Part of: Prelims and GS II – Policies and interventions and GS-III – Environment
Context The Union Government has proposed exempting agencies which are involved in national security projects and border infrastructure projects from obtaining prior forest clearance from the Centre.
This proposal is a part of amendments to the existing Forest Conservation Act (FCA). The document is open to public discussion for 15 days after which it could be readied for Cabinet and parliamentary approval.
The FCA, which first came in 1980 and was amended in 1988, requires such permission.
What are the recent proposals?
To exempt land acquired before 1980 by public sector bodies such as the Railways.
As of today, a landholding agency (Rail, NHAI, PWD, etc.) is required to take approval under the Act and pay stipulated compensatory levies such as Net Present Value (NPV), Compensatory Afforestation (CA), etc. for use of such land which was originally been acquired for non-forest purposes.
To make offences under the modified Act punishable with simple imprisonment for a period which may extend to one year and make it cognisable and non-bailable.
Provisions for penal compensation to make good for the damage already done.
Removing zoos, safaris, Forest Training infrastructures from the definition of “non-forestry” activities.
What is Forest Conservation Act (FCA)?
The Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980 (FCA, 1980) ensures conservation of forest and its resources.
It was enacted to control the ongoing deforestation of the forests of India.
It came into force on October 25, 1980 containing five sections.
The Act restricts the state government and other authorities to take decisions first without permission from the central government.
It gives complete authority to the Central government to carry out the objectives of the act.
The Act levies penalties in case of violations of the provisions of FCA.
It will have an advisory committee which will help the Central government with regard to forest conservation.
Context The Supreme Court has said that State Governments should not deny the ex gratia compensation of Rs. 50,000 to the families of persons who died of COVID-19 merely on the grounds that their death certificates did not show the virus as the cause of death.
The Bench approved the guidelines proposed by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) under the Disaster Management Act for grant of ex gratia to the kin of people who died of COVID-19.
What is The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)?
NDMA is the apex statutory body for disaster management in India.
The NDMA was formally constituted on 27th September 2006, in accordance with the Disaster Management Act, 2005
Composition: Prime Minister as its Chairperson and nine other members, and one such member to be designated as Vice-Chairperson.
Mandate: Its primary purpose is to coordinate response to natural or man-made disasters and for capacity-building in disaster resiliency and crisis response.
It is also the apex body to lay down policies, plans and guidelines for Disaster Management to ensure timely and effective response to disasters.
Vision: To build a safer and disaster resilient India by a holistic, proactive, technology driven and sustainable development strategy that involves all stakeholders and fosters a culture of prevention, preparedness and mitigation.
ContextU.S. scientists David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian have won the Nobel Medicine Prize for discoveries on receptors for temperature and touch.
The groundbreaking discoveries have allowed us to understand how heat, cold and mechanical force can initiate the nerve impulses that allow us to perceive and adapt to the world.
The pair’s research is being used to develop treatments for a wide range of diseases and conditions, including chronic pain.
Do you know?
Mr. Julius was recognised for his research using capsaicin — a compound from chili peppers that induces a burning sensation — to identify which nerve sensors in the skin respond to heat.
Part of: Prelims and GS III – Defence and security
Context India is set to host its largest naval exercise, Ex Milan, early next year for which 46 countries have been invited.
The exercise will see the participation of all Quad countries with the U.S. being invited for the first time.
Milan, which began in 1995, is held biennially and brings together Navies of all the countries in the region. It has so far been held at Port Blair but is now being shifted to Visakhapatnam which offers more space and infrastructure
The invitees include all Indian Ocean littoral states and countries from South East Asia
Context The ballads, folklore and songs of the Langa-Manganiyar artistes are being preserved through an initiative for documentation and digitisation.
The project is aimed at saving the rapidly disappearing narrative traditions of these communities.
The Jodhpur-based Rupayan Sansthan has extended support to the initiatives taken by the Archives and Research Centre for Ethnomusicology at the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS) in the research project.
Who are Langas and Manganiyars?
The Langas and Manganiyars are hereditary communities of Muslim musicians residing mostly in western Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer and Barmer districts and in Pakistan’s Tharparkar and Sanghar districts in Sindh.
The iconic and internationally acclaimed folk artistes have, been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Apart from the pandemic, this vital heritage is also facing a threat from changes in patronage and increased urbanisation in these districts.
