Daily News Mail - News of 08/04/2015

20 woodcutters from TN gunned by A.P. police

• Twenty woodcutters from Tamil Nadu, found felling red sanders, were killed in an alleged encounter in the Seshachalam forest at the foot of the Tirumala hills on March 7.
• The newly formed Red-sanders Anti-Smuggling Taskforce was on a combing operation near Srinivasa Mangapuram, Srivarimettu and Eethagunta on the Seshachalam hill ranges on Monday when they spotted footprints.
• One taskforce group moved towards Eethagunta, and the other towards Cheekateegalakona. On finding over 100 woodcutters felling trees and carrying logs, the officials asked them to surrender. However, the woodcutters rained stones and hurled sickles at the team, injuring some of them.
• “We fired random shots in self-defence,” a taskforce member said on condition of anonymity.

What is Red Sanders?

• Pterocarpus santalinus, with the common names Red Sanders, Red Sandalwood, and Saunderswood, is a species of Pterocarpus endemic to the southern Eastern Ghats mountain range of South India.
• This tree is valued for the rich red color of its wood. The wood is not aromatic. 
• Pterocarpus santalinus is listed as an Endangered species by the IUCN, because of overexploitation for its timber in South India
• The tree is not to be confused with the aromatic Santalum Sandalwood trees that grow natively in South India.

Red Sanders logs in Andhra Pradesh

NGT bans decade-old diesel vehicles in Delhi, NCR

• The National Green Tribunal on March 7 banned all diesel vehicles over ten years old from plying in Delhi and the National Capital Region and also cracked the whip on rampant construction activity adding dust to the air.
• Reiterating that diesel vehicles are major source of pollution in the ambient air quality and citing examples of countries which are in the process of controlling or banning diesel vehicles, the NGT ordered, “We direct all diesel vehicles, heavy or light, which are ten years old will not be permitted on roads of NCR of Delhi”.
• The order comes 22 days after the NGT asked Delhi government to consider the proposal of banning diesel vehicles. There are more than six lakh diesel vehicles registered in Delhi, which include more than five lakh private cars. The entire public transport fleet in Delhi runs on CNG now. However, heavy goods vehicles are still on diesel.

What is National Green Tribunal? 

• The National Green Tribunal has been established on 18.10.2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010 for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources including enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. 
• It is a specialized body equipped with the necessary expertise to handle environmental disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues. The Tribunal shall not be bound by the procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, but shall be guided by principles of natural justice.
• The NGT Bench headed by its chairperson Swatanter Kumar noted that “number of countries in the world are in the process of or have prohibited diesel vehicles. Countries like Brazil, China, Denmark, Sri Lanka and Paris are in the process of doing away with diesel vehicles or are imposing very heavy taxes/ levies.

Chairperson of NGT - Swatentra Kumar

Government hikes DA by 6%

• In a move that will benefit over one crore Central government employees and pensioners, the Union Cabinet on March 7 hiked Dearness Allowance (DA) by 6% to 113% of their basic pay with effect from January.
• The decision will benefit 48 lakh government employees and 55 lakh pensioners would involve an outlay of Rs 7,889.34 crore in the current fiscal.

Many discriminatory laws against leprosy patients

• In 2014, India had the largest number of new leprosy cases globally (58%). From 2005 to 2014, the National Leprosy Eradication Programme has recorded 1.25 lakh to 1.35 lakh new cases every year, a majority of those affected being children, the Law Commission has found.
• In its 256th report submitted to the Law Ministry on March 7, the commission listed many laws that discriminate against leprosy patients.
• Despite the disease, caused by bacteria that spreads through air and can lead to severe deformity, being fully curable now, these laws continue to exist in India. For one, the ‘Lepers’ Act (1898), which provides for the “exclusion, segregation and medical treatment of pauper lepers” and for the establishment of “leper asylums,” remains on the statute books of India, though many States have repealed it.
• Under several personal laws of all religions, leprosy for more than two years serves as a legitimate ground for divorce or separation between spouses. Under the State Beggary Acts, persons with leprosy are put under the same category as those with mental ailments, and medical examination, arrest and detention of persons affected by leprosy is allowed.
• The Life Insurance Corporation Act charges higher premium rates from persons with leprosy. Several State Municipal and Panchayat Raj Acts bar persons with leprosy from holding or contesting civic posts.

