to make good the loss of trees.

Around 22,000 saplings will be planted on the banks of canals and around the project facilities such as jetties. A 200kW solar plant will be constructed for meeting energy requirements for the project. The project aims at making the canals navigable besides desilting and beautifying the waterbodies. Boats will operate through the canals thereby providing cheaper and green transportation system for the public. The clean canals will help avoid many Health issues now stemming out of the canals which are highly polluted. Flood mitigation is one of the objectives of the project. Using the canal waterfront for social and economic activities for locals as well as tourists is another benefit proposed in the project.

The four sewage treatment Plants being set up as part of the project will address the waste treatment issues to a certain extent.

Keralawill go for timely alterations in its Responsible Tourism (RT) policy to make the activities more people-centric so as to further strengthen the state’s travel and tourism , said tourism minister P AMohamed Riyas.

Riyas said the summit is set to work towards measures that will empower Women in the state. The conclave will discuss RT models of international repute and work towards a global Network in sustainable tourism, he said in his video address .

Riyas said the government has decided to revise its 2008 Declaration on RT and scale up its Environment-friendly activities across the state.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD) on Wednesday launched the Stree Manoraksha Project in collaboration with NIMHANS Bengaluru with an aim to improve the mental Health of women in India.

The project would focus on building on capacity building of OSC (One-Stop Center) functionaries on the tools and techniques as to how to handle the cases of women approaching the One-Stop Centres, particularly the women who have suffered violence and distress with due sensitivity and care.

The project which has been outlined meticulously by NIMHANS based on the requirements projected by the Ministry will be imparted in two formats. One format will focus on basic training for all OSC functionaries including the security guards, cooks, helpers, caseworkers, counsellors, centre administrators, paramedical staff etc.

Indians believe Women make better political leaders and share an egalitarian vision of womens place in Society, but an overwhelming majority agrees that when there are few jobs available, men should have more rights to a job than women. These are the findings of the latest Pew Research Centre survey of nearly 30,000 adults throughout India interviewed on gender roles in families and societies.

According to the report, while 55% of Indians believed that men and women make equally good political leaders, nine-in-ten Indians agree with the notion that a wife must always obey her husband. Indian women were only slightly less likely than Indian men to agree with this sentiment (61% versus 67%). Although most Indians expressed egalitarian views on gender roles, with 62% saying that both men and women should be responsible for child care, traditional norms still held sway, with 34% convinced that child care should be handled primarily by women.

Similarly, while a slim majority (54%) says that both men and women should be responsible for earning , as many as 43% believed that earning an income is mainly the obligation of men. Also, 80% of Indians agreed with the idea that when there are few jobs, men should have more rights to a job than women.

The survey also found that Indians with a college degree were less likely to hold traditional views on gender roles, although this did not extend to all gender-related issues. So for instance, 80% of the college-educated (as compared with 88% of those with less Education) still agreed with the notion that wives must always obey their husbands.

National Safety Day is celebrated every year. The day aims to highlight the importance of following safety regulations and measures in order to avoid workplace mishaps. The motive behind celebrations of this day is to create awareness and commitment to working safely.

The National Safety Council declared the holiday to raise public awareness of all safety principles. These also include road safety, workplace safety, human Health and environmental safety.

The National Safety Council is a non-profit and self-financing organization running at the national level.

With the bang of a gavel made of recycled plastic and a standing ovation, representatives of 175 nations agreed on Wednesday to begin writing a global treaty that would restrict the explosive Growth of plastic pollution.

Theagreement commits nationsto work on a broad and legally binding treaty that would not only aim to improve recycling and clean up the worlds plastic waste, but would encompass curbs on plastics production itself. That could put measures like a ban on single-use plastics, a major driver of waste, on the table.

Under the new rules of the Canadian government, a 3% digital Services tax will be imposed on the companies with total annual revenue of at least850millionandprofitsof16 million or more from providing digital services in Canada.

It is to tax large multinational corporations (MNCs) such as Facebook, Apple, and Google which do business in Canada but pay most taxes in USA or tax-havens.

USTR has argued that this tax goes against the spirit and the text of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) agreement, where it was agreed that the signatories would not impose new unilateral taxes that work against the spirit of the BEPS agreement.

A day after the virtual Quad summit in which PM Narendra Modi called on the four-nation grouping to focus on its core principles, the MEA reiterated the same message on Friday. The agenda leaders signed up to is Indo-Pacific being at the core of the Quad agenda.

It is something they want to push ahead. The message is clear that all four countries are trying to take forward the agenda