The music of the two marginalised communities, who were supported by wealthy landlords and merchants before Independence, forms a vital part of Thar desert’s cultural landscape.
The Brahmaputra River Heritage Centre has been set up in a nearly 150-year-old bungalow in Guwahati, Assam.
The bungalow used to be the 17th century military office of the Ahom rulers.
It was called Barphukanar Tila, meaning Barphukan’s Hillock.
Barpukhan was a post equivalent to Governor General created by Ahom king Pratap Simha or Susengpha (1603-1641).
The hillock by the Brahmaputra, mentioned in ancient scriptures as Mandrachal, was from where Ahom General Lachit Barpukhan launched the Battle of Saraighat in March 1671 to inflict the most crushing defeat on the Mughals.
Saraighat is regarded as the “greatest naval battle ever fought in a river”.
Miscellaneous
Gaming Disorder & International Classification of Diseases (ICD)
Gaming disorder has now been defined in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11)
It is defined as a pattern of gaming behaviour (“digital-gaming” or “video-gaming”) characterized by impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.
The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) released by World Health Organisation (WHO) is the basis for identification of health trends and statistics globally and the international standard for reporting diseases and health conditions.
It is used by medical practitioners around the world to diagnose conditions and by researchers to categorize conditions.
The inclusion of a disorder in ICD is a consideration which countries take into account when planning public health strategies and monitoring trends of disorders.
Celebrated every year on 4 October internationally, on the feast day of Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, to educate humans about how their actions impact animals and create awareness about the protection of animals all over the world.
The first celebration of World Animal Day was observed in March, 1925.
Part of: Mains GS-III: Environment and Conservation
Context: India at International Conference commemorating the signing of the Madrid Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty
Committed to curtail carbon emissions in the Antarctic atmosphere
Has already adopted the green energy initiative by experimenting with the feasibility of wind energy production and installed moderate output of Wind Energy Generators (WEG) on an experimental basis.
The choice of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) for Bharati station to reduce carbon emissions in the Antarctic also promotes India’s pledge to protect the environment.
India reaffirms its commitment to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty and at this moment claims to:
Implement all Decisions, Resolutions and Measures adopted at ATCM in the Indian Antarctic programme effectively.
Use green alternate energy system in both the Indian Antarctic research stations; Maitri and Bharati like solar panels and wind energy generators so compromising use of fossil fuel gradually and make station efficient with alternate green energy.
Reduce carbon footprints by using vehicles and machinery only when required at the most
Use shared supply ship to deliver human resources, materials and machines to Antarctica
Control the introduction of non-native species into Antarctica by any means or through vector transfer.
India and Antarctic Treaty
India signed the Antarctic Treaty on 19th August 1983 and soon thereafter received consultative status on 12th September 1983.
The Madrid Protocol was signed by India which came into force on 14th January, 1998.
India is one of the 29 Consultative Parties to the Antarctic Treaty.
India is also a member of Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programme (COMNAP) and Scientific Committee of Antarctica Research (SCAR). All these representations show the significant position that India holds among the nations involved in Antarctic research.
The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty was signed in Madrid on October 4, 1991 and entered into force in 1998. It designates Antarctica as a “natural reserve, devoted to peace and science”.
India in Antarctica
India has two active research stations; Maitri (commissioned in 1989) at Schirmacher Hills, and Bharati (commissioned in 2012) at Larsemann Hills in Antarctica.
India has successfully launched 40 annual scientific expeditions to Antarctica till date.
With Himadri station in Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, Arctic, India now belongs to the elite group of nations that have multiple research stations within the Polar Regions.
In News: Health Minister launched ICMR’s Drone Response and Outreach in North East (i-Drone). The delivery model is aimed at ensuring that life-saving vaccines reach everyone.
This is for the first time that a “Make in India’ drone has been used in South Asia to transport COVID vaccine over an aerial distance of 15 kms in 12-15 mins from the Bishnupur district hospital to Loktak lake, Karang island in Manipur for administration at the PHC.
This is a delivery model to make sure that life-saving vaccines reach everyone.
This technology may prove a game changer in addressing the challenges in health care delivery, particularly health supplies in difficult areas.
It epitomises the Government’s commitment to ‘Antyodaya’ in health; making healthcare accessible to the last citizen of the country.
Part of: GS Prelims andMains GS-I: The Freedom Struggle – its various stages and important contributors /contributions from different parts of the country
In News: The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has paid tributes to Shyamji Krishna Varma on his Jayanti.
