1. SILVOPASTURE SYSTEMS
TAG: GS 3: ENVIRONMENT
THE CONTEXT: A study on deforestation drivers in seven South American countries found that more than 70 per cent of deforestation was driven by an increased demand for pasture. In this regard, silvopasture systems can play a vital role in reversing the negative trend of deforestation for pasture land.
EXPLANATION:
- Livestock’s impact on land use is not only restricted to direct grazing land use but also through indirect land use for fodder crop production.
- In light of the global deterioration of natural resources and forests, silvopasture systems offer a relevant solution to deforestation trends.
Silvopasture system:
- It is an ancient and proven practice that harmoniously integrates trees, forage and livestock on the same land. It presently covers a vast expanse of 550 million hectares worldwide.
- By combining these elements, silvopasture brings numerous environmental advantages as it acts as a buffer against temperature and wind extremes, providing a favourable living environment for livestock.
- Moreover, the trees on silvopasture lands act as natural carbon sinks, sequestering significantly five-10 times more carbon than pastures without trees, all while maintaining or enhancing productivity.
- It also regulates local climatic conditions, buffering against temperature and wind extremes, providing a favourable living environment for livestock.
- Moreover, the extensive root systems of trees within silvopasture plots contribute to nutrient cycling, improved soil stability and quality, while effectively combating erosion.
- Soil infiltration rates in silvopasture systems surpass those of open pastures, enhancing water storage potential. It fosters milder microclimatic conditions compared to their open-pasture counterparts.
- The local climate buffering capacities suggest that silvopasture may offer a ‘middle ground’ between intact secondary forests and managed open fields, retaining the climate benefits of forests while enabling the expansion of agricultural land.
- It offers a multifaceted approach that enhances local climate resilience, mitigates carbon emissions, and promotes sustainable land use.
2. THE GLOBAL CLIMATE LITIGATION REPORT
TAG: GS 3: ENVIRONMENT
THE CONTEXT: Recently, the UNEP released the Global Climate Litigation Report: 2023 Status Review.
EXPLANATION:
Findings of the report:
- The cases for climate justice have more than doubled globally since 2017, showing that climate litigation is becoming an integral part of securing climate action and justice.
- While most climate litigation was in the US, about 17 per cent were reported in developing countries, including the Small Island Developing States
- Climate policies are far behind what is needed to keep global temperatures below the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold, with extreme weather events and searing heat already baking our planet.
- People are increasingly turning to courts to combat the climate crisis, holding governments and the private sector accountable and making litigation a key mechanism for securing climate action and promoting climate justice.
- As climate litigation increases in frequency and volume, the body of legal precedent grows, forming an increasingly well-defined field of law.
- These legal actions were brought in 65 bodies worldwide: International, regional and national courts, tribunals, quasi-judicial bodies and other adjudicatory bodies, including special procedures of the UN and arbitration tribunals.
- Some key climate litigation cases and matters covered in the report:
- UN Human Rights Committee concluded for the first time that a country has violated international human rights law through climate action, finding Australia’s government is in violation of its human rights obligations to Torres Strait Islanders.
- Brazil’s Supreme Court holding that the Paris Agreement is a human rights treaty, which enjoys “supranational” status and a Dutch court ordering oil and gas company Shell to comply with the Agreement were also covered.
- Most ongoing climate litigation falls into one or more of six categories:
- Cases relying on human rights enshrined in international law and national constitutions;
- Challenges to domestic non-enforcement of climate-related laws and policies;
- Litigants seeking to keep fossil fuels in the ground;
- Advocates for greater climate disclosures and an end to greenwashing;
- Claims addressing corporate liability and responsibility for climate harms;
- Claims addressing failures to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Global Climate Litigation Report: 2023 Status Review:
- It was published by the UNEP in cooperation with the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University.
- It was launched in conjunction with the anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly’s recognition of the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
- It provides an overview of the current state of climate change litigation and an update on global climate change litigation trends.
- It highlights that Climate litigation cases have increased in recent years, which shows courtrooms are increasingly relevant to efforts to address climate change across the world.
- It further demonstrates the importance of an environmental rule of law in combating the triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
- It was established by Maurice Strong in June 1972 following the UN conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm.
