THE INDIAN POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. WHAT IS THE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (IDENTIFICATION) ACT, 2022?

THE CONTEXT: According to the new provisions of the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill,  it will allow police and prison authorities to collect, store and analyse physical and biological samples including retina and iris scans of convicted, arrested and detained persons.

THE EXPLANATION

What is the legislation about?

• The Bill seeks to repeal the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920. The over 100-year-old Act’s scope was limited to capturing of finger impression, foot-print impressions and photographs of convicted prisoners and certain category of arrested and non-convicted persons on the order of a Magistrate.
• The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the 2022 Bill said that new ‘‘measurement’’ techniques being used in advanced countries are giving credible and reliable results and are recognised the world over. It said that the 1920 Act does not provide for taking these body measurements as many of the techniques and technologies had not been developed then.

What are the major changes proposed?

It proposes four major changes.

• First, it would define ‘‘measurements’’ to include “signature, handwriting, iris and retina scan, physical, biological samples and their analysis, etc.” It does not specify what analysis means, implying that it may also include storing DNA samples. The “etc.” mentioned in the text of the Bill could give unfettered powers to law enforcement agencies to interpret the law as per their convenience, sometimes to the disadvantage of the accused.
• Second, it empowers the National Crime Records Bureau of India (NCRB), under the Union Home Ministry, to collect, store and preserve the record of measurements for at least 75 years. The NCRB will be able to share the data with other law enforcement agencies as well. Police is a State subject and NCRB works under the Union government, and experts contend this provision may impinge on federalism.
• Third, it empowers a Magistrate to direct any person to give vital details, which till now was reserved for convicts and those involved in heinous crimes.
• Fourth, it empowers police or prison officers up to the rank of a Head Constable to take details of any person who resists or refuses to do so. 

What are some other changes?

• The Bill also seeks to apply to persons detained under any preventive detention law. The Bill also authorises taking vital details of “other persons” for identification and investigation in criminal matters. It doesn’t define the “other persons”, implying its ambit extends beyond convicts, arrested persons, or detainees.
• The Bill’s stated objective is it provides legal sanction for taking such details and will make the investigation of crime more efficient and expeditious, and help in increasing the conviction rate.

THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

2. INDIA AND UK CONCLUDE FIFTH ROUND OF TALKS FOR INDIA-UK FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

THE CONTEXT:Recently the Republic of India and the United Kingdom concluded the fifth round of talks for an India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

THE EXPLANATION:

• Negotiation officials undertook these technical talks in a hybrid fashion – with some of the teams meeting in New Delhi, India, and the majority of officials joined virtually. For this round of negotiations, technical experts from both sides came together for detailed draft treaty text discussions in 85 separate sessions covering 15 policy areas.
• Indian and UK officials will continue to work intensively throughout the summer towards our target to conclude the majority of talks on a comprehensive and balanced Free Trade Agreement by the end of October 2022.

What is a Free Trade Agreement (FTA)?

A free trade agreement is a pact between two or more nations to reduce barriers to imports and exports among them. Under a free trade policy, goods and services can be bought and sold across international borders with little or no government tariffs, quotas, subsidies, or prohibitions to inhibit their exchange.

Key features of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs):

1. The member nations of FTAs explicitly identify the duties and tariffs that are to be imposed on member countries when it comes to imports and exports.
2. FTAs typically cover trades in (a) merchandise — such as agricultural or industrial products (b) services — such as banking, construction, trading and so forth (c) intellectual property rights (IPRs), (d) investment (e) government procurement (f) competition policy and so on.
3. FTAs additionally, for the most part, provide a criterion called the ‘Rules of Origin (RoO)’, required for the determination of the product’s country of origin for the imposition of the preferential tariff on international trade.
4. FTAs act as an exception to the Most Favoured Nation principle adopted by WTO (World Trade Organization).

India-UK bilateral trade

• Bilateral trade between India and UK stood at 18.3 billion in the year 2020. It was lesser than the trade of 23.3 billion pounds in 2019.  India and UK have also launched a new Enhanced Trade Partnership. It opened the way for future Free Trade Agreements.
• Currently, India is the largest market with which the UK has committed to negotiating any trade deal. India is the second-largest investor in the UK economy.
• About 842 Indian companies in the UK, are employing more than 110,000 people. The combined revenue of Indian companies has increased by 87% in the last five years.

