Daily Prelims Notes 18 April 2023

April 18, 2023
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
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Daily Prelims Notes

18 April 2023

Table Of Contents

1. Govt should immediately conduct a caste census

Subject : Polity

Section: Constitution

Concept :

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding that census be conducted “immediately“.
The decennial census was to be carried out in 2021 but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kharge also said that a “comprehensive” caste census should be made a part of the census.

First Caste Census as SECC (Socio-Economic and Caste Census):

SECC was conducted for the first time in 1931.
SECC is meant to canvass every Indian family, both in rural and urban India, and ask about their:
Economic status, so as to allow Central and State authorities to come up with a range of indicators of deprivation, permutations, and combinations of which could be used by each authority to define a poor or deprived person.
It is also meant to ask every person their specific caste name to allow the government to re-evaluate which caste groups were economically worst off and which were better off.
SECC has the potential to allow for a mapping of inequalities at a broader level.

SECC 2011

The Socio-Economic Caste Census of 2011 was a major exercise to obtain data about the socio-economic status of various communities.
It had two components: a survey of the rural and urban households and ranking of these households based on pre-set parameters, and a caste census.
However, only the details of the economic conditions of the people in rural and urban households were released. The caste data has not been released till now.

Difference Between Census & SECC:

The Census provides a portrait of the Indian population, while the SECC is a tool to identify beneficiaries of state support.
Since the Census falls under the Census Act of 1948, all data are considered confidential, whereas according to the SECC website, “all the personal information given in the SECC is open for use by Government departments to grant and/or restrict benefits to households.”

2. India to host two-day international Buddhist conference

Subject : International Relations

Section: Msc

Concept :

The first Global Buddhist summit is going to be held in Delhi. Buddhist monks and others from 30 countries are expected to attend the event.

Key-highlights of the Summit

The summit is being organized in conjunction with the International Buddhist Conference, a non-governmental organization.
The International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), an umbrella group that serves as a platform for Buddhists worldwide, is organising the event.
Theme: ‘Responses to contemporary challenges, philosophy to practice’.
Recently, India, which is the chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) grouping, organised a meet on Buddhist heritage involving all the countries.

Vesak / Buddha Purnima

Vesak is the most sacred day for Buddhists around the world.
It is also known as Buddha Purnima and Buddha Day.
The day commemorates birth, enlightenment and Death (or Parinirvana) of Lord Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, all of which is said to take have taken place on the same day.
Vesak, falls on the full moon day (Purnima) of the month Vaishakha (May), hence the occasion is referred to as Buddha Purnima in India.
Recognition by United Nations (UN): The General Assembly, by its resolution in 1999, recognized internationally the Day of Vesak. It was done to acknowledge the contribution that Buddhism made to humanity.

3. Ninth schedule of constitution

Subject: Polity

Section: Constitution

Concept :

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking the inclusion of two amendment Bills allowing for higher quota in jobs and educational institutions, in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.
In Chhattisgarh’s case, the two amendment Bills — that pave the way for 76% quota for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes — were passed unanimously by the State Assembly last December, but are yet to receive the Governor’s nod.

Ninth Schedule

The Schedule contains a list of central and state laws which cannot be challenged in courts and was added by the Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951.
The first Amendment added 13 laws to the Schedule. Subsequent amendments in various years have taken the number of protected laws to 284 currently.
It was created by the new Article 31B, which along with Article 31A was brought in by the government to protect laws related to agrarian reform and for abolishing the Zamindari system.
While Article 31A extends protection to ‘classes’ of laws, Article 31B shields specific laws or enactments.
While most of the laws protected under the Schedule concern agriculture/land issues, the list includes other subjects.
Article 31B also has a retrospective operation which means that if laws are inserted in the Ninth Schedule after they are declared unconstitutional, they are considered to have been in the Schedule since their commencement, and thus valid.
Although Article 31B excludes judicial review, the apex court has said in the past that even laws under the Ninth Schedule would be open to scrutiny if they violated Fundamental Rights or the basic structure of the Constitution.