An Indian revolutionary fighter, lawyer and journalist, who led India’s freedom struggle from London
Founded the famous India House in London in 1904 which became the nerve centre and nucleus for India’s revolutionaries like Veer Savarkar, Madame Cama, Sardar Singh Rana, V V S Iyer, Lala Hardayal and Virendranath Chattopadhaya and Madhanlal Dhingra – was the political guru of Veer Savarkar, V V S Iyer and many other freedom fighters in this period
He started the publication of a monthly journal called ‘Indian Sociologist’ which became a vehicle of revolutionary ideas. In February 1905, he established the Indian Home Rule Society to raise his voice against British domination in India. The monthly Indian Sociologist became an outlet for nationalist ideas and through the Indian Home Rule Society, he criticised the British rule in India.
Later in 1905, Shyamji attended the United Congress of Democrats held at Holborn Town Hall as a delegate of the India Home Rule Society.
His resolution on India received an enthusiastic ovation from the entire conference. Shyamji’s activities in England aroused the concern of the British government:
He was disbarred from Inner Temple and removed from the membership list on 30 April 1909 for writing anti-British articles in The Indian Sociologist.
Most of the British press were anti–Shyamji and carried outrageous allegations against him and his newspaper. He defended them boldly.
The Times referred to him as the “Notorious Krishnavarma”. Many newspapers criticised the British progressives who supported Shyamji and his view.
His movements were closely watched by British Secret Services, so he decided to shift his headquarters to Paris, leaving India House in charge of Vir Savarkar. Shyamji left Britain secretly before the government tried to arrest him.
It was Shyamji who first advocated non-violent means of getting rid of the British and using withdrawal of cooperation with the colonial administration as the most effective weapon for this purpose. Gandhiji built on this and evolved Satyagraha as a tool to oust the British much later.
Narendra Modi dedicated a memorial ‘Kranti Tirth’, to Shyamji Krishna Verma at the revolutionary’s ancestral town Mandvi in Kutch district
Context: Recently, Maharashtra’s Environment Minister announced that 43 cities across the State will join the UN-backed ‘Race to Zero’ global campaign, which aims to create jobs while meeting goals of climate change and sustainable development.
Are cities doing enough?
Out of 53 Indian cities with a population of over one million, approximately half of these cities have a climate resilience plan in place. Of these, 18 cities have moved towards implementation.
These numbers highlight an encouraging first step, signalling that recurrent experiences of floods, water scarcity, cyclones and storm surges are being taken up into urban development policy.
Ahmedabad has had a Heat Action Plan (HAP) since 2010 and its success evident from reduced heat mortality.
Combining infrastructural interventions (for example, painting roofs white) and behavioural aspects (building public awareness on managing heat), the model has now been scaled up to 17 cities across the country.
Other successful projects include nature-based solutions such as mangrove restoration in coastal Tamil Nadu and urban wetland management (regulate urban floods) in Bengaluru.
Bottlenecks and ways forward
However, a lot of interventions are being implemented through sectoral projects focusing on particular, isolated risks. This narrow focus tends to overlook how multiple risks converge and reinforce each other — for example, seasonal cycles of flooding and water scarcity in Chennai.
Coastal flooding, sea-level rise, and cyclones are discussed less often despite India’s long coastline and highly vulnerable coastal cities and infrastructure.
Inadequate finances and political will at city scales constrain developing sustainable Indian cities.
Inadequate institutional capacity in existing government departments to reorient ways of working.
Way Ahead
Moving away from looking at risks in isolation and planning for multiple, intersecting risks.
Government needs to undertake long-term planning with resilience planners in every line department as well as communication channels across departments to enable vertical and horizontal knowledge sharing.
Focusing on changing behaviours and lifestyles. One emerging example behavioural change is bottom-up sustainable practices such as urban farming where citizens are interpreting sustainability at a local and personal scale. This can mean
Growing one’s own food on terraces and simultaneously enhancing local biodiversity;
Composting organic waste and reducing landfill pressure;
Sharing farm produce with a neighbour,
Bringing communities closer and creating awareness about food growing.
Context: The first and historic United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) 2021 was held in September, 2021 to find solutions and ‘catalyse momentum’ to transform the way the world produces, consumes, and thinks about food and help address rising hunger.
Why the Food Systems Summit and what is the expectation from its outcome?
