Context: In order to restore the lost glory of Pashmina shawls, a Srinagar based training centre Craft Centre for Excellence in Pashmina Weaving is restarting the process of hand-weaving of Pashmina shawls to revive the ancient old technique at a commercial scale.

• Aim: To revive lost sheen of the hand-made shawls.

Key Points

• Centre for Excellence in weaving prides itself on using only traditional hand techniques to produce the finest pashmina in the world – which Kashmir is famous for.
• The initiative is bringing much needed sustainable employment opportunities for spinners (women) and weavers, whilst also ensuring them decent working conditions and fair wages.
• Minimum Support Price (MSP) is announced for geographical indication (GI)-certified hand-made Pashmina shawls “to sustain the old techniques”.

About Pashmina shawl

• Pashmina is considered the finest craftsmanship in the world.
• They are made from the fleece (Pashm) of Changthangi Goat.
• The goat is only found at 15000 feet above sea level in Ladakh - Jammu and Kashmir, making the art of Pashmina even rarer and revered all over the world.
• These are hand woven by skilled Artisans of Kashmir.
• Pashmina Shawls are very costly due to their fine quality of wool.

Context: Recently, the Prime Minister announced a National Mission on Edible Oil-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP), with an investment of over Rs 11,000 crore over a five-year period.

• The special emphasis of the scheme will be on India's north-eastern states and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands due to the "conducive weather conditions in the regions".
• However, Environmental experts and politicians raise concern over Centre’s proposal to promote their cultivation in India’s north-eastern States and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Why North-East and A&N Island?

• The soil and climatic conditions are suitable for oil palm plantation, a high rainfall with the need for irrigation which could suck out groundwater.

Key Concerns regarding Palm Plantation

• It is a water-guzzling, monoculture crop with a long gestation period unsuitable for small farmers.
• Among other things, palm oil has been linked to deforestation.
• The focus areas of the program are "biodiversity hotspots and ecologically fragile"and that palm oil plantations would destroy forest cover and the habitat of endangered wildlife.
• Palm is an invasive species. "It's not a natural forest product of northeastern India and its impact on our biodiversity as well as on soil conditions has to be analysed even if it is grown in non-forest areas. Any kind of monoculture plantation is not desirable.
• It could detach tribes’ people from their identity linked with community ownership of land.
• Oil palm requires 300 litres of water per tree per day, as well as high pesticide use in areas leading to consumer health concerns as well.

Palm Oil Production In Andaman And Nicobar Islands

• Most of the oil palm plantations in the islands, including in Little Andaman, are nearing the end of their natural productive shelf life of about 35 years. They now need to be grown anew.

Global Impact Scenario

• In southeast Asia, the plantation of palm oil trees has replaced massive tracts of rainforests.
• In Indonesia and Malaysia, the two largest producers of palm oil, many endangered wild animals are losing their homes to make room for oil palms such as elephants, tigers, proboscis monkeys and Sumatran rhinos.

National Mission on Edible Oil-Oil Palm

• The National Mission on Edible Oil-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) is a new centrally sponsored scheme that was announced by the Prime Minister during his independence day speech in 2021.
• The scheme basically aims at self-reliance in edible oil and has been allocated an outlay of Rs. 11, 040 crore over a five-year period.
• The fund allotted under the mission is shared between the Central and State Governments in the ratio of 75:25.
• It is released to the Department of Agriculture/Horticulture of the State Governments.
• The aim of the scheme is to raise the domestic production of palm oil by three times to 11.20 lakh tonnes by 2025-26 and to 28 lakh tonnes by 2029-30.
• The scheme has a special focus on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Northeastern region of India.
• The scheme has been announced at a time when the prices of edible oils have been rising over the past few months.
• There was a 52% hike in the prices in July 2021 compared to the same time last year.
• It is proposed to have an additional 6.5 lakh hectares for palm oil by 2025-26. The ultimate target is to reach 10 lakh hectares.

Note: The National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP) had been launched by the GOI In 2014-15. From 2018-19, the NMOOP was merged with the National Food Security Mission (NFSM) as NFSM-OS&OP. The new scheme NMEO-OP will subsume the NFSM-OS&OP.

NMEO-OP Features

• Under this mission, farmers who opt for palm oil cultivation will receive price assurance from the government which will hedge the farmers from price volatility. 
• This is a Minimum Support Price-type mechanism and the government will fix this at 14.3 per cent of crude palm oil (CPO) price. 
• This will eventually go up to 15.3%.
• The scheme also has a sunset clause which is November 1, 2037.
• This price assurance given to the farmers is called the Viability Price (VP).
• VP is the annual average CPO price of the last 5 years adjusted with the wholesale price index to be multiplied by 14.3 %. 
• The deficiency price payment would be done through direct bank transfer to the farmers’ accounts.
• To provide additional assistance to the cultivators of the northeast and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the government will bear a cost of 2% of the CPO price to ensure that the farmers are paid at par with the rest of the country.  

Another focus area of the scheme is to substantially increase the support of inputs/interventions.

• To replant old gardens for their rejuvenation, special assistance will be given at the rate of Rs 250 per plant.
• Assistance for planting material for oil palm has been increased from Rs 12,000 per ha to  Rs.29000 per ha. 
• Maintenance and intercropping interventions also see a substantial increase.
• Seed gardens will be given assistance up to Rs.80 lakhs for 15 ha. in the rest of India and Rs.100 lakhs for 15 ha in North-East and Andaman regions. 
• To attract industry to the NE and Andaman regions, a provision of Rs 5 crore of 5 mt/hr unit with pro-rata increase for higher capacity will be given.

National Mission on Edible Oil-Oil Palm Significance

• India is the biggest consumer of edible oils in the world. 
• Edible oils form India’s third-biggest import, after crude oil and gold. 
• Of the vegetable oil imports, about 55% is constituted by palm oil. India produces far less than what it consumes annually and the demand is fulfilled by importing vegetable oils. 
• Palm oil is imported from Malaysia and Indonesia. Sunflower oil is chiefly imported from Ukraine and Russia and soybean oil from Brazil and Argentina.
• More than 94% of the palm oil is used in the food industry, especially for cooking purposes. 
• The mission is aimed at making India ‘atmanirbhar’ in edible oils like how it has achieved for rice, wheat and sugar. 
• The mission assumes significance when taking into account the projected demand for edible oils, which is set to touch 20 million tonnes by 2030 on account of the changing food habits and soaring disposable income.
• The mission is also crucial to increasing farmers’ incomes since palm oil has the potential to provide the highest return on investment per acre compared to other commercial crops.

Context: Recently, International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that adoption of crypto assets such as Bitcoin as national currency can impact a country’s macroeconomic stability.

• The warning came ahead of the Central American nation, El Salvador, officially adopting the world’s most popular decentralized digital currency, Bitcoin, as a legal tender from 7th September.

According to IMF

• Many cryptocurrencies are indeed secure, easy to access, and cheap to transact. However, that in most cases risks and costs outweigh potential benefits.

Risks

• Substantial risks with bitcoin: Privately issued crypto-assets like bitcoin come with substantial risks. Making them equivalent to a national currency is an inadvisable shortcut.
• Too much volatility: Households and businesses would have very little incentive to price or save in a parallel crypto asset such as Bitcoin, even if it were given legal tender or currency status. Their value is just too volatile and unrelated to the real economy.
• Wastage of time: If goods and services were priced in both a real currency and a crypto-asset, people would spend significant time and resources choosing which money to hold as opposed to engaging in productive activities.
• Exchange-rate risks to govt: Similarly, government revenues would be exposed to exchange rate risk if taxes were quoted in advance in a crypto asset while expenditures remained mostly in the local currency, or vice versa.
• Banks and other financial institutions could also be exposed to the massive fluctuations in crypto-asset prices.

However, new digital forms of money have some benefits too, like the potential to provide cheaper and faster payments; enhance financial inclusion; improve resilience and competition among payment providers; facilitate cross-border transfers. But doing so is not straightforward.

Context: Several decades of relatively high growth have failed to generate enough quality employment for the majority of Indians. Further, it pointed out that Measures that generate income for the poor are more important than modifying the applicability threshold for labour laws. 

Key Points
The consequences of this failure are visible in

• rising inequality of income,
• the social unrest and vigilante violence fuelled by unemployed youngsters,
• a growing politicization of the tension between locals and migrants from other parts of India,
• stagnation, and
• a decline in the living conditions of millions trapped in low-quality employment.

Hence, India needs to focus on creating a sound employment strategy for youth because out of the 22 million who are unemployed in terms of usual status, 18 million are workers in the 15-29 age group.
Employment strategy
It should be based on the following dimensions:

• Employment approach that strengthens the links between growth and job creation. 
• Increase opportunities for educated youth. 
• Improves substantially the conditions of work and remuneration for the millions at the bottom of the work pyramid. 
• Increases substantially the participation of women in the workforce.

What needs to be done? 

• First, improve the quality of education from pre-primary upwards and improved child nutrition. For example, the new education policy includes a proposal for mandatory skill acquisition programmes in schools.  
• Second, giving incentives to encourage school and college leavers to participate in these skilling programmes. Provide all secondary school and college leavers with an unemployment benefit on the condition that they participate in an organised skill development course.  
• Third, connect the skill programmes and the institutions implementing them to potential employers by involving them in the funding and management of skill development. 
• Fourth, provide every employed person with a written contract and the strict enforcement of minimum wage legislation.  
• Fifth, improving the conditions of work for the vast majority of workers. In agriculture, the number of employers is so large that the best strategy is programmes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act that provide supplementary employment and underwrite statutory minimum wages in rural areas.
• Lastly, raising the participation of women in the workforce. At present, only 23% of women are in the labour force, as against 57% of men. There is a wide range in the Labour Force Participation Rate of women, from 6% in Bihar to 52% in Himachal Pradesh. This suggests that the differences are partly because of variations in the local pace of development and due to social practices. 

Road Ahead

• If we improve the earnings for people at the bottom of the income pyramid, there will be substantial economic gain with a better connection between growth and job creation. 

Context: Recently, National Development Bank has approved for Bangladesh to become a member of a premier development institution for emerging market economies towards achieving the goal focusing the development agenda of the country. 
Key Points

• As a part of an extensive membership expansion program by the New Development Bank (NBD), the BRICS group of nations has admitted Uruguay, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bangladesh in its first batch of new members.
• NDB Board of Governors initiated the negotiation to expand its membership in 2020. 
• Since the beginning of its operations, NDB has approved about 80 projects totalling a portfolio of USD 30 billion.
• Projects in areas such as transport, water and sanitation, clean energy, digital infrastructure, social infrastructure and urban development are within the scope of the Bank.
• The new members will "add value" and enable New Development Bank (NBD) "to position itself as the premier development institution for emerging economies.
• They also foster their cooperation in infrastructure and sustainable development.

About National Development Bank

• The NDB is a multilateral financial institution established by the BRICS countries, namely, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
• Founded in: Formerly known as BRICS Development Bank, NDB was founded in 2014.
• Headquarter: It is headquartered in Shanghai, China. There are regional offices in all other member countries except in India.
• The idea behind the NDB was mooted by India at the 4th BRICS Summit in New Delhi in 2012.
• The formation treaty was signed in 2014 in the sixth BRICS Summit in Fortaleza, Brazil.
• The Fortaleza Declaration stated that the NDB would strengthen cooperation among the BRICS members.
• Purpose: To fund sustainable development projects and infrastructure projects in the BRICS countries and other developing countries and emerging markets.
• The NDB is projected as a developmental financial institution that can complement western dominated global financial institutions (such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund), rather than as a challenge to them.
• In 2018, the NDB achieved ‘Observer’ status at the United Nations General Assembly.

To fulfill its purpose, the Bank supports public or private projects through

• Loans 
• Guarantees
• Equity participation

Other financial instruments

• Since its establishment six years ago, NDB has approved about 80 projects in all of its member countries, totalling a portfolio of US$ 30 billion.
• Projects in areas such as transport, water and sanitation, clean energy, digital infrastructure, social infrastructure and urban development are within the scope of the Bank.

Objectives

• Fostering development of member countries
• Supporting economic growth
• Promoting competitiveness and facilitating job creation
• Building a knowledge sharing platform among developing countries
• Contributing to the attainment of social and environmental sustainability

• This allocation is about 2.75 per cent of the overall 456.5 billion SDRs general allocation made to the Fund's member countries. IMF has a membership of 190 countries.

• It is an interest-bearing international reserve asset created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement other reserve assets of member countries. 
• SDR holdings is one of the components of the foreign exchange reserves (FER) of a country.
• It can be freely exchanged between the member countries instead of relying on currency of any one particular country.
• IMF makes the general SDR allocation to its members in proportion to their existing quotas in the Fund.
• SDR is neither a currency nor a claim on the IMF. 
• It is a potential claim on freely usable currencies of the member countries. 
• It serves as the unit of account for IMF and other international organizations.

• Currency value of the SDR is calculated by summing the values of SDR basket of currencies in U.S. dollars on the basis of market exchange rates. 
• It is calculated daily (except on IMF holidays or when IMF is closed for business). The valuation basket of SDR is reviewed and adjusted every five years.

• SDR basket comprises of U.S. dollar, Euro, Japanese yen, pound sterling and Chinese renminbi.

• IMF is an organization comprising of 189 member countries. 
• Each member is having representation on the IMF’s executive board in proportion of their financial importance. 
• Thus, most powerful countries in global economy have the most voting power. 
• IMF was conceived in July 1944 at a UN conference in Bretton Woods, United States.

