Daily Prelims Notes 23 April 2024

April 23, 2024
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

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Daily Prelims Notes

23 April 2024

Table Of Contents

1. What do countries and companies want in global plastic treaty talks?

Subject: Environment

Sec: Int Conventions

Context:

Global leaders will gather in Canada’s capital this week to discuss progress in drafting a first-ever global treaty to rein in soaring plastic pollution by the end of the year.

More on news:

The hoped-for treaty, due to be agreed at the end of this year, could be the most significant deal relating to climate-warming emissions and environmental protection since the 2015 Paris Agreement, which got 195 parties to agree to keep global temperatures from rising beyond 1.5C.

What is the Global Plastic treaty?

In March 2022, the UN Environmental Assembly convened in Nairobi, Kenya, to debate the global plastic crisis.
In a historic move, 175 nations voted to adopt a global treaty for plastic pollution—agreeing on an accelerated timeline so that the treaty could be implemented as soon as 2025.

Why are we having plastic treaty talks?

At the U.N. Environmental Assembly in 2022, the world’s nations agreed to develop a legally binding agreement by the end of 2024 to address the world’s plastic pollution crisis.
The treaty is meant to address plastics through their entire lifecycle – from when they are produced, to how they are used and then disposed of.

WHAT’S THE PROBLEM WITH PLASTICS?

While plastic waste has become a global menace polluting landscapes and waterways, producing plastics involves releasing greenhouse gas emissions.
The plastic industry now accounts for 5% of global carbon emissions, which could grow to 20% by 2050 if current trends continue.
Plastic production is on track to triple by 2060 – unless the treaty sets production limits, as some have proposed. Most virgin plastic is derived from petroleum.

What do countries want in the treaty?

Many plastic and petrochemical-producing countries including Saudi Arabia, Iran and China – known collectively as the group of Like-Minded Countries – have opposed mentioning production limits.
They blocked other countries from formally working on proposed treaty language calling for production caps, chemical disclosures or reduction schedules after last year’s Nairobi session.
The 60-nation “High-Ambition Coalition”, which includes EU countries, island nations and Japan, wants to end plastic pollution by 2040.
This coalition has called for common, legally binding provisions to restrain and reduce the production and consumption of primary plastic polymers to sustainable levels.
They also are proposing measures such as phasing out “problematic” single-use plastics and banning certain chemical additives that could carry health risks.

What does the petrochemical industry want?

The trade group Global Partners for Plastics Circularity represents major petrochemical producers including members of the American Chemistry Council and Plastics Europe.
The group argues that production caps would lead to higher prices for consumers, and that the treaty should address plastics only after they are made.
These companies want to focus on encouraging the reuse or recycling of plastics, including deploying technology that can turn plastic into fuel.

What do corporate brands want?

More than 200 consumer-facing companies including Unilever, PepsiCo and Walmart have joined the so-called Business Coalition for a Plastics Treaty.
Like the petrochemical industry, these companies that rely on plastic packaging for their products have been a major presence in the plastics negotiations.
They support a treaty that includes production caps, use restrictions and phase-outs, reuse policies, product design requirements, extended producer responsibility, and waste management.

2. What is Llama 3, Meta’s most sophisticated and capable large language model yet?

Subject: Science and tech

Sec: Awareness in AI and Computers

Context:

Meta on Thursday introduced its most capable Large Language Model (LLM), the Meta Llama 3.

More on news:

The company also introduced an image generator, which updates pictures in real-time even as the user types out the prompt.
Meta will be integrating its latest model into its proprietary virtual assistant — Meta AI.
Meta is pitching its latest models as the most sophisticated AI models, steering way ahead of its peers such as Google, Mistral, etc., in terms of performance and capabilities.
The updated Meta AI assistant will be integrated into Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and a standalone website much like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
At present, Meta AI is available in English across the US on WhatsApp. Meta is also expanding to more countries including Australia, Canada, Ghana, Jamaica, Malawi, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.
Llama 3 models will soon be available on AWS, Google Cloud, Hugging Face, Databricks, Kaggle, IBM WatsonX, Microsoft Azure, NVIDIA NIM, Snowflake, etc.

