Maharashtra government announces farm loan waiver to genuine farmers

In a big relief to farmers protesting in the state, the Maharashtra government has announced farm loan waiver with certain conditions. While ruling out a blanket waiver, the state government has waived the farm loans of 3.1 million marginal farmers out of the total 13.6 million registered farmers with immediate effect. The farm loan waiver for marginal farmers will cost around Rs 30,500 crore to the state. Also, in order to work out the modalities of a total farm loan waiver, the government has decided to form a committee with four farmers' representatives to identify genuine farmers who deserve loan waiver. 

Punjab village exemplifies water conservation, chosen for national award

The Man Aspal village in Punjab has been recoginsed for its water conservation efforts by the Union Ministry of Rural Development for the year 2015-16. The village is the only one in the state to have properly implemented the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for conserving water. The village not only reuses its water but also saves the flow of wastewater to the pond. Also, under the rural employment scheme, every house in the village has constructed soak pits and septic tanks. 

Campaign in NCR on segregation of municipal waste at source

This World Environment Day, the Union Ministry of Urban Development has launched a campaign on source segregation of municipal waste for the National Capital Region (NCR). Under this campaign, different colour bins should be used in every house and shop for waste segregation, with green bins for wet waste and blue for dry waste. Along with this, a comic book titled Chacha Chaudhary & Swachh Bharat has also been launched which explains solid waste management through cartoons. Also, the segregated waste collection vehicles got flagged off at the event. 

Study finds plastic in rivers a major source of marine pollution

According to the researchers at the Ocean Cleanup, a Dutch foundation, rivers carry nearly 1.15-2.41 million tonnes of plastic into the sea every year. Moreover, two-thirds of the pollution comes from 20 rivers in Asia, with China's Yangtze river topping the list, followed by the Ganga. The marine pollution from plastic is costing the world a whopping $8 billion while killing an estimated one million seabirds, 100,000 sea mammals and untold numbers of fish. 

Kerala issues green protocol against plastic in weddings

For a cleaner and greener Kerala, the state government has come up with Suchitwa Mission--a green protocol aiming to reduce the usage of plastic at wedding ceremonies. As per the protocol, the plastic and non-biodegradable materials used at weddings should be replaced with environment-friendly materials. Along with this, an inspection will be carried out to ensure the implementation of the protocol and action will be taken in case of violation. The initiative has been launched in Kannur, Ernakulam, Kollam and Alappuzha on a pilot basis. 

This is a roundup of important news from June 6 - 12, 2017. Also, read the policy matters this week.