Context: According to a new United Nations (UN) report, more than 500 million people in India and more than 80% of the entire populations of Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran are exposed to medium and high levels of poor air quality due to sand and dust storms.

• The findings were published in the Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM) report Sand and Dust Storms Risk Assessment in Asia and the Pacific. 

Note: APDIM is a regional institution of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). 

• The report identified ’east and northeast Asia’, ’south and southwest Asia’, ’central Asia’ and the ’Pacific’ as the four main sand and dust storm corridors of Asia-Pacific. 

Key highlights of the report
Poor air quality: Sand and dust storms contribute significantly to poor air quality in Karachi, Lahore and Delhi in ‘southwest Asia’. Nearly 60 million people in these places experienced more than 170 dusty days a year in 2019.

• According to environmental experts, Sand and dust storms are a transboundary meteorological hazard, . 
• The report assessed the risk of this hazard for agriculture, energy, environment, aviation, human health and cities separately. 

Multitudinal Impact
Energy loss

• India, China and Pakistan lost 1,584 gigawatt-hours (gWh), 679 gWh and 555 gHw of energy loss, resepctively, due to sand and dust storms.
• These losses amounted to over $107 million (Rs 782 crore) for India per year and exceed $46 million and $37 million for China and Pakistan respectively.

Threat to Agriculture produce

• Cotton contributes significantly to the gross domestic product and foreign exchange earnings in Turkmenistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan which saw reduction in its yield.
• Dust deposition impacted large portions of farmland in Turkmenistan (71 per cent), Pakistan (49 per cent) and Uzbekistan (44 per cent).
• Much of this dust is characterised by high salt content, making it toxic for plants. It reduces yield, posing a significant threat to the production of irrigated cotton and other crops. 

Deposition of dust on glaciers

• Very high dust deposition also occurs in the Himalaya-Hindu Kush mountain range and the Tibetan Plateau, the so-called ‘third pole’ that are the sources for fresh water for more than 1.3 billion people in Asia. 
• It induces a warming effect, increasing the melting of ice, with direct and indirect impacts on society through numerous issues, including food security, energy production, agriculture, water stress and flood regimes.

On Sustainable development goals

• Sand and dust storms directly affect 11 of the 17 United Nations-mandated sustainable development goals (SDG).
• These are Ending poverty in all forms; Ending hunger; Good health and well-being ; Safe water and sanitation; Affordable and clean energy; Decent work and economic growth; Industry innovation and infrastructure; Sustainable cities and communities; Climate action; Life below water and Life on land.

Extreme droughts heighten risks

• The risk of impacts from sand and dust storms is projected to increase in the 2030s due to more extreme drought conditions in parts of Western Australia, south-easternTurkey, Iran and Afghanistan.

Road Ahead

• The impacts of dust storms are not all negative. They can increase the nutrient content in the areas of deposition and benefit vegetation. For eg: Dust particles that carry iron can enrich parts of oceans, improving the phytoplankton balance and impacting marine food webs.
• The evidence presented in this assessment calls for Member States to strategise their joint actions, consider gaining a deeper understanding of the socio-economic impact of sand and dust storms, establish a coordinated monitoring and early warning system with an impact-based focus as well as coordinate actions in most at-risk and exposed geographical areas to mitigate the risks.

Context: As per UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the use of leaded petrol has been eradicated from the globe which is a huge milestone for global health and environment.
About Leaded Petrol

• Tetraethyl-lead (TEL) is a petro-fuel additive, first being mixed with petrol beginning in the 1920s as a patented octane rating booster that allowed engine compression to be raised substantially.
• This in turn caused increased vehicle performance and fuel economy.
• The practice of adding tetraethyl lead to petrol had spread widely to all countries soon after its anti-knock and octane-boosting properties were discovered.
• TEL is still used as an additive in some grades of aviation gasoline.

Issues with leaded petrol

• Lead is toxic, affects multiple body systems and is particularly harmful to young children.
• It affects the brain, liver, kidneys and bones. Lead is measured in blood to understand exposure.
• Lead in bone is released into blood during pregnancy and becomes a source of exposure to the developing foetus.
• More recent research has indicated that lead can damage the infant brain even at blood levels as low as 5 microunit per decilitre (μ/dl).

India’s tryst with leaded petrol

• India was among those countries that took early action to phase out leaded petrol. The process of phase down that had started in 1994, got completed in 2000.
• Initially, low-leaded petrol was introduced in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai in 1994, followed by unleaded petrol in 1995.
• The entire country got low-leaded petrol in 1997 while leaded fuel was banned in the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
• The final introduction of unleaded petrol in the entire country was mandated in April 2000.
• This decision was also catalysed by the Supreme Court order that had directed the introduction of unleaded petrol to enable the adoption of catalytic converters in petrol cars.

Significance of phasing out

• It is a milestone that will prevent more than 1.2 million premature deaths and save world economies over $2.4 trillion annually.
• It has taken 100 years to stop the use of leaded fuel finally.

Context: Recently, Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) has published a landmark State of the World’s Trees report. 

• The report, compiling work led by the Global Tree Assessment (GTA), is the culmination of five years of research to identify major gaps in tree conservation efforts.
• It is one of the first assessments of the world’s threatened trees. 

Key highlights of the report

• The world has 58,497 tree species.
• Neotropics (Central and South America) have the largest number of tree species with 23,631 tree species.
• Indo-Malaya is second with 13,739 species and Afrotropics have 9,237 species.
• Nearctic and Oceania have the lowest number of tree species.

142 of the world’s tree species have become extinct and 29.9% are threatened.

• Madagascar is one of the countries with the highest number of threatened trees.
• After Indo-Malaya and Oceania, the Afrotropics (Africa south of the Sahara, including Madagascar) have the highest proportion of threatened tree species.
• Palearctic and Nearctic (North America) realms mostly have tree species that are not threatened.
• 18 per cent or 469 of India’s 2603 tree species are threatened with extinction.
• India is home to 650 endemic tree species not found anywhere else.
• India is a part of Indo-Malaya (Tropical Asia) biogeographic realm.

Major threats faced by trees

• Agriculture (29%) > logging (27%) > livestock farming > residential and commercial development > fire and fire suppression > energy production and mining > wood and pulp plantations > invasive and other problematic species > climate change.

Ecosystem collapse

• The report also raised concerns that the destruction can cascade across ecosystems affecting communities of trees.
• The impacts of a changing climate and severe weather—listed as a direct threat to more than a thousand species—include shifting habitats, increasing storms and floods, as well as more fires, pests and disease.
• Tree species that have evolved over millions of years, adapting to changing climates, can no longer survive the onslaught of human threats.

Suggestion

• Despite nearly a third of tree species threatened with extinction, the report indicates hope for the future if conservation efforts continue and further action is taken. 

In the report, BGCI recommend five key actions for policymakers and experts in order to protect and bring back threatened species:

• Extend protected area coverage for threatened tree species that are currently not-well represented in protected areas
• Ensure that all globally threatened tree species, where possible, are conserved in botanic garden and seed bank collections 
• Increase availability of Government and corporate funding for threatened tree species
• Expand tree planting schemes, and ensure the targeted planting of threatened and native species
• Increase global collaboration to tackle tree extinction, by participating in international efforts such as the Global Conservation Consortia

Context: India has added 557 new species to its fauna, which includes 407 new species and 150 new records, reveals Animal Discoveries 2020, a document published recently by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI).

• It includes 407 new species and 150 new records. The number of faunal species in India has climbed to 1,02,718 species.

Key highlights of the report

• Of these 557 species, invertebrates constitute the majority with 486 species, while 71 species belong to vertebrates.
• Among invertebrates, insects dominated, with 344 species, whereas pisces and reptiles dominated among vertebrates.
• Among the States, the highest number of new species were discovered from Karnataka (66 species), followed by Kerala (51 species).
• 46 new species were discovered from Rajasthan and 30 from West Bengal.
• In terms of new records or species recorded in the country for the first time, Arunachal Pradesh had the highest (20 new records).
• In the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, 16 new records documented in 2020.
• The ZSI contributed to 34% (948 species) of the newly described and 68% (898) of the newly recorded species in the last 10 years.

Discovered new species

Among the new species, some interesting species discovered in 2020 are

• Trimeresurus Salazar- a new species of green pit viper discovered from Arunachal Pradesh;
• Lycodon Deccanensis- the Deccan wolf snake discovered from Karnataka; and
• Sphaerotheca Bengaluru- a new species of burrowing frog named after the city of Bengaluru.
• Xyrias Anjaalai- a new deep water species of snake eel from Kerala;
• Glyptothorax Giudikyensis- a new species of catfish from Manipur;
• Clyster Galateansis- a new species of scarab beetles from the Great Nicobar Biosphere.
• Myotis cf. frater- a bat species earlier known from China, Taiwan and Russia, has been reported for the first time from Uttarakhand.
• Zoothera Citrina Gibsonhilli- an orange-headed thrush earlier known from southern Myanmar to south Thailand, sited for the first time in Narcondam island in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

Zoological Survey of India (ZSI)

• The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) is the premier taxonomic research organization in India.
• It was established on 1 July 1916 by British zoologist Thomas Nelson Annandale, to promote surveys, exploration and research leading to advancement of our knowledge of various aspects of the exceptionally rich animal life of India.
• The ZSI had its genesis as the Zoological Section of the Indian Museum at Calcutta in 1875.
• Since its inception, the ZSI has been documenting the diversity and distribution of the fauna of India towards carrying out its mandate of conducting exploration-cum-taxonomic-research programmes.
• The ZSI has published an extremely large amount of information on all animal taxa, from Protozoa to Mammalia.
• The ZSI has been publishing Animal Discoveries since 2007.

Objectives

• Exploration, Survey, Inventorying and Monitoring of faunal diversity in various States,
• Ecosystems and Protected areas of India.
• Taxonomic studies of all faunal components collected.
• Periodic review of the Status of Threatened and Endemic species.
• Preparation of Red Data Book, Fauna of India and Fauna of States.
• Bioecological studies on selected important communities/species.
• Preparation of databases for the recorded species of the country.
• Maintenance & Development of National Zoological Collections.
• Training, Capacity Building and Human Resource Development.
• Faunal Identification, Advisory services and Library Services.
• Publication of results including Fauna of India and Fauna of States.

Key Facts

• India has 23.39% of its geographical area under forest and tree cover.
• India is positioned 8th in mega biodiversity countries in the world with 0.46 BioD index.
• It is calculated by its percentage of species in each group relative to the total global number of species in each group.

Context: Recently, World Meteorological Organization has released an Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water Extremes (1970 – 2019).
About the Atlas

• The is the most comprehensive review of mortality and economic losses from weather, water and climate extremes ever produced.
• It surveys some 11,000 disasters occurring between 1979-2019.

Major Highlights of the report

• The number of disasters has increased nearly fivefold from 1970s to 2019, with frequent occurrences of extreme weather events due to global warming.
• The growing frequency is attributed to both climate change and improved disaster reporting.
• Costs from the events have surged from $175.4 billion in 1970s to $1.38 trillion in 2010s.
• The annual death toll has fallen from more than 50,000 in 1970s to around 18,000 in the 2010s, suggesting better disaster preparedness.
• Improved multi-hazard early warning systems have led to a significant reduction in mortality.
• More than 91% of the 2 million deaths occurred were reported from developing countries.
• Only half of the WMO's 193 members have multi-hazard early warning systems.
• Ethiopia's 1983 drought was the single most fatal event with 300,000 deaths.
• Hurricane Katrina in 2005 that was the costliest, with losses of $163.61 billion.

Impacts in Asia

• In Asia, 3454 disasters were recorded from 1970–2019, with 975622 lives lost and $ 1.2 trillion in reported economic damages.
• Asia accounts for nearly one third (31%) of weather, climate and water-related disasters reported globally.

It accounted for nearly half of deaths (47%) and one third (31%) of associated economic losses.

• Most of these disasters were associated with floods (45%) and storms (36%).
• Storms had the highest impacts on lives lost.
• Floods led to the greatest economic losses.

Key Recommendations
The report reveals key lessons learned during the past 50 years and makes a number of recommendations, including:

• Review hazard exposure and vulnerability considering a changing climate to reflect that tropical cyclones may have different tracks, intensity and speed than in the past.
• Strengthen disaster risk financing mechanisms at national to international levels, especially for Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States and Territories.
• Develop integrated and proactive policies on slow-onset disasters such as drought.

Road Ahead

• More international cooperation is needed to tackle the chronic problem of huge numbers of people being displaced each year by floods, storms and drought. We need greater investment in comprehensive disaster risk management ensuring that climate change adaptation is integrated in national and local disaster risk reduction strategies.
• The overlap of the COVID-19 pandemic with many other natural and manmade hazards, especially extreme weather events during the last 18 months demonstrates the need for greater investment in disaster risk reduction and a multi-hazard approach to disaster risk management and early warning systems to reduce risks and strengthen preparedness for multiple disaster scenarios.

Additional Information

About World Meteorological Organization

• It is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 192 Member States and Territories. India is a member.
• It originated from the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), which was established after the 1873 Vienna International Meteorological Congress.

Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland

• Established by the ratification of the WMO Convention on 23rd March 1950, WMO became the specialized agency of the United Nations for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences.