Are Laws in the Ninth Schedule completely Exempt from Judicial Scrutiny?

Keshavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973): The court upheld the judgement in Golaknath and introduced a new concept of “Basic structure of the Indian Constitution” and stated that, “all provisions of the constitution can be amended but those amendments which will abrogate or take away the essence or basic structure of constitution which included Fundamental Rights are fit to be struck down by the court”.
Waman Rao v. Union of India (1981): In this important judgement, the SC ruled that, “those amendments which were made in the constitution before 24th April 1973 (date on which judgement in Keshavananda Bharati was delivered) are valid and constitutional but those which were made after the stated date are open to being challenged on the ground of constitutionality.
I R Coelho v. State of Tamil Nadu (2007): It was held that every law must be tested under Article 14, 19 and 21 if it came into force after 24th April 1973.
In addition, the court upheld its previous rulings and declared that any act can be challenged and is open to scrutiny by the judiciary if it is not in consonance with the basic structure of the constitution.
In addition, it was held that if the constitutional validity of any law under the ninth schedule has been upheld before, in future it cannot be challenged again.

4. Taiwan Strait

Subject : International Relations

Section: Places in news

Concept :

A U.S. warship sailed through the waters separating Taiwan and mainland China, days after Beijing staged war games around the island.
Western Navies regularly conduct “freedom of navigation operations” to assert the international status of regional waterways such as the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.

About Taiwan Strait

The Taiwan Strait is a 180-kilometer (110 mi)-wide strait separating the island of Taiwan and continental Asia.
The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the
Former names of the Taiwan Strait include the Formosa Strait or Strait of Formosa, from a dated name for Taiwan; the Strait of Fokien or Fujian, from the Chinese province forming the strait’s western shore; and the Black Ditch, a calque of the strait’s name in Hokkien and Hakka.

Geographical Features

The entire strait is on Asia’s continental shelf.
The Taiwan Strait is relatively shallow. It has an average depth of about 490ft.

Rivers draining into it

Several rivers including the Jiulong and Min rivers from China’s Fujian Province drain into the Taiwan Strait.

Islands on the Taiwan Strait

Several islands are located in the strait. Kinmen and Matsu are two of the largest and most significant islands in the strait located off the Fujian coast of China.
The biggest islands along the Taiwan side include Penghu (or Pescadores), Xiamen, and Pingtan.
The Xiamen and Pingtan Islands are administered by the People’s Republic of China, while the other three islands: Penghu (or Pescadores), Kinmen, and Matsu are under the administration of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
The Penghu (or Pescadores) Island is the largest and most populous island in the Taiwan Strait.

5. Top govt. panel takes stock of modification of Indus Treaty

Subject: International Relations

Section: India’s neighbor

Context: A top government panel on Monday took stock of the ongoing modification process of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) between India and Pakistan. Matters related to the ongoing Neutral Expert proceedings pertaining to the Kishenganga and Rattle Hydroelectric Projects were also discussed

Concept:

Indus Water Treaty (IWT)

The Treaty is a water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan, brokered by the World Bank.
IWT was signed by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and then Pakistani President Mohammed Ayub Khan in Karachi on September 19, 1960, after nine years of negotiations between the two countries.
According to this treaty, three rivers: Ravi, Sutlej and Beas were given to India and the other three: Sindh, Jhelum and Chenab were given to Pakistan.

Rights & obligations under this treaty

India is under obligation to let the waters of the western rivers flow, except for certain consumptive use.
The treaty allocates Pakistan approx. 80% of the entire water of the six-river Indus system and reserved for India just remaining 19.48% of the total waters.
India can construct storage facilities on western rivers of up to 3.6-million-acre feet, which it has not done so far.
The IWT permits run of the river projects and require India to provide Pakistan with prior notification, including design information, of any new project.

