Jallikattu
Background – Jallikattu is again in news and has been in the news since Supreme Court banned it in 2014. Recently the CM of Tamilnadu has wirtten to center in this regard and famous personalities including Kamal Hassan has voiced their support for this sports.
Jallikattu – Jallikattu also known as Eruthazhuvuthal or Manju virattu is an event of controlling bull held in Tamil Nadu as a part of Pongal celebrations
Those who support the sports claim that it is not a bull fight but a bull control sports.
India sees increase in tourist arrivals
India registered an 11 per cent increase in foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in 2016 (calendar year) over 2015, with as many as nine million tourists visiting the country. This excludes visits by non-resident Indians.Revealing the figures during a session on ‘Partnering with diaspora to accelerate tourism in India’ on the second day of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here on Sunday, Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, said this was way above the projected 4.5 per cent growth. The growth is attributed to liberal visa regime and e-Visa provisions.
New Ginger species with medicinal properties found in Andamans
Scientists of the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) have found a new species of Zingiber (commonly referred as Ginger) from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The species Zingiber pseudosquarrosum, new to science, belonging to genus Zingiber, was already used by the local Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups ( PVTGs) of the Andamans for its medicinal values.
The tribes of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have interesting usage of other species of Zingibers. For instance, Shompen and Nicobari tribes use various plant parts of another species of Zingiber (Hornstedia fenzlii ) as bee repellent and, tranquiliser. Rhizome extracts and leaf pest are applied on body during extracting honey from honeycomb.The fresh extract [juice] of fleshy tuberous roots is used to treat abdominal pain and anti-helminthic troubles by Nicobarese and certain other tribal communities.
Important PVTGS of Andaman and Nicobar:-
- Andamanese
- Jarawas
- Nicobarese
- Onges
- Sentinelese
- Shom Pens
Tweaking photosynthesis for a better crop yield
As human population increases, we would need more of crops in order to cater to the global demands for food. It thus becomes important to study ways in which plant productivity can be increased. One way of approaching this is to find ways in which photosynthesis can be improved.
Energy from sunlight is captured by the green pigment called chlorophyll in the leaves in order to conduct these chemical reactions. But this energy can also damage the leaves (recall how sunbathers in beaches can get sunburnt). Plants protect themselves from such light-induced damage by releasing heat (but we use sun-tan lotions or dark glasses for protection). Now, such “quenching” of excess solar energy must be quick. If it takes too long (often as long as half an hour) to “relax” and resume the cycle, it may be thought of as a “waste of time.” If only we can hasten this process (termed non-photochemical quenching, abbreviated as NPQ) of recovery safely, argues the research team, we may be able to improve crop productivity.
An international team of researchers, led by Dr Stephen P. Long of the University of Illinois and Dr Krishna K. Niyogi of the University of California, Berkeley, USA has focused on this problem. Their paper, titled “Improving photosynthesis and crop productivity by accelerating recovery from photo-protection,” has appeared in the 18 November 2016 issue of the journal Science.
China setting up highest altitude telescopes close to LAC
China is setting up the world’s highest altitude gravitational wave telescopes in a Tibet prefecture close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India, with a budget of $18.8 million to detect the faintest of echoes resonating from the universe, which may reveal more about the Big Bang theory.Construction has started for the first telescope, code-named Ngari No. 1, 30 km south of Shiquanhe Town in Ngari Prefecture.
To Counter Chinese Threat, India Offers To Supply Akash Surface-To-Air Missile Systems To Vietnam
In view of China’s growing assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region, India has offered to supply indigenously-developed Akash surface-to-air missile systems to Vietnam.
Akash is a medium-range surface-to-air missile system developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation and is capable of hitting and destroying incoming aircraft, missiles, helicopters and drones up to 30 kilometers away. While Vietnam is looking for transfer of technology and joint production, India initially wants to offer missile systems off-the-shelf.
Apart from selling a number of naval vessels to Hanoi, Delhi has offered BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and Varunastra anti-submarine torpedoes to the country in the past. India is also training Vietnamese fighter pilots and submariners as both countries operate Russian equipment.