Context: In recent years, forest cover and natural resources have rapidly deteriorated with this Natural resource management becomes critical. In this article we discuss how a project in Meghalaya empowers communities to take informed action pertaining to their environment.
Background

• Just about 50 km from Meghalaya’s capital Shillong is Umdohbyrthih village. 
• It was once known for its rocky terrains, streams, springs and verdant valleys. However,in recent years, its forest cover and natural resources have rapidly deteriorated.

Reason behind such scenario

• Lack of Accessibility to knowledge: Meghalaya where traditional practices and indigenous knowledge on sustainable use of natural resources have been passed down from one generation to another began to slowly fade.
• Unsustainable growth: Owing to population growth, the quest for unsustainable developmental activities and indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources, among other factors.
• Improper Acess to information: Another roadblock to natural resource management was of knowledge inaccessibility among rural communities. When free access to information on an issue is not made available to communities, they begin to rely on external agencies for solving their local problems.

Key Initiatives taken in Meghalaya

• Under World Bank-supported Meghalaya Community-Led Landscape Management Project. They set up a cross-functional team with diverse expertise. 
• The team worked with many facilitators and empowered them with digital infrastructure. 

More than 2,000 village community facilitators have already been trained and are working towards climate change reversal. 

• Participant Digital Attestation: This app allows community cadres to record their attendance by scanning QR codes. It provides them content, training sessions and digital certification. These tools help create a free flow of knowledge without hierarchy and empower communities to overcome knowledge barriers.
• Communities are now able to articulate the complexities of their problems through a scientific lens and create their own natural resource management plans.

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme 

• It became the main scheme channelising resources to impact poor households so that there was systematic convergence of all line departments such as agriculture, horticulture, soil and water conservation. 
• The programme leverages technology and the youth population.

Solutions

• Reactivating the community’s connection to natural resources and enabling them to tackle the resource crisis became a priority for the State.
• Leveraging technology: Technology empowers us with real-time data, which in turn results in better programme governance, transparency and accountability. 
• A one-stop centre: To carry forward this momentum, we are launching a Centre of Excellence in Meghalaya, a one-stop centre for natural resources management. Its mandate is to build leadership capabilities to enable close cooperation among departments, democratise access to knowledge, and continue with research and development on every aspect of natural resource management. 

Context: Recently, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change notified the eco-sensitive zone of the Deepor Beel Wildlife Sanctuary on the south-western edge of Guwahati.

• Among activities prohibited in the eco-sensitive zone are hydroelectric projects, brick kilns, commercial use of firewood and discharge of untreated effluents in natural water bodies or land areas.
• Deepor Beel is the Assam’s only Ramsar site and an Important Bird Area.

The Notification

• Specified an area to an extent varying from 294 metres to 16.32 km as the eco-sensitive zone, with the total area being 148.9767 sq. km.
• No new commercial hotels and resorts shall be permitted within 1 km of the boundary of the protected area, except for small temporary structures for eco-tourism activities.
• New wood-based industry will be set up in the eco-sensitive zone using 100% imported wood stock.
• Activities prohibited in the eco-sensitive zone are hydroelectric projects, commercial use of firewood and discharge of untreated effluents in natural water bodies or land areas.

Key concerns

• City wastes as well as industrial effluents causing serious problem to the ecological and environmental values of the rich wetland.
• It is causing a threat to all life forms and ecosystems in the Deepor Beel.

Deepor Beel wildlife sanctuary

• Deepor Beel is located to the south-west of Guwahati city in Kamrup, Assam.
• It is also called a wetland under the Ramsar Convention.

Flora

• Aquatic vegetation: Giant Water Lily, water hyacinth, aquatic grasses, water lilies and other submerged, emergent, and floating vegetation are found during the summer season.
• In deep open water area, marshy lands, mud flat, emergent vegetation, water net-grass land patches are reported

Avifauna

• It is a natural habitat to many varieties of birds. 219 species of birds including more than 70 migratory species are reported in the area.
• The Siberian crane regularly migrates to this habitat.

Aquafauna

• 20 amphibians, 12 lizards, 18 snakes and 6 turtle and tortoise species in the habitat. Over 50 commercially viable species of fish.

Land fauna
Wild Asian elephants’ leopard, jungle cat and Chinese porcupine and sambar.

Eco sensitive Zones

• Eco-Sensitive Zones or Ecologically Fragile Areas are areas within 10 kms around Protected Areas, National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries.
• ESZs are notified by MoEFCC, Government of India under Environment Protection Act 1986.

Activities allowed in the zone

• Prohibited activities: Commercial mining, saw mills, industries causing pollution, establishment of major hydroelectric projects (HEP), commercial use of wood.
• Regulated activities: Felling of trees, establishment of hotels and resorts, commercial use of natural water, erection of electrical cables.

Significance

• To minimise the impact of urbanisation and other developmental activities to protected areas that have been declared as Eco-Sensitive Zones.
• The purpose of declaring eco-sensitive zones around protected areas is for creating a 'Shock Absorber' for the protected area.
• They also act as a transition zone from areas of high protection to areas involving lesser protection.

Challenges

• Developmental activities: Activities such as construction of dams, roads, urban and rural infrastructures create interference, negatively impact upon the environment and imbalance the ecological system.
• Tourism: As the pressure of tourism is rising, the government is developing new sites and gateways to the ESZ.
• Introduction of exotic species: Exotic species create a competing demand on naturally occurring forests.

Context: India is doing its part to fulfill its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under Paris Agreement. When compared with other countries, India is doing better than its capacity.

• Global pressure is intensifying on India to commit more towards climate change at the Conference of the Parties (COP26) meeting, scheduled for November 2021 in Glasgow.

India’s achievements

• India is the only G20 nation compliant with the Paris Agreement.
• It has been ranked within the top 10 for two years consecutively in the Climate Change Performance Index released by Germanwatch.
• The Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) scheme is the world’s largest zero-subsidy LED bulb programme for domestic consumers.

Comparison of India with other countries

• With China: According to World Bank data for CO2 emissions (metric tons per capita) over two decades, both China and the U.S. could emit five times more than India in 2030. China is aiming to peak CO2 emissions by 2030 for bending the emissions curve. China remains committed to supporting the coal industry while the rest of the world experiences a decline.
• With USA: the U.S. rejoined the Paris Agreement and committed to reducing emissions by 50%-52% in 2030 and reaching net-zero emissions economy-wide by 2050. It will require much more near-term investment than even the U.S. President Joe Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure package.
• With France: Despite French government’s efforts to make aviation industry green, the analysts say that no baseline for reducing emissions from domestic flights has been fixed.
• With Australia:  Domestic politics in Australia is keeping it away from fulfilling its commitment towards climate change.

Progress made by India

• India is on track (as reports/documents show) to meet and exceed the NDC commitment to achieve 40% electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based sources by 2030
• Similarly, against the voluntary declaration for reducing the emission intensity of GDP by 20%-25% by 2020, India has reduced it by 24% between 2005-2016.
• India is implementing one of the most extensive renewable energy expansion programmes to achieve 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022 and 450 GW by 2030.
• As part of the fiscal stimulus, the Government has announced several green measures. It includes a $26.5-billion investment in biogas and cleaner fuels. Further, $3.5 billion in incentives for producing efficient solar photovoltaic (PV) and advanced chemistry cell battery, and $780 million towards an afforestation programme.
• India provided leadership for setting up the International Solar Alliance, a coalition of solar-resource-rich countries.
• India is also at the forefront of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, a partnership of governments, United Nations agencies, multilateral development banks, the private sector, and knowledge institutions.

Road Ahead

• India has indeed walked the talk. Other countries must deliver on their promises early and demonstrate tangible results ahead of COP26. The responsibility of sustaining the entire planet does not rest on a few countries; everyone has to act.

Context: Recently, Several citizens’ groups have written to Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) raising serious objections to the proposed waste-to-energy plant at Bandhwari landfill site off Gurugram-Faridabad Road.
Key Objection

• Experts say consequences of the plant on human health and on the Aravali ecosystem will be enormous and irreparable.
• The waste-to-energy plants are proven to be environmentally disastrous and unsustainable, not only in India but also in all major developed countries.
• Site for the proposed plant was wildlife rich zone and was in the eco-sensitive Aravali belt which sustains life in the National Capital Region.
• It objected to the plant saying that the Environment Clearance got in November 2019 from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for the Waste-to-Energy plant (15 MW capacity) was obtained by submitting “false” information in the environment impact assessment and needs to be revoked, the waste at Bandhwari landfill was unfit to be burnt for generating power and such plants were non-viable, flouted environmental law and caused pollution.
• The burning of mixed inert waste was only going to cause more environmental damage in the ecologically sensitive area of the Aravalis with over 219 species of birds in neighbouring Mangar Bani.

About Waste to Energy (WtE)

• Definition: WtE describes the process of utilising waste to generate energy, in the form of electricity, heat or fuels. 
• Stakeholders: WtE projects involve a range of stakeholders, from local councils who manage municipal waste, through to businesses in the waste and energy sectors, energy users and generators of waste.
• WtE facilities fall into two main categories: Thermal treatment and biological processing of organic waste. These processes use a range of technologies including combustion, gasification, anaerobic digestion and fermentation. The exact type of technology utilised in any project is dependent on the characteristics of the feedstock waste material. Similarly, the outputs and residues from WtE processes also vary, depending on the nature of the feedstock and the technology used.
• Renewable energy: WtE is typically considered ’renewable energy’ when organic waste (biomass) is used as the feedstock. However, the use of plastic feedstock in some WtE facilities also requires the use of fossil fuels, diminishing the environmental credentials of such initiatives.

Benefits of WtE Plants

• Reduces Landfill Waste: By converting waste to energy, it substantially reduces the amount of waste entering landfills, which can curb greenhouse gases.
• Creates a Significant Amount of Energy: One ton of waste can yield between 550 and 700 kilowatt hours—enough to power a person’s home for almost a month.
• Recycles Excess Waste: The technology used to convert waste into energy also recycles any metal that remains after combustion, including steel and aluminum, further shrinking the amount of unusable waste.
• Sustainable Process: The process itself is green, employing the latest pollution control equipment to scrub and filter emissions, preventing their release into the environment.
• Regulated use of residue as fertilizer: Some WtE processes can produce residues which can be applied to beneficial uses, such as fertiliser, with the nature of the feedstock determining the extent to which residue can be used. If residue is put to such a beneficial use, additional specification, certification and monitoring requirements will apply.

Challenges

• Wrong incentives: It is important that an appropriate balance is struck so that the demand for WtE feedstock does not incentivise the creation of more waste. For example, a business may relax its waste reduction or recycling efforts if its waste is feeding WtE production to create energy at lower cost.
• Lot of pollution of different type may be created: Depending on the feedstock and technology, WtE processes may create air pollution, contaminated water or other residues.  The aerial emissions and the heavy metal-laden toxic ash, which is dumped in unlined landfills, are bound to eventually pollute groundwater.
• Worsening Air Quality: There is an issue of poor ambient air quality especially during winters when the air is still and undispersed emissions cause widespread health hazards. 
• Biosecurity Risk: The transportation of unprocessed organic waste feedstock may pose a biosecurity risk, due to the potential spread of pests and plant disease. There is also a risk that such transportation and the WtE plant itself may also adversely affect amenity, through odour, noise, local transport congestion, dust and vermin, depending on the feedstock and treatment method used. 

Road Ahead

• There should be strict emission standards, controls and monitoring which may reduce the feasibility of the WtE plant.  Municipalities and private players in this business need to ensure segregation at source and support end-to-end segregation.  Also, the huge informal sector for recyclables in metro cities must be integrated.

Context: Recently, Indian biologist Shailendra Singh has been awarded the Behler Turtle Conservation Award for bringing three critically endangered turtle conservation species back from the brink of extinction.

• These are Red-crowned Roofed Turtle (Batagur kachuga), Northern River Terrapin (Batagur baska), and Black Softshell Turtle (Nilssonia nigricans).
• Currently, there are 29 species of freshwater turtles and tortoises in India.

Note: Difference between Tortoise and turtle: Tortoises have more rounded and domed shells where turtles have thinner, more water-dynamic shells. Tortoises spend most of their time on land and turtles are adapted for life spent in water.

About Behler Turtle Conservation Award

• It is a major annual international award honoring excellence in the field of tortoise and freshwater turtle conservation and biology, and leadership in the chelonian conservation and biology community.
• This award is bestowed by several global bodies involved in turtle conservation such as Turtle Survival Alliance, IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, Turtle Conservancy, and the Turtle Conservation Fund.

Turtles in India

• The Northern River Terrapin (Batagur baska) is being conserved at the Sunderbans; the Red-crowned Roofed Turtle (Batagur kachuga) at Chambal; and the Black Softshell Turtle (Nilssonia nigricans) at different temples in Assam.
• These critically endangered turtles are being conserved as a part of TSA India’s research, conservation breeding and education programme in different parts of the country.

About Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA)

• The TSA was formed in 2001 as an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) partnership for sustainable captive management of freshwater turtles and tortoises.
• This alliance arose in response to the rampant and unsustainable harvest of Asian turtle populations to supply Chinese markets, a situation known as the Asian Turtle Crisis.

Context: Recently, Odisha's Kendrapara district has earned the distinction of being the only district in India where all three species of crocodiles, salt-water, gharial and mugger, are found.

• Kendrapara now has gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), mugger (Crocodylus palustris) and saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus).

Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus)
It is also known as the gavial or the fish-eating crocodile,It is the longest among all living crocodilians.

