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1. Plastic ban comes into force in Maharashtra from today (Relevant for GS Prelims,
GS Mains Paper III; Environment)

Ban on plastic use in Maharashtra

The Maharashtra government s state-wide ban on the use of plastic items, including carry-
bags and thermocol, came into effect.

What are the penalties on plastic use?

For the first time offenders, the fine will be Rs5,000. For second time offenders, the fine will
be Rs10,000. Those who violate it for the third time will face a fine of Rs25,000, along with
imprisonment of three months.

Claiming that 80% of the plastic is manufactured in Gujarat, the minister said the
government has made strict provision of three-month jail if plastic is found being brought
into Maharashtra from any other state.

Is the ban complete?

The chief minister said that the ban puts the onus on the polluters, but at the same time
some exceptions have been made so that businesses are not hampered till alternatives have
a strong presence in the market.

What all have been banned?

On 23 March, the state government had imposed a ban on manufacturing, use, sale,
distribution and storage of plastic materials such as one-time-use bags, spoons, plates, PET
and PETE bottles and thermocol items. The government had given three months time for
the disposal of the existing stocks.

All kinds of plastic bags, irrespective of their thickness, tea cups, glasses, thermocol glasses,
thermocol used for decoration, plastic used in hotels to parcel food like boxes, spoons have
been banned.

What has been exempted?

Plastic and thermocol used by manufacturing companies, materials used in hospitals like
saline bottles, and boxes used to store medicines, plastic pens, milk pouches that are above
50 microns in thickness have been exempted from the ban.

Plastic and thermocol used for packaging television sets, fridges, computers as well as
raincoats, plastic used for storing food grains and that used in nurseries for plants and also
plastic in which biscuits, chips, are packaged, etc has also been exempted from the ban.

Plastics leading to floods

It was found that plastic had led to major water-logging in Mumbai following continuous
downpour. A lot of plastic and thermocol was found stuck in gutters which caused flooding
in the city.

(Adapted from Livemint)

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2. Ministry of Women & Child Development receives the ǮBest Performing Social
Sector Ministryǯ SKOCH Award for its Achievements and Initiatives (Relevant for GS
Prelims, GS Mains Paper III; Economics)

Why the Ministry of Women and Child Development has been conferred award?
Lauding the achievements of the Ministry of Women and Child Development in delivering
the promises made and for its significant achievements and initiatives from the last 4 years,
SKOCH has conferred the Best performing Social Sector Ministry award on the Ministry of
Women and Child Development.

ABOUT SKOCH GROUP

Skoch Group is a think tank dealing with socio-economic issues with a focus on inclusive
growth since 1997. The group companies include a consulting wing, a media wing and a
charitable foundation. Skoch Group is able to bring an Indian felt-needs context to
strategies and engages with fortune-500 companies, state owned enterprises, government
to SMEs and community-based organisations with equal ease. The repertoire of services
include field interventions, consultancy, research reports, impact assesments, policy briefs,
books, journals, workshops and conferences. Skoch Group has instituted India s highest
independent civilian honours in the field of governance, finance, technology, economics and
social sector.

(Adapted from PIB)

3. Plans for new city (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS Mains Paper III; Economics)

What is the plan?

To leverage the potential of the region, the Haryana government plans to develop a new
city next to Gurgaon in the National Capital Region. The new city, which is expected to be
larger than Chandigarh, will also be planned and developed in a public-private partnership
(PPP) model.

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The new city is likely to be spread across at least 50,000 hectares, which is larger than
Chandigarh (11,400 hectares) but smaller than Gurgaon (73,200 hectares). The proposed
city is located south of New Delhi and will share boundaries with the Gurgaon-Manesar
urban area to the North and the Aravalli hills to the North-East. Sources said that NH-8 will
define the western boundary of the city while the eastern and the southern sides will adjoin
agricultural land.

(Adapted from The Indian Express)

4. Macedonia renamed as Republic of North Macedonia (Relevant for GS Prelims, GS

Mains Paper II; IOBR)

Skopje (Capital of Republic of North Macedonia) has resolved a festering dispute with
Athens over the name of the Balkan nation that emerged following the disintegration of
Yugoslavia.

What will be implication?