Global food systems — the networks that are needed to produce and transform food, and ensure it reaches consumers, or the paths that food travels from production to plate — are in a state of crisis in many countries affecting the poor and the vulnerable.
The flaws in food systems affect us all, but most of all they are affecting 811 million people in the world who go to bed hungry each night.
The debate in the summit focused on five identified action tracks namely:
Ensure access to safe and nutritious food for all;
Shift to sustainable consumption patterns;
Boost nature-positive production;
Advance equitable livelihoods
Build resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks, and stress
Challenges for Food Security
Climate change and unsustainable use of land and water resources are the most formidable challenges food systems face today
Dietary diversity, nutrition, and related health outcomes are another area of concern as a focus on rice and wheat has created nutritional challenges of its own.
It is ironic that despite being a net exporter and food surplus country at the aggregate level, India has a 50% higher prevalence of undernutrition compared to the world average.
Reducing food wastage or loss of food is a mammoth challenge and is linked to the efficiency of the food supply chain. Food wastage in India exceeds ₹1-lakh crore.
Conclusion
It is important to reiterate that hunger and food insecurity are key drivers of conflict and instability across the world. Hence, global food security is needed for global peace.
‘Food is peace’, is a catchphrase often used to highlight how hunger and conflict feed on each other. The Nobel Peace Prize 2020 conferred on the United Nations WFP highlighted the importance of addressing hunger to prevent conflicts and create stability.
All stakeholders (government, civil society, academia, private players, international agencies) must collaborate to invest, innovate, and create lasting solutions in sustainable agriculture contribution to equitable livelihood, food security, and nutrition.
Achieving the goal of “Advancing equitable livelihood” requires that the food systems transformation is anchored around small- and medium-scale production, family farmers, indigenous peoples, women, and workers in food value chains.
Context: PM bowed to Mahatma Gandhi on his Jayanti
Mahatma Gandhi entry into to the Indian national movement was a decisive turn towards a broad-based popular struggle. Gandhi’s philosophy was well accepted by both the masses and the nationalist leaders and his political programme was well received and saw wide-spread participation across India.
Born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, Gujarat
Gandhi a political thinker and a social reformer
There is more to Gandhi which makes him a political thinker and a relevant social reformer. Gandhi was a dialogical thinker who was open to other horizons of thinking. He firmly believed that the spirit of genuine reciprocity and solidarity is not just a moral requirement, but also a geopolitical necessity.
Gandhi rejected the idea that there is one privileged path to god. He also believed that all religious traditions are an unstable mixture of truth and error.
He encouraged inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue, so that individuals could see their faith and culture in a comparative and critical reflection of the other.
As such, Gandhi considered interculturalism as a call for simultaneous awareness of commonalities, acceptance of differences, and recognition of shared values.
Interestingly, Gandhi was a political thinker and a social practitioner who was constantly experimenting with modes of comparative and cross-border cultural constellations. In Gandhi’s political thinking, the experience of freedom derives not only from constitutional rights but mainly from the diverse modes of participation of the individual in a common humanity. Today, many around the world consider Gandhian ideas as impractical, not to say utopian.
Gandhian ethics of social and political reconstruction are more relevant than ever, since they represent an act of self-transformation of humanity rather than an illusory dream of a political leader. Gandhi wanted to change the values that govern the social, political and economic activities in human society.
Gandhi believed that decentralised politics and an egalitarian economy function better at the level of micro-communities, where citizens can operate in relations of reciprocity and mutuality. For him, it was clear that neither society nor the individual can live without a moral vision of the world. Gandhi had his moral and political dreams of changing humanity.
Gandhi was a man of experimentation, a man who insisted on the quest for truth. Therefore, it should not come to us as a surprise that the literal meaning of satyagraha is “asserting for truth”.
Reasons for Acceptance of Gandhi’s philosophy and political programme:
Demonstrated results in Africa:
Gandhiji, by the use of satyagraha and ahimsa as tools was able to secure major demands relating to poll tax, registration certificates etc., from the British government.
Tolstoy farm illustrated the peace time utility of ashramas in helping the masses through constructive work and prepare them for popular struggle.
Early successes in India: Through Champaran satyagraha, Ahmedabad mill strike and Kheda satyagraha – he demonstrated the utility of satyagraha and non-violent struggle.