What is Llama 3?

Llama or Large Language Model Meta AI is a family of LLMs introduced by Meta AI in February 2023. The first version of the model was released in four sizes — 7B, 13B, 33B, and 65 billion parameters. The 13B model of Llama outperformed OpenAI’s GPT-3 which had 135 billion parameters.
Meta released Llama 2 in July last year, a significantly upgraded version of its first LLM.
Llama 2 was released in 7B, 13B, and 70B parameters and it was trained on 40 per cent more data when compared to its predecessor.
Meta is back with Llama 3, the latest iteration of its LLM which is claimed to be the most sophisticated model with significant progress in terms of performance and AI capabilities.
Llama 3, which is based on the Llama 2 architecture, has been released in two sizes, 8B and 70B parameters.
Both sizes come with a base model and an instruction-tuned version that has been designed to augment performance in specific tasks.
Meta has released text-based models in the Llama 3 collection of models.
All models of Llama 3 support context lengths of 8,000 tokens.
This allows for more interactions, and complex input handling compared to Llama 2 or 1.

How good is Llama 3?

Meta claims that the 8B and 70B parameter Llama 3 models are a giant leap from Llama 2.
Llama 3 outperformed Google’s Gemma 7B and Mistral’s Mistral 7B, Anthropic’s Claude 3 Sonnet in benchmarks such as MMLU 5-shot (Massive Multitask Language Understanding), GPQA 0-shot (A Graduate-Level Google-Proof Q&A Benchmark), HumanEval 0-shot (a benchmark for evaluating the multilingual ability of code generative models), GSM-8K 8-shot and Math 4-shot, CoT (maths and word problems).

3. New shoe sizing system proposed for Indians: What is ‘Bha’ and the need for it?

Subject: Economy

Sec: Msc

Context:

A pan-India survey on the feet sizes of Indians was recently carried out as part of a larger project for developing an Indian sizing system for footwear.

More on news:

Proposed to be named ‘Bha’ (भ ) to represent Bharat, it could form the basis for manufacturing footwear in India.
Upon its implementation, Bha will replace the existing UK/European and the US sizing systems.
Many Indians were found to be wearing extra-long, ill-fitted and tight footwear.
In the case of high-heeled women’s footwear, wearing a bigger size was both inconvenient and a cause for potential injuries.

What did the survey find?

Initially, the hypothesis was that at least five footwear sizing systems would be required for Indians to be inclusive of various ethnicities.
Prior to the survey, it was thought that people from northeast India, on average, had smaller feet sizes compared to the rest of India.
A survey was conducted between December 2021 and March 2022, covering 1,01,880 people across 79 locations in five geographical zones.
3D foot scanning machines were deployed for understanding the size, dimensions and structure of an average Indian foot.
It found that the growth of the foot size of an average Indian woman peaked at the age of 11 years whereas that of an Indian man peaked at about 15 or 16 years.
Indians’ feet were found to be wider than that of Europeans or Americans.
Due to the narrow footwear available under the UK/European/US sizing systems, Indians have been wearing footwear which are a size bigger than required.

Why was the need for an Indian shoe sizing system felt?

The British introduced UK sizes in India before Indian independence.
According to it, an average Indian woman wears footwear sizes between 4 and 6, and the average man between 5 and 11.
With an Indian user now owning an average of 1.5 footwears each and India being the world’s most populated country, it is one of the world’s biggest markets and manufacturers of shoes.

What are the survey’s recommendations?

Bha proposes eight footwear sizes:
- I – infants (0 to 1 year),
- II – babies (1 to 3 years),
- III – small children (4 to 6 years),
- IV – children (7 to 11 years),
- V – girls (12 to 13 years),
- VI – boys (12 to 14 years),
- VII – Women (14 years and above) and
- VIII – Men (15 years and above).
The biggest advantage of adopting Bha would be that footwear manufacturers would need to develop only eight sizes as against the present 10 sizes (English system) and seven sizes (European system).
In addition, half-sizes would not be needed.

