GS II Topic: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
COP7 of WHO FCTC begins in Noida
The seventh session of the Conference of the Parties (COP7) has begun in Delhi. It is the first occasion that a COP meeting is being held in India.
- COP7 brings together the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)’s parties – which includes almost every country in the world, as well as regional economic integration organizations like the European Union.
What is WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC)?
The FCTC is the world’s first public health treaty under the World Health Organisation (WHO). It provides a new legal dimension for international cooperation in healthcare in combating the tobacco epidemic.
It has successfully helped to co-ordinate and energize the global struggle against tobacco.
Under it, the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products was adopted to address the increasing illegal trade in tobacco products in November 2012.
What is Conference of the Parties (COP)?
The COP is the FCTC’s governing body and is comprised of all 180 Parties. The regular sessions of COP are held at two yearly intervals.
It regularly reviews the implementation of the Convention and takes action to promote its effectiveness.
India’s preparedness
- India has been the forerunner in ratification of this public health treaty and was the 7th Country to ratify the Convention in 2004.
- India provided a leadership role in the negotiations of FCTC and was also the Regional Coordinator for the South-East Asia Region.
- Tobacco use kills around 6 million people a year globally and the cost to treat tobacco-related diseases is whopping $22 billion.
- In case of India, there are nearly 275 million tobacco users and close to one million deaths every year due to its direct or indirect use.
- In India, implementation of 85% pictorial warnings on cigarette packets has been mandatory.
- The new Juvenile Justice Act makes sale of tobacco products to minors punishable offence with 7 years of rigorous imprisonment.
GS II Topic: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
International Regulatory Cooperation for Herbal Medicines
The 9th Annual Meeting of International Regulatory Cooperation for Herbal Medicines (IRCH) has begun at New Delhi.
- The Ministry of AYUSH has organized the meeting. Being an active member of IRCH network since 2007 the Ministry of AYUSH has been represented in IRCH meetings held so far.
- The event would be utilized to show case AYUSH strength to the participating countries.
IRCH:
International Regulatory Cooperation for Herbal Medicines (IRCH), established in 2006, is a global network of regulatory authorities created by World Health Organization (WHO) responsible for regulation of herbal medicines.
- Mission- To protect and promote public health and safety through improved regulation for herbal medicines.
Objectives :
- Globally promote and facilitate the safe use of herbal medicines, through regional initiatives, sharing information and fostering dialogue.
- Facilitate and strengthen cooperation between national regulatory authorities by sharing experience, information and knowledge related to the regulation, quality, safety and efficacy of herbal medicines.
- Refer issues to the International Conference of Drug Regulatory Authorities and other bodies, where ever needed, for further discussion related to the quality and safety of herbal medicines.
Paper 3 Topic: Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.
New ‘super battery’ made from junkyard metal
Researchers have developed a new high-performance, grid-scale battery made from metal scrap and common household chemicals.
- The battery, which is no bigger than a pill bottle, could withstand the equivalent of 13 years of daily charging and discharging while retaining 90% of its capacity.
Mechanism of Development
- Researchers soaked metal pieces in a jar with a solution of water and salt or a solution of water and antifreeze.
- They then applied a voltage to induce a known process called anodisation, which restructures the nanoscopic composition of a metal.
- That exposes the metal’s interior surface and makes it more receptive to storing and releasing energy.
- Researchers placed a physical barrier between the two pieces of metal and submerged it in an electrolyte solution made from water and potassium hydroxide.
- When connected by wires to a device that generated a current, such as a solar panel, their contraption worked just like a car battery.
Facts for Prelims
NASA’s MMS mission sets Guinness world record
NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission has set the Guinness world record for highest altitude fix of a Global Positioning System (GPS) signal. The four MMS satellites operating in a highly elliptical orbit around Earth has set the record at 70,006.4 kilometres above the surface of the Earth.
Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS)
Mission NASA’s MMS mission is an unmanned space mission to study the Earth’s magnetosphere, using four identical satellites flying in a tetrahedral or pyramid formation.
Objectives:
- The mission launched in March 2015 aims to map magnetic reconnection, a process that occurs as the sun and Earth’s magnetic fields interact.
- Understanding causes of magnetic reconnection is important for understanding phenomena of auroras on Earth, flares on surface of sun, and areas surrounding black holes.
- The mission is also designed to gather information about the microphysics of energetic particle acceleration and turbulence, processes that occur in many astrophysical plasmas.
Significance:
- When these satellites are closest to Earth, they move at up to 35,405 km/hour, making them the fastest known operational use of a GPS receiver.
- These satellites operate in a highly elliptical orbit around Earth and incorporate GPS measurements into their precise tracking systems.
- This system which require extremely sensitive position and orbit calculations to guide tight flying formations.
Achievements:
- Earlier in 2016, MMS had achieved the closest flying separation of a multi-spacecraft formation with only 7.2 km between the four satellites.
- The mission still in the first year of its prime mission is giving scientists new insight into Earth’s magnetosphere.
What is magnetosphere?
Magnetosphere is the region of space surrounding an astronomical object in which charged particles are controlled by that object’s magnetic field. The magnetic field near the surface of many astronomical objects resembles that of a dipole. The field lines of the magnetic field significantly distort the flow of electrically conducting plasma emitted from a nearby star (e.g. In case of Earth, the solar wind from the Sun).
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE 2016 Award
- The winners of the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE 2016 Competition recently received their awards from President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee.
- APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE 2016 competition –is a national competition of original technological ideas and innovations by children up to class 12 or those out of school up to the age of 17 years.
- It is organised by National Innovation Foundation (NIF) every year to promote creativity and originality among children.