Dispute redressal mechanism under the Treaty

Article IX of the Treaty is a dispute resolution mechanism – graded at three levels to resolve a difference or a dispute related to projects on the Indus waters.

First level

Either party has to inform the other side if they are planning projects on the Indus river with all the information that is required or asked for by the other party.
This process is done at the level of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC), created to implement and manage the goals of the IWT.
If PIC is unable to solve the question in contention, the question becomes difference and goes to second level.

Second level

The second grade is the World Bank appointing a neutral expert to resolve the differences.
If a neutral expert cannot resolve the issue, the difference becomes a dispute and goes to third level.

Third level

At this level, the matter goes to a Court of Arbitration (CoA) whose chair is appointed by the World Bank.

Why is this notice significant?

This notice opens the possibility of India proposing major changes to the treaty and even the idea of altering it completely.
India has not spelled out exactly what it wants to be modified in the Treaty.

Under the treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, all the waters of the three eastern rivers, averaging around 33 million acre-feet (MAF), were allocated to India for exclusive use.
The waters of the western rivers – Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab – averaging to around 135 MAF, were allocated to Pakistan except for ‘specified domestic, non-consumptive and agricultural use permitted to India,’ according to the treaty.
India has also been given the right to generate hydroelectricity through the run of the river (RoR) projects on the western rivers which, subject to specific criteria for design and operation, is unrestricted.

6. Private Equity and Venture Capital Funds’ Investments Decline 4% To $5.3 Billion In March

Subject :Economy

Section: National Income

Concept –

Venture capital and private equity are two types of financial assistance that are used by companies in different stages.
Private Equity is a large investment in developed companies and venture capital is a small investment usually made in initial stages of development of a company.
Private equity funds refer to investments made by investors for investment purposes.
Whereas, venture capital refers to funding to those ventures that are backed by new entrepreneurs, have high risks, and who require money to shape their ideas.

Venture Capital

Venture capital is referred to funds invested by individuals or investors to start-ups or small companies aspiring to establish a fresh concept and new entrepreneur. All those new private companies who cannot raise their funds from the public sector may raise funds from the venture capital.
This type of investment indicates high risk but is supported by fresh and top qualified entrepreneurs. Venture Capital firms assist developing businesses in their initial stages before making it public.
It is a popular funding process and sometimes required to raise money for bank loans, capital markets, or other debt instruments. This type of investor is known as a Venture Capitalist, and the capital they provide is called equity capital.

Private Equity

Private equity can be defined as the capital investment, which is made by companies or investors in the private firms that are not a part of the stock exchange. These fund investments are made by the high-net-worth firms or individuals. These investors acquire private companies shares or earn authority of public companies to take them private and de-list from public stock exchanges.
Private Equity firms purchase an existing company and help them to develop and expand.
This entity has become an essential part of the financial services and is one of the attractive funding options.

7. WTO PANEL

Subject: International Relations

Section: International Organization

Context: A World Trade Organization (WTO) panel said on Monday that India had violated global trading rules in a dispute with the European Union (EU), Japan and Taiwan over import duties on IT products

What is the dispute?

In 2019, the EU challenged India’s introduction of import duties of between 7.5% and 20% for a wide range of IT products, such as mobile phones and components, as well as integrated circuits, saying they exceeded the maximum rate. Japan and Taiwan filed similar complaints that same year.
The EU is India’s third largest trading partner, accounting for 10.8% of total Indian trade in 2021, according to the European Commission.
India’s diplomatic mission in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it would appeal against the ruling. If it does, the case will sit in legal purgatory since the WTO’s top appeals bench is no longer functioning due to U.S. opposition to judge appointments.
The WTO panel said that India had already brought some of the challenged tariffs into line with global trading rules since last year. While the panel broadly backed the complaints against India, it rejected one of Japan’s claims that New Delhi’s customs notification lacked “predictability”.