- The organisation involves in coordinating the responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system.
- It provides leadership, delivers science and develops solutions to issues like climate change, management of marine & terrestrial ecosystems and green economic development.
- It also develops the international environmental agreement and helps in achieving the environmental targets.
- The primary aim of the UNEP is to help the world to meet the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
- Environmental agreements such as the Minamata Convention on Mercury, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and Convention on Migratory Species are organised by UNEP.
- It also helps in implementing the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol and Global Environment Facility (GEF).
3. THE JAN VISHWAS (AMENDMENT OF PROVISIONS) BILL, 2023
TAG: GS 2: POLITY
THE CONTEXT: Recently, the Jan Vishwas Bill was passed in Lok Sabha, which seeks to redefine the regulatory landscape of the country.
EXPLANATION:
- The proposed legislation was tabled in Parliament by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry in December 2022 and was later referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for review.
- The JPC presented its report with seven general recommendations to Parliament during the Budget Session in March 2023.
What does the Bill propose?
- It seeks to redefine the regulatory landscape of the country with decriminalisation of minor offences under 42 acts to reduce compliance burden and promote ease of living and doing business in the country.
- It aims to decriminalise around 180 offences across 42 laws governing environment, agriculture, media, industry and trade, publication, and other domains that create barriers to the ease of doing business in the country.
- It seeks to completely remove or replace imprisonment clauses with monetary fines to provide a boost to the business ecosystem and improve the well-being of the public.
- The Bill also proposes compounding of offences in some provisions.
- Broadly, the draft proposes the following changes in existing Acts:
- Decriminalising of offences
- The Bill removes all offences and penalties under the Indian Post Office Act, 1898.
- Changes in grievance redressal mechanisms and the appointment of one or more Adjudicating Officers for determining penalties. These officers can conduct inquiries into violations of the respective Acts and even summon individuals for evidence.
- A periodic revision of fines and penalties for various offences in the specified Acts. The Bill proposes an increase of 10% of the minimum amount every three years.
Need for such a law:
- It can make a shift from Micro, small and medium-scale businesses to the formal sector and generate jobs and income through effective and efficient business regulations in place that eliminate unnecessary red tape.
- It can minimize excessive regulation that has proved onerous for business enterprises, especially MSMEs. As currently, there are 1,536 laws which translate into around 70,000 compliances that govern doing business in India.
- It envisages decluttering the system and shedding the baggage of archaic and obsolete laws.
A web of outdated rules and regulations causes a trust deficit, and reducing compliance burden gives impetus to business process reengineering and improves the ease of living of people.
- The Bill seeks to reduce compliance and remove the fear of imprisonment for minor offences, to give an impetus to businesses and improve ease of doing business and living, thus bolstering ‘trust-based governance’.
Criticism of the bill:
- The Bill uniformly substitutes imprisonment clauses with monetary fines or penalties, which experts say is not a good enough attempt at ‘decriminalisation’.
- The blanket removal of imprisonment provision might also remove the deterrence effect of the environmental legislation, especially for large corporations profiteering from the offence.
- The Bill empowers Adjudicating Officers to decide penalties under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act and the Environment (Protection) Act of 1986. These Adjudicating Officers may lack the technical competence necessary to decide all penalties under the Air Act and the EP Act.
- The Bill has nothing to do with its objective of decriminalising to promote ease of doing business like theft or misappropriation of postal articles.
Which are the key provisions under consideration?
- As stated above, there are a total of 42 laws under the purview of the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill of 2023.
- These are administered by different Union ministries, including finance, agriculture, commerce, environment, road transport and highways, food production and distribution, and electronics and IT.
- Here are some key suggestions in the draft legislation:
The Indian Forest Act, 1927: Trespassing, permitting cattle to trespass; cutting timber; or causing damage in felling a tree in a reserved forest is a punishable offence with a jail term of up to six months or a fine up to Rs 500, or both. The Bill removes the clause of imprisonment. Only a fine of up to Rs 500 will be imposed in addition to compensation for damage done to the forest. The Bill also removes the jail term clause for burning trees near a reserved tree. The JPC has suggested an increase in penalty from Rs 500 to Rs 5,000 for violation of sections 26 (1) (e) and 33(e) and (f) of the Act, which deal with the above.