THE INTERNAL SECURITY AFFAIRS

3. ASSAM, ARUNACHAL FORM PANELS TO RESOLVE BOUNDARY DISPUTE

THE CONTEXT:Recently, the Assam and Arunachal Pradesh have formed 12 regional committees to expedite the process of identification and early resolution of disputed areas along their 804.10 km boundary.

THE EXPLANATION:

The two States had disputes in 123 villages along the border but the number was restricted to 86 in the Namsai Declaration, stated a document the Chief Ministers of the two States, signed on July 15 2022.

Genesis of Assam – Arunachal Pradesh border dispute:

• Assam has had boundary disputes with all the north-eastern States that were carved out of it.
• Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram were separated from Assam as Union Territories in 1972 and as States in 1987.
• None of the new States accepted the “constitutional boundary” that they said was dictated by the partisan administration of undivided Assam without consulting the tribal stakeholders.
• The issue with Arunachal Pradesh has more to do with a 1951 report prepared by a sub-committee headed by Assam’s first Chief Minister, Gopinath Bordoloi.

The dispute:

Arunachal Pradesh and Assam have disputes at about 1,200 points along their 804 km boundary. 

Efforts to resolve the dispute:

• The apex court appointed a local boundary commission in 2006 headed by one of its retired judges.
• In its September 2014 report, this commission recommended that Arunachal Pradesh should get back some of the areas transferred in 1951 besides advising both the States to find a middle path through discussions. This did not work out.

THE ENVIRONMENT, ECOLOGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

4. ACTION PLAN FOR INTRODUCTION OF CHEETAH IN INDIA

THE CONTEXT: India plans to restore the only large carnivore, the Cheetah, that has become extinct in independent India.

THE EXPLANATION:

This endeavor will achieve the following goals and objectives:

Goal

Establish viable cheetah metapopulation in India that allows the cheetah to perform its functional role as a top predator and provide space for the expansion of the cheetah within its historical range thereby contributing to its global conservation efforts.

Objectives of the project are-

1. To establish breeding cheetah populations in safe habitats across its historical range and manage them as a metapopulation.
2. To use the cheetah as a charismatic flagship and umbrella species to garner resources for restoring open forest and savanna systems that will benefit biodiversity and ecosystem services from these ecosystems.
3. To enhance India’s capacity to sequester carbon through ecosystem restoration activities in cheetah conservation areas and thereby contribute towards the global climate change mitigation goals.
4. To use the ensuing opportunity for eco-development and eco-tourism to enhance local community livelihoods.
5. To manage any conflict by cheetah or other wildlife with local communities within cheetah conservation areas expediently through compensation, awareness, and management actions to win community support.

The introduction of the cheetah is not only a species recovery program but an effort to restore ecosystems with a lost element that has played a significant role in their evolutionary history, allow ecosystems to provide services to their full potential, and use the cheetah as an umbrella species for conserving the biodiversity of grasslands, savanna and open forest systems.

The word Cheetah is of Sanskrit origin and the cheetah finds mention in the ancient texts such as the Vedas and Puranas; it is indeed ironical that the species is currently extinct in India. The original threats that resulted in the extinction of the cheetah have been abated and India now has the technical and financial ability to bring back its lost Natural Heritage for ethical, ecological, and economic considerations.

Successful conservation introductions are a blend of best science, technology, sociological aspects and commitment of financial resources. These aspects are integrated in this Action Plan based on the modern scientific approach recommended by the latest International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines for reintroduction and other conservation translocations, provides the framework for bringing back the charismatic cheetah to India. 

VALUE ADDITION:

India’s effort related to relocation of Cheetahs

• This isn’t the first time that India has attempted relocation of the cheetah.
• In the early 1970s, negotiations were carried out with Iran on behalf of the Indira Gandhi administration.
• Assessed sites-Mukundara Hills Tiger Reserve and Shergarh Wildlife Sanctuary in Rajasthan and Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, Kuno National Park, Madhav National Park and Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh.
• Kuno National Park is identified for the relocation.
• The site has been monitored since 2006 and identified for relocating the Asiatic Lion.

Significance of Reintroducing Cheetahs

• A section of conservationists has long advocated the reintroduction of the species in the country.
• It is recognised as a strategy to conserve threatened species and restore ecosystem functions.
• The cheetah is the only large carnivore that has been extirpated, mainly by over-hunting in India in historical times.
• India now has the economic ability to consider restoring its lost natural heritage for ethical as well as ecological reasons.”
• The conservation of the cheetah will revive grasslands and their biomes and habitat, much like Project Tiger has done for forests and all the species that have seen their numbers go up.