8. March wholesale price rise slows to 1.34% on base effect

Subject :Economy

Section: Inflation and unemployment

Context: Wholesale price index-based inflation fell to a 29-month low of 1.34 per cent in March due to moderation in prices of manufactured products, commodity prices and a favourable base effect, data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Monday showed.

Even though some food items showed an increase in inflation, this was the 10th straight month when wholesale inflation recorded a moderation. WPI inflation was recorded at 3.85 per cent in the previous month and 14.63 per cent in March 2022. For FY23, the wholesale inflation averaged 9.4 per cent, moderating from a 30-year high of 13 per cent in FY22.

Concept:

WPI

It is the most widely used inflation indicator in India.
It is published by the Office of Economic Adviser, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
All transactions at the first point of bulk sale in the domestic market are included.
Major criticism for this index is that the general public does not buy products at wholesale price.
The base year of All-India WPI has been revised from 2004-05 to 2011-12 in 2017.
WPI includes three components viz,
- Manufactured products – 64.2%
- Primary articles – 22.6%
- Fuel and power – 13.1%

CPI vs. WPI

WPI, tracks inflation at the producer level and CPI captures changes in prices levels at the consumer level.
WPI does not capture changes in the prices of services, which CPI does.

Disinflation

Disinflation is a situation of decrease in the rate of inflation over successive time period. It is simply slowing of inflation.
Central banks will fight disinflation by expanding its monetary policy and lowering interest rates.

Deflation

Deflation is a decrease in general price levels throughout an economy.
Deflation, which is the opposite of inflation, is mainly caused by shifts in supply and demand.

Imported Inflation

When the general price level rises in a country because of the rise in prices of imported commodities, inflation is termed as imported.
Two key contributors to India’s imports are: Crude Oil and Gold. Rise in prices of these two products lead to rise in the import bill of the country.
- Fuel and power has 14.91% weightage in the Wholesale Price Index in India.
However, inflation may also rise due to the depreciation of the domestic currency, which pushes up the rupee cost of imported items.

Structural inflation

Structural inflation is the one prevailing in most developing countries.
The situation is due to the operation of the structural weakness (supply bottleneck, lack of infrastructure, etc.) existing in a developing economy.
Lack of adequate supply responses or production to increase in demand is the cause of structural inflation.
The Structuralist argues that the economies of developing countries like, Latin America and India are structurally underdeveloped as well as highly volatile due to the existence of weak institutions and imperfect working of markets.
Such economies face the problem of both shortages of supply, under utilisation of resources as well as excessive demand in some sectors.
For example
- Under developed transportation sector will increase logistic cost and will result in overall increase in prices of commodities
- Similarly, structural bottlenecks in agricultural sector such as APMCs, involvement of middlemen, imperfect price discovery leads to rise in food prices
- Resource constraints (such as government Budget constrain) to finance infrastructure development.

9. World Food Program in Sudan

Subject International relations

Section: International Organization

Context: Three employees for the World Food Programme (WFP), a UN body that delivers food assistance to vulnerable communities, were killed after the RSF and armed forces exchanged fire at a military base in Kabkabiya, in the west of the country.

What is happening in Sudan?

The fighting that has erupted in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country is a direct result of a vicious power struggle within the country’s military leadership.

The clashes are between the regular army and a paramilitary force called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Where is Sudan?

Sudan is in north-east Africa and is one of the largest countries on the continent, covering 1.9 million square kilometres.
It is also one the poorest countries in the world, with its 46 million people living on an average annual income of $750 (£606) a head.
The population of Sudan is predominantly Muslim and the country’s official languages are Arabic and English

Who is fighting who in Sudan?

Since the 2021 coup, Sudan has been run by a council of generals, led by the two military men at the centre of this dispute:

Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the armed forces and in effect the country’s president
And his deputy and leader of the RSF, Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti.