What is the current status of Bha?

The Chennai-based Council of Scientific and Industrial Research–Central Leather Research Institute (CSIR–CLRI) conducted the survey.
It submitted its recommendations to the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), which comes under the Union Ministry of Commerce.
The DPIIT has forwarded them to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), which is the Indian authority to implement this sizing system, for approval.

4. Why High Court upheld Karnataka’s ban on hookah

Subject: Polity

Sec: Constitution

Context:

The Karnataka High Court on Monday (April 22) upheld the state government’s ban on hookahs as being in the interest of the general public.

More on news:

The Karnataka High Court ruled that hookah bars were an illegal “service” under India’s anti-tobacco law.
On March 11, a single judge Bench of Justice M Naga Prasanna had reserved its judgment on the challenges by several restaurant owners to the government’s February 7 notification.

Article 47 and Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution:

The government argued that Article 47 of the Constitution places a duty on the State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public health, which includes the prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health.
Article 47, along with the rest of the provisions in Part IV of the Constitution, is a directive principle of state policy.
According to the Constitution, directive principles are not enforceable by any court.
The principles therein laid down are nevertheless fundamental in the governance of the country and it shall be the duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws.
The HC held that Article 47 was intrinsically linked with the right to life with dignity under Article 21.
States and its authorities aim to achieve an appropriate level of protection to human life and health which is a fundamental right guaranteed to the citizens under Article 21.
Article 19(1)(g) provides the right to practice any profession, occupation, trade, or business.
Citizens have the freedom to choose and engage in their preferred livelihoods.
Reasonable restrictions can be imposed on this right in the interests of the general public, professional qualifications, or the sovereignty and integrity of India.
The court also held that a directive principle such as Article 47 can be used to justify a restriction on citizens’ rights under Article 19(1)(g).

Illegal ‘service’ under tobacco law COTPA:

Under Section 31 of the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 (COTPA), the Centre can make further Rules to carry out the provisions of the Act.
In 2008, the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules were brought into force.
Justice Nagaprasanna relied on Rule 4(3) which, after an amendment in 2017, states No service shall be allowed in any smoking area or space provided for smoking.
The court asked whether hookah smoking is plain smoking which can be permitted in a designated area or it is a product of service that needs to be rendered.

5. SC: Denying women child care leave is violation of Constitution

Subject: Polity

Sec: Constitution

Context:

The Supreme Court said that participation of women in the workforce is a constitutional entitlement and denying mothers child care leave violates the constitution.

More on news:

A bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and J B Pardiwala was hearing a plea by a woman, who said the Himachal Pradesh government had denied her child care leave to attend to her child who is suffering from a genetic condition.
The woman had approached the state seeking child care leave as her son is suffering from Osteogenesis Imperfecta, a rare genetic disorder, and had undergone several surgeries.
But her application was declined on account of non-adoption of the provision of child care leave — as provided under Rule 43-C of the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972 — by the state government.
The woman moved the High Court, which dismissed her plea on April 23, 2021, on the ground that the state has not adopted Rule 43 (C).

What did the bench say?

The Supreme Court declared that two-year childcare leave, alongside mandatory maternity leave, is a constitutional right for women employees.
Participation of women in the workforce is a matter not just of privilege but a constitutional entitlement protected by Article 15 of the Constitution.
The state as a model employer cannot be oblivious to the special concerns which arise in the case of women who are part of the workforce.
The provision of child care leave to women sub-serves an important constitutional objective of ensuring that women are not deprived of their due participation as members of the workforce.
In the absence of provision for child care leave, a mother may be constrained to leave the workforce.

Article 15 of the Constitution:

Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth
The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.
No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to-
- access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment; or
- the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained wholly or partly out of State funds or dedicated to the use of the general public.

6. Padma awards: Venkaiah Naidu, Mithun Chakraborty, Usha Uthup honoured

Subject: Polity

Sec: Constitution

Context:

Former Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu, actor Mithun Chakraborty, singer Usha Uthup, and tennis player Rohan Bopanna were among the recipients of Padma Awards presented by President Droupadi Murmu.

