Open to frame law on euthanasia, says Centre

After 14 years of debates and several draft Bills, the government has responsed to frame a law on passive euthanasia, the act of withdrawing medical treatment with the deliberate intention of causing the death of a terminally ill patient, but it says that its “hands are stayed” because of pending litigation in the Supreme Court on mercy killing.

The affidavit filed by the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry in the Supreme Court provides the first clear insight into whether the government considers euthanasia (which means “good death”) as manslaughter or an act of mercy.

Expert panel

The Ministry informed the Court that an expert panel had made changes and cleared the formulation of a law on passive euthanasia after extensive debates from July 2014 to June 2015.

Change in stand

Government in 2006 said: Euthanasia is against the hippocratic Oath, Medical science cannot indulge in Intentional killing.

Now in 2016, government is saying – Formulate legislation on passive euthanasia, but not active euthanasia as it can be misused.

Comments

Inland Waterways in India

Here are some key points you need to know: The bill seeks to add 106 inland waterways to the existing six National Waterways on the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture and comments of several state governments The bill will also look after the renovation and maintenance of the existing waterways Out of the 106 new waterways, 18 have already been identified. These include five waterways each from Karnataka and Meghalaya, three each from Maharashtra and Kerala, one each from Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan The bill also aims to help the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) to develop the feasible stretches for Shipping and Navigation. Let us look at the six existing National Waterways in India: National Waterway 1 (NW1) The National Waterway No. 1 uses a 1,620-kilometre stretch of the Ganges River. It was declared a national waterway in the year 1986 and runs from Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh to Haldia in West Bengal....

Environment Ministry notifies revised standards for Common Effluent Treatment Plants

Environment Ministry notifies revised standards for Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) Across industrial clusters-PIB CETP • The concept of common effluent treatment plant has been accepted as a solution for collecting, conveying, treating, and disposing of the effluents from the industrial estates. • The effluent include industrial wastewaters and domestic sewage generated from the estate. • This CETP concept helps small and medium scale industries to dispose of their effluents. Otherwise it may not be economical for these industries to treat their wastewaters or there may be space constraints. • Some of these industries may require to give preliminary treatment (for removal of solids) so that the receiving sewers can be maintained free flowing. • It may be required to correct pH or removal of specific pollutant before the industry discharges in CETP. CETP • CETP is designed on the basis of: – Quality and flow rate of the wastewa...

WORLD'S TOP TEN DESERTS

Deserts are areas that receive little precipitation, classified as an area that receives less that 250 millimeters (10 inches) of annual precipitation on average. The classification also takes into account the potential evapotranspiration, or the amount of water that could be evaporated in the region. Because of the lack of precipitation, deserts are often dry and barren in landscape, and commonly thought of as having hot climates. However, deserts can be hot or cold, and they exist in regions all across the world. The largest two deserts on Earth are both cold deserts, which are covered in ice and snow. The largest deserts in the world are polar deserts: the Antarctic Desert and the Arctic Desert. The Antarctic Desert covers an area of 13,829,430 square kilometers over the South Pole. Antarctica is the most extreme continent on Earth, as the coldest, driest and windiest place in the world ,and the highest elevation. The Arctic Desert is the northernmost region of the Earth, co...

Civil Service Bytes

Search This Blog