World Food Programme

The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.
As the international community has committed to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition by 2030, one in nine people worldwide still do not have enough to eat.
It was founded in 1961 by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) with its headquarters in Rome, Italy.
It is also a member of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG), a coalition of UN agencies and organizations aimed at fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The WFP assists 88 countries, and has assisted 97 million people (in 2019) which is the largest number since 2012.
It works closely with the other two Rome-based UN agencies:
- The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which helps countries draw up policy and change legislation to support sustainable agriculture
- The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which finances projects in poor rural areas.
The WFP has no independent source of funds, it is funded entirely by voluntary donations. Its principal donors are governments, but the organization also receives donations from the private sector and individuals.
The WFP has been awarded with the Nobel Prize for Peace 2020 for its efforts to combat hunger, bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and preventing the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.

Report Released by WFP

Global Report on Food Crisis– The Global Report on Food Crises describes the scale of acute hunger in the world. It provides an analysis of the drivers that are contributing to food crises across the globe.
- The report is produced by the Global Network against Food Crises, an international alliance working to address the root causes of extreme hunger.

10. Rhino poaching suspect’s body found in river; police say he jumped in to escape

Subject :Environment

Section: Places in news

Context: Three weeks after Assam’s first rhino poaching case in more than a year was discovered in Kaziranga, the body of the suspected poacher was found floating in the Brahmaputra on Sunday

It is located in the State of Assam and covers 42,996 Hectare (ha). It is the single largest undisturbed and representative area in the Brahmaputra Valley floodplain.

Status of the National park:

It was declared as a National Park in 1974.
It has been declared a tiger reserve since 2007. It has a total tiger reserve area of 1,030 sq km with a core area of 430 sq. km.
It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.
It is recognized as an Important Bird Area by Bird Life International.

Important Species Found:

It is the home of the world’s most one-horned rhinos. Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary has the highest density of one-horned rhinos in the world and second highest number of Rhinos in Assam after Kaziranga National Park.
Much of the focus of conservation efforts in Kaziranga are focused on the ‘big four’ species— Rhino, Elephant, Royal Bengal tiger and Asiatic water buffalo.
Kaziranga is also home to 9 of the 14 species of primates found in the Indian subcontinent.

Rivers and Highways:

The National Highway 37 passes through the park area.
The park also has more than 250 seasonal water bodies, besides the Diphlu River running through it.

Other national parks in Assam are:

Dibru-Saikhowa National Park,
Manas National Park,
Nameri National Park,
Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park.
Rhinos are listed in Schedule 1 of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 as an endangered animal and there is an international ban on trade of rhino horns under CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna).
Three species of rhino—black, Javan, and Sumatran—are critically endangered.
Today, a small population of Javan rhinos is found in only one national park on the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Java.
A mainland subspecies of the Javan rhino was declared extinct in Vietnam in 2011.
Successful conservation efforts have led to an increase in the number of greater one-horned (or Indian) rhinos, from around 200 at the turn of the 20th century to around 3,700 today.

Indian Rhino Vision 2020

Launched in 2005, Indian Rhino Vision 2020 is an ambitious effort to attain a wild population of at least 3,000 greater one-horned rhinos spread over seven protected areas in the Indian state of Assam by the year 2020.
Seven protected areas are Kaziranga, Pobitora, Orang National Park, Manas National Park, Laokhowa wildlife sanctuary, Burachapori wildlife sanctuary and DibruSaikhowa wildlife sanctuary.
It is a collaborative effort between various organisations, including the International Rhino Foundation, Assam’s Forest Department, Bodoland Territorial Council, World Wide Fund – India, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

11. Wild Water Buffaloes

Subject : Environment

Section: Species in news

Context: The love for momos in Nepal is threatening endangered wild water buffaloes

More on the News:

Dumplings (momos) filled with buffalo meat are popular in Nepal. They command a higher price if the meat comes from a crossbreed of wild and domestic buffalo.
Crossbreeding domestic and endangered wild buffaloes is illegal and can threaten the wild population, but people do it because of the high demand for the meat as well as a belief that crossbred females produce more milk.
People from India too sometimes leave their domestic water buffaloes out in the open near the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve in eastern Nepal, the country’s last remaining habitat for wild buffaloes, with the hope of crossbreeding with wild buffaloes.
Authorities in the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve are challenged with controlling the mixing of wild and domestic animals inside the reserve.

