Important News to be read from “The Hindu 18-10-2019”

Britain clinches Brexit deal with EU

• Britain secured a Brexit deal with the European Union on Thursday, more than three years after Britons voted to leave the bloc, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson must still win a knife­edge vote in Parliament to get the agreement approved.
• Under the deal, the whole of the UK will leave the EU, but Northern Ireland will stay in the EU’s single market for goods.
• The UK, can impose tariffs on goods entering Northern Ireland from third countries as long as they are not at risk of entering the EU single market.
• For the goods that are at risk of entering the single market from third countries via Northern Ireland, EU tariffs will be applied.
• Practically, there will be a customs border between Great Britain and the island of Ireland, with goods being checked at Northern Irish ports.

Legislative Council abolished in J&K

• Once dominating the news for setting debates and settling sticky discourses for 70 years, the Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Council, the upper house of the Assembly, was abolished on Thursday as per Section 57 of the J&K Reorganisation Bill, 2019, which reduced the State to the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.
• A spokesman of the General Administration Department (GAD) said all the staff members of the Council shall report to the GAD by October 22. There are 116 employees working with the Council since the first Constituent Assembly came into being in 1957.
• The Council has discussed and passed sticky Bills like the land to tiller law, resettlement Bill and autonomy resolution. It became a vibrant platform to discuss the Delhi agreement of 1952 and the Delhi­Srinagar accord of 1975, a senior employee of the Council said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

TB cases see decrease in India

• The tuberculosis incidence rate in India has decreased by almost 50,000 patients over the past one year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)­2019 edition of the Global Tuberculosis (TB) Report released on Thursday.
• The report notes that in 2017, India had 27.4 lakh TB patients which came down to 26.9 lakh in 2018. Incidence per 1,00,000 population has decreased from 204 in 2017 to 199 in 2018. The number of patients being tested for rifampicin resistance has increased from 32% in 2017 to 46% in 2018. And the treatment success rate has increased to 81% for new and relapse cases (drug sensitive) in 2017, which was 69% in 2016.

Greening the Powerhouses

• Climate change is still not integral to the planning of Indian cities and towns, despite the risks it poses
• The mayors at the summit were keen, because their cities represent an estimated 70% of global carbon dioxide emissions. They also realise that nearly 90% of urban areas are at high risk from extreme climate events such as storms, because they are situated along coastlines. These cities are home to millions, many of them poor and ill­equipped to handle floods; many also endure cycles of drought and heat waves.

FATF may keep Pak. on grey list

• Pakistan could escape being blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Friday, but the international watchdog on terror finance is likely to issue strong warnings to it and keeping the country on the grey list, sources said.
• On Tuesday, the FATF’s International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) discussed Pakistan’s actions for countering terror financing and anti­money laundering (CFT/AML).

Source “The Hindu”