The landmark agreement signed with Greece this month, to rechristen Macedonia as the
Republic of North Macedonia, opens the doors for its admission, long vetoed by Greece, to
the principal Western economic and security blocs.

What was the dispute?

The two governments have locked horns on the issue for nearly 30 years, ever since the
independent Slav state proclaimed itself the Republic of Macedonia in 1991. Greece refused
to accept this, as one of its own provinces goes by that evocative name.

More than 100 countries in the United Nations — including the United States, Russia and
China — have recognised the country s official name. But Greece has so far insisted on

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referring to its northern neighbour as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

(FYROM), as per a UN-negotiated interim arrangement.

What is the agreement?

According to the agreement signed this month, the Republic of North Macedonia will be the
name used in Skopje s dealings with other countries too. Many attempts to break the
deadlock had failed earlier, including a Macedonian offer to change its name in exchange
for handsome financial aid and investment.

What were the Greek apprehensions?

It did not help that Greek apprehensions were heightened when the port city of
Thessaloniki, the capital of Greek Macedonia, was depicted on the maps of the new
republic. Matters also heated up with the erection of a grand statue closely resembling
Alexander the Great in the central district of Skopje, as Greeks resist any signal that the Slav
republic may be laying claim to their ancient civilisation.

A more diplomatically ticklish issue was Greece s insistence on a constitutional amendment

to clarify that Skopje had no territorial right over the Greek region. Macedonian Prime
Minister Zoran Zaev held that such changes were in the realm of domestic law, and that in
any case these can always be reversed by a future government. Among the concessions the
Macedonian government has made in recent months is to change the name of the
Alexander the Great airport to Skopje International. It has also renamed a motorway
named after Alexander.

How serious was the issue in Greece?

It has not been easy for Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras either — he survived a vote of
no confidence on the issue last week, and is still to secure parliamentary ratification
without support from his nationalist coalition partner. His counterpart in Skopje similarly
faces the awkward prospect of the President rejecting the deal, besides having to win a
popular referendum.
But none of these hurdles is insurmountable. The resolution of the dispute now clears the
way for talks on the Republic of North Macedonia s membership of the European Union and
the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

(Adapted from The Hindu)

5. Worldǯs hungry population on the rise again, says U.N. report (Relevant for GS
Prelims, GS Mains Paper II; IOBR)

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What does the report concludes?

According to the United Nations s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2018 report, the
number of hungry people in the world has risen for the first time in more than a decade,
according to a United Nations report.

There are now approximately 38 million more undernourished people in the world, rising
from 777 million in 2015 to 815 million in 2016, the year for which the latest statistics are
available.

What are the causes?

Conflict, drought and disasters linked to climate change are among the key factors causing
this reversal in progress,” said the report. Violent conflicts also led to the forced
displacement of a record high 68.5 million in 2017. According to the United Nations s
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2018 report, conflict is now one of the main drivers
of food insecurity in 18 countries.

Economic losses on account of climate change

Noting the increasing impact of extreme events related to a changing climate, the report
said economic losses attributed to disasters were estimated at over $300 billion in 2017.

This is among the highest losses in recent years, owing to three major hurricanes affecting
the United States of America and several countries across the Caribbean.

(Adapted from The Hindu)

6. Tiger shifted from Kanha to Odisha (Relevant for GS Prelims; Environment)

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IN THE first such case of inter-state relocation, MB2, a 195-kg tiger, was shifted from the
Kanha Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh to the Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Odisha.

What is the overall plan?

This is part of an ambitious project conceived by the Union Ministry of Environment and
Forests, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Wildlife Institute of India (WII),
Dehradun, that involves shifting six tigers (three pairs) from different reserves in the
central state to the eastern state.

What is the position in Kanha?

Kanha has about 105-107 tigers. The other pairs are likely to be be sent from Bandhavgarh
and Pench.

Shift Asiatic lions

Meanwhile Madhya Pradesh is still waiting for lions from Gujarat. A project to find an
alternate home for the Asiatic lion outside the western state was conceived nearly three
decades ago. A new site has been created in Palpur Kuno in Sheopur district of Madhya
Pradesh, but Gujarat has not parted with the lions. In 2013, the Supreme Court had asked
Gujarat to share the lions.

(Adapted from The Indian Express)

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