Wild Water Buffaloes:

Wild water buffaloes, also known as Asiatic water buffaloes, are large bovine animals that are native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. They are one of the two species of buffalo that exist, the other being the domesticated water buffalo.
Wild water buffaloes prefer swampy and marshy habitats, such as grasslands, reed beds, and forests, near rivers, lakes, and other water bodies.
They are typically found in areas with warm and humid climates, including India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Southeast Asia. In India, wild water buffaloes are found in the northeastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Meghalaya.
Wild water buffaloes are large and stocky animals that can weigh up to 1200 kg. They have a dark brown or black coat that is coarse and sparse, with tufts of hair on their head and neck. They also have large, curved horns that can span up to 2 meters. Wild water buffaloes are excellent swimmers and can move easily through water.
Wild water buffaloes are social animals that live in herds of up to 30 individuals, typically led by a dominant male. They are mostly active at dawn and dusk and spend most of their day resting and feeding. They are herbivores and primarily feed on grasses, aquatic plants, and other vegetation. Wild water buffaloes are also known to wallow in mud and water, which helps them regulate their body temperature and avoid parasites.
Threats: Wild water buffaloes are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation due to human activities, such as agriculture, infrastructure development, and logging. They are also at risk of poaching for their meat, horns, and other body parts. In addition, they are vulnerable to diseases, such as bovine tuberculosis and foot-and-mouth disease, which can be transmitted by domestic cattle.
The population of wild water buffaloes in India is estimated to be around 3,400 individuals, with the majority of them living in Assam.
The wild water buffalo is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List.
Conservation: Several conservation programs are in place to protect wild water buffaloes, including the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, which prohibits hunting and trade of wild water buffaloes and their products. International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), are working to establish protected areas and captive breeding programs for wild water buffaloes.

12. Mangrove Pitta Birds

Subject : Environment

Section: Species in news

Context: First-ever census finds 179 mangrove pitta birds in two coastal Odisha districts.

More on the News:

Mangrove pitta birds are a nearly threatened species found in few pockets of eastern India, including Odisha’s Bhitarkanika and West Bengal’s Sundarbans.
The first census of mangrove pitta ( Pitta megharencha) birds was mainly focused on the mangrove patches all along the coasts of Kendrapara and Jagatsingpur districts.
The birds were counted by direct sighting and from their chirping.

Mangrove Pitta Birds

Mangrove Pitta is a species of bird that is endemic to the mangrove forests of South and Southeast Asia.
Scientific name: Pitta megarhyncha
The Mangrove Pitta inhabits mangrove forests along the coast and in the deltas of Southeast Asia. It is found in countries such as India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
The Mangrove Pitta has a bright blue head and neck, with a black mask that extends from the eyes to the nape. Its upperparts are green, while its underparts are yellow. It has a long and strong bill that is used to dig for insects in the mud.
The Mangrove Pitta is a shy and elusive bird that is often heard before it is seen. It feeds on insects, crustaceans, and molluscs, which it finds by probing the mud with its bill. It is a solitary bird that is often found in pairs during the breeding season.
Mangrove Pitta is an important indicator species of the health and biodiversity of mangrove ecosystem.
Threats: Mangrove pittas are threatened by habitat loss due to deforestation, conversion of mangroves to aquaculture ponds, and urbanization. They are also hunted for food and trapped for the pet trade.
Conservation status: The Mangrove Pitta is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.

