Drought declared in parts of England

• Where has a drought been declared? Devon and Cornwall; Solent and South Downs; Kent and South London; Herts and North London; East Anglia; Thames; Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire; and East Midlands.
• What happens when a drought is declared?
  • All water companies are required to have a drought plan in place setting out what restrictions they may put in place on their customers in the event of a drought.
  • Water companies will implement these plans, which will include temporary water use restrictions such as hosepipe bans to reduce the demand for water.
  • They can also apply for drought orders and permits which legally allow more flexibility in managing water resources including abstracting more water from rivers, reservoirs or aquifers.

Five years after Supreme Court’s triple talaq verdict, petitioners living life as ‘half-divorcees’

• Technically still married, practically divorced, they enjoy no conjugal rights nor receive any regular maintenance from the estranged husbands. Practically abandoned, the women cannot remarry in the absence of a legally valid divorce. After the verdict, none of the men were visited by law enforcement bodies and told to take back their wives.
• Further, no arrests could be made for giving instant triple talaq as the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 came into force long after pronouncement of instant talaq.
• A cloud of confusion hangs in the air as the women are uncertain of their eligibility for a fresh marriage. The top court invalidated instant triple talaq in the Shayara Bano versus the Union of India case while refraining from commenting on the state of their marriages directly.

Drought is looming over Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand & Bihar

• Between June 1 and August 12, the rainfall recorded over Jharkhand was 371.9mm against a normal of 627.6mm, a 41 per cent seasonal deficit.
• This is the lowest ever rainfall recorded over Jharkhand (June to August) since 1901, the IMD’s rainfall data stated.
• For Uttar Pradesh, too, the picture is grim, as the state has recorded only 251.7mm of the seasonal average of 449.1mm till August 12.
• UP is the most rain deficient Indian state this year and has remained so since the start of the monsoon season, like Jharkhand.
• Between 1901 and 2021 , UP’s driest monsoon months (June to August) were during 1987 (349.3mm), 2009 (365mm), 1996 (392mm), 2014 (394.3mm), and 1972 (424.3mm).

Divide between social media companies over a self regulatory body

• Social Media Companies have opposed an industry proposal to create such a body.
• They have flagged concerns over the potential inability to legally challenge any final content moderation decisions of a self-governing body, in addition to the difference in the moderation policies of different platforms.
• Social media companies, along with industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), are currently chalking up the contours of a self-regulatory mechanism.
• This is in response to the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY)’s proposal to set up “government-appointed committees” to address complaints raised by users about social media companies’ content-moderation decisions.

Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment Dr. Virendra Kumar launches “SMILE” scheme

• The Initiative aims to make cities, towns and municipal areas begging-free and make a strategy for comprehensive rehabilitation of the persons engaged in the act of begging through the coordinated action of various stakeholders.
• The Ministry has allocated a total budget of a hundred crore rupees for the project till 2025-26.
• Through the project, the Ministry envisions developing a support mechanism for holistic rehabilitation of those engaged in the act of begging and building an India where no person is forced to beg in order to survive and fulfill their basic needs.
• The Ministry highlighted that under the initiative seventy-five Municipal Corporations in collaboration with Non-Government Organisations and other stakeholders will cover several comprehensive welfare measures for persons who are engaged in the act of begging.

Government to bring model by-laws to govern all farm cooperatives

• He said, the sick and defunct PACS should be revived or taken for liquidation.
• Mr Shah was addressing a national conference on rural cooperative banks organised by the Ministry of Cooperation and the National Federation of State Cooperative Banks (NAFSCOB) at Vignan Bhavan in New Delhi.
• Describing the PACS as pillars of the cooperative movement, Mr Shah called for strengthening of the PACS by diversifying them into various other activities.
• Mr Shah stressed the need to establish more than 2 lakh new PACS across the country to achieve the target of providing agri-finance worth 10 lakh crore rupees through cooperatives.

11 more Indian wetlands have got Ramsar recognition

• Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change said, the 11 new sites include, four in Tamil Nadu, three in Odisha, two in Jammu and Kashmir and one each in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
• India is one of the Contracting Parties to Ramsar Convention, signed in Ramsar, Iran in 1971.
• India signed it on 1st February 1982. During 1982 to 2013, a total of 26 sites were added to the list of Ramsar sites, however, during 2014 to 2022, the country has added 49 new wetlands to the list of Ramsar sites.
• Tamil Nadu has maximum number of Ramsar sites which is 14, followed by Uttar Pradesh which has 10 numbers of Ramsar sites.

India unveils first Saline Water Lantern using sea water to power specially designed LED lamps

• The Minister visited the SAGAR ANVESHIKA, a Coastal Research Vessel, operated and used by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai to review the progress of the implementation of the Deep Ocean Mission of India.
• The saline Water Lantern will bring “Ease of Living” to the fishing community living along the 7500 Kilometres long coastal line of India. Saline water-powered Roshini LED lamps will also boost and supplement Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s UJALA scheme.
• Jitendra Singh hoisted tricolour on board the ship and extended the campaign of ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’, to ‘Har Jahaj Tiranga’.