Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 passed in the Parliament
- The bill has already been passed by Rajya Sabha
The features of the bill are
- It will amend the provisions of The Maternity Benefit Act of 1961
- Maternity leave available to the working women to be increased from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for the first two children
- Maternity leave for children beyond the first two will continue to be 12 weeks
- Maternity leave of 12 weeks to be available to mothers adopting a child below the age of three months as well as to the “commissioning mothers” (commissioning mother is a biological mother who uses her egg to create an embryo planted in any other woman)
- Every establishment with more than 50 employees to provide for crèche facilities for working mothers and such mothers will be permitted to make four visits during working hours to look after and feed the child in the crèche
- The employer may permit a woman to work from home if it is possible to do so
- Every establishment will be required to make these benefits available to the women from the time of her appointment
INS Tillanchang commissioned at Karwar
- It is a Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC) was commissioned into the Indian Navy
- The ship has been indigenously designed and built and is an upgrade from the Chetlat class of Fast Attack Craft that the Indian Navy possesses
- INS Tillanchang is the third ship of four follow-on WJFAC built by the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Kolkata
- The first two ships of the class, IN ships Tarmugli and Tihayu were commissioned in 2016 and are based at Visakhapatnam
Inter-State River Water sharing Disputes
- The Central Government has, so far, set up eight tribunals to settle water disputes among the States under the Inter-State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956
- As per Central Water Commission (CWC) publication 2015 – Agreements on Inter-State Rivers – a number of inter-state agreements have been reached so far
- Parties to Agreements/decision of Tribunals are entitled to their share of water in concerned river basin as per provisions of such Agreements/decision of Tribunals
- The mechanism for settlement of water disputes is already available in the form of ISRWD Act, 1956
- The ISRWD Act, 1956 has been last amended in 2002
- Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation adopted a revised National Water Policy (NWP) in 2012. As per Clause 12.2 of the Policy, a permanent Water Disputes Tribunal at the Centre should be established to resolve the disputes expeditiously in an equitable manner
Centre to Launch Pilot Project on Ornamental Fisheries
- The pilot project will be launched by the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
- It shall be implemented by the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) through the Fisheries Departments of States/UTs
- It focuses mainly on creating an enabling environment for a sustainable and holistic development of Ornamental Fisheries for the socio-economic development of the people involved in this activity as well as for exports
- The major objectives of the project are
- To promote ornamental fish culture with cluster-based approach
- To augment ornamental fisheries trade and export earnings
- To create employment opportunities for the rural & peri-urban (Rurban Spaces) population
- Use of modern technology and innovation to make ornamental fisheries a thriving activity
- For the purpose of implementation 8 potential States have been identified – Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Maharashtra , Gujarat , Karnataka , Tamil Nadu and Kerala
- The activities under the pilot project are classified in to four major groups
- Activities related to production of ornamental fish, e.g. setting up of backyard rearing units, medium scale units, integrated breeding-cum-rearing units, etc
- Activities related to aquarium fabrication, trade and marketing
- Activities for promotion of ornamental fisheries sector
- Activities related to skill development and capacity building
About ornamental fisheries
- It is a sub-sector of the fisheries sector dealing with breeding and rearing of coloured fish of both freshwater and marine water
- It does not directly contribute to the food and nutritional security; it generates livelihood and income for the rural and peri-urban population, especially women and unemployed youth as part-time activities
- The ornamental fish industry in India is small but vibrant, with potential for tremendous growth.
- The low production cost and high returns within a short span of time and the ever growing demand, both in domestic and international markets, etc. are the major attractions
- About 400 species of marine ornamental fishes and 375 freshwater ornamental varieties are available in various parts of our country
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