List of Important Mountain Passes India:-

Interesting facts about the Passes in India

1. The Dungri la pass or Mana Pass is the high altitude mountain pass and the highest motorable road with an elevation of 18,399 ft.
2. Jawahar tunnel was constructed under the Banihal pass.
3. Shipki La is a Himalayan pass which connects India and China.
4. Zoji La pass connects the Ladakh and Kashmir valley.

Sal forest tortoise

The sal forest tortoise is widely distributed over eastern and northern India and Southeast Asia.

However, it is not common in any of this terrain. In fact, 23 of the 29 species of freshwater turtle and tortoise species found in India come under the threatened category in the IUCN red list and are under severe existential threat due to human activities.

IUCN Category

Also known as the elongated tortoise (Indotestudo elongata), the sal forest tortoise, recently assessed as critically endangered

Threats of Sal forest tortoise

• It, is heavily hunted for food.
• It is collected both for local use, such as decorative masks, and international wildlife trade.
• A recent study by ecologists in the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, finds that the area designated as a protected area network has only a small overlap with the actual habitat it roams around in.
• According to the authors of the study published in the journal Herpetological Conservation and Biology, over 90% of the potential distribution of the species falls outside current protected area’s network.
• Also, in northeast India, the representation of the species in protected areas is least, and there is little to no connectivity among most of the protected areas where the species is present.
• The study also found that 29% of the predicted distribution of the species falls within high occurrence fire zones or areas where there is management burning.
• Protected areas are designated in a largely mammal-centric way. Many reptiles and amphibians which are equally threatened live outside protected areas where exploitation risk is more.
• This includes Uttarakhand State which is the “westernmost” distribution limit of the species .
• In northeast India, which is a suitable habitat for the species, they experience jhum fire. Such an intervention may not only directly kill the animals but also open up habitats, which, in turn, increases the chance of people finding the tortoise easily.
• Forest fires also perturb soil moisture which may impact forest floor thus changing the whole community on which the reptiles depend.
• According to the IUCN the population of the species may have fallen by about 80% in the last three generations (90 years).

Monitoring needed

• We need to realise that tortoises are no less threatened than tigers. Thus, they should be part of regular monitoring effort.
• In summer days, these tortoises select moist patches such as dry stream beds. Such areas should be protected from the spread of forest fire.
• The study covers not only parts of India but also Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.
• But, transboundary research has not picked up in our countries. For tigers, yes, there are some efforts in this line, but not for many other species which are equally threatened globally.
• The “Tiger Conservation Unit” and transboundary conservation reserves such as Manas for the Indo-Bhutan region, the Sundarban for the India-Bangladesh region.
• The critically endangered brackish water turtle (Batagur baska) distributed in India and Bangladesh also needs such support.
• There is little information on the population sizes of the sal forest tortoise, or any such species, mainly because they are so rare, live in remote areas of the forest and funding opportunities to study them are few.
• Species having large distribution may suffer myriad problems.

Using NFHS for population surveillance for coronavirus

Introduction

Governments worldwide have been testing for coronavirus (COVID-19) in high-risk individuals, such as those with symptoms, close contacts of those tested positive, health-care professionals and those with travel history to an affected region.

But this does not give an accurate number of those affected, making it impossible to understand the true prevalence in a population.

Inaccurate data

Lancet Global Health proposes the use of the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) framework to ascertain the prevalence of COVID-19.

The scientific and logistical infrastructure of India’s National Family Health Survey (NFHS) be leveraged to conduct a random sample-based population surveillance to track coronavirus.

Used earlier

The article gives the example of how India used NFHS for HIV surveillance — India was projected to have 25 million HIV-positive individuals, with a 3-4% prevalence in adults, but when a random-sample-based population surveillance was conducted to test for HIV in the general population, the estimates sharply reduced to 2·5 million, with a 0.28% prevalence in adults.

They note that “layering a COVID-19-focused data-collection effort on to the NFHS infrastructure would keep operational costs low, with the major expense being laboratory costs for testing samples.”

Prevalence and Testing

They estimated that if COVID-19 anticipated prevalence is under 0·5%, it needs a sample of about 3,000 individuals to be tested.

“The minimum required sample size increases to just over 15,000 under a rarer scenario of 0·1% prevalence.” If a disease is widespread, meaning there is higher prevalence, its detection is easier, needing only a smaller sample. Conversely, if it is rare, it is harder to find and a larger sample should be tested to detect that.