• Conservation:  Critically Endangered (IUCN Red List)
• Schedule I: Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972
• Appendix I: CITES
• Threats: Loss of habitat because of sand mining and conversion to agriculture, depletion of fish resources and detrimental fishing.

Saltwater crocodile(Crocodylus porosus)

• It is the earth’s largest living crocodilian, with average-size males reaching 17 feet and 1,000 pounds.

Habitat

• Brackish and freshwater regions of eastern India, Southeast Asia and northern Australia.
• In and around BNP, the Sundarbans and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, in India.

Threats

• Illegal hunting for their hides, habitat loss, and antipathy due to its reputation as a man-eater.

Conservation

• In 1975, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) started a crocodile breeding and rearing project.

IUCN Red List: Least Concern
Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I
Mugger crocodile(Crocodylus palustris)

• The mugger crocodile also called marsh crocodile or broad-snouted crocodile

Habitat

• It is native to freshwater habitats from southern Iran and Pakistan to the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka.

Conservation 

• The mugger has been listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1982.
• In India, it is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Among the six schedules in the Act, Schedule I and part II of Schedule II provide the highest degrees of protection to listed species, with the most stringent penalties for offenders.

Context: Ladakh announced the name of its state bird and animal, two years after it was carved out as a separate Union Territory (UT) from the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. 

• Two endangered species, snow leopard and black-necked crane have been adopted as the state animal and bird of Ladakh.

Snow Leopard

• The snow leopard (Panther unica) and black-necked crane (Grus nicricollis).
• Snow leopard, whose numbers are dwindling worldwide, has been categorized as “vulnerable” in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List.
• In total, there are about 7,500 snow leopards left in the world, out of which 500 are in India.
• However, experts state that the population of snow leopards is between 200-300 in Ladakh alone.

Black-necked Crane

• The black-necked crane is found in eastern Ladakh’s high-altitude wetlands and marshes.
• It is mostly listed as Near Threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list.
• Considered loyal couples, they are only found in Ladakh’s Changthang region. They arrive in March for breeding and migrate by October end or early November.
• It was the State bird of J&K before August 5, 2019.

Context: Small and marginal poultry farmers in India will now have to take measures similar to their bigger counterparts to prevent environmental pollution, according to new guidelines issued recently by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
Background

• Till now, small poultry farms in India were exempt from environmental laws.
• In 2020, the National Green Tribunal stated that the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) should revisit the guidelines for keeping poultry farms in the green category and free from air, water and environmental protection laws.

Key new guidelines
(A) Establishment

• Consent to Operate: The new guidelines state that for establishing and operating a medium-sized poultry farm of 25,000-100,000 birds, a farmer will have to obtain a certificate of Consent. Permission will be valid for 15 years.
• Designated Authority: This will have to be taken from the State Pollution Control Board or Committee under the Water Act, 1974 and the Air Act, 1981. The Animal Husbandry Department will be responsible for implementing the guidelines at the state and district level.
• Location: A farm should be set up 500 metres away from a residential area, 100 metres from rivers, lakes, canals and drinking water sources, 100 metres from national highways and 10-15 metres from village footpaths and rural roads.

(B) Operational directives

• Ventilated farms: The guidelines state that the poultry farm should have a ventilated room to reduce the gaseous pollution from the birds.
• Wastewater management: Also, care should be taken so that poultry faeces do not mix with running water or any other pesticide.
• Manure generation: Farmers of small- and medium-sized poultry farms will have to arrange for manure. After use, the water from a poultry farm must be collected in a tank. The guidelines suggest using it in horticulture.
• Disposal of deads: Emphasis has also been given to the daily removal of birds that die, through burial, without harming the environment. Burial should be done three metres above the groundwater level.

(C) Large/ Small Farmer

• The new guidelines have defined as to who is a ‘large’ or ‘small’ poultry farmer in India.
• Those who have 5,000-25,000 birds are small farmers.
• Those who have more than 25,000 and less than 100,000 birds are medium farmers.
• Those who have more than 100,000 birds are large farmers.

Why need such regulation?

• Poultry, hatchery and piggery were considered ‘green’ by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in its guidelines of 2015.
• This meant they were exempt from the air, water and environmental protection laws.
• Gaseous emissions and waste are major problems in poultry farming.
• The faeces of poultry birds emit gaseous ammonia, hydrogen sulphide and methane, all of which produce odours.

Status of Poultry sector in India

• According to the 20th Livestock Census 2020, there are 851.8 million poultry birds in India.
• About 30 per cent (250 million) of this is ‘backyard poultry’ or small and marginal farmers.
• According to the 19th Livestock Census, the number of such farmers is about 30 million.
• Chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, etc, are reared in poultry farms for meat and eggs. Chickens that are reared for eggs are called ‘laying hens’ or ‘layers’. Those reared for meat are called ‘broilers’.
• According to the 20th Livestock Census in Tamil Nadu (120 million), Andhra Pradesh (107 million), Telangana (79 million), West Bengal (77 million), Maharashtra (74 million), Karnataka (59 million crores), Assam (46 million) and Kerala (29 million) have the highest poultry populations.

Context: Recently, Scientists have discovered a new island off the coast of Greenland, which they say is the world’s northernmost point of land and was revealed by shifting pack ice.

• The new island is 780 m north of Oodaaq.

Key Discovery

• The scientists initially thought they had arrived at Oodaaq, an island discovered by a Danish survey team in 1978. 
• Only later, when checking the exact location, they realised they had visited another island 780 metres to the north-west.
• The small island, measuring roughly 30 metres (100ft) across and a peak of about 3 metres, consists of seabed mud as well as moraine – soil and rock left behind by moving glaciers. 
• The team said they would recommend it is named “Qeqertaq Avannarleq”, which means “the northernmost island” in Greenlandic.

Importance

• The scientists said that although the new island was exposed by shifting pack ice, its appearance now was not a direct consequence of global warming, which has been shrinking Greenland’s ice sheet.
• Any hope of extending territorial claims in the Arctic depends on whether it is in fact an island or a bank that may disappear again. An island needs to remain above sea level at high tide.

According to chief researcher 

• “It meets the criteria of an island",
•  “This is currently the world’s northernmost land.” 
• Although he did warn: “These small island come and go.”

Interest in the Region

• The discovery comes as a battle is looming among Arctic nations the United States, Russia, Canada, Denmark and Norway for control of the North Pole some 700 km (435 miles) to the north and of the surrounding seabed, fishing rights and shipping routes exposed by melting ice due to climate change.
• The autonomous Danish territory of Greenland has grabbed headlines in recent years, most notably in 2019 when former US president Donald Trump said he wanted to buy the Arctic territory.
• The proposal, described as "absurd" by the Danish government, caused a diplomatic kerfuffle, but also signalled renewed American interest in the region.
• It has also been hard hit by climate change as warmer temperatures have melted its glaciers, causing alarming sea level rise.

Note: Oodaaq or Oodap Qeqertaa is a bank of gravel and silt northeast of Greenland that has been considered by some to be the most northerly point of land on Earth, though a number of other places have also been given that title since its discovery.

Context: Recently, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways introduced a new registration mark for new vehicles i.e. “Bharat series (BH-series)” to facilitate seamless transfer of vehicles.
Key Points

• A vehicle bearing this registration mark shall not require the assignment of a new registration mark when the owner of the vehicle shifts from one State to another.
• Under section 47 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, a person is allowed to keep a vehicle for not more than 12 months in any state other than the state where the vehicle is registered, but a new registration has to be made within that time.
• This vehicle registration facility under “Bharat series (BH-series)” will be available on a voluntary basis to Defense personnel, employees of Central Government/ State Government/ Central/ State Public Sector Undertakings and private sector companies/organizations, which have their offices in four or more States/Union territories.
• The motor vehicle tax will be levied for two years or in multiple of two. 

Significance

• It will centralise the system of re-registration of vehicles when relocating between states is an easier process.
• This scheme will facilitate the free movement of personal vehicles across States/UTs of India upon relocation to a new State/UT. 
• In addition, the Centre will levy motor vehicle tax for two years or in multiples of two, which will facilitate the free movement. 
• After the fourteenth year, the tax will be levied annually and will be half of the amount.

Context: Recently, China opened a new rail line providing access to the Indian Ocean via Myanmar on the Chinese side of the border.
Key Link

• The transport corridor involves a sea-road-rail link. 
• It connects the logistics lines of Singapore, Myanmar, China.
• It is currently the most convenient land and sea channel linking the Indian Ocean with southwest China.

Key route

• Goods from Singapore reached Yangon Port, arriving by ship through the Andaman Sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean, and were then transported by road to Lincang on the Chinese side of the Myanmar-China border in Yunnan province. 
• The new railway line that runs from the border town of Lincang to Chengdu, a key trade hub in western China, completes the corridor.
• The rail line stretches from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, to Lincang, a prefecture-level city in China’s Yunnan Province opposite Chin Shwe Haw, a border trade town in Myanmar’s northeastern Shan State.

Strategic Importance

• The rail line will enable China to trans-ship cargo from Singapore Port via Myanmar.
• The route is the first to link western China with the Indian Ocean and it will significantly reduce the time needed to import cargo to landlocked Yunnan Province.
• The route is expected to become the lifeblood of international trade for China and Myanmar, while providing a source of income for Myanmar’s military regime.
• China has also been working to develop a deep seaport in Kyaukphyu Township in Rakhine, including a proposed railway line from Yunnan directly to the port, but the progress there has been stalled by unrest in Myanmar.

Chinese planners have also looked at the Gwadar port in Pakistan as another key outlet to the Indian Ocean that will bypass the Malacca Straits. 

• Gwadar is being developed as part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to the far western Xinjiang region, but has been slow to take off amid concerns over security. 

The costs and logistics through CPEC are also less favourable than the Myanmar route with the opening of the rail transport channel from the Myanmar border right to western China’s biggest commercial hub.

Context: India must change, from a darkening elected authoritarianism to building institutions for citizens’ inclusion in governance.

• What distinguishes democratic nations from authoritarian ones is the liveliness of citizens’ participation in the governance of their nation. In healthy democracies, citizens participate effectively in the shaping of the policies and laws by which they are governed. 

Democracy

• It is a form of government in which rulers are elected by the people in a free and fair elections, on universal adult franchise and governed on the basis of certain fundamental rules like a constitution.
• It means rule by the people; democracy implies both popular participation and government in the public interest, and can take a wide variety of forms.
• A democratic nation, or any nation, is also composed of structures — its constitution and laws. 
• Democratic constitutions provide elected assemblies for citizens’ representatives to shape new policies and pass laws. 
• Open-minded deliberation in these forums is necessary to meet the requirements of democracy. Constitutions, elections, and assemblies are not all that a democracy needs to function. 

Advantages of democracy

• It allows negotiation: Democracy allows for forms of negotiation and compromise that can bridge across interests and even balance otherwise conflicting imperatives for growth, justice, sustainability and social inclusion. 
• Inclusive growth: What it is and how we achieve development can only emerge out of sustained societal deliberation. Democracies are better at promoting inclusive growth. 
• Accountability: Democracies are in fact more likely to meet the necessary conditions for successful decision making. Elected representatives have to win re-election, which means answering to the electorate.

Preserving human rights: India’s democracy has preserved individual liberties, group identities and religious and thought freedoms, all the things that confer recognition on human beings. 

• Democracy is associated with higher human capital accumulation, lower inflation, lower political instability, and higher economic freedom. 
• Democracy is closely tied with economic sources of growth, like education levels and lifespan through improvement of educational institutions as well as healthcare.

Contemporary challenges to democracy

• Poor functioning of democracies: The U.S. houses of Congress are hit by party politics; debates in the Indian Parliament have degenerated; and citizens of many European democracies are dismayed by the performance of their elected institutions.
• Missing dialogues: We have forgotten how to listen well, especially to those who don't agree with us. In schools we are taught how to speak well and win elocution contests and debates. Dialogues are explorations of complex issues by combining the knowledge of diverse people.
• Partisan politics: When these democratic forums become chambers for close-minded partisan politics, they cannot find solutions to the complex, systemic problems that all nations must address in the 21st century: climate change, historical inequities, increasing economic inequalities, and violence.
• Division in civil society: The cracks in the Indian nation dividing ‘people like us’ from ‘people not like us’, are widening in institutions at the top as well as in relationships on the ground. 
• Majoritarian electoral systems of democracy will harden these divisions in India, as they are in the United States.
• Biased media: The media, which used to provide space for diverse perspectives to be heard, is divided along partisan lines. And social media, which enables citizens to freely listen to many points of view, has turned out to be a hardener of divisions. 
• Lack of Diversified dialogues: There is little room for thoughtful, non-partisan deliberations among citizens. Therefore, stronger processes are urgently required for democratic discourses amongst citizens themselves to bind the national fabric before it frays further. 

Road Ahead

• It is time for the next step in the evolution of democratic institutions. Consent of the governed is about more than periodic elections or referendums. 

Citizens’ inclusion in political process: A civil society movement, Citizens for Europe, has proposed a solution: a European Citizens’ Assembly — a permanent transnational forum for citizens’ participation and deliberation. 

• But the drawbacks of purely online methods are the risk of deepening ideological cleavages and excluding groups affected by the digital divide. 

Online forums must be supplemented by real meetings: Citizens’ meetings, online or offline, must be properly designed and professionally facilitated to enable all points-of-view to be listened to for new insights to emerge.

Diversified dialogues: Monocultures of thought can be dangerous as monocultures in Nature. Diversity in the composition of the participants is essential for ensuring that complex issues are fully understood and new insights can emerge.

