Overview of Topics
- Oceans may soon stop breathing
- Centre introduces 7.75% taxable savings bonds
- Supreme Court raps Centre on lack of safety of working women
Oceans may soon stop breathing
What is the issue ?
- Warming of the earth might cause unrepairable damage to marine life and lead to the release of dangerous greenhouse gases according to a study.
Important take-aways from the study
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The study said that in the past 50 years, the amount of water in the open ocean with zero oxygen has gone up more than fourfold and in coastal water bodies, including estuaries and seas, low-oxygen sites have increased more than 10-fold since 1950.
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Scientists expect oxygen to continue dropping even outside these zones as Earth warms up.
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The study said in order to halt the decline, the world needs to rein in both climate change and nutrient pollution.
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The study was done by a team of scientists from GO2NE (Global Ocean Oxygen Network), a new working group created in 2016 by the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.
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Approximately half of the oxygen on Earth comes from the ocean. However, combined effects of nutrient loading and climate change are greatly increasing the number and size of ‘dead zones’ in the open ocean and coastal waters, where oxygen is too low to support most marine life
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In areas traditionally called “dead zones”, like those in Chesapeake Bay (in the US) and the Gulf of Mexico, oxygen plummets to levels so low many animals suffocate and die. As fish avoid these zones, their habitats shrink and they become more vulnerable to predators or fishing.
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The danger due to low oxygen in oceans is manifold. For instance, as per the study, even small oxygen declines can stunt growth in animals, hinder reproduction and lead to disease or even death.
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It also can trigger the release of dangerous chemicals such as nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas up to 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, and toxic hydrogen sulfide.
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While some animals can thrive in dead zones, overall biodiversity falls,” the study warns.
Centre introduces 7.75% taxable savings bonds
What is the issue ?
- Centre announced the introduction of 7.75% savings bonds designed to help citizens invest in a taxable instrument, without any monetary ceiling.
About the bonds :
- Bonds are open to indivuduals, including joint holdings and Hindu Undivided Families (HUF).
- Non-resident Indians are not eligible to invest in these bonds.
- The bonds will be issued at par, that is, at 100 and would be issued for a minimum amount of and in multiples of 1,000.
- There will be no maximum limit for investment in the bonds.
- Interest on the bonds will be taxable under the Incometax Act, 1961 as applicable according to the relevant tax status of the bond holder.
- The bonds will be exempt from wealth tax under the Wealth Tax Act, 1957.
- The bonds will have a maturity of seven years carrying interest at 7.75% per annum payable halfyearly.
- The bonds are not tradeable in the secondary market and are not eligible as collateral for loans from banking institutions, nonbanking nancial companies or financial institutions
Supreme Court raps Centre on lack of safety of working women
What is the issue ?
- Supreme Court has questioned the Central government why several provisions of the the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act of 2013 have still not been implemented.
Lack of interest shown by the government :
- Government at the State level has not bothered to appoint district officers or local committees under the 2013 Act.
- There are no appointments of nodal officers or internal complaints committees in certain offices.
- There has been no move to ensure the reporting and collection of annual compliance reports from workplaces.
Why is this issue important ?
- Equality in employment can seriously impaired when women are subjected to gender-specific violence, such as sexual harassment in the workplace.
THE SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF WOMEN AT WORKPLACE (PREVENTION, PROHIBITION AND REDRESSAL) ACT 2013
The Act seeks to cover all women, irrespective of their age or employment status and protect them against sexual harassment at all workplaces both in public and private sector, whether organized or unorganized.
Building on the Vishakha guidelines, the Act calls for the formation of an internal complaints committee and a local complaints committee at the district level. It came into force on December 9, 2013.
Some important provisions of the Act:
1. The Act defines sexual harassment at the work place and creates a mechanism for redressal of complaints. It also provides safeguards against false or malicious charges.
2. The definition of “aggrieved woman”, who will get protection under the Act is extremely wide to cover all women, irrespective of her age or employment status, whether in the organized or unorganized sectors, public or private and covers clients, customers and domestic workers as well.
3. While the “workplace” in the Vishaka Guidelines is confined to the traditional office set-up where there is a clear employer-employee relationship, the Act goes much further to include organisations, department, office, branch unit etc. in the public and private sector, organized and unorganized, hospitals, nursing homes, educational institutions, sports institutes, stadiums, sports complex and any place visited by the employee during the course of employment including the transportation.
4. Every employer is required to constitute an Internal Complaints Committee at each office or branch with 10 or more employees. The District Officer is required to constitute a Local Complaints Committee at each district, and if required at the block level.
5. The Committee is required to complete the inquiry within a time period of 90 days. On completion of the inquiry, the report will be sent to the employer or the District Officer, as the case may be, they are mandated to take action on the report within 60 days.
6. The Complaints Committees have the powers of civil courts for gathering evidence.
7. The Complaints Committees are required to provide for conciliation before initiating an inquiry, if requested by the complainant.
8. Penalties have been prescribed for employers. Non-compliance with the provisions of the Act shall be punishable with a fine of up to 50,000. Repeated violations may lead to higher penalties and cancellation of licence or registration to conduct business.