This sampling approach could be implemented at the State or district levels.

India and about 90 countries with established DHS sampling frames can implement this surveillance system. The idea is that population-based testing is important for any decision making with some repeated cross-sectional testing of the same.

Right to Information

Part of: GS-IV- Ethics (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST)

Historical Background

• The right to information gained power when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in 1948 providing everyone with the right to seek, and receive, information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966 states that everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression, the freedom to seek and impart information and ideas of all kinds.
• According to Thomas Jefferson “Information is the currency of democracy,” and is critical to the emergence and development of a vibrant civil society. However, with a view to set out a practical regime for the citizens to secure information as a matter of right, the Indian Parliament enacted the Right to Information Act, 2005.
• The genesis of RTI law started in 1986, through the judgement of the Supreme Court in Mr. Kulwal v/s Jaipur Municipal Corporation case, in which it directed that freedom of speech and expression provided under Article 19 of the Constitution clearly implies Right to Information, as without information the freedom of speech and expression cannot be fully used by the citizens.

Reasons for Adoption of Information Act

The factors responsible for the adoption of the information act are as follows-

• Corruption and scandals
• International pressure and activism
• Modernization and the information society

Objectives

• To empower the citizens
• To promote transparency and accountability
• To contain corruption and
• To enhance people’s participation in the democratic process.

Features of the Act

• Section 1(2): It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
• Section- 2 (f): "Information" means any material in any form, including Records, Documents, Memos, e-mails, Opinions, Advice, Press releases, Circulars, Orders, Logbooks, Contracts, Reports, Papers, Samples, Models, Data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a Public Authority under any other law for the time being in force.
• Section- 2(j): "Right to Information" means the right to information accessible under this Act which is held by or under the control of any public authority and includes the right to:
  • Inspection of work, documents, and records;
  • Taking notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records;
  • Taking certified samples of material;
  • Obtaining information in the form of diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettes or in any other electronic mode or through printouts where such information is stored in a computer or in any other device.

What is Public Authority?

"Public authority" means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted—

• by or under the Constitution;
• by any other law made by Parliament/State Legislature.
• by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any—
  • body owned, controlled or substantially financed;
  • non-Government organisation substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government.

• Section 4 of the RTI Act requires suo motu disclosure of information by each public authority. However, such disclosures have remained less than satisfactory.
• Section 8 (1) mentions exemptions against furnishing information under RTI Act.
• Section 8 (2) provides for disclosure of information exempted under the Official Secrets Act, 1923 if larger public interest is served.
• The Act also provides for the appointment of Information Commissioners at the Central and State level. Public authorities have designated some of its officers as Public Information Officers. They are responsible to give information to a person who seeks information under the RTI Act.
• Time period: In normal course, information to an applicant is to be supplied within 30 days from the receipt of application by the public authority.
  • If information sought concerns the life or liberty of a person, it shall be supplied within 48 hours.
  • In case the application is sent through the Assistant Public Information Officer or it is sent to a wrong public authority, five days shall be added to the period of thirty days or 48 hours, as the case may be.

Importance

• The RTI Act, 2005 did not create a new bureaucracy for implementing the law. Instead, it tasked and mandated officials in every office to change their attitude and duty from one of secrecy to one of sharing and openness. It carefully and deliberately empowered the Information Commission to be the highest authority in the country with the mandate to order any office in the country to provide information as per the provisions of the Act. And it empowered the Commission to fine any official who did not follow the mandate.
• Right to information has been seen as the key to strengthening participatory democracy and ushering in people centred governance.
• Access to information can empower the poor and the weaker sections of society to demand and get information about public policies and actions, thereby leading to their welfare. It showed an early promise by exposing wrongdoings at high places, such as in the organisation of the Commonwealth Games, and the allocation of 2G spectrum and coal blocks.
• Right to information opens up government’s records to public scrutiny, thereby arming citizens with a vital tool to inform them about what the government does and how effectively, thus making the government more accountable.
• Improves decision making by public authority by removing unnecessary secrecy.

Challenges

• Different types of information is sought which has no public interest and sometimes can be used to misuse the law and harass the public authorities. For example-
  
  • Asking for desperate and voluminous information.
  • To attain publicity by filing RTI
  • RTI filed as vindictive tool to harass or pressurize the public authority
• Because of the illiteracy and unawareness among the majority of population in the country, the RTI cannot be exercised.
• Though RTI’s aim is not to create a grievance redressal mechanism, the notices from Information Commissions often spur the public authorities to redress grievances.