• The time has come to learn to listen well, not just speak well; and to conduct dialogues, not debates. The soft power of India, the world’s most richly diverse nation perhaps, will increase when it returns from the presently darkening elected authoritarianism to lead in the evolution of institutions for citizens’ participation in democratic governance.

Context: India announced a policy to encourage open source in 2015. However, the true potential of this policy is yet to be realized, largely due to constraints in public procurement processes. A look at the misconceptions about FOSS and a roadmap for its optimum utilization.
About Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)

• It is a software that is licensed to be free to use, modify, and distribute. FOSS today presents an alternative model to build digital technologies for population scale. Unlike proprietary software, everyone has the freedom to edit, modify and reuse open-source code.

Benefits of FOSS

• Reduced costs
• No vendor lock-in
• The ability to customize for local context
• Greater innovation through wider collaboration

Usage of FOSS in India 

• Recognising its potential, in 2015, the Indian government announced a policy to encourage open source instead of proprietary technology for government applications. We have seen some great examples of public services being delivered through systems that use FOSS building blocks, including Aadhaar, GSTN, and the DigiLocker.
• Many other solutions launched by the government including Digilocker, Diksha, Aarogya Setu, the Covid-19 vaccination platform CoWIN have also been built on top of open-source digital platforms.

Misconceptions about FOSS

• Lack of trust: “Free” in FOSS is perceived to be “free of cost” and hence many think that the solutions based on FOSS are not good enough. For example, FOSS is often mistaken to be less trustworthy and more vulnerable, whereas FOSS can actually create more trust between the government and citizens.
• Absence of one clear owner: Another important issue is that it can feel easier to deal with a proprietary software vendor who builds a customized software and can be held accountable for any failures. In the case of FOSS, there appears to be an absence of one clear “owner”, which makes it harder to identify who is responsible.

Suggestions/measures

• Incentivize uptake of FOSS in government: The government’s policy on the adoption of open-source software requires all tech suppliers to submit bids with open source options. Suppliers also need to justify in case they do not offer an open-source option, and sourcing departments are asked to weigh the lifetime costs and benefits of both alternatives before making a decision. The present policy can go a step further by formally giving greater weightage to FOSS-specific metrics in the evaluation criteria in RFPs, and offering recognition to departments that deploy FOSS initiatives, such as, a special category under the Digital India Awards.
• A repository of “GovTech ready” building blocks: Off-the-shelf FOSS software is often not ready for direct deployment by government. Creating a repository of ready-to-use “GovTech-ised” building blocks, can help departments quickly identify and deploy FOSS solutions in their applications.
• FOSS innovations can be encouraged through “GovTech hackathons and challenges”, bringing together the open-source community to design solutions for specific problem statements identified by government departments. The best innovations emerging from these challenges can be listed on government procurement platforms such as GeM.
• One such challenge — a #FOSS4Gov Innovation Challenge — was recently launched to accelerate the adoption of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) in government by harnessing innovation from the FOSS ecosystem.
• A national “FOSS Centre of Excellence”: Finally, a credible institutional anchor is needed to be a home for FOSS led innovation in India. Such an institution can bring together FOSS champions and communities that are scattered across India around a shared agenda for collective impact. 

Road Ahead

• Kerala’s International Centre for Free & Open Source Software (ICFOSS) is a great example of such an institution that led to Kerala being a pioneering state in the adoption of FOSS. A national “FOSS Centre of Excellence” can create the much-needed momentum to build world-class “made in India” FOSS products.

Context: Recently, Forty Central universities will be implementing innovative measures such as the academic credit bank and the Glue Grant Scheme.
About Glue Grant Scheme

• Under the glue grant, announced in this year’s budget, institutions in the same city would be encouraged to share resources, equipment and even allow their students to take classes from each other.
• This is the first step for multidisciplinary. For eg: Delhi University(DU) student will be able to take a few classes at IIT-Delhi or vice versa.
• We intend to start this from the second semester of the current academic year.
• Ultimately, faculty will be able to design joint courses.
• This also meant that institutions need not duplicate work by developing the same capacities, but would able to build on each other’s expertise.

Credit bank

• The first step would be the academic credit bank, which would have to be adopted separately by the academic council of each university to kick off implementation.
• To start with, the system would allow students to attain qualifications by amassing credits rather than specific durations on campus.
• A certain number of credits would add up to a certificate, then a diploma and then a degree, allowing for multiple entry and exit points.
• Students can earn up to 40% of their credits in online Swayam classes, rather than in the physical classroom. In the future, these credits will hold validity across different institutions.

Context: Recently, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting constituted a Committee to review the existing guidelines of Journalist Welfare Scheme(JWS) and make appropriate recommendations for changes to the guidelines. 

Background

• The Ministry has taken very proactive steps in recent times for grant of ex-gratia payment to the families of journalists who unfortunately died due to COVID-19 and such assistance has been given in over 100 cases with Rs 5 lakh each.
• JWS has been in existence for many years and needed a relook from a futuristic perspective and broad basing the coverage for the benefit of the Journalists of this country.

Key Points

• With the enactment of Occupational, Safety, Health and Working Condition Code 2020, the definition of the Working Journalists has been broadened to include within its fold those working in both traditional and digital media.
• Further, it was also considered necessary to look at the possible parity between accredited and non-accredited journalists from the perspective of welfare and availing of benefits under the scheme.

About the Committee

• It has formed as a 12-members Committee headed by Prasar Bharati Board Member Ashok Kumar Tandon.
• Duration: The committee will submit its recommendation within two months.
• Role of Committee: To examine the need for revision of quantum of ex-gratia payment in death and other cases under Journalist Welfare Scheme.
• The committee will look into the aspect of differentiation or parity between accredited and non-accredited journalists for availing benefits under the scheme. 
• It will revise and broad-basing the definition of working journalist for the purpose of the Scheme keeping in view the Occupational, Safety, Health and Working Condition Code-2010 as well as Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code ) Rules, 2021. 

Key Importance

• The recommendations would enable the Government to frame guidelines afresh for the benefit of the journalists. 
• This decision is considered significant in the light of the several changes that have taken place in the media eco space including the loss of a large number of journalists due to COVID-19 and the broad basing of the definition of the “Working Journalists”.

Context

The 13th BRICS summit is set to be held on September 9 in digital format under India’s chairmanship

Challenges and opportunities for BRICS

• The importance of BRICS is self-evident: it represents 42% of the world’s population, 30% of the land area, 24% of global GDP and 16% of international trade.
• Weathering geopolitical challenges: Member states have been carrying BRICS forward in an era of complex geopolitics.
• They have bravely continued holding dozens of meetings and summits, even as India-China relations were strained after Galwan valley incident.
• Internal challenges: There is also the reality of the strained relations of China and Russia with the West, and of serious internal challenges preoccupying both Brazil and South Africa.
• On the other hand, a potential bond emerged due to the battle against COVID-19.
• Challenges to trade ties: BRICS has been busy deepening trade and investment ties among its member states.
• The difficulty stems from China’s centrality and dominance of intra-BRICS trade flows.
• How to create a better internal balance remains a challenge, reinforced by the urgent need for diversification and strengthening of regional value chains.
• China’s aggression: Beijing’s aggressive policy, especially against India, puts BRICS solidarity under exceptional strain.
• Lack of support: BRICS countries have not done enough to assist the Global South to win their optimal support for their agenda.

Does BRICS truly matter?

• The grouping has gone through a reasonably productive journey.
• Acts as a bridge: It strove to serve as a bridge between the Global North and Global South.
• It developed a common perspective on a wide range of global and regional issues.
• It established the New Development Bank; created a financial stability net in the form of Contingency Reserve Arrangement; and is on the verge of setting up a Vaccine Research and Development Virtual Center.

Immediate goals: 4 priorities

• As the current chair, India has outlined four priorities.
• Reforms of multilateral institutions: The first is to pursue reform of multilateral institutions ranging from the United Nations, World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to the World Trade Organization and now even the World Health Organization.
• Reform needs global consensus which is hardly feasible in the current climate of strategic contestation between the U.S. and China and the devastation caused by COVID-19.
• Nevertheless, Indian officials rightly remind us that BRICS emerged from the desire to challenge dominance (by the U.S.) in the early years of the century, and it remains committed to the goal of counter-dominance (by China) now.
• Combating terrorism: Tragic developments concerning Afghanistan have helped to focus attention sharply on this overarching theme, stressing the need to bridge the gap between rhetoric and action.
• China, for example, feels little hesitation in supporting clear-cut denunciations of terrorist groups and supports Pakistan, which is host to several international terrorist groups.
• BRICS is attempting to pragmatically shape its counter-terrorism strategy by crafting the BRICS Counter Terrorism Action Plan.
• Counter Terrorism Action Plan contains specific measures to fight radicalisation, terrorist financing and misuse of the Internet by terrorist groups.
• Technology and digital solution: Promoting technological and digital solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals and expanding people-to-people cooperation are the other two BRICS priorities.

Conclusion

It is necessary for leaders, officials and academics of this grouping to undertake serious soul-searching and find a way out of the present predicament.

Context: Recently, the Supreme Court has said that a person cannot be denied on flimsy grounds his fundamental right to reside or move freely anywhere in the country.
Key Observation

• The observation by a bench came while setting aside an externment order against a journalist and social worker issued by the district authorities in Amravati city, Maharashtra.
• The top court said that the drastic action of externment should only be taken in exceptional cases to maintain law and order.
• Externment orders prevent the movement of a person in certain areas  in maintaining law and order.

However, they cannot be employed as a vindictive or retaliatory measure.

• The drastic action of externment should only be taken in exceptional cases, to maintain law and order in a locality and/or prevent breach of public tranquility and peace, the court noted.

Freedom of Movement and Residence

• Article 19(1)(d) and (e) of the Indian Constitution guarantees to every citizen of India right to move freely throughout the territory of India and to reside and settle in any Part of the of the Territory of India.
• This right is subject to reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the general public or for the protection of the interests of any Scheduled Tribes.

(A) Freedom of Movement under Article 19(1)(d)

• All Citizens of India have the right “to move freely throughout the territory of India.
• This Right is, however subject to reasonable restrictions mentioned under Article 19(5).

Restrictions:

• This clause (5) empowers the State to impose reasonable restrictions in the interest of the general public or for the protection of the interest of any Scheduled Tribe.
• Kharak Singh V. State of UP (1963) Case: The Supreme Court held that the right to move freely throughout the territory of India means the right of locomotion which connotes the right to move wherever one likes, and however one likes.
• State of UP V. Kaushalya Case (1964):  In this case, the Supreme court held that the right of movement of prostitutes may be restricted on grounds of Public Health and in the interest of Public Morals.

(B) Freedom of Resident under Article 19(1)(e)

• Article 19(1)(e) of the Indian Constitution guarantees to every citizen of India, the right “to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India”.
• This right is subjected to reasonable restrictions which may be imposed by the State in the interest of the general public or for the protection of the interest of any Scheduled Tribe.

Some facts

• The Freedom of Movement and Residence apply only to citizens of India and not the Foreigners.
• A foreigner cannot claim the right to reside and settle in the country as guaranteed by Article Article 19(1)(e).
• The Government of India has the power to expel foreigners from India.

Context: Recently, the Chief Justice of India expressed his concerns about the human rights violations in police stations. The violations happen despite various constitutional safeguards and guarantees. 

• Unfortunately, the threat to human rights violation & bodily integrity is highest in police stations. Since the police are meant to protect human rights, efforts are needed to improve the situation in the police stations.

Key Findings of National crime Record Bureau

• NCRB data show that on average about 47.2 criminal cases were registered annually against policemen in last 10 years. 
• A judicial enquiry is mandatory for suspicious deaths. It has been conducted only in 26.4 cases.

According to NCRB, the number of deaths in police custody varies every year. The data reveals that 100 custodial deaths have taken place every year between 2010 -2019 Of these deaths,

• 3.5% have been due to injuries caused by the police
• 28.1 % because of suicide
• 8.6 %, while escaping custody
• Rest, due to other different reasons like illness etc.

Supreme court judgements to protect human rights
The Supreme Court has pronounced many judgements to strengthen the human rights regime. For instance,

• In Arnesh Kumar v State of Bihar (2014): The SC held that even though the offence is non-bailable, an arrest is not mandatory as per Section 41 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
• In Special Action Forum v Union of India (2018): The SC held, the police officer shall explain to the magistrate the reasons necessitated the arrest for further detention of the accused.
• In Prakash Singh v Union of India (2006): The SC recommended separating the investigating police from law and order police to ensure better expertise in the investigation. Similar, recommendations have been given by the National Police Commission (1977-81), 154th Law Commission report (1996) & Malimath committee (2003).
• Malimath committee also recommended that investigation officers should not investigate more than 10 cases a year.
• In DK Basu v State of Bengal (1996): The SC laid down the guidelines to check custodial torture and also mentioned steps to increase transparency & responsibility of police officers during an arrest.
• In Paramvir Singh v Baljit Singh (2020): The Supreme Court has directed States to cover more area of each police station under CCTV cameras and have storage facility of audio-video recording for 18 months. An independent committee shall study the footage and periodically publish reports of its observations. Thus, sufficient steps are being taken to ensure that the abuse of human rights is minimised.

What needs to be done?