Details:

Naidu, along with the late founder of Sulabh International Bindeshwar Pathak, and Bharatanatyam dancer Padma Subrahmanyam, received the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award.
Chakraborty, Uthup, and others were awarded the Padma Bhushan, including a Gujarat-based cardiologist, a veteran Marathi film director, and a physician known for his work on Kala Azar.
The ceremony also honoured various individuals with the Padma Shri, including artists, singers, and a spiritual leader from Tripura.
In total, the President approved 132 Padma awards for 2024.

About Padma awards:

One of the highest civilian honours of India.
Announced annually on the eve of Republic Day (except for a brief interruption(s) during the years 1978 and 1979 and 1993 to 1997.).
Given in three categories: Padma Vibhushan (for exceptional and distinguished service), Padma Bhushan (distinguished service of higher order) and Padma Shri (distinguished service).
The award seeks to recognize achievements in all fields of activities or disciplines where an element of public service is involved.
Conferred on the recommendations made by the Padma Awards Committee, which is constituted by the Prime Minister every year. The nomination process is open to the public. Even self-nomination can be made.
- The Padma Awards Committee is headed by the Cabinet Secretary and includes the Home Secretary, Secretary to the President and four to six eminent persons as members.
Eligibility:
- All persons without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex are eligible for these awards. However, Government servants including those working with PSUs, except doctors and scientists, are not eligible for these Awards.
A higher category of Padma award can be conferred on a person only where a period of at least five years has elapsed since the conferment of the earlier Padma award. However, in highly deserving cases, a relaxation can be made by the Awards Committee.
The total number of awards to be given in a year (excluding posthumous awards and to NRI/foreigners/OCIs) should not be more than 120.
The award does not amount to a title and cannot be used as a suffix or prefix to the awardees’ name.

HISTORY AND RELEVANCE

The Government of India instituted two civilian awards–Bharat Ratna & Padma Vibhushan in 1954.
The latter had three classes namely Pahela Varg, Dusra Varg and Tisra Varg.
These were subsequently renamed as Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri vide Presidential Notification issued on January 8, 1955.

BHARAT RATNA:

Highest civilian award of the country.
Awarded in recognition of exceptional service/performance of the highest order in any field of human endeavour.
It is treated on a different footing from the Padma Award.
The recommendations for Bharat Ratna are made by the Prime Minister to the President of India.
No formal recommendations for Bharat Ratna are necessary.
The number of Bharat Ratna Awards is restricted to a maximum of three in a particular year.
The government has conferred the Bharat Ratna Award on 53 persons till date.

Source: TH

7. 2 women Navy officers return after historic transoceanic expedition

Subject: Geography

Sec: Geomorphology

Context:

INSV Tarini, crewed by two women officers of the Indian Navy, returned to Goa on April 21 after a nearly two-month transoceanic journey, marking a historic first for India.

Details:

The expedition was led by Lieutenant Commander Dilna K. and Lieutenant Commander Roopa A., flagged off by retired Commander Abhilash Tomy in Goa on February 28.
After sailing through challenging conditions, INSV Tarini reached Port Louis, Mauritius, on March 21. The stop included interactions with the Mauritius Coast Guard and the Indian High Commission and a training sortie that enhanced bilateral ties.
Preparations are underway for a global circumnavigation scheduled for September this year as part of the Sagar Parikrama-IV expedition.
The vessel was welcomed back on April 30 by the Commanding Officer of INS Mandoviand Naval Station Commander North Goa, celebrated by naval personnel and their families.

INS Tarini:

INSV Tarini is the second sailboat of the Indian Navy.
Named after the Tara Tarini temple (Odisha).
She was constructed at Aquarius Shipyard located in Goa.
After undergoing extensive sea trials, she was commissioned to Indian Navy service on 18 February 2017.