Bhitarkanika National Park https://optimizeias.com/bhitarkanka-national-park-2/

13. Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Subject: Environment

Section: Pollution

Context: In the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, coastal life piggybacks on plastic trash.

What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

There are some water currents in the oceans that, driven by winds and the Coriolis force, form loops. These are called gyres.
The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG) is one such, located just north of the equator in the Pacific Ocean. It consists of the Kuroshio, North Pacific, California, and North Equatorial currents and moves in a clockwise direction. These currents flow adjacent to 51 Pacific Rim countries. Any trash that enters one of these currents, from any of these countries, could become part of the gyre.

Inside this gyre, just north of Hawaii, lies a long east-west strip where some of the debris in these currents has collected over the years. The eastern part of this is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It is, per one estimate, 6 million sq. km big and more than 50 years old.
The patch contains an estimated 45,000-1,29,000 metric tonnes of plastic, predominantly in the form of microplastics. The numerical density of plastics here is around 4 particles per cubic metre. Mass-wise, however, heavier, more visible objects that haven’t yet broken down into smaller particles accounted for 92% in 2018.

What did the new study find?

The tsunami off the Japanese coast in 2011 contributed to the debris in this garbage patch. Until at least 2017, researchers had found debris washing ashore on the West coast of North America containing live lifeforms originally found in Japan.
From November 2018 to January 2019, researchers collected 105 pieces of plastic debris from the eastern part of the NPSG, “the most heavily plastic-polluted ocean gyre on the globe”
Based on studying them, they reported that 98% of the debris items had invertebrate organisms. They also found that pelagic species (i.e. of the open ocean) were present on 94.3% of them and coastal species, on 70.5%. That is, organisms found on coasts were getting by on small floating islands of garbage (to humans) out in the Pacific Ocean.
The number of coastal species such as arthropods and molluscs identified rafting on plastic was over three-times greater than that of pelagic species that normally live in the open ocean
In all, they found organisms belonging to 46 taxa, and 37 of them were coastal; the rest were pelagic. Among both coastal and pelagic organisms, crustaceans were the most common. The coastal species were most commonly found on fishing nets whereas the pelagic species, on crates.

What do the findings mean?

The researchers have written in their paper that “the introduction of a vast sea of relatively permanent anthropogenic rafts since the 1950s” has given rise to a new kind of “standing coastal community in the open ocean”. They’ve named it the neopelagic community.
They write in their paper that while coastal species have been found on human-made objects in the open ocean before, they were always considered to have been “misplaced” from their intended habitats. The neopelagic community, on the other hand, is not misplaced but lives on plastic items in the garbage patch, including reproducing there.
The finding recalls a study published on April 3, in which researchers reported that polyethylene films had chemically bonded with rocks in China – which is reminiscent, in turn, of the “anthropoquinas” of Brazil (sedimentary rocks embedded with plastic earrings) and the “plastiglomerates” of Hawai’i (beach sediment + organic debris + basaltic lava + melted plastic).

Aquatic Zones

The littoral zone is the shallow water near the shore. In the ocean, the littoral zone is also called the intertidal zone.
The pelagic zone is the main body of open water farther out from shore. It is divided into additional zones based on water depth.
- In the ocean, the part of the pelagic zone over the continental shelf is called the neritic zone, and the rest of the pelagic zone is called the oceanic zone.
The benthic zone is the bottom surface of a body of water. In the ocean, the benthic zone is divided into additional zones based on depth below sea level.

14. Can we democratize tiger conservation in India

Subject: Environment

Section: Species in news

Context: Scientists were happy Project Tiger was able to hold on to tiger populations. The 2023 preliminary report finds that this hold is slipping.

More on the News:

The tiger number released and the minimum estimate based on the tigers photographed during the survey. The final estimates will come in the next few months; authorities have indicated a 6% annual growth rate, so the expected number would be approximately 25-30% above the previous 2018-2019 estimate of 2,967 tigers.

