The Daily Brief – 7th August 2019

The trademarks and GI authorities have granted the Geographical Indication (GI) status for Tamil Nadu’s Pathamadai mats, which are made especially for wedding ceremonies and have the bride’s and groom’s names as well as the wedding date woven on it.

The Parliament passed the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Amendment Bill, 2019 which seeks to amend the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971. The bill has a provision for laying down the procedure for eviction of unauthorised occupants from residential accommodation and it requires an estate officer to issue a written notice to the person, if he is in unauthorised occupation of a residential accommodation.

The Lok Sabha passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019, which prohibits any form of discrimination against a transgender person, including denial of service or unfair treatment in relation to education, employment, healthcare, access to, or enjoyment of goods, facilities, opportunities available to the public. The Bill provides that every transgender person shall have a right to reside and be included in his household.

Draft e-Commerce Guidelines for Consumer Protection, 2019 which will be applicable on all business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce platforms, has been published by the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (Department of Consumer Affairs). It makes mandatory for e-commerce platforms to declare all the details about their sellers including address, website and email address.

Former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj passed away at the age of 67 in New Delhi on 6^th August after suffering a massive cardiac arrest. She was the second woman to hold the office of EAM, after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. She has played a key role in resolving the Doklam standoff with China in 2017. Sushma Swaraj was a seven-time Member of Parliament and a three-time MLA. She was the External Affairs Minister from 2014 to 2019, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha from 2009 to 2014, the Minister for Information and Broadcasting in Vajpayee Government from 2000-2003. She was also the Chief Minister of Delhi in 1998.

India contributed USD 5 million to the UN Palestine Refugee Agency and called for ensuring sustained fiscal support for the organisation’s work on 6^th August, 2019. India increased its annual financial assistance to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), from USD 1.25 million to USD 5 million, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Palestine in February 2018. The current Representative of India (ROI) in Palestine is Sunil Kumar. UNRWA was founded on 8^th December, 1949.

National Handloom Day is celebrated across India on 7^th August, 2019 every year to honour handloom weavers in India and to highlight India’s handloom industry. In July 2015, Government of India declared 7 August as National Handloom Day to commemorate the Swadeshi Movement, which was launched on 7^th August, 1905 in the Calcutta Town Hall to protest against Bengal partition.