THE INDIAN POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. WHAT ARE THE RULES FOR DISPLAYING THE TRICOLOUR?

THE CONTEXT: Recently, the Department of Post (DoP) revealed that it had taken only 10 days to sell one crore National Flags through its widespread network of 1.5 lakh post offices across the country and online channels.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Retailers in cities, towns and villages are also witnessing high sales of the flag as people prepare to celebrate the 75th Independence Day by participating in the government’s Har Ghar Tiranga campaign, being held under the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav programme.
• The purpose is to spread the message of patriotism, but not many know that there are a number of rules surrounding the act of hoisting or displaying the Tiranga. These instructions are contained in the Flag Code of India 2002 and upheld by the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.

Who is allowed to fly a national flag and on which days?

• According to the Flag Code of India, paragraph 2.2, which came into effect on January 26, 2002, any person, organisation, private or public, or educational institution (including scout camps) can hoist or display the Tricolour on “all days or occasions in accordance with the dignity and honour of the National Flag”.

How should you choose a flag?

• The flag can be as big or small as one wants “but the ratio of the length to the height (width) of the National Flag shall be 3:2”.
• So, the flag must always be a rectangle rather than square or any other shape. After an amendment on December 30, 2021, the material of the flag has been decided as “handspun and handwoven or machine-made, cotton, polyester, wool, silk or khadi bunting”. If the flag is placed in the open or on the house of a member of the public, it may be flown day and night.

What if your flag is damaged by the elements or otherwise?

• It is against rules to display a damaged or disheveled National Flag. At all times, the National Flag must be displayed in a position of honour and should be distinctly placed.
• “No other flag or bunting shall be placed higher than or above or side by side with the National Flag; nor shall any object including flowers or garlands, or emblem be placed on or above the flagmast from which the National Flag is flown”. The Tricolour should never be used as a festoon, rosette, bunting or for a decorative purpose. No advertisements should be festooned to the pole from which it flies.

Can it be put up on vehicles?

The National Flag cannot be flown on any vehicle except those of the President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Governor and other dignitaries. The flag should also not be used to cover the sides, back, and top of any vehicle.

What is the punishment for disrespecting the flag?

• According to Section 2 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, “whoever in any public place or in any other place within public view burns, mutilates, defaces, defiles, disfigures, destroys, tramples upon or otherwise brings into contempt (whether by words, either spoken or written, or by acts) the Indian National Flag….shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with a fine, or with both”.

THE SOCIAL ISSUES AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

2. MANUAL SCAVENGING: GOVT. TO ENUMERATE PEOPLE WHO CLEAN SEWERS

THE CONTEXT:The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJ&E) is now preparing to undertake a nationwide survey to enumerate all people engaged in hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks, an activity that has led to at least 351 deaths since 2017.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Drawing a distinction between this work and manual scavenging, the Ministry insisted that the practice of manual scavenging no longer takes place in the country as all manual scavengers had been accounted for and enrolled into the rehabilitation scheme.
• Ministry officials said that the enumeration exercise, soon to be conducted across 500 AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) cities, is part of the Union government’s National Action Plan for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE), which will streamline the process of rehabilitating sanitation workers and eventually merge with and replace the Self-Employment Scheme for the Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS), which was started in 2007.
• The NAMASTE scheme is being undertaken jointly by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the MoSJ&E and aims to eradicate unsafe sewer and septic tank cleaning practices.
• Other benefits under the scheme will include capital subsidies of up to ₹5 lakh on sanitation machinery costing up to ₹15 lakh and interest subsidies on loans, where interest rates will be capped between 4-6% for the beneficiaries.

VALUE ADDITION:

NAMASTE SCHEME:

Government has formulated a scheme “National Action Plan for Mechanized Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE)”, a joint project of Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), which aims to achieve the following outcomes:

• Zero fatalities in sanitation work in India.
• All sanitation work is performed by skilled workers.
• No sanitation workers come in direct contact with human faecal matter.
• Sanitation workers are collectivized into Self Help Groups (SHGs) and are empowered to run sanitation enterprises.
• All Sewer and Septic tank sanitation workers (SSWs) have access to alternative livelihoods.
• Strengthened supervisory and monitoring systems at national, state and Urban Local Body (ULB) levels to ensure enforcement and monitoring of safe sanitation work.
• Increased awareness among sanitation services seekers (individuals and institutions) to seek services from registered and skilled sanitation workers.

THE HEALTH ISSUES

3. EXPLAINED: CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME

THE CONTEXT:A woman from Bengaluru has filed a petition in the Delhi High Court to stop her Noida-based friend, who has been suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome since 2014, from travelling to Europe to undergo a physician-assisted euthanasia.