Practical philosophy and political programmes: tools like Satyagraha and ahimsa could have been used by every section of the society especially the masses. The methods like petitions, constitutional struggle hitherto used were not possible to be followed by masses.
Belief in masses:
Gandhiji used to say, India live in the villages and it is only through masses the freedom can be achieved. This was not the case with earlier nationalist leaders including moderates and extremists who involved masses on a limited scale.
He held all India public meetings focused mainly on the participation of masses.
Identification with masses:
Gandhian followed the philosophy of ‘practice what you preach’. For instance, he popularized charkha by using it personally to weave his clothes. He shunned his elite clothes and wore a dhoti to identify himself with the masses.
As Ramachandra Guha noted – he dressed like them, walked among them and a sense of belongingness was developed among the masses. Hence, they followed him.
Secular leadership: every strategy and programmes of Gandhiji was secular and he incorporated members of all the religions without any skepticism or discrimination. He took up the issues of all the factions. For instance, he supported Ali brothers in Khilafat movement, supported Akali movement, Temple entry movement etc.,
Social issues included in political programmes:
The political programmes of Gandhiji included Dalit upliftment, women emancipation and hence found widespread participation of these sections.
Further, the philosophy of Sarvodaya, Antyodaya etc., tried to address the prevailing issues including inequality, rural poverty, food insecurity etc., and hence was widely supported.
Peace time constructive work:
Ashramas provided a way help those who participated in struggle and build momentum garnering public support.
Programmes like promotion of Khadi helped Indian producers and hence found support.
Establishing local schools provided alternatives to students who left British schools for participating in freedom struggle.
Supporting local issues like demand of linguistic provinces, Vaikom satyagraha, Malabar Muslim protest etc.,
Effective use of Newspaper and journals: Gandhiji popularized his philosophy through Harijan and the use of local dialects helped in spreading of his message to large number of people especially in rural areas.
Home rule movement: under Tilak and Annie Besant prepared a base for Gandhiji demonstrating self-rule which found its resonance in Gandhian philosophy of Swaraj.
Did you Know?
Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSPs): Inspired by Gandhian philosophy; Co-operative societies, women participation and empowerment, socio-economic equality etc,.
Decentralization: Keeping Mahatma Gandhi’s principle of ‘Swarajya’ in mind to strengthen grass root administration.
Do or Die Speech by Gandhiji: In 1942, Mahatma Gandhi gave the clarion call of ‘Do or Die’ from Gowalia Tank Maidan to end the British rule and launched the Quit India Movement.
Who gave the title of ‘Mahatma’ to the ‘Father of the Nation’: Gurudev – Rabindranath Tagore
The first Nationwide Movement: Rowlatt Satyagraha
Quit India is also called as India August Movement (August Kranti)
Majoor Mahajan Sangh: Gandhi formed the Majoor Mahajan Sangh, an association for workers’ rights. During those days, “Mahajan” was used as a title of respect for elites. Gandhi inverted the social structure by attaching the name “Mahajan” to “Majoor,” or laborers. With that linguistic choice, Gandhi enhanced the pride of workers.
Dyerism: In 1919, the Rowlatt Act enacted by the British government took away the civil rights of Indians. Those who protested peacefully in Jallianwala Bagh faced merciless police firing on the orders of General R Dyer. That cold-blooded assault was described by Mahatma Gandhi as Dyerism. He employed the concept to denote practices of exclusion, including the ostracisation of the Dalits from all spheres of social life in 1919.
Can you answer the following questions?
How did Mahatma Gandhi’s experiments and experiences during his political career in South Africa shape the nationalist movement in India? Analyse
Throw light on the significance of the thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi in the present times.
(TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE)
Model questions: (You can now post your answers in comment section)
Note:
Correct answers of today’s questions will be provided in next day’s DNA section. Kindly refer to it and update your answers.
Q.1 Who is the head of NDMA?
Cabinet Secretary
Home Minister
Prime Minister
Defence Minister
Q.2 Consider the following statements regarding Forest Conservation Act:
It was enacted to control the ongoing deforestation of the forests of India.
The Act restricts the state government and other authorities to take decisions first without permission from the central government.
Which of the above is or are correct?
1 only
2 only
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2
Q.3 Nobel Medicine Prize 2021 was awarded recently for which of the following?
discoveries on receptors for temperature and touch
genome editing
discovery of hepatitis C virus
discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability
ANSWERS FOR 4th Oct 2021 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE (TYK)