The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981: The Bill proposes to replace imprisonment for lapses with heavier penalties. For instance, failure to comply with provisions that bar an industrial unit from operating in an air pollution control area will be liable to pay a penalty of up to Rs 15 lakh. The offence currently attracts a jail term of up to six years, along with a monetary penalty.
The Information Technology Act, 2000: The Bill proposes to remove Section 66A, which provides for punishment for sending offensive messages or false information through a communication service. For breach of confidentiality and privacy, the Bill proposes a penalty of Rs 5 lakh. The offence is presently punishable with imprisonment up to two years, with a fine up to Rs 1 lakh, or both.
Disclosing personal information in breach of a lawful contract is punishable with imprisonment of up to three years and/or a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh. The proposed Bill replaces it with a penalty of up to Rs 25 lakh.
The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986: The Bill suggests a penalty of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 15 lakh for inadvertent compliance breaches, such as being unaware of excess discharge of pollutants under Sections 7 and 9 of the Act. The offence currently carries an imprisonment of five years and a fine of Rs 1 lakh.
The Copyright Act, 1957: The proposed law omits the penalty for making false statements for deceiving or influencing an authority or officer. The offence is presently punishable with imprisonment, which may extend to one year, or fine, or both.
The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988: Under Section 192A, a person using a motor vehicle without a valid permit faces a jail term of up to six months and a fine of Rs 10,000. The Bill proposes the same jail term but omits the compulsion of paying a fine of Rs 10,000.
The Railways Act, 1989: A person caught begging or selling goods without a permit in a railway carriage or at a railway station is liable for punishment. The Bill removes the punishment clause for beggars. It sets a clause of a jail term of up to one year or a fine of a maximum of Rs 2,000 for illegal hawkers, or both.
The Cinematograph Act, 1952: Unauthorised tampering of an already certified film will be punishable with up to three years in jail, a fine of up to Rs. 10 lakh, or both. It also proposes a penalty of up to Rs 10,000 for a person showing an adult movie (A-rated) to a minor.
The Patents Act, 1970: If a person wrongly claims a patent on an article sold by him, he will be liable to pay a penalty of up to Rs 10 lakh and a further penalty of Rs 1,000 per day in case of a continuing claim. The offence is presently punishable with a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh.
The Agricultural Produce (Grading & Marking) Act, 1937: The Bill removes the provision of jail term for unauthorised marking of an article with a grade designation mark and its sale. Instead, it proposes a penalty of Rs 5 lakh.
The Trade Marks Act, 1999: Falsely representing a trademark as registered is punishable with imprisonment of up to three years, with a fine, or both. The Bill proposes a penalty of Rs 25,000-Rs 1 lakh.
The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006: For the sale of unsafe food, the Bill proposes imprisonment for three months with a fine of up to Rs 3 lakh. Currently, the jail term for the offence is not more than six months, while the fine goes up to Rs 1 lakh. Similarly, for providing misleading or false information, a person can be jailed for up to three months, with a fine extending to two lakh. The Bill proposes that the offence be punishable by a fine extending to Rs 10 lakh.
The High Denomination Bank Notes (Demonetisation) Act, 1978: The Bill decriminalises offences under the Act, which was used to remove high-value banknotes as legal tender in 1978. Noting that the law has outlived its utility, the parliamentary committee suggested the Ministry of Finance repeal the Act.
4. STARFIRE
TAG: GS 3: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
THE CONTEXT: Scientists at Raman Research Institute (RRI) developed a new algorithm called STARFIRE to quantify terrestrial Radio Frequency in space.
EXPLANATION:
- In order to study the early Universe and its evolution, astronomers tune their radio antennas within the 40 to 200 Mega Hertz (MHz) range in search of the 21-cm hydrogen line, believed to contain some of the unknown secrets about the cosmos.
- However, given their faint and weak strength, detecting these signals is extremely challenging. In this regard, scientists have developed new algorithms.
STARFIRE:
- It has been developed by scientists at Raman Research Institute (RRI), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology.
- It is a new algorithm to quantify terrestrial Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) in space for earth-orbiting radio astronomy experiments.