Many scientists, while not impressed by the figures, were happy that Project Tiger was able to hold on to tiger populations in most of the geographical regions where they existed at its inception.

However, in the 2023 preliminary report, for the first time, finds that this hold is slipping away. Now losing tigers from Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and the Eastern ghats and from the Northeastern forests. With it, lose genetic diversity unique to these geographical regions, dashing hopes of maintaining long-term population viability and natural recovery.

Challenges in Tiger Conservation Approach:

Reintroduction of Tigers: A tool that is increasingly being used is to reintroduce tigers from central Indian forests, where the populations are thriving, as was done for the Panna and the Sariska Tiger Reserves. However, if this is done too often, re-introduction will homogenise tiger genetic structure across the country.
Absence of proper scientific oversight: therefore, focus stayed on boosting tiger numbers rather than their habitat and concomitant species.
Manipulating ecosystems: the most common interventions were to manipulate ecosystems so that they could support high densities of the tiger’s principal prey species. In most cases, this involved improving habitat for cheetal, a mixed feeder that thrives in the “ecotone” between forests and grasslands.
- For example, in the Kanha Tiger Reserve, the explosion in the cheetal population resulted in the habitat becoming unsuitable for the endangered hard ground barasingha, which depends on tall grass. Managers then had to create exclosures free of cheetal so that the barasingha could reproduce, and their numbers recover.
Excessive provisioning of water: during the dry season tends to reduce natural, climate driven variations in populations of wildlife. This is likely to have unknown and unintended consequences for these habitats in the long-term.
Policy issues:
- Conservation in India depends entirely on a network of Protected Areas (PAs). This is an exclusive conservation model and suffers from a “ sarkaar” complex.
- WLPA is a restrictive law. It describes in great detail what you can’t do. However, the law and associated policies have done very little to enable conservation.
- There is no policy framework and incentive for ordinary citizens to aid in conservation – be it for tigers or for any other species. As a result, conservation has not reached beyond these PAs.

Suggestions:

Have frameworks that allow local communities, citizens, scientists, non-governmental organisations, and businesses to participate meaningfully in conservation.
- For example, large tracts of forest land are “Reserved Forests” under the jurisdiction of the “territorial” wing of State Forest Departments. Such areas can be co-managed with an approach that is inclusive and provides economic benefits for local communities.
Vision document that examines these figures critically and provides a way forward for the next 20 years.
In many landscapes, degraded agricultural lands adjoining these forest areas can be restored to enhance connectivity between Protected Areas.

15. St Thomas’s shrine

Subject : History

Section: Art and Culture

Context:

Kerala BJP Vice President AN Radhakrishnan trekked to a hilltop shrine in Malayattoor village of the Ernakulam district, on the occasion of a festival held there on the first Sunday after Easter.

More about the Shrine.

The shrine is dedicated to Saint Thomas, an apostle who was believed to be one of the 12 followers of Jesus Christ.
It is said that he arrived at the location of the shrine after reaching India in 52 AD.
Devotees believe he performed a miracle and left a footprint on the hilltop.

Who was Saint Thomas:

Thomas the Apostle also known as Didymus, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament.
Thomas is commonly known as “Doubting Thomas” because he initially doubted the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

What about his visit to India:

According to traditional accounts of the Saint Thomas Christians of modern-day Kerala in India, Saint Thomas traveled outside the Roman Empire to preach the Gospel, travelling as far as the Tamilakam which is in South India and reached Muziris of Tamilakam in AD 52.
He is regarded as the patron saint of India among its Christian adherents, and the Feast of Saint Thomas on July 3 is celebrated as Indian Christians’ Day.

Why is St Thomas’s visit disputed:

His visit is disputed partly because of a lack of account about their details, though his tomb is mentioned by travellers who came to India, such as the 13th Century merchant Marco Polo.