Navika Sagar Parikrama:

The Navika Sagar Parikrama was a global circumnavigation by an all-woman team of six Indian Navy officers on INSV Tarini, marking their first global voyage.
The journey spanned 254 days from September 10, 2017, to May 21, 2018, covering 21,600 nautical miles and included port calls in Fremantle (Australia), Lyttelton (New Zealand), Port Stanley (Falkland Islands), and Cape Town (South Africa), with a technical stop in Port Louis, Mauritius.
The crew crossed the equator twice and navigated through three oceans, managing the entire operation themselves.
The journey was documented in “Tarini,” a film produced by National Geographic and the Indian Navy, which premiered on International Women’s Day at Lady Shri Ram College.
The voyage inspired National Geographic to launch the “Girls Who Sailed” campaign, celebrating stories of determination and resilience.

Source: TH

8. No data available on President Kovind returning any Union Cabinet decision: RTI response

Subject: Polity

Sec: Executive

Context:

A college student from Chennai filed a Right to Information (RTI) query asking about instances when former President Ram Nath Kovind returned decisions from the Union Council of Ministers and other governmental bodies for reconsideration.
Rashtrapati Bhavan, through the President’s Secretariat, responded stating that there is no available information on any such instances involving former President Kovind.

Details:

Dissatisfied with the initial response, the student, Yuvan Mithran, appealed, questioning if the absence of information implied that no decisions were ever returned or if the data simply was not recorded.
The Officer on Special Duty/First Appellate Authority (FAA) at Rashtrapati Bhavan upheld the initial reply, confirming no information was held by the Secretariat on the matter.

Lack of Information:

Rashtrapati Bhavan’s response to an RTI query revealed that there is no record of instances where former President Ram Nath Kovind returned decisions from the Union Council of Ministers for reconsideration.
This absence of information was highlighted as surprising and problematic by Mr. Raj Kapil, a criminology professor.

Accountability Concerns:

Mr. Kapil criticized the lack of transparency and accountability, suggesting that the former President’s use of the Suspensive Veto was not documented or reported adequately. This raised broader questions about the openness of the President’s Secretariat.

Key Presidential Decisions:

During his tenure, President Kovind made significant decisions including assenting to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the Triple Talaq Bill, amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2019, the Citizenship Amendment Bill, and three Farm Bills.

The Veto Power of the President:

Article 111 states that a bill of Parliament can only become an Act when the President gives his assent to that particular bill, so, when the Indian parliament passes bills, the bill is then sent to the President for his assent.
For any bill passed by the Parliament and sent to the president for his assent, the President can choose to take one of the following actions,
- The President may give his assent to the bill passed by the Parliament,
- The President may not give his assent or withhold the bill passed by the Parliament,
- The President may return the bill to the parliament for reconsideration of the Parliament.

The President’s power to withhold or not give his assent to a parliament bill is called the veto power of the president of India.
The President performs his veto power by his conscience; however, two scenarios can be given when the president exercises his veto power,
- If President realises an ill consideration by the parliament in the passage of the bill, and
- The President found it necessary to withhold a bill to prevent non-constitutional legislation.

The President of India enjoys veto powers like an absolute veto, suspensive veto, and pocket veto.

Absolute Veto
- The Absolute Veto gives power to the President to completely deny a bill of parliament; in this case, the bill is dropped, and it doesn’t become an act.
- However, the President can use Absolute Veto in the following conditions,
  - If a Private Member of the Parliament presented the bill.
  - If the outgoing government passes the bill (passed before the resignation but resigned before the President’s assent) and the new government advises the President not to give his assent.
Suspensive Veto
- When the President sends the bill back to the parliament for reconsideration, this veto power is called the suspensive veto power of the president of India.
- However, there are certain limitations to the suspensive veto power of the President of India,
- The President of India cannot use Suspensive Veto over money bills, as the money bills are passed with his/her prior recommendation.
- If the President sends a bill for reconsideration of the Parliament, and parliament again passes the bill without making any changes to it. In that case, the President is required to give his assent to such a bill.
Pocket Veto
- When the President decides to not decide on a bill of the Parliament, this veto power of the president of India is called the pocket veto power of the President. The President neither gives his assent nor withholds the bills; instead, he chose not to take any action on the bill.
- The constitution of India doesn’t prescribe any time limit for the exercise of pocket veto by the President of India. In this regard, the Indian constitution gives a wider pocket veto to the President than any other constitutional democracy; for example, the President of the United States can only exercise pocket veto for ten days.