THE EXPLANATION:

The petition stated that his condition has deteriorated over the past eight years, making him “completely bed-bound and just able to walk a few steps inside home”.

The disease

• Also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, is a serious and debilitating disease that affects the nervous system, the immune system and the body’s production of energy, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• Experts have suggested that the term can trivialize the severity of the illness. In a 2015 report, the US Institute of Medicine proposed the term systemic exertion intolerance disease (SEID).
• Its causes are still unknown. However, the potential triggers would include viral or bacterial infection, hormonal imbalances and genetic predispositions. There is no specific test for the disease, and doctors have to rely on medical examinations, blood and urine tests.
• ME/CFS can affect anyone, from children to adults of all ages. According to the CDC, it’s more common in women and people between 40 and 60 years old.

Symptoms

• The biggest telltale symptom is a significantly lowered ability to do activities that were performed before the illness. This is accompanied by at least 6 months (or longer) of debilitating fatigue that is more severe than everyday feelings of tiredness.
• This fatigue is not relieved by sleep or rest and exercising usually makes the symptoms worse, according to the UK’s National Health Services (NHS).
• Other symptoms include trouble sleeping, difficulty in thinking, memory retention and concentration, dizziness/lightheadedness, headaches, muscle pain, joint ache, flu-like symptoms, tender lymph nodes and digestive issues.

According to the New York state health department, the most recognizable symptom is post-exertional malaise (PEM). Patients often describe it as a “crash” in physical/mental energy following even minor activities like grocery shopping or brushing teeth.

Treatment

• As of yet, there is no specific cure or approved treatment. Instead, doctors recommend ways to deal with the symptoms of the disease.

THE ENVIRONMENT, ECOLOGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

4. CENTRE TO FILE REVIEW PETITION ON ECO-SENSITIVE ZONES IN SC

THE CONTEXT: Recently, the Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has said the Ministry will file a review petition in the Supreme Court urging a relook into its judgment on eco-sensitive zones.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Speaking at the observance of World Elephant Day at the Periyar Tiger Reserve in Thekkady, the Minister said the Centre would seek a review of Sections 44A and 44E of the judgment as more clarity was required on the issue.

Protected areas

• The sections pertained to the directive to notify eco-sensitive zones of minimum 1 km from the demarcated boundaries of protected areas and the exemption provided for ongoing activities within the proposed eco-sensitive zones, provided they did not figure on the ‘prohibited list’.
• Yadav added that a committee had been formed to adopt a ‘holistic’ approach on the reports of the K. Kasturirangan and Madhav Gadgil committees for the conservation of the Western Ghats.
• The panel will also consider the representations submitted by the public.

VALUE ADDITION:

Madhav Gadgil Committee Report on the Western Ghats

Gadgil Commission, an environmental research commission known as Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP). The commission submitted the report to the Government of India on 31 August 2011.

Report Highlights:

The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) designated the entire hill range as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA).

• The panel, in its report, has classified the 142 taluks in the Western Ghats boundary into Ecologically Sensitive Zones (ESZ) 1, 2 and 3.
• ESZ-1 being of high priority, almost all developmental activities (mining, thermal power plants etc) were restricted in it.
• Gadgil report recommended that “no new dams based on large-scale storage be permitted in Ecologically Sensitive Zone 1. Since both the Athirappilly of Kerala and Gundia of Karnataka hydel project sites fall in Ecologically Sensitive Zone 1, these projects should not be accorded environmental clearance,”.
• Gadgil Committee report specifies that the present system of governance of the environment should be changed. It asked for a bottom to top approach (right from Gram sabhas) rather than a top to bottom approach. It also asked for decentralization and more powers to local authorities.
• The commission recommended the constitution of a Western Ghats Ecology Authority (WGEA), as a statutory authority under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, with the powers under Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

Madhav Gadgil committee recommendations faced huge criticism because of its more environment-friendly and not in tune with the ground realities. As many mafias created fear among the people that the Gadgil report is anti-farmer and anti-people, people burnt the Gadgil Committee report.

And it is in this background that another committee was appointed to study Gadgil Report, review and suggest measures for implementation.

Image Courtesy: Western Ghats Biodiversity

Kasturirangan committee

The Kasturirangan committee was constituted to examine the WGEEP report. The committee is often called HLWG – it denotes the 10 members high-level working group (HLWG).

Recommendations:

The Kasturirangan committee report proposes 37 per cent of the total area of the Western Ghats, which is roughly 60,000 square kilometres, be declared as an eco-sensitive area (ESA).

A complete ban on mining, quarrying and sand mining in ESA.