- It can estimate the RFI emitted by FM radio stations, WiFi networks, mobile towers, radar, satellites, and communication devices.
- It can use this calculation for designing and fine-tuning the antennas and other instrument components of missions like India’s Probing ReionizATion of the Universe using Signal from Hydrogen (PRATUSH).
- It is capable of estimating and mapping the unwanted Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) signals in space, and can help design instruments that are capable of offering optimal operations in the presence of RFI.
- It enriches the data obtained from the future space-based Astronomy missions.
- It is flexible for users to change properties of the antennas that transmit and receive RFI along with including the astrophysical radio signals from our own galaxy and the cosmos to derive meaningful conclusions about experiment sensitivity.
PRATUSH
- It is one of the several mission opportunities in space contemplated to address the growing RFI on land
- It can study the birth of the first stars and galaxies in the Universe using the 21-cm hydrogen line obtained from the far side of the moon.
Radio Frequency Interference (RFI)
- Radio frequency interference is the conduction or radiation of radio frequency energy that causes an electronic or electrical device to produce noise that typically interferes with the function of an adjacent device.
- It also refers to the disruption of the normal functionality of a satellite due to the interference of radio astronomy.
- It can disrupt and disturb the normal functioning of electronic and electrical devices, and thus it is important to limit it when possible.
- The fast-advancing technologies and expanding areas of human settlements have led to an increased number of sources emitting RFIs, many even constraining the efforts for recording astronomical observations on land.
- The RFI emitted by Frequency Modulation (FM) stations is one of the major concerns for the frequency band of our scientific interest.
5. NATIONAL COAL INDEX
TAG: GS 3: ECONOMY
THE CONTEXT: The National Coal Index (NCI) has shown a significant decline of 33.8% in May 2023 compared to May 2022, which indicates a strong supply of coal in the market, with sufficient availability to meet the growing demands.
EXPLANATION:
Findings:
- The National Coal Index (NCI) fell a significant 33.8% year-on-year to 157.7 points in May, in an indication that supplies in the country remain sufficient.
- Similarly, NCI for non-coking coal declined 34.3% on year to 147.5 points in May. Non-coking coal is mainly used in thermal plants for power generation due to its inherent lack of caking properties.
- There has been a sharp decline in coal auction premiums, too, pointing at sufficient coal availability. The Indian coal industry affirms a substantial stockpile, with companies holding impressive stock.
- This availability ensures a stable supply for various sectors dependent on coal, significantly contributing to the overall energy security of the nation.The trend witnessed in the NCI shows that a more balanced market prevails at the moment.
- With sufficient coal availability, the nation can not only meet the growing demand but also support its long-term energy requirements, thus building a more resilient and sustainable coal industry.
National Coal Index:
- The NCI is a price index which reflects the change in the price level of coal on a particular month relative to the fixed base year.
- This price index combines the prices of coal from all the sales channels- Notified Prices, Auction Prices and Import Prices.
- It was rolled out on 4th June 2020, and the aim is to have an index that will truly reflect the market price.
- The National Coal Index combines coal prices from all sales channels, including notified prices, auction prices and import prices.
- Established with the base year as fiscal year 2017-18, it serves as a reliable indicator of market dynamics, providing valuable insights into coal price fluctuations.
- The concept and design of the Index as well as the Representative Prices, have been developed by the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.
Components of NCI
- The concept and design of the Index as well as the Representative Prices, have been developed by the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.
- NCI is composed of a set of five sub-indices: three for Non-Coking Coal and two for Coking Coal.
- The three sub-indices for Non-Coking Coal are combined to arrive at the Index for Non-Coking Coal, and the two sub-indices for Coking Coal are combined to arrive at the Index for Coking Coal.
- As per the grade of coal pertaining to a mine, the appropriate sub-index is used to arrive at the revenue share.
Implementation of NCI
- The amount of revenue share per tonne of coal produced from auctioned blocks would be arrived at using the NCI by means of a defined formula.
- The Index is meant to encompass all transactions of raw coal in the Indian market.
- This includes coking and non-coking of various grades transacted in the regulated (power and fertilizer) and non-regulated sectors.
- Washed coal and coal products are not included.