Kuno National Park

• Kuno National Park of Madhya Pradesh is one the most unique destination for all wildlife lovers and enthusiasts
• It has a healthy population of chital, sambar, nilgai, wild pig, chinkara and cattle. Currently, the leopard and striped hyena are the only larger carnivores within the National Park, with the lone tiger having returned to Ranthambore earlier this year.

THE GOVERNMENT SCHEMES AND INTERVENTIONS

5. AGRICULTURE MINISTRY LAUNCHES INDIGENOUS VACCINE FOR LUMPY SKIN DISEASE

THE CONTEXT: Providing a big relief to the livestock of the country, the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare,launched the indigenous vaccine Lumpi-ProVacInd to protect livestock from Lumpy Skin disease.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The vaccine has been developed by the National Equine Research Center, Hisar (Haryana) in collaboration with the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izzatnagar (Bareilly). Describing this vaccine as a milestone for eradicating the Lumpy disease. The Ministry also noted that livestock, along with human resource, is the biggest asset of our country, which we have a big responsibility to preserve and prosper.
• “According to the Ministry directed the concerned officials to provide this vaccine in large numbers at the earliest for relief to the cattle. He said that there are 30 crore livestock in the country, considering the plight of mute animals, all possible measures should be taken to provide them relief at the earliest”.
• Meanwhile, the Punjab government-run Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) issued an advisory on the disease, which, it said, is transmitted by vectors such as mosquitoes, biting flies and ticks.

VALUE ADDITION:

What is the Lumpy Skin Disease?

According to a report by GAVI, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, the Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) disease is caused by a virus called the Capripoxvirus and is “an emerging threat to livestock worldwide”. It is genetically related to the goatpox and sheeppox virus family.

• LSD infects cattle and water buffalo mainly through vectors such as blood-feeding insects. Signs of infection include the appearance of circular, firm nodes on the animal’s hide or skin that look similar to lumps.
• Infected animals immediately start losing weight and may have fever and lesions in the mouth, along with a reduced milk yield. Other symptoms include excessive nasal and salivary secretion. Pregnant cows and buffaloes often suffer miscarriage and in some cases, diseased animals can die due to it as well.

CASE STUDY:

• Nearly 3,000 cattle have died in Rajasthan and Gujarat due to a viral infection called the Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) that has spread across the states. Gujarat Chief Minister visited the affected areas in Kutch to review the situation.
• On July 27, 2022, The Gujarat government banned the transport of livestock out of 14 affected districts. Around 11 lakh cattle have been vaccinated against the disease, and the National Dairy Development Board has supplied 28 lakh doses of goat pox vaccine to Gujarat, Rajasthan and Punjab, bought from a private entity called Hester Biosciences. A toll-free helpline – 1962 – has also been activated to guide cattle-herders and dairy farmers to tackle the disease.

THE NEWS IN NUMBERS

6. UNEMPLOYED YOUTH

73 In million, the expected global number of unemployed youths in 2022, down two million from the year before, according to the United Nations. However, the figure is still six million higher than the pre-pandemic level of 2019, with the recovery in youth unemployment lagging behind the bounceback in other age groups, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said. Between 2019 and 2020, those aged 15 to 24 experienced a much higher percentage loss in employment than the rest of the labour market

7. ASSISTANCE FOR NEPAL

15 In ₹ billion, the amount China has pledged in grant assistance to Nepal. “The two foreign Ministers took stock of overall aspects of Nepal-China relations and agreed to promote further cooperation in various sectors, including trade, connectivity, investment, health, tourism, poverty alleviation, agriculture, disaster management, education, culture, and people-to-people exchanges among others,” the Nepal Foreign Ministry said. Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka was visiting China at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

8. OWNING DIGITAL CURRENCY

7.3 The percentage of Indian population that owns digital currency, the seventh highest in the world, according to the UN, which said that the use of cryptocurrency rose globally at an unprecedented rate during the COVID-19 pandemic. The UN trade and development body UNCTAD said that in 2021, developing countries accounted for 15 of the top 20 economies when it came to the share of population that owns cryptocurrencies. Ukraine topped the list with 12.7%.

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