What is Leprosy ?

• Leprosy is an infectious disease that causes severe, disfiguring skin sores and nerve damage in the arms and legs. The disease has been around since ancient times, often surrounded by terrifying, negative stigmas and tales of leprosy patients being shunned as outcasts. Outbreaks of leprosy have affected, and panicked, people on every continent. The oldest civilizations of China, Egypt, and India feared leprosy was an incurable, mutilating, and contagious disease.
• However, leprosy is actually not that contagious. You can catch it only if you come into close and repeated contact with nose and mouth droplets from someone with untreated leprosy. Children are more likely to get leprosy than adults.
• Today, about 180,000 people worldwide are infected with leprosy, according to the World Health Organization, most of them in Africa and Asia.
• Leprosy is caused by a slow-growing type of bacteria called Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae). Leprosy is also known as Hansen's disease, after the scientist who discovered M. leprae in 1873.

A Person infected with M.leprae

For some fresh air

• The Centre’s move to provide real time data on air quality in some of India’s bigger cities brings policy focus to a key social determinant of health. The National Air Quality Index launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a work in progress, as the quality of data from some cities remains weak, monitoring stations are not fully equipped and the standards set for pollutants fall short of World Health Organization recommendations. 
• In the case of Particulate Matter measuring less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter — among the more hazardous pollutants — the WHO has a recommended average level of 10 micrograms per cubic metre, and an interim target of 40mcg/m³. By contrast, India’s tolerance limit for a “good” rating for fine particulates is 50. The air people breathe in many cities is very unhealthy, the values for respirable particulate matter far exceeding even the lax threshold. The public health consequences of this neglect of pollution by governments are the premature deaths of over 620,000 people each year, ill-health for thousands, and loss of economic productivity. Clearly, the business-as-usual approach is proving too costly.
• Poor air quality is linked to specific areas of activity — a sharp rise in motorisation, particularly involving the use of diesel as fuel, coal burning, and construction work, to name a few. 
• As the global experience shows, escalating pollution levels accompany heightened economic activity, but an informed policy response reduces the progression. That is the challenge before Prime Minister Modi: to make wealthy polluters pay, and expand green alternatives for all through attractive incentives. A supportive framework is vital to achieving the lifestyle change that Mr. Modi advocates as a solution.  

Union Cabinet clears Real Estate Bill

• The Union Cabinet on March 7 approved the Real Estate (Regulation and Development Bill) which will address a long-standing demand to bring in a regulator for the real estate sector.
• The Cabinet, however, deferred its decision on the proposed juvenile justice amendment bill that will allow minors between the age of 16-18 years accused of heinous crimes like murder or rape to be treated as adults.
• The Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Bill seeks to protect the interests of consumers and establish regulatory bodies at the Centre and States for ethical and transparent business practices in the real estate sector.
• The Bill provides for mandatory registration of all projects and real estate agents who intend to sell any plot, apartment or building with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority. 
• It makes mandatory the disclosure of all information for registered projects like details of promoters, layout plan, land status, schedule of execution and status of various approvals. The Bill also seeks to enforce the contract between the developer and buyer and a fast track mechanism to settle disputes.
• The government said the Bill is expected ensure greater accountability towards consumers, and to significantly reduce frauds and delays. It said the proposed legislation is expected to promote regulated and orderly growth of the real estate sector through efficiency, professionalism and standardization
• “These measures are expected to boost domestic and foreign investment in the sector and help achieve the objective of the Government of India to provide ‘Housing for All by 2022’, through enhanced private participation,” a government release said.
• The Real Estate Regulation Bill was first introduced by the UPA government in the Rajya Sabha in August 2013 and was then referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee, which had submitted its report in February 2014.
• The NDA government had made some important changes to the original legislation. The earlier Bill had mandated that a developer put 70% of the buyer's investment into an escrow account that would be used only for the construction of that project. Last year, the Housing Ministry brought this down to 50%, reportedly after much lobbying from the real estate companies. The other major change was to bring the commercial segment of the real estate sector within the ambit of the Bill, which was earlier limited to regulating only the residential segment.
• The Bill also now includes a condition that prohibits a developer from changing the plan in a project unless 2/3rd of the allottees have agreed for such a change.