- The awards of IGNITE competition are announced every year on October 15th, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s birthday, which is celebrated as the Children’s Creativity and Innovation Day by NIF.
- Dr APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE Award is an effort to focus primarily on the creativity of the children and promote inclusive and compassionate thinking among them.
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- Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance (LEAF) Coalition, a collective of the United States, United Kingdom and Norway governments, came up with a $1 billion fund.
- LEAF is supported by transnational corporations (TNCs) like Unilever plc, Amazon.com, Inc, Nestle, Airbnb, Inc as well as Emergent, a US-based non-profit.
- The world lost more than 10 million hectares of primary tropical forest cover last year, an area roughly the size of Switzerland.
- Ending tropical and subtropical forest loss by 2030 is a crucial part of meeting global climate, biodiversity and sustainable development goals. Protecting tropical forests offers one of the biggest opportunities for climate action in the coming decade.
- Tropical forests are massive carbon sinks and by investing in their protection, public and private players are likely to stock up on their carbon credits.
- The LEAF coalition initiative is a step towards concretising the aims and objectives of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) mechanism.
- REDD+ was created by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It monetised the value of carbon locked up in the tropical forests of most developing countries, thereby propelling these countries to help mitigate climate change.
- It is a unique initiative as it seeks to help developing countries in battling the double-edged sword of development versus ecological commitment.
- The initiative comes at a crucial time. The tropics have lost close to 12.2 million hectares (mha) of tree cover last year according to global estimates released by Global Forest Watch.
- Of this, a loss of 4.2 mha occurred within humid tropical primary forests alone. It should come as no surprise that most of these lost forests were located in the developing countries of Latin America, Africa and South Asia.
- Brazil has fared dismally on the parameter of ‘annual primary forest loss’ among all countries. It has lost 1.7 mha of primary forests that are rich storehouse of carbon. India’s estimated loss in 2020 stands at 20.8 kilo hectares.
- Between 2002-2020, Brazil’s total area of humid primary forest reduced by 7.7 per cent while India’s reduced by 3.4 per cent.
- Although the loss in India is not as drastic as in Brazil, its position is nevertheless precarious. For India, this loss is equivalent to 951 metric tonnes worth carbon dioxide emissions released in the atmosphere.
- It is important to draw comparisons between Brazil and India as both countries have adopted a rather lackadaisical attitude towards deforestation-induced climate change. The Brazilian government hardly did anything to control the massive fires that gutted the Amazon rainforest in 2019.
- It is mostly around May that forest fires peak in India. However, this year India, witnessed massive forest fires in early March in states like Odisha, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram among others.
- The European Union’s Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service claimed that 0.2 metric tonnes of carbon was emitted in the Uttarakhand forest fires.
- Implementation of the LEAF Coalition plan will help pump in fresh rigour among developing countries like India, that are reluctant to recognise the contributions of their forest dwelling populations in mitigating climate change.
- With the deadline for proposal submission fast approaching, India needs to act swiftly on a revised strategy.
- Although India has pledged to carry out its REDD+ commitments, it is impossible to do so without seeking knowledge from its forest dwelling population.
Context:-
At the recently concluded Leaders’ Summit on Climate in April 2021, Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance (LEAF) Coalition, a collective of the United States, United Kingdom and Norway governments, came up with a $1 billion fund plan that shall be offered to countries committed to arrest the decline of their tropical forests by 2030.
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]What is LEAF Coalition?
Why LEAF Coalition?
Brazil & India
According to the UN-REDD programme, after the energy sector, deforestation accounts for massive carbon emissions — close to 11 per cent — in the atmosphere. Rapid urbanisation and commercialisation of forest produce are the main causes behind rampant deforestation across tropical forests.
Tribes, Forests and Government
Disregarding climate change as a valid excuse for the fires, Indian government officials were quick to lay the blame for deforestation on activities of forest dwellers and even labelled them “mischievous elements” and “unwanted elements”.
Policy makers around the world have emphasised the role of indigenous tribes and local communities in checking deforestation. These communities depend on forests for their survival as well as livelihood. Hence, they understand the need to protect forests. However, by posing legitimate environmental concerns as obstacles to real development, governments of developing countries swiftly avoid protection of forests and rights of forest dwellers.
For instance, the Government of India has not been forthcoming in recognising the socio-economic, civil, political or even cultural rights of forest dwellers. According to data from the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs in December, 2020 over 55 per cent of this population has still not been granted either individual or community ownership of their lands.
To make matters worse, the government has undertaken systematic and sustained measures to render the landmark Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 ineffective in its implementation. The Act had sought to legitimise claims of forest dwellers on occupied forest land.
Various government decisions have seriously undermined the position of indigenous people within India. These include proposing amendments to the obsolete Indian Forest Act, 1927 that give forest officials the power to take away forest dwellers’ rights and to even use firearms with impunity.
There is also the Supreme Court’s order of February, 2019 directing state governments to evict illegal encroachers of forest land or millions of forest dwellers inhabiting forests since generations as a measure to conserve wildlife. Finally, there is the lack of data on novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) deaths among the forest dwelling population;
Tardy administration, insufficient supervision, apathetic attitude and a lack of political intent defeat the cause of forest dwelling populations in India, thereby directly affecting efforts at arresting deforestation.
Way Forward
Tuntiak Katan, a global indigenous leader from Ecuador and general coordinator of the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities, aptly indicated the next steps at the Climate Summit:
“The first step is recognition of land rights. The second step is the recognition of the contributions of local communities and indigenous communities, meaning the contributions of indigenous peoples.We also need recognition of traditional knowledge practices in order to fight climate change”
Perhaps India can begin by taking the first step.