RTI and Political Parties

Why activists want political parties to be brought under RTI?

• To contain corruption
• Huge donations from corporates which lead to favouritism or crony capitalism
• Illegal foreign contribution
• The leader of the opposition is statutorily mandated to be part of the select committees to choose Chairperson for CIC, Lokpal, CBI Director and CVC
• Various members of the opposition are also part of various parliamentary committees
• They enjoy multiple benefits like concessional office spaces, free airtime on DD & AIR from govt

Stand of Political Parties

• PP’s are not public authorities, hence cannot be brought under RTI Act.
• Disclosed information can be misused.
• Can disclose financial information under the IT Act.

Recent Amendments

• The RTI amendment Bill 2013 removes political parties from the ambit of the definition of public authorities and hence from the purview of the RTI Act.
• The draft provision 2017 which provides for closure of case in case of death of applicant can lead to more attacks on the lives of whistleblowers.
• The proposed RTI Amendment Act 2018 is aimed at giving the Centre the power to fix the tenures and salaries of state and central information commissioners, which are statutorily protected under the RTI Act. The move will dilute the autonomy and independence of CIC.
• The Act proposes to replace the fixed 5 year tenure to as much prescribed by government.

Other Issues

• Information commissioners do not have adequate authorities to enforce the RTI Act.
• In case of award of compensation to activist by public authority as ordered by commision, compliance cannot be secured.
• Poor record-keeping practices
• Lack of adequate infrastructure and staff for running information commissions
• Dilution of supplementary laws like the whistleblowers protection Act.

Conclusion

As observed by Delhi High Court that misuse of the RTI Act has to be appropriately dealt with; otherwise the public would lose faith and confidence in this "sunshine Act". It is well recognized that right to information is necessary, but not sufficient, to improve governance. A lot more needs to be done to usher in accountability in governance, including protection of whistleblowers, decentralization of power and fusion of authority with accountability at all levels.

This law provides us a priceless opportunity to redesign the processes of governance, particularly at the grass roots level where the citizens’ interface is maximum. The Right to Information Act was made to achieve social justice, transparency and to make accountable government but this act has not achieved its full objectives due to some impediments created due to systematic failures.

China began the mining of combustible ice (natural gas hydrates)

The trial mining was conducted at a depth of 237-304 meters undersea in the Shenhu sea (PT) area, about 320 kilometres southeast of Zhuhai City in Guangdong Province. China has set two world records in terms of the total gas output in a month and the daily gas production of 28,700 cubic meters.

The latest test adopted a horizontal well drilling technique, the first time it has been used in the natural gas hydrate extraction, which has greatly increased the gas production
Chinese scientists have achieved gratifying results after two years' efforts and made new breakthroughs in key technologies and core equipment.

What it is?

Combustible ice is a natural gas hydrate trapped in ice crystals formed under high pressure and low temperatures in permafrost or under the sea. It can be ignited like solid ethanol, which is why it is called combustible or flammable ice. Combustible ice that contains 88 percent to 99.9 percent of methane is an efficient, abundant and clean energy. Like natural gas, it can be used for household gas consumption, motor fuel supply, chemical industrial production, city heat supply and electricity generation.

Mining of combustible ice started in the 1960s, but China began research in 1998. China found flammable ice in the South China Sea in 2007 and conducted its first experimental gas extraction in 2017. The first exploitation test succeeded in producing a total of 309,000 cubic meters of natural gas in a 60-day period. The combustible ice reserve in China's waters is equal to around 80 billion tons of oil and boasts a bright future. The improvement in gas scale and efficiency will bring China's combustible ice mining on to a fast track.

Cobra Lily

• The incredibly rare Arisaema translucent, more commonly known as the cobra lily, was recently rediscovered in the western Nilgiris after 84 years.
• They can be found only in a small area measuring less than 10 square kilometres in the Nilgiris.
• The Toda tribals of the Nilgiris, who know the plant well, have an embroidery motif known as the ‘podwarshk’, which resembles it.
• The indigenous community could predict the early arrival of monsoon from the blooming of the cobra lily's ‘translucens’.
• Prized for their beauty around the world, cobra lilies are at even greater risk of extinction from the commercial trade in exotic plants.