• The foremost measure to reduce instances of custodial violence is to reduce the number of arrests. The law on arrest says that arrest for offences punishable up to seven years of imprisonment should be made only when the police officer is satisfied that such arrest is necessary to prevent the person from tampering with evidence, to prevent the person from committing any further offence, etc. 
• Training of police persons to sensitize and encourage them to adopt scientific tools of interrogation. For instance, Narco test, Lie detector test etc.
• As was mentioned by the Home ministry, India needs to link police modernization with police reforms to create a police force that can meet the demands of contemporary times.
• Custodial death is perhaps one of the worst crimes in a civilised society governed by the rule of law. The guilty, therefore, must be punished severely for his misconduct and criminal act. 

Road Ahead

• The police officers must know that their mandate is to protect human rights and not violate them. They need to be sensitised regularly and encouraged to employ scientific tools of interrogation and investigation like the lie detection test, narco test and brainfingerprinting test.

Context: Recently, the Allahabad High Court said that the cow should be declared the national animal and that gau raksha (cow protection) should be included as a fundamental right of the Hindus. 
Court's stand

• Religious and cultural significance: The court made the comments, along with a string of other observations, noting the religious and cultural significance of cows and the need for cow protection.
• The court denied bail to Javed, a person from Sambhal, who has been in jail since March on charges of allegedly stealing a cow and slaughtering it with his associates.
• Do not forget our culture: The court said history was full of instances that “whenever we forgot our culture, foreigners attacked us and enslaved us and if we are not warned, we should not forget the unbridled attack on and capture of Afghanistan by Taliban”.
• Scientific reason: The Court stated that scientists believe the cow is the only animal that inhales and exhales oxygen and invoked mythology at several points.
• Backbone of Farming: The court stressed that the cow was the “basis of our culture” and had occupied an important place in the Puranas, the Shastras, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, even as it pointed to the economic value of cows as the “backbone” of farming and other uses in daily life.
• Law on cow slaughter: Justice Yadav also opined that Parliament should bring in a law to take tough action against those accused of cow slaughter. He described cows as a symbol of Hindu faith and culture, and claimed that even the majority of Muslims in the country were in favour of a nationwide ban on cow slaughter.

Pros of making Cow a National Animal

Protection from Slaughter: Declaring Cow as National Animal will give cow more legal and strict law backup which will prevent its slaughtering .

• It will attract more support from the Government in form of funding , policies and programmes which will result in reformation of the cows.
• More R&D will be done in this field which will finally bring advantage to the society itself.
• By-products of cows such as milk hold nutritional importance and help in stemming the nutritional gap. Thus a legal protection will further enhance milk production.

Uses: Pharmaceutical products from cow urine and cow dung. Cow dung is used as organic manure which helps in overcoming the negatives of chemical fertilizers.

• 70% of India's people depend on agriculture out of which 98% on cattle based agriculture, by expanding cow based industry cow will have a definite stature in the Indian economy.
• Help to check illegal trade of cows in domestic markets and neighbouring countries.

Why should cows not be made a national animal?

• Cows are already given legal backup in form of DPSP 48, 51. Real issue is whether a state is eager to implement them or not . Merely adding more laws is not going to change the situation.
• It will become infeasible for already poor farmers of India to keep infertile cows as they need to buy fodder as well. So keeping old cows over a period of time is not beneficial for the farmers. After all farmers need to carry such expenditure, not the government.
• It may be of considerable economic loss to industries having their raw material source from the animal market. Example: Meat and allied industries will be severely impacted since they derive their source from the animal market.
• This is not beneficial for the Cow itself as a breed. Farmers feeding cows uneconomically will turn to other milching animals which is not good for already declining cows numbers(against buffaloes).
• It will hit the labour intensive and export oriented leather Industry of India which is not good for Indian Exports.
• It may result in the problem of rogue animals as owners with no economic interest are likely to free their animals on roads. And Government Gaushals are not so large in numbers and Size that they can handle such large numbers. It will worsen cows in Gaushala also as good caretaking will not be possible for such a large number.
• Giving due importance to cattle irrespective of other animals could be considered as a religious move and an attempt to hurt the secular fabric of our constitution .

Road Ahead

• Giving National Animal Status does not guarantee a better situation for cows in the country but it may worsen their situation. 
• Instead of taking such steps it is the need of hour to create a National policy (as states are unable to take steps) for cows that will be beneficial for both animal and owner.

Context

The Union Cabinet earlier last month has approved the continuation of over 1000 Fast Track Special Courts to ensure faster delivery of justice to victims of sexual offenses, as a centrally sponsored scheme for another two years.

What is the announcement?

• The decision offers continuation of 389 exclusive POCSO courts to expedite trials and provide immediate relief to minor girls who are victims of sexual crimes.
• The continuation of the scheme involves a total outlay of more than Rs 1,572 crore. Rs 971 crore is provided by the Centre from the Nirbhaya Fund, the remaining amount is expected to be provided by states.
• This decision is being hailed as a major step towards de-clogging the justice system.

Fast Track Special Courts: A backgrounder

• Incidents of rape of minor girls below the age of twelve years and women below the age of sixteen years have shaken the conscience of the entire nation.
• To bring more stringent provisions and expeditious trial and disposal of such cases, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 was enacted which made provision of stringent punishment, including death penalty, for perpetrators of rape, it said.
• This led to the establishment of the fast-track special courts.

Sexual Crime in India

• Sexual Abuse/ Molestation/ Rape: Rape is one of the most common crimes in India.According to the National Crime Records Bureau, one woman is raped every 20 minutes in India.
• Marital Crimes: In India, marital rape is not a criminal offense.  India is one of fifty countries that have not yet outlawed marital rape.
• Forced Marriage: Girls are vulnerable to being forced into marriage at young ages, suffering from a double vulnerability: both for being a child and for being female.  
• Trafficking and forced prostitution: Human trafficking, especially of girls and women, often leads to forced prostitution and sexual slavery.
• Online abuse: Women are regularly subject to online rape threats, online harassment, cyber-stalking, blackmail, trolling, slut-shaming and more.
• Harassment at the workplace: Sexual harassment at workplace, mostly comprising of indecent remarks, unwanted touches, demands for sex, and the dissemination of pornography.

Why do we need to tackle such crimes in a speedy manner?

• When we talk about violence, it is easy to focus on the physical effects.
• The injuries on the body can be life-changing and can even result in death. It is important however to consider the impact of this incident can have on victim’s mental health.
• Depression, anxiety and low self-esteem are typical repercussions of a violent experience. These psychological effects can be incredibly destructive.
• Many victims report feeling suicidal tendency. The psychological effect may completely change the personality of the victim.
• Hence it is important to extend the psychological support to the victim. Speedy Justice serves this purpose.

Various laws for the protection of women

Various special laws relating to women include:

• Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005
• Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961
• Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986
• Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013
• Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006

The Government has also taken a number of initiatives for the safety of women and girls, which are given below:

• Nirbhaya Fund for projects for the safety and security of women
• One-Stop Centre Scheme to provide integrated support and assistance to women affected by violence, both in private and public spaces under one roof
• Online analytic tool for police called “Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences” to monitor and track time-bound investigation in sexual assault cases in accordance with Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2018.
• National Database on Sexual Offenders (NDSO) to facilitate investigation and tracking of sexual offenders across the country by law enforcement agencies.

Need for fast-track courts

• Clearance rate: They have a better clearance rate as compared to the regular courts and hold speedy trials.
• Speedy Trial: Besides providing quick justice to the hapless victims, it strengthens the deterrence framework for sexual offenders.
• Deterrence framework: Besides providing quick justice to the victims, it strengthens the deterrence framework for sexual offenders.

Expected outcomes from these courts

• Women safety: Further the commitment of the nation to champion the cause of safety and security of women and girl child.
• Reduction of pendency of cases: Fastracking of these cases will declog the judicial system of the burden of case pendency
• Special consideration: Reduce the number of pending cases of Rape & POCSO Act.
• Speedy access to justice: Provide speedy access to justice to the victims of sexual crimes and act as a deterrent for sexual offenders.

What else can be done?

• Increasing number of fast track courts is an urgent need.
• Special investigation units comprising predominantly women police officers should be created.
• In these special courts, women judges should be there so that the victim feels comfortable in narrating the details of the sexual assault perpetrated on her.
• Gender sensitization programs will help the officers to have the required considerate approach for rape victims.
• Another very important aspect is to provide counseling for the family members of the victim. So that the family can positively help the victim to come out of trauma.
• There should be a state sponsored victim compensation fund particularly for heinous offences including rape.

Conclusion

• Breaking the cycle of abuse will require concerted collaboration and action between governmental and non-governmental actors including educators, health-care authorities, legislators, the judiciary and the mass media.
• Education of both men and women will lead to change in attitudes and perceptions.
• It is not easy to eradicate deep seated cultural value or alter traditions that perpetuates discrimination.
• It is mammoth task. We are just doing bits and pieces. A way ahead is obscure but in our sphere with concrete and pronounced steps.

Context: Recently, the UN Security Council under India’s Presidency has adopted a strong resolution on Afghanistan.
Background

• Despite the abstention of two “P-5” countries, Russia and China, from the India-led United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2593, the Government of India said it was a “matter of satisfaction” that the resolution, addressed India's “key concerns” on Afghanistan.
• The resolution was sponsored by France, UK and the US with 13 members voting in favour, none against and permanent, veto-wielding members Russia and China abstaining.
• It was the first resolution adopted by the powerful 15-nation Council on the situation in Afghanistan following the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban.

?Key highlights of Resolution

• The resolution has demanded that the territory of Afghanistan not be used to threaten any country or shelter terrorists.
• The resolution expects that the Taliban will adhere to commitments made by it on regarding the safe and orderly departure from the country of Afghans and all foreign nationals.
• The resolution demands that Afghan territory should not be used to finance terrorist acts, and reiterates the importance of combating terrorism in Afghanistan.
• The resolution expects that the Taliban will adhere to commitments regarding the safe, secure, and orderly departure from Afghanistan of Afghans and all foreign nationals.
• The resolution calls on the relevant parties to work with international partners to take steps to strengthen security and to prevent further casualties.

Context: Recently, the United Nations (UN) has banned British stamps from being used on the Chagos archipelago.
Key Points

• The Universal Postal Union (UPU) – the UN specialized agency for postal matters has banned British stamps from being used on the Chagos archipelago. 
• All post from the Chagos Islands must now bear stamps from Mauritius.

Chagos Island

• Chagos archipelago is an island group in the central Indian Ocean, located about 1,600 km south of the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent.

The dispute

• There is a longstanding spat between Mauritius and Britain over the Chagos Islands, where London and Washington operate a joint military base.
• Although Mauritius became independent in 1968, the Chagos archipelago remained under British control.
• The Chagos Archipelago was previously recognized as part of the Overseas Territories of the United Kingdom.

Recent developments

• In 2019, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Britain should give up control of the islands.
• Later in 2019, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution recognising that "the Chagos Archipelago forms an integral part of the territory of Mauritius" and urged UN agencies "to support the decolonisation of Mauritius".

India’s Stand

• India has supported Mauritius' stand on the Chagos Archipelago. India in its submission to ICJ has said that the Chagos Archipelago has been and continues to be with Mauritius and demanded sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago from Britain.
• India stayed committed to its Indian Ocean neighbor Mauritius, as well as its anti-colonial credentials.

Note: As an UN specialized agency, the UPU is required to cooperate with and assist the UN and its principal and subsidiary organs and therefore brought the matter to its primary governing body, the Congress, for a decision.

Context: Recently, Sri Lanka has declared an economic emergency, after a steep fall in the value of the South Asian country's currency caused a spike in food prices.
Reason

• The announcement came after a surge in the cost of basic foodstuffs such as sugar, onions and potatoes.
• The prices of most of the essential goods have been skyrocketing owing to the plunging local currency value and high global market prices are driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Sri Lanka, a net importer of food and other commodities, is witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths which has hit tourism, one of its main foreign currency earners.
• The Sri Lankan rupee has fallen by 7.5 per cent against the US dollar this year.
• Sri Lanka's Department of Census and Statistics said the increase in the foreign exchange rate was one of the reasons behind rising prices of many essential items over the last 12 months.
• The bank has also noted that the island country’s foreign reserves plunged to $2.8 billion at the end of July from $7.5 billion in November 2019 when the government acquired the office. Sri Lankan rupee has lost over 20% of its value against the US dollar in that time. 

Key Steps taken

• The government has appointed a former army general as commissioner of essential services, who will have the power to seize food stocks held by traders and retailers and regulate their prices.
• The military will oversee the action which gives power to officials to ensure that essential items, including rice and sugar, are sold at government-guaranteed prices or prices based on import costs at customs and prevent hiding of stocks.
• The wide-ranging measure is also aimed at recovering credit owed to State banks by importers.

Additional Imformation
Financial Emergency in India

• The President of India can declare the Financial Emergency on the aid and advise of the Council of Ministers.
• She/ He has to be satisfied that a situation has arisen due to which the financial stability or credit of India or any part of its territory is threatened.
• Article 360 gives authority to the President of India to declare a financial emergency.
• However, the 44th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1978 says that the President’s ‘satisfaction’ is not beyond judicial review.
• It means the Supreme Court can review the declaration of a Financial Emergency.

Parliamentary Approval and Duration

• A proclamation of financial emergency must be approved by both the Houses of Parliament within two months from the date of its issue.
• A resolution approving the proclamation of financial emergency can be passed by either House of Parliament (Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha) only by a simple majority.
• Once approved by both the Houses of Parliament, the Financial Emergency continues indefinitely till it is revoked.
• It may be revoked by the President anytime without any Parliamentary approval (but with the usual aid and advise).