• Distinguished between cultural (58% occupied in the Western Ghats by it like human settlements, agricultural fields and plantations) and natural landscape (90% of it should come under ESA according to the committee).
• Current mining areas in the ESA should be phased out within the next five years, or at the time of expiry of mining lease, whichever is earlier.
• No thermal power be allowed and hydropower projects are allowed only after detailed study.
• Red industries i.e. which are highly polluting be strictly banned in these areas.
• Kasturirangan report on the Western Ghats has made several pro-farmer recommendations, including the exclusion of inhabited regions and plantations from the purview of ecologically sensitive areas (ESAs).
• The Kasturirangan report had said 123 villages fall under the ESA purview.
• The Kasturirangan panel had submitted its report to the Ministry on April 15, 2013.

5. ‘29 ELEPHANT POACHING CASES IN 3 YEARS’

THE CONTEXT:According to the data shared by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC), In the past three years, 90 cases of seizure of elephant tusks/ivory have been reported in India along with 29 cases of poaching of elephants.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The highest number of cases of elephant tusk seizure was reported in 2021 with 42 cases, and incidents of poaching were the highest in the year 2021 with 14 incidents having been reported throughout the country. Meghalaya alone accounted for seven of the 14 poaching deaths. In the year 2018-19, six elephant deaths due to poaching were reported and nine poaching deaths were reported in 2019-20.
• Odisha, which has emerged as one of the hot spots of human-elephant conflict, has accounted for seven elephant deaths due to poaching in the past three years, while Meghalaya accounted for 12 poaching deaths in the past three years. Tamil Nadu has accounted for three deaths of elephants due to poaching. The data were tabled by Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ashwini Kumar Choubey in response to a question by five MPs.
• Of the 90 cases of seizure of elephant tusks reported in the past three years, in the year 2020 the number of such cases reported was 21. In 2019, 27 cases of seizure of elephant tusks were reported. In response to the question, the Ministry has informed that the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau has conducted a special pan-India enforcement operation to coordinate action among State and Central enforcement agencies. “Ivory seizures have been affected in the ‘Operation WILDNET-I, II, III and IV’”.
• Wildlife experts and conservationists point out that while India is home to 60% of Asian elephants, the human-elephant conflict continues to be the biggest challenge for wildlife management.

Value Addition:

Elephants

There are three subspecies of Asian elephants – the Indian, Sumatran and Sri Lankan. The Indian has the widest range and accounts for the majority of the remaining elephants on the continent.

• IUCN Red List of threatened species status- African elephants are listed as “vulnerable” and Asian elephants as “endangered”.
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) status-  Appendix I. Appendix I lists species that are the most endangered among CITES-listed animals and plants. They are threatened with extinction and CITES prohibits international trade in specimens of these species except when the purpose of the import is not commercial, for instance for scientific research.

UPSC PRELIMS 2020

Q. With reference to Indian elephants, consider the following statements:

1. The leader of an elephant group is a female.
2. The maximum gestation period can be 22 months.
3. An elephant can normally go on calving till the age of 40 years only.
4. Among the States in India, the highest elephant population is in Kerala.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

a) 1 and 2 only

b) 2 and 4 only

c) 3 only

d) 1, 3 and 4 only

Answer: A

Explanation:

Elephants live in small family groups led by old females (cows) and Gestation is the longest of any mammal (18–22 months). So, statements 1 and 2 are correct.

According to the report, released by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change on August 12, Karnataka has the highest number of elephants (6,049), followed by Assam (5,719) and Kerala (3,054). So, statements 3 and 4 are not correct.  Therefore, the correct answer is (a).

THE PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE

6. THE ONGOLE BREED OF CATTLE

THE CONTEXT: Ongole breed of cattle had remained indispensable for all farm operations for centuries in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh in view of their draught power.

THE EXPLANATION:

However, over a period, the average farmer dumped the world famous bulls which thrive between Musi and Gundlakamma rivers in Prakasam district and gradually went for machines, including tractors, for all farm operations leaving the task of nurturing the bulls to progressive farmers and racing enthusiasts.

About Ongole cattle:

• It is an indigenous cattle breed that originates from Prakasam District in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The breed derives its name from the place the breed originates from, Ongole.
• The Ongole breed of cattle, Bos Indicus, has a great demand as it is said to possess resistance to both foot and mouth disease and mad cow disease. They are known for their toughness, rapid growth rate. And it is one of the heaviest breeds.
• These cattle are commonly used in bull fights in Mexico and some parts of East Africa due to their strength and aggressiveness. They also participate in traditional bull fights in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
• It has a great similarity with the Gaolao breed of Madhya Pradesh and also has a resemblance to the Bhagnari type of cattle in the north of India.

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