Source: TH

9. ‘Rwanda deportation flights in 10-12 weeks’

Subject: IR

Sec: Places in news

Context:

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that the controversial Rwanda deportation legislation would be pushed through a parliamentary vote, promising that deportation flights for asylum seekers to Rwanda would start within 10-12 weeks.

Details:

Nearly 5,000 asylum seekers arrived in the UK via the English Channel in the first quarter of the year, with most coming from Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.
The policy, initially introduced by the Boris Johnson government, faced legal issues, including a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights and a UK Supreme Court decision deeming it unlawful. The revised bill now states that Rwanda is a safe country for deportations.
Sunak emphasized the role of people smuggling gangs, particularly targeting vulnerable Vietnamese migrants, who have seen a significant increase in numbers.

Migrant crisis in the U.K.

The immigrant crisis in the UK has intensified since 2018 with an increase in refugees and asylum seekers from regions like Sudan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Iran, and Iraq undertaking perilous journeys from Calais (France) to Dover (the UK).
The UK government has adopted strict measures against illegal immigration, exemplified by the Nationality and Borders Bill, 2021. This bill, still under review, could enable the government to revoke citizenship without notification under special conditions.
Additionally, the controversial Rwanda deal aims to deter illegal immigration by relocating migrants to Rwanda, illustrating a hardline approach to controlling immigration.

Rwanda deal:

The Rwanda Deal, formally known as the UK and Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership, is a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the UK and Rwanda.
Under this agreement, Rwanda agrees to accept asylum seekers who arrived in the UK illegally on or after January 1, 2022.
These asylum seekers will be held in Rwanda while their asylum and resettlement petitions are processed by the Rwandan government.
Rwanda commits to accommodating those who are not minors and do not have a criminal record.
Rationale behind the deal:
- The Rwanda Deal is designed to deter “people smugglers” by preventing them from exploiting vulnerable migrants with high fees for dangerous boat journeys from France to England, which frequently result in mass drownings.
- The UK government argues that this approach is humane and focuses on disrupting the criminal networks behind these illegal crossings.

How much will it cost to the U.K.?

The Rwanda Deal involves the UK paying Rwanda £120 million for an “economic transformation and integration fund” and covering additional operational costs, including an unspecified amount per migrant.
Presently, the UK spends £4.7 million daily to house around 25,000 asylum seekers,totaling£430 million annually in 2021 with an expected increase of £100 million in 2022.
The deal aims to reduce these expenses by outsourcing the accommodation of migrants to Rwanda.

Do any other countries send asylum seekers overseas?

Several countries, including Australia, Israel, and Denmark, have policies of sending asylum seekers overseas.
Australia has utilized offshore detention centers since 2001.
Israel addressed an influx of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants from Sudan and Eritrea by making agreements with third countries.
Those rejected for asylum in Israel were offered either repatriation, $3,500, and a plane ticket to a third country, or faced arrest if they remained in Israel.

Source: TH

10. Europe is ‘warming faster than any other continent’

Subject: Geography

Sec: Climatology

Context:

Europe is currently the fastest-warming continent, warming at about twice the global average, according to a report by the World Meteorological Organisation and the EU’s climate agency, Copernicus.

Details:

This rapid increase in temperature, now 2.3 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, poses significant threats to human health, glacier stability, and economic activities.
Despite these challenges, Europe is advancing in its transition to renewable energy, achieving 43% electricity generation from renewables in the previous year.
The report also highlights the severe impacts of climate extremes witnessed in Europe, including record temperatures, wildfires, heat waves, and significant glacier melt.
These events have not only caused over 150 direct deaths last year but also led to substantial economic losses estimated at over 13.4 billion euros.
Copernicus notes a critical need for targeted strategies to combat these effects and accelerate the shift to renewable resources like wind, solar, and hydroelectric power.

Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S):

C3S is one of six thematic information services provided by the Copernicus Earth Observation Programme of the European Union.
Copernicus is an operational programme building on existing research infrastructures and knowledge available in Europe and elsewhere. C3S relies on climate research carried out within the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) and responds to user requirements defined by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS).
C3S provides an important resource to the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS).
C3S is implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) on behalf of the European Commission.
C3S supports society by providing authoritative information about the past, present and future climate in Europe and the rest of the World.
Mission: To support adaptation and mitigation policies of the European Union by providing consistent and authoritative information about climate change.
- They offer free and open access to climate data and tools based on the best available science.

Source: TH

11. Earth Day 2024: Bhutan will host global meet today to mobilise finance for tiger conservation across Asia

Subject: Environment

Sec: Int Conv

Context:

The Bhutanese government is set to host the Sustainable Finance for Tiger Landscapes Conference on Earth Day 2024 (22 April) to raise $1 billion over the next decade for tiger conservation across Asia.

Sustainable Finance for Tiger Landscapes Conference:

The conference, under the patronage of Bhutan’s queen, Jetsun Pema Wangchuck, will focus on generating new funding to preserve tiger habitats, crucial for biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and supporting over 100 million people.
Co-organized by the Royal Government of Bhutan and the Tiger Conservation Coalition, the event will feature discussions on sustainable finance, the United Nations’ Global Biodiversity Framework, and public-private partnerships.
The Global Environment Facility has already contributed significantly to tiger conservation, providing over $197 million in financing.
The conference aims to further these efforts by securing sustainable financing for these vital ecosystems, which play a significant role in maintaining ecological balance and supporting local communities.

Tiger conservation coalition:

Announced on: World tiger day
Announced by: IUCN with its partners working on tiger conservation
Aim: To support enhanced ambition and financing for tiger recovery, while delivering impact for nature and people.
It brings together leading biologists and experts in wildlife crime, human-wildlife coexistence, policy, finance, development and communications, with unprecedented alignment on achieving tiger conservation at scale.
Its member organisations include IUCN, the Environmental Investigation Agency;Fauna & Flora; Panthera; TRAFFIC; the United Nations Development Programme; the Wildlife Conservation Society; and the World Wildlife Fund.
It is an independent group of organisations that have worked extensively together on major tiger assessments, including the latest assessment by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and IUCN’s Green Status of Species assessment under a common vision for tiger conservation.

Source: DTE

12. Bid to double global protected areas may affect India’s tribes

Subject: Environment

Sec: Protected Area

Context:

The bid to safeguard biodiversity by almost doubling protected areas across the globe will hit India’s tribal population the hardest, warned experts at a symposium on the rights of indigenous communities organised by the University of Arizona in the United States.

Details:

Indigenous peoples across the world will suffer if the U.N.’s Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework pursues and achieves its target of increasing protected areas from the current 16% to 30% of the world’s terrestrial area.
The Scheduled Tribes in India will bear the brunt of this expansion, as 89 of the 106 notified national parks in the country were established in areas that they lived.
This means that 84% of protected areas in Indiaoverlap with tribal areas.

Disproportionate impact:

While there are 17 national parks left that do not include major human habitation, such as those purely marine or functioning as zoos, others contain tribal populations.
Specifically, four national parks(Col. SherjungSimbalbara, Neora Valley, Singalila, and Fossil) house some tribal communities.
Scheduled Tribes (STs), who make up 8.6% of India’s population, are affected by 84% of the protected areas, showing a targeted impact on these communities.
Environmentalists have criticised the historical and ongoing criminalization of the lifestyle and livelihood practices of indigenous peoples through legislation like the Forest Act of 1927, underscoring a legacy of inequality in environmental conservation efforts.

No-win situation:

Odisha government has withdrawn over 48,000 casesagainst tribal people for offences like excise, forest violations, and land encroachment.
Expansions of protected areas, such as Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary in Rajasthan and Nauradehi Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh, predominantly affect Scheduled Tribes (STs) and other forest dwellers.
He also cites the notification for Barak Bhuban Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam, which declares the area free of encroachments, despite the indigenous Khasi people having documented residence there since 1914.
Indigenous peoples face a no-win situation: if they stay within protected areas, they endure restricted freedoms, lack of access to development, surveillance, and violence; if they relocate, there are no successful cases of rehabilitation and resettlement.