Effects of Financial Emergency

• During the financial emergency, the executive authority of the Center expands and it can give financial orders to any state according to its own.
• All money bills or other financial bills, that come up for the President’s consideration after being passed by the state legislature, can be reserved.
• Salaries and allowances of all or any class of persons serving in the state can be reduced.
• The President may issue directions for the reduction of salaries and allowances of: (i) All or any class of persons serving the Union and the judges of the Supreme Court and the High Court.

Note: Financial Emergency has not been imposed in India even once. Although the economic situation was much worse in 1991, but a financial emergency was not imposed.

• It takes stock of progress made to date towards the 2025 global targets for dementia laid out in the WHO’s ‘Global Dementia Action Plan’ published in 2017.
• It uses data from WHO’s Global Health Estimates 2019 and the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 as well as from WHO’s Global Dementia Observatory (GDO).

Data includes issues ranging from national policies and diagnosis, treatment and care, support for careers and research and innovation. 

• So far, 62 countries have submitted data to the GDO, 56% of which are high-income and 44% low- and middle-income. 
• Together, these countries represent 76% of people aged 60 years or older.

Issue

• Four years ago, governments agreed on a set of targets to improve dementia care. 
• But targets alone are not enough. Concerted action is required to ensure that all people with dementia are able to live with the support and dignity they deserve

• According to the report, the number of people living with dementia is growing. 
• WHO estimates that more than 55 million people (8.1 % of women and 5.4% of men over 65 years) are living with dementia, 10.3 million in the Region of the Americas. 
• This number is estimated to rise to 78 million by 2030 and to 139 million by 2050.
• WHO’s Western Pacific Region has the highest number of people with dementia (20.1 million), followed by the European Region (14.1 million).
• Medication for dementia, hygiene products, assistive technologies and household adjustments are also more accessible in high-income countries, with a greater level of reimbursement, than in lower-income countries.
• Informal care accounts for about half the global cost of dementia, while social care costs make up over a third. 
• In low- and middle-income countries, most dementia care costs are attributable to informal care (65%). In richer countries informal and social care costs each amount to approximately 40%.

• More positively, countries in all regions have made good progress in implementing public awareness campaigns to improve public understanding of dementia, with strong leadership by civil society. 
• Two-thirds of countries reporting to the Observatory have run awareness-raising campaigns. 
• And two-thirds have taken action to improve the accessibility of physical and social environments for people with dementia and to provide training and education to population groups outside the health and social care sector, such as volunteers, police, fire services and first responders.

• The report highlights an urgent need to strengthen support at national level, both in terms of care for people with dementia and in support for the people, who provide that care in both formal and informal settings.
• Care required for people with dementia includes primary health care, specialist care, community-based services, rehabilitation, long-term care, and palliative care.
• The type and level of services provided by the health and social care sectors also determines the level of informal care, which is primarily provided by family members. 
• To have a better chance of success, dementia research efforts need to have a clear direction and be better coordinated,

• Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive disease that destroys memory and other important mental functions. 
• It’s the most common cause of dementia — a group of brain disorders that results in the loss of intellectual and social skills. These changes are severe enough to interfere with day-to-day life.
• In Alzheimer’s disease, the brain cells themselves degenerate and die, causing a steady decline in memory and mental function. 
• Current Alzheimer’s disease medications and management strategies may temporarily improve symptoms. This can sometimes help people with Alzheimer’s disease maximize function and maintain independence.
• But because there’s no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, it’s important to seek supportive services and tap into your support network as early as possible.
• According to the US-based Alzheimer’s Association, there are over 4 million people in India who suffer from some form of dementia.

• Dementia is a syndrome and not a disease, which Alzheimer’s is. The two are, however, closely related. 
• Dementia’s various symptoms include loss of memory, thinking skills, problems with language, changes in the mood, deterioration in behaviour and an individual’s ability to perform everyday activities. 
• It is most commonly caused by Alzheimer’s disease, which accounts for dementia in over 50-75% of the cases. 
• Dementia can be caused by other diseases such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease as well. It also has types, such as Lewy body and vascular dementia. 

Context: Russia has warned of an increase in West Nile virus (WNV) infections due to mild temperatures and heavy precipitation creating favourable conditions for the mosquitos that carry it.
About West Nile Virus

• It is a member of the flavivirus genus and belongs to the Japanese encephalitis antigenic complex of the family Flaviviridae.

Origin

• It was first isolated in a woman in the West Nile district of Uganda in 1937. It was identified in birds in the Nile delta region in 1953. 
• Birds are the natural hosts of the West Nile virus.
• It is commonly found in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, North America and West Asia. 

Transmission

• Human infection is most often the result of bites from infected mosquitoes. Mosquitoes become infected when they feed on infected birds, which circulate the virus in their blood for a few days.
• No human-to-human transmission of WNV through casual contact has been documented.

Symptoms

• Infected persons usually have no symptoms or mild symptoms, it can cause a fatal neurological disease in certain cases.
• Some of the symptoms include fever, headache, body aches, skin rash, and swollen lymph glands.

Treatment

• As of now, there is no vaccine against the virus in humans although one exists for horses.

Context:  100years has passed since the Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine was introduced to combat tuberculosis (TB) on 18 July, 1921.

About BCG Vaccine

• Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine is a vaccine primarily used against tuberculosis (TB).
• BCG was developed by modifying a strain of Mycobacterium bovis (that causes TB in cattle). It was first used in humans in 1921.
• Currently, BCG is the only licensed vaccine available for the prevention of TB.
• It is the world’s most widely used vaccine with about 120 million doses every year and has an excellent safety record.
• In India, BCG was first introduced in a limited scale in 1948 and became a part of the National TB Control Programme in 1962.
• In children, BCG provides strong protection against severe forms of TB. This protective effect is far more variable in adolescents and adults, ranging from 0–80%.
• BCG also protects against respiratory and bacterial infections of the newborns, and other mycobacterial diseases like leprosy and Buruli’s ulcer.
• It is also used as an immunotherapy agent in cancer of the urinary bladder and malignant melanoma.

Varying Efficacy of BCG

• BCG works well in some geographic locations and not so well in others. Generally, the farther a country is from the equator, the higher is the efficacy.
• It has a high efficacy in the UK, Norway, Sweden and Denmark; and little efficacy in countries on or near the equator like India, Kenya and Malawi, where the burden of TB is higher. These regions also have a higher prevalence of environmental mycobacteria.It is believed that these may interfere with the protective effect against TB.

About tuberculosis (TB)

• TB is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis, belonging to the Mycobacteriaceae family.
• In humans, TB most commonly affects the lungs (pulmonary TB), but it can also affect other organs (extra-pulmonary TB).
• Unlike other historically dreaded diseases like smallpox, leprosy, plague and cholera that have been either eradicated or controlled to a large extent, TB continues to be a major public health problem in the world.
• According to the WHO’s Global TB Report, 10 million people developed TB in 2019 with 1.4 million deaths. India accounts for 27% of these cases.

Road Ahead

• India is committed to eliminate TB as a public health problem by 2025. To achieve this goal, we would not only need better diagnostics and drugs but also more effective vaccines.
• We need to build on lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic, and replicate the successes achieved especially in vaccine development and prepare to address the challenges faced in ensuring vaccine equity.

Context: In a massive blow to Pakistan, the new rulers of Afghanistan - the Taliban - have opposed the fencing of the Durand line which has served as the official border between the two nations for more than one hundred years, but it has also caused controversy for the people who live there.

According to Taliban spokesman

• The new Afghan government will announce its position on this issue of fencing which has separated people and divided families. 
• We want to create a secure and peaceful environment on the border so there is no need to create barriers.

Durand Line: A Line dividing Pashtun

• The Durand Line is a legacy of the 19th century Great Game between the Russian and British empires in which Afghanistan was used as a buffer by the British against a feared Russian expansionism to its east.
• The agreement demarcating what became known as the Durand Line was signed on November 12, 1893 between the British civil servant Sir Henry Mortimer Durand and Amir Abdur Rahman, then the Afghan ruler.
• Abdur Rahman became king in 1880, two years after the end of the Second Afghan War in which the British took control of several areas that were part of the Afghan kingdom. 
• He was essentially a British puppet and his agreement with Durand demarcated the limits of his and British India’s “spheres of influence” on the Afghan “frontier” with India.

An illogical separation

• In reality, the line cut through Pashtun tribal areas, leaving villages, families, and land divided between the two “spheres of influence”.
• It has been described as a “line of hatred”, arbitrary, illogical, cruel and a trickery on the Pashtuns.
• Some historians believe it was a ploy to divide the Pashtuns so that the British could keep control over them easily.
• It also put on the British side the strategic Khyber Pass.

Cross-border tensions at Durand Line

• With independence in 1947, Pakistan inherited the Durand Line, and with it also the Pashtun rejection of the line, and Afghanistan’s refusal to recognize it.
• Afghanistan was the only country to vote against Pakistan joining the United Nations in 1947.
• ‘Pashtunistan’ — an independent country of the Pashtuns — was a demand made by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan at the time of Partition, although he later resigned himself to the reality of Partition.
• The proximity of the ‘Frontier Gandhi’ to India was a point of tension between the two countries almost immediately.
• The fear of Indian support to Pashtun nationalism haunts Pakistan to date, and is embedded in its Afghan policy.

Pakistani support against the Pashtuns

• Pakistan’s creation and support for the Taliban is seen by some as a move to obliterate ethnic Pashtun nationalism with an Islamic identity.
• But it did not work out the way Pakistan had planned.
• When the Taliban seized power in Kabul the first time, they rejected the Durand Line.
• They also strengthened Pashtun identity with an Islamic radicalism to produce the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, whose terrorist attacks since 2007 left the country shaken.

Context: Recently, China has notified new maritime rules, warranting vessels to report their information when passing through what China sees as its “Territorial Waters”, that will take effect from 1st September 2021.
Background

• China claims almost all of the 1.3 million square-mile South China Sea as its sovereign territory. It has been building military bases on artificial islands in the region.
• It is seen as a sign of stepped-up efforts to safeguard China's national security at sea by implementing strict rules to boost maritime identification capability.
• China sees the US’ incursion into the region is of assertive nature that can be the biggest destroyer of peace and stability in the region.

Key Features of China’s new maritime rules 

• Foreign vessels, both military and commercial, will be henceforth required to submit to Chinese supervision in “Chinese territorial waters,” as per the new law. 
• “Operators of submersibles, nuclear vessels, ships carrying radioactive materials and ships carrying bulk oil, chemicals, liquefied gas and other toxic and harmful substances are required to report their detailed information upon their visits to Chinese territorial waters”.
• It designed to control the entry of foreign vessels in what Beijing calls “Chinese territorial waters” take effect. 
• The move is expected to have far-reaching consequences for passage of vessels, in the disputed South China Sea, East China Sea and Taiwan Strait, and is likely to escalate the existing tension with the US and its neighbours in the region.

Impact of the move

• The move is expected to have far-reaching consequences for passage of vessels, both commercial and military, in the disputed South China Sea, East China Sea and Taiwan Strait.
• It is likely to escalate the existing tension with the US and its neighbors in the region.

Why is this important?

• South China Sea: The South China Sea, which lies between China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam, is of great economic importance globally.
• Shipping: Nearly one-third of the world’s shipping passes through its lanes, and the waters house numerous important fisheries.

Significance for India

• South China Sea is a critical route for India, both militarily and commercially.
• It plays a vital role in facilitating India’s trade with Japan, South Korea and ASEAN countries, and assists in the efficient procurement of energy supplies.
• More than 55% of India’s trade passes through the South China Sea and Malacca Straits.
• India is also involved in oil and gas exploration in offshore blocks in the margins of the Sea, which has led to standoffs with Chinese authorities.

The actual row

• The waters around China are hotly contested.
• Under a “nine-dash line” map, China claims most of the South China Sea as its sovereign territory.
• This claim is contested by its neighbors in the region and by the United States, which, though it has no claim in the Sea, backs the smaller nations in the fight against Chinese overreach.

International position

• Currently, international maritime activities are governed by an international agreement called the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
• China, India and over a hundred other countries are signatories of UNCLOS (the US, significantly, is not).
• Accordingly, states have the right to implement territorial rights up to 12 nautical miles into the sea.
• The UNCLOS also states that all vessels have the right of “innocent passage” through this region – China’s new law violates this.

Context: The Covid-19  lockdown was tough on the community.The police were the authority entrusted with preventing panic and maintaining normalcy in such circumstances.
Background
The nature of policing changed during the lockdown, revealed data from the recently released Lokniti-CSDS and Common Cause report. 

• Nearly 9 out of 10 police personnel (88%) felt that the nature of policing was different compared to normal times. 

Enforcing a lockdown was a whole new ball game, for which India’s police forces were neither well equipped nor trained.

• The ‘Policing in the Covid-19 Pandemic’ study was conducted among 2,409 civilians and 1,198 police personnel in 19 cities spread across 10 of the worst affected states after the first wave of Covid-19.

The use of force by police in some cases resulted in fear of arbitrary state violence. Data reveal that the fear of police (‘a lot’ and ‘somewhat’ combined) was high among people. Among the biggest of fears and anxieties were those of fines (57%), followed by that of police beatings (55% ). 

• An overwhelming proportion of police personnel (79%) reported a drop in the overall crime rate. While police personnel reported that general crimes such as theft, robbery, kidnapping, and murder seemed to have reduced significantly during the lockdown, offences committed in the private space such as cases of domestic violence against women and incidents related to cybercrime saw an upward trend. 