DIPP Asks For Fast-Track Commercial Courts To Improve India’s Ranking In ‘Ease Of Doing Business’ Index
To improve India’s contract enforcement record, which has a direct bearing on the ease of doing business in the country, the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) has requested the law ministry to introduce an ordinance that allows the government to open fast-track commercial courts in Delhi and Mumbai.
Better enforcement of contracts will help India improve its ranking in the World Bank’s ease of doing business index. Under the “enforcing contracts” indicator, the country is currently ranked 172 out of 190 countries.
Though the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Act passed in December 2015 allows state governments to set up commercial courts at the district level, no commercial court can be constituted in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai- areas where high courts have exclusive civil jurisdiction to hear commercial matters.
The ordinance requested by DIPP will amend this provision. District commercial courts can then be set up in Delhi, Mumbai and other metropolitan areas of the country.
India’s overall ranking in the ease of doing business index improved by just one notch to 130 in its 2017 report from a revised rank of 131 last year, highlighting a gap between policy measures and their implementation. To make it to the top 50 , the government has prepared an eight-point strategy :-
- The government will mandate an eBiz portal for starting a business. It will have four functions: registration for PAN (permanent account number), TAN (tax deduction account number), EPFO (Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation) and ESIC (Employee’s State Insurance Corp.).
- The number of procedures and the number of days required to start a business will both be reduced to four.
- Shram Suvidha Portal will act as a one-stop destination for the filing of return, challan and making online payment for EPFO and ESIC.
- The cost and time of export and import will be reduced. The number of direct delivery consignments will be increased to 40 per cent by the department of revenue and the ministry of shipping.
- The provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code will be implemented through the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
- To improve India’s score in the ‘Getting Credit’ indicator, the ministry of corporate affairs will work towards creating a single registry of assets.
- To improve score in the “Enforcing Contracts” indicator, eCourts will be expedited for electronic filing of complaints, summons and payments.
- To ease ‘Construction Permit,’ procedures will be brought down to eight within 60 days.
India’s Monsoon Puddle Problem Solved: Sponge-Like Concrete Absorbs Over 3,000 Litres Of Water In 60 Seconds
Come monsoon, a common sight in Indian cities is the flooding of roads and waterlogging. Puddles of water accumulate on streets and alleyways, driving up traffic and making it incredibly hard for pedestrians to walk anywhere.
A new composite material called Topmix Permeable concrete can help solve this problem. It’s a surface covering that is designed to be highly absorbent, and can suck up water very quickly. In one of the tests, it gulped down over 3,000 litres of water in a minute.
The advantages of this concrete material are many. It can prevent surface water flooding, make walking or cycling safe post-rain by preventing puddles from forming, tackle flash flooding in urban areas, but also, reduce, in case of places like Delhi where reports of tar melting emerged this past summer, the heating of tarmac in hot weather.
Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism (IMAFT)
The Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism (IMAFT) is an intergovernmental military alliance of 39 muslim countries, united around military intervention against ISIL and other counter-terrorist activities. Recently, it is in news because General Raheel Sharif , the recently retired Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) of Pakistan, has been appointed the new chief of IMAFT. The headquarters of the military alliance is at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Chitwan National Park & Elephant Festival
The Chitwan National Park is the first national park in Nepal. It was established in 1973 and granted the status of a World Heritage Site in 1984. It is a rich natural area in the Terai, the subtropical southern part of Nepal, and covers an area of 932 km2. A total of 68 species of mammals, 544 species of birds, 56 species of herpetofauna and 126 species of fish have been recorded in the park. The park is especially renowned for its protection of One Horned Rhinoceros, Royal Bengal Tiger and Gharial Crocodile.
It was in news recently because the park hosted the 13th edition of Chitwan Elephant Festival from December 26-30, 2016 to promote tourism. The festival attracted about 20,000 domestic and foreign tourists. The 5-day event showcased elephant walk, elephant polo, elephant calf football, elephant beauty contest, elephant picnic and elephant painting.
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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.