Human rights violations:

At a symposium, participants highlighted severe human rights violations faced by indigenous peoples in protected areas across Asia.
- For example, in Ujungkulon National Park, Indonesia, indigenous peoples lack access to basic amenities like proper housing and education.
- In Cambodia, Heng Saphen, an indigenous leader, was unjustly convicted for farming her own land within Beng Per Wildlife Sanctuary. Additionally, Botum Sakor National Park saw its forest cover diminish to 18% due to logging after being transferred to a private firm.
The symposium also emphasized the detrimental effects of the increasing privatization of protected areas for ecotourism, which often leads to the exploitation of indigenous communities.
These communities are frequently showcased to tourists in a manner similar to exhibits in a zoo, where they are expected to wear traditional attire and perform cultural acts for entertainment, diminishing their dignity and cultural autonomy.

Important protected areas in news:

Global:
- Ujungkulon National Park, Indonesia
- Beng Per Wildlife Sanctuary, Combodia
- Botum Sakor National Park, Cambodia
India:
- Col. SherjungSimbalbara national park, Himachal Pradesh
- Neora Valley national Park, Madhya Pradesh
- Singalila national Park, West Bengal
- Ghughwa National fossils Park, Madhya Pradesh
- Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajasthan
- Barak Bhuban Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam

Source: TH

13. Empower the guardians of the earth, do not rob them

Subject: Environment

Sec: Protected Area

Context:

In the southern region of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, there are seven small islands near Little Nicobar, labeled as “uninhabited” by government records but essential to the local indigenous Payuh people.

Details:

The islands, Meroë and Menchal—locally known as Piruiiand Pingaeyak—are traditionally owned and used by the southern Nicobarese indigenous communities.
These islands serve as crucial resource reservoirs, with their use and conservation deeply embedded in spiritual beliefs.

Nicobar group of Islands

Conservation colonialism:

In May 2022, the Andaman and Nicobar (A&N) administration announced plans to establish three wildlife sanctuaries on Meroë Island, Menchal Island, and Little Nicobar Island, disregarding indigenous land ownership and management systems.
Despite the presence of approximately 1,200 southern Nicobarese who inhabit and hold traditional rights over these islands, the administration claimed it received no objections to the sanctuaries, stating that no individual rights existed within the proposed sanctuary boundaries and restricting local access to these areas in the name of national interest.
This move exemplifies what is often criticized as “conservation colonialism,” where conservation efforts are imposed without adequate consultation or consideration of the indigenous peoples’ rights and traditional practices.

Masking an ecological disaster:

The decision to designate Meroë and Menchal Islands as conservation reserves has been criticized as arbitrary, with limited ecological justification concerning the actual populations of Megapode birds on Menchal and coral diversity on Meroë.
This move coincides with controversy surrounding the denotificationof the Galathea Bay Wildlife Sanctuary for a massive ₹72,000-crore development project on Great Nicobar, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
Megapod birds:
- Also known as incubator birds or mound-builders.
- They are stocky, medium-large, chicken-like birds with small heads and large feet in the family Megapodiidae.
- All are browsers, and all except the malleefowl occupy wooded habitats.
- They are of three kinds: scrub fowl, brush turkeys, and mallee fowl or lowan.
- They are found in the broader Australasian region, including islands in the western Pacific, Australia, New Guinea, and the islands of Indonesia east of the Wallace Line, but also the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal.

Earth’s guardians:

Globally, indigenous peoples, who make up about 6% of the world’s population and steward lands that hold 80% of the planet’s biodiversity, are often evicted from their ancestral territories under various pretexts like development and conservation.
These territories encompass approximately 22% of the Earth’s land surface.
Indigenous communities are recognized as the original guardians of the Earth, possessing crucial knowledge and practices for sustainable living.

Source: TH