Need for Police Reforms 

• The basic framework of the Indian police system was made in 1861 in the form of the Police Act, 1861, in the aftermath of the 1857 revolt. 
• However, society has made tremendous strides, especially in the years after independence, and the public’s expectations from the police forces have changed dramatically.
• Also, the nature of the crimes committed has undergone a sea change with factors like technology influencing both crime and investigation. 
• There is a pressing need to modify a system with roots in the 19th century and set up by a colonial government.
• There is a need to update and upgrade the police system in the country and make it relevant to the current times and situations.

Problems with the Police System

• The problems associated with the system and functioning of the police in India are manifold. Some of the important ones are discussed below.
• Politician – Police – Criminal Nexus
• Under the current system, the police forces come under the executive’s control. 
• The state police forces come under the state government while the central police forces (CRPF, ITBP, SSB, BSF, Assam Rifles, CISF and NSG) come under the Union Home Ministry. 
• Over the years, the executive has been able to abuse the power it has and used the police forces for personal or political interests.
• This results in a biased performance of duties by the police personnel.
• This was noted in the Second ARC Report.
• Another related phenomenon has been the criminalisation of politics.

Overburdened Police Force

• Police forces in India (both central and state) are short-staffed. 
• As of January 2016, the state forces had 24% vacancies (5.5 lakh) and the central forces had 7% vacancies.
• India has 137 police personnel per lakh of the population while the sanctioned strength is 181. And, this is woefully inadequate when compared to the United Nations recommended standard of 222 personnel per lakh people.
• This results in unsatisfactory working conditions for the personnel with long working hours and an enormous workload.
• Also, there is a lack of adequate representation of women in the police force. They form under 7% of the force which is way short when the number of women-related crimes is concerned.
• All this adversely affects the efficiency and effectiveness of the force.

Police Accountability

• There are many grievances against the police such as unlawful arrests, unlawful searches, torture while in custody and even custodial rapes and deaths.
• Recently, cases of custodial torture and deaths (like the case of a father-son duo in Thoothukudi) and ‘encounter’ killings had led to serious question marks on the integrity of the police force.
• The police are accused of abusing their power and suppressing the very people they are supposed to protect.
• There are also allegations of corruption against the police personnel.
• There is a need to fix police accountability internally and also through an external independent oversight system.

Inadequate Resources

• The police forces face a severe lack of resources when seen in the light of the enormous and varied responsibilities they undertake.
• CAG audits have reported a shortage of weapons with several state police forces.
• Police vehicles are also in short supply.
• The infrastructure has also to be modernised to help the police personnel solve crimes faster, among other things.

2006 Supreme Court Directives on Police Reforms

• In 1996, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by two former director generals of police, Prakash Singh and NK Singh requested the Supreme Court to give directions to the government to implement the police commission recommendations. In 2006, the SC gave seven directives regarding the same.

The 2006 SC directives are

• Constitute a state security commission to make sure that the state does not exercise undue influence on the police.
• The DGP should be appointed through a transparent and merit-based process and have a minimum tenure of two years.
• Other police officers on operational duties should also be given a minimum two-year tenure.
• The ‘law and order’ and ‘investigation’ functions of the police should be separated.
• A Police Establishment Board should be set up to decide transfers, promotions, postings and other service-related matters of the police.
• Set up police complaints authorities at the state and district levels to enquire into complaints of the public against police officers of and above the DSP rank for serious misconduct including custodial rape and death.
• Establish a National Security Commission at the central level for preparing a panel for the selection and placement of Chiefs of the Central Police Organisations with a minimum tenure of 2 years.

Road Ahead

• The ‘stay at home’ restrictions brought to light the dynamics of interaction between citizens and police. Although the majority of people rated the behaviour of the police as good, there were many instances of confrontations and altercations as well. The lockdown not only led to a sudden change in the pattern of daily life, but also triggered a shift in crime dynamics and policing duties. 

Context: Recently, Union government and the education regulator have identified five key areas of focus in the next phase of reforms in the higher education sector. 

• These areas, education finance, administration, accounting system, a central higher education data repository, and internal autonomy, will act as catalysts to reduce compliance burden in the sector and instil self-discipline.
• The University Grants Commission (UGC) and the education ministry believe that there is a need to streamline the compliance system, reduce unwanted interference, and involve institutions to find solutions to these five key areas of concern.

These five key areas of concern

• Education Finance: The government will encourage universities to raise money from the market through collaborations, industry projects and sponsored projects.
• Administration: Universities should promote simplification of methods in administration and finance.
• Accounting system reforms
• Central Higher Education Data Repository: UGC to establish a centralised database for pooling of data regarding Higher Educational Institutes(HEIs)
• Internal Autonomy within the institutions.

Other Focus Areas

• Accessibility to internet facilities in rural areas: This is an issue that was exposed during the pandemic as schools and colleges closed their campuses to curb the spread of the virus. This move severely impacted education delivery, more so outside cities.

Significance of these reforms

• India has a massive higher education sector with nearly 51,000 colleges, institutions, and universities catering to almost 38 million students.
• However, the education ministry has always been criticised for over-regulation. Hence, these reforms are being initiated to ease the traditional burden and move on a path of reform.

Context: Recently, the Union WCD Minister of India addressed the first ever G20 Ministerial Conference on Women’s Empowerment.
About G20 Ministerial Conference On Women’s Empowerment

• Emphasis: It acknowledged the common objectives and shared responsibilities to advance the goals of equality and development of women and girls in all spheres.
• Held At: Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy in a hybrid format.

Participants

Gender Equality Ministers from the G20 countries

• Representatives of international organisations (UN Women, ILO, OECD)
• Representatives of the business community
• academia and  civil society.

Focus Areas: To achieve women’s empowerment at global level across sectors, with a particular focus on two outstanding thematic strains:

• STEM, digital and financial literacy and environment and sustainability;
• Labour and economic empowerment and work-life balance.
• Call for the protection of women in Afghanistan: Afghan women and girls urgently need the support and the action of the G20 to ensure that their rights are guaranteed and to prevent further actions against women.

India’s Statement

• India reaffirmed its commitment towards addressing gender and women centric issues through mutual cooperation. 
• The Minister highlighted the various initiatives undertaken in India towards fostering gender equality, ensuring better healthcare and strengthening women’s safety & security.
• The Minister also conveyed India’s solidarity with the G20 for promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment amongst partner countries.

Initiatives Taken in India 
List of Women Empowerment Schemes

• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) ensures the protection, survival and education of the girl child.
• Mahila Shakti Kendra (MSK) aims to empower rural women with opportunities for skill development and employment.
• Working Women Hostel (WWH) ensures the safety and security for working women.
• Scheme for Adolescent Girls aims to empower girls in the age group 11-18 and to improve their social status through nutrition, life skills, home skills and vocational training
• Mahila Police Volunteers (MPV) envisages engagement of Mahila Police Volunteers in States/UTs who act as a link between police and community and facilitates women in distress.
• Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) is an apex microfinance organization that provides micro-credit at concessional terms to poor women for various livelihood and income generating activities.
• The National Crèche Scheme ensures that women take up gainful employment through providing a safe, secure and stimulating environment to the children.
• Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandna Yojana aims to provide maternity benefits to pregnant and lactating mothers.
• Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana aims to provide housing under the name of the woman also.
• Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) aims to enable a large number of Indian youth including women to take up industry-relevant skill training in securing a better livelihood.
• Deen Dayal Upadhyay National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) focuses on creating opportunities for women in skill development, leading to market-based employment.
• Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana empowers women and protects their health by providing LPG cylinders free of cost.
• Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana(SSY): Under this scheme girls have been economically empowered by opening their bank accounts.
• Skill Upgradation & Mahila Coir Yojana is an exclusive training programme of MSME aimed at skill development of women artisans engaged in coir Industry.
• Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP): a major credit- linked subsidy programme aimed at generating self-employment opportunities through establishment of micro-enterprises in the non-farm sector
• Female Entrepreneurship: To promote female entrepreneurship, the Government has initiated Programmes like Stand-Up India and Mahila e-Haat (online marketing platform to support women entrepreneurs/ SHGs/NGOs), Entrepreneurship and Skill Development Programme (ESSDP). Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) provides access to institutional finance to micro/small businesses.
• Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP) Scheme exists to provide skills that give employability to women.
• UJJAWALA: A Comprehensive Scheme for Prevention of trafficking and Rescue, Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Victims of Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation

SWADHAR Greh (A Scheme for Women in Difficult Circumstances): To provide shelter, food, clothing and care to marginalized women and girls who are in need. 

• NARI SHAKTI PURASKAR
• NIRBHAYA
• One Stop Centre Scheme
• Women Helpline Scheme

Important Initiatives on Women’s Safety

• Panic Button: The Ministry of Telecom mandated a physical panic button on all mobile phones in the country. This system was then conceptualized in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs and state governments were asked to put in place a dedicated Emergency Response Centre through which the entire system will be operated. 
• Safe City Implementation Monitoring (SCIM) portal under Safe City Project:  In order to provide safety for women in public spaces, the Government has identified eight cities for implementation of Safe City project. (Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai) 
• DNA Analysis Facilities in States: In view of the complaints of delay in cases of sexual assault investigations, dedicated DNA analysis facilities have been sanctioned for the forensic science laboratories located at Chennai, Madurai, Agra, Lucknow, Mumbai and Kolkata.

Road Ahead

• Need for Global Agenda: The achievement of full gender parity needs a global agenda, addressing all the different aspects of women’s lives with systemic and cross-cutting policies. 
• Multilateral Coordination: Such a global transformative agenda requires a high degree of multilateral coordination that should be promoted by appropriate institutional arrangements, effective both at a national and international level. 
• Integrated Strategy: There is an urgency to promote women’s empowerment through an integrated and shared strategy that includes all sectors of civil society, institutions, the world of culture and work. 
• Role of Private Sector: There is a need to promote initiatives to work on gender equality by collaborating with the private sector. 
• Monitoring: A concrete and structured approach to women’s empowerment needs monitoring and evaluation tools based on indicators. 

Context: The Supreme Court expressed serious concern over the fact that false news is spread through social media platforms and digital portals with few checks.
Key highlights

• The SC was hearing petitions highlighting how some media outlets aired communal content linking the spread of the coronavirus to a Tablighi Jamaat meet held at Nizamuddin in Delhi.

The Chief Justice of India remarked that

• Certain sections of the media communalised everything and this would ultimately result in giving the country a bad name.
• There is a lack of accountability on the part of social media platforms.
• The social media platforms only responded to powerful people, while complaints made by ordinary people, institutions and judges over content were ignored.

Role of Media in promoting communal harmony

• Media acts as a fourth pillar of the society. It reaches people widely and is the source of information for society regarding any issue be it local, regional or global.
• Media acts as an influential and instrumental tool with regards to building confidence or promoting mistrust among people on issues related to national security
• The primary responsibility of the Media is of creating an informed citizenry in order to empower society and strengthen democracy.
• It should play an active role in enhancing social, religious and communal harmony for the betterment of the community, the society and the nation.

Recommendations

• Adopt appropriate language to raise awareness: Increasing awareness will likely deter manipulative behaviours and increase pressure on platforms to take action.
• Creation of media evaluation tools: Media evaluation tools can provide information on media bias and news quality. Information on bias/quality can help citizens make informed news-related choices.
• Training journalists: Journalists could be trained to reduce instances of inadvertent amplification or manipulation.
• Transparency of social media platforms: Increasing the transparency of social media platforms and fixing accountability in case of manipulation.

Key Facts

• The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, provide a redressal mechanism and timely resolution of grievances of users of social media and over-the-top platforms.
• The rules require these platforms to appoint a grievance redressal officer who is a resident of India.

About Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2021

• It provides for a three-level grievance redressal mechanism — self-regulation by broadcasters, self-regulation by the self-regulating bodies of the broadcasters, and oversight by an Inter-Departmental Committee at the level of the Union government.
• Such appeals will be dealt with by the Inter-Departmental Committee set up under the Oversight Mechanism.
• The committee will be headed by the Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and have members from various ministries.

• The report provides a global overview of recent developments in social protection systems, including social protection floors and covers the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Coverage of Social Protection: Currently, only 47% of the global population are effectively covered by at least one social protection benefit, while 4.1 billion people (53%) obtain no income security at all from their national social protection system. 
• Inequalities in Social Protection: There are significant regional inequalities in social protection. Europe and Central Asia have the highest rates of coverage with 84% of people being covered by at least one benefit. On the other hand, Asia and the Pacific (44%), the Arab States (40%) and Africa (17.4% ) have marked coverage gaps. 
• Government Spending on Social Protection: It varies significantly. On average, countries spend 12.8% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on social protection (excluding health). However, high-income countries spend 16.4% and low-income countries only 1.1% of their GDP on social protection.

Social Protection by Category wise

• Children: The vast majority of children still have no effective social protection coverage – only one in four children (26.4%) receives a social protection benefit. 
• Cash Maternity Benefit: Only 45% of women with newborns worldwide receive a cash maternity benefit. 
• Disability: Only one in three persons with severe disabilities (33.5%) worldwide receive a disability benefit. 
• Unemployment: Coverage of unemployment benefits is even lower; only 18.6%  of unemployed workers worldwide are effectively covered. 
• Old Age Pension: Around 77.5% of people above retirement age receive some form of old-age pension. But major disparities remain across regions, between rural and urban areas and between women and men.