Vaquita Porpoise

• With an estimated 30 or fewer individuals remaining, the vaquita porpoise — the world's most endangered marine mammal — may go extinct by 2018 if no action is taken to save them, a new study warns.
• Known as the 'panda of the sea' because of its distinctive markings, the vaquita is endemic to the Upper Gulf of California.
• Unsustainable fishing practices and illegal wildlife trade driven by demand for the swim bladder, has caused the vaquita population to plummet.
• Listed as the most endangered cetacean in the world these mammals are often accidentally killed in gillnets also.

Solibacillus kalamii

• Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the foremost lab of NASA for work on interplanetary travel, discovered the new bacteria on the filters of the International Space Station (ISS) and named it Solibacillus kalamii to honour the late President.
• Even as it orbits the earth some 400 kilometres above, the ISS is home to many types of bacteria and fungi.
• These spore formers tend to withstand high radiation and also produce some useful compounds protein-wise which will be helpful for biotechnology applications.

Turtle – Threats

• In an attempt to raise awareness on conservation of tortoise and turtles, and on illegal trafficking, May 23 is celebrated as World Turtle Day.
• In addition to smuggling, turtles face a variety of man-made issues that threaten their existence. One major threat, as with all other animal species, is habitat destruction.
• As rivers become more and more polluted, the turtles are beginning to die off at greater rates. The hatchlings are born deformed; adults are dying from eating plastic; and the food sources are disappearing.
• Large fishing trawlers also sometimes catch sea turtles, cut off their flippers to get them out of the net, and then leave them to die.
• One of the greatest threats facing turtles and tortoises in India is smuggling to East Asian and Southeast Asian markets.
• West Bengal has become a focal point of the turtle smuggling trade as many of the turtles make their way to Kolkata before being shipped off.

Monkeypox Virus

Singapore recently reported the first ever case of the Monkeypox Virus, a rare virus similar to the human smallpox.

About Monkeypox Virus:

What is It?

1. Monkeypox virus (MPXV) is an orthopoxvirus that causes a viral disease with symptoms in humans similar, but milder, to those seen in smallpox patients.
2. Smallpox was declared eradicated in 1980, whereas human monkeypox is endemic in villages of Central and West Africa.
3. The occurrence of cases is often found close to tropical rainforests where there is frequent contact with infected animals.
4. There is no evidence to date that person-to-person transmission alone can sustain monkeypox in the human population.

Transmission:

Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis, i.e. a disease transmitted from animals to humans. It can be transmitted through contact with the blood, bodily fluids, or cutaneous or mucosal lesions of infected animals. Human infections have been documented through the handling of infected monkeys, Gambian giant rats and squirrels, with rodents being the most likely reservoir of the virus.

Treatment:

As of now, there is no specific treatment or vaccine available for monkeypox infection. The patient is generally treated in isolation by doctors.

Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia)-Murder Hornet

The Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia) has arrived in North America. This insect has attacked honeybees: it crawls into hives and rips off the heads of bees in large numbers—making its supervillain nickname, “murder hornet,” feel disturbingly apt. Government agencies and local beekeepers have sprung into action, hoping to eradicate the hornet before it can consolidate a foothold in the continent. Success may lie in how predator and prey interact naturally.

V. mandarinia is the largest hornet in the world. A female worker may grow to a length of nearly four centimeters (an inch and a half), and the insect has large biting mouthparts that enable it to decapitate its victims. Hornets are usually solitary hunters. But between late summer and fall, V. mandarinia workers may band together to conduct mass attacks on nests of other social insects, notably honeybees. This behavior even has a name: the slaughter and occupation phase. U.S. beekeepers supply billions of honeybees each year to help pollinate at least 90 agricultural crops. And they are worried that this new raider could further worsen already deep losses in important pollinator populations.

The hornet is native to Asia, ranging from Japan and Russia down to Thailand and Myanmar (formerly Burma).

Mattu Gulla growers hope to make profits before the season ends

With Udupi district coming under the green zone, prospects have brightened for the growers of Mattu Gulla, brinjal enjoying the Geographical Indication (GI) tag, owing to improvement in transportation and relaxation in lockdown hours.

Mattu Gulla is grown by about 150 farmers in Mattu and its surrounding villages, on 129 hectares in the district. This brinjal is known for its unique taste, and a curry prepared from this vegetable is usually a must in religious and auspicious functions.

Note for GI TAG: https://www.aspireias.com/daily-news-analysis-current-affairs/Bangalore-Blue-for-Karnatakas-and-GI-analysis