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  • [pib] Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN)

    The eVIN has reached 32 States and Union Territories (UTs) and will soon be rolled out in the remaining States and UTs of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Ladakh and Sikkim.

    Try this question from CSP 2016:

    Q.‘Mission Indradhanush’ launched by the Government of India pertains to:

    (a) Immunization of children and pregnant women

    (b) Construction of smart cities across the country

    (c) India’s own search for the Earth-like planets in outer space

    (d) New Educational Policy

    About eVIN

    • The eVIN is an innovative technological solution aimed at strengthening immunization supply chain systems across the country.
    • This is being implemented under the National Health Mission (NHM) by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
    • It aims to provide real-time information on vaccine stocks and flows, and storage temperatures across all cold chain points in the country.
    • This system has been used during the COVID pandemic for ensuring the continuation of the essential immunization services and protecting our children and pregnant mothers against vaccine-preventable diseases.

    Components of eVIN

    • eVIN combines state-of-the-art technology, a strong IT infrastructure and trained human resource to enable real-time monitoring of stock and storage temperature of the vaccines kept in multiple locations across the country.
    • At present, 23,507 cold chain points across 585 districts of 22 States and 2 UTs routinely use the eVIN technology for efficient vaccine logistics management.

    Benefits of eVIN

    • It has helped create a big data architecture that generates actionable analytics encouraging data-driven decision-making and consumption-based planning.
    • It helps in maintaining optimum stocks of vaccines leading to cost savings. Vaccine availability at all times has increased to 99% in most health centres in India.
    • While instances of stock-outs have reduced by 80%, the time taken to replenish stocks has also decreased by more than half, on an average.
    • This has ensured that every child who reaches the immunization session site is immunized, and not turned back due to unavailability of vaccines.

  • Explained: What is Contempt of Court?

    Contempt of court, as a concept is back in the news after the proceeding by the Supreme Court of India, on its own motion, against a senior Delhi-based advocate-activist.

    Try this question for mains:

    Q.What is Contempt of Court? Discuss, how free speech can lead to the contempt of courts?

    What is Contempt of Court?

    • It seeks to protect judicial institutions from motivated attacks and unwarranted criticism, and as a legal mechanism to punish those who lower its authority.

    How did the concept of contempt come into being?

    • The concept of contempt of court is several centuries old.
    • In England, it is a common law principle that seeks to protect the judicial power of the king, initially exercised by him, and later by a panel of judges who acted in his name.
    • Violation of the judges’ orders was considered an affront to the king himself.
    • Over time, any kind of disobedience to judges, or obstruction of the implementation of their directives, or comments and actions that showed disrespect towards them came to be punishable.

    What is the statutory basis for contempt of court?

    • There were pre-Independence laws of contempt in India. Besides the early High Courts, the courts of some princely states also had such laws.
    • When the Constitution was adopted, contempt of court was made one of the restrictions on freedom of speech and expression.
    • Separately, Article 129 of the Constitution conferred on the Supreme Court the power to punish contempt of itself.
    • Article 215 conferred a corresponding power on the High Courts.
    • The Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, gives statutory backing to the idea.

    What are the kinds of contempt of court?

    The law codifying contempt classifies it as civil and criminal.

    • Civil contempt is fairly simple. It is committed when someone willfully disobeys a court order or wilfully breaches an undertaking given to the court. However, Criminal contempt is more complex.
    • It consists of three forms: (a) words, written or spoken, signs and actions that “scandalise” or “tend to scandalise” or “lower” or “tends to lower” the authority of any court (b) prejudices or interferes with any judicial proceeding and (c) interferes with or obstructs the administration of justice.
    • The rationale for this provision is that courts must be protected from tendentious attacks that lower its authority, defame its public image and make the public lose faith in its impartiality.
    • The punishment for contempt of court is simple imprisonment for a term up to six months and/or a fine of up to ₹. 2,000.

    What does not account to contempt?

    • Fair and accurate reporting of judicial proceedings will not amount to contempt of court.
    • Nor is any fair criticism on the merits of a judicial order after a case is heard and disposed of.

    Is truth a defence against a contempt charge?

    • For many years, the truth was seldom considered a defence against a charge of contempt.
    • There was an impression that the judiciary tended to hide any misconduct among its individual members in the name of protecting the image of the institution.
    • The Act was amended in 2006 to introduce truth as a valid defence if it was in the public interest and was invoked in a bonafide

  • In news: Galapagos Islands

    Chinese ships are frequently entering Ecuador’s waters for commercial fishing near the Galapagos Islands.

    Try this question from CSP 2018:

    Q.Which one of the following can one comes across if one travels through the Strait of Malacca?

    (a) Bali

    (b) Brunei

    (c) Java

    (d) Singapore

    The Galapagos Islands

    • Renowned worldwide for its unique species, the islands host a wide array of aquatic wildlife, including marine iguanas, fur seals, and waved albatrosses.
    • The giant tortoises found here – ‘Galápagos’ in old Spanish– give the islands its name.
    • Ecuador made a part of the Galapagos a wildlife sanctuary in 1935, and the sanctuary became the Galapagos National Park in 1959.
    • In 1978, the islands became UNESCO’s first World Heritage Site.
    • It was here that the British naturalist Charles Darwin made key observations in 1835 that shaped his theory of evolution. Darwin described the islands as a “world in itself”.

  • Species in news: Hoolock Gibbons

    Hoolock Gibbons, the only species of apes found in India, are threatened with extinction in the Ukhrul and Kamjong districts of Manipur, a report has claimed.

    Try this PYQ from CSP2013:

    Q.Consider the following pairs:

    Protected area:: Well-known for

    1. Bhitarkanika, Orissa:: Salt Water Crocodile
    2. Desert National Park, Rajasthan:: Great Indian Bustard
    3. Eravikulam, Kerala:: Hoolock Gibbon

    Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 1 and 2 only

    (c) 2 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    Hoolock Gibbons

    • The two districts used to be covered with dense, tropical rainforests, which provided ideal tree canopies for the arboreal, brachiating ape species.
    • Rampant deforestation for timber, forest fires and indiscriminate hunting had led to the decline in their population.
    • Without the tree canopies, the gibbons cannot swing from branch to branch and stake out their territories.
    • They also cannot adapt to living on the ground and cannot bear the high temperatures brought about by the loss of green cover.

    Conservation status (a/c to WWF India)

    • The gibbon has a much wider range, as it is found in all the states of the north-east, restricted between the south of the Brahmaputra River and east of the Dibang River.
    • Outside India, it is found in eastern Bangladesh and north-west Myanmar.
    • The eastern hoolock gibbon inhabits specific pockets of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in India, and southern China and north-east Myanmar.
    • Of the two, the western hoolock is listed as Endangered in the IUCN Redlist, while the eastern hoolock is listed as Vulnerable.

  • Issues metropolitan cities face

    Metropolitan cities of India suffers from various issues. This article analyses such issues and suggests some steps to deal with them.

    Inadequate public health infrastructure

    • India’s public health expenditure in 2018 was a mere 1.28% of GDP.
    • According to the World Bank, India’s out-of-pocket health expenditure was 62.4% in 2017, against the world average of 18.2%.
    • Manpower in the health sector is low with India’s doctor-population ratio being 1:1,457  against WHO norm of 1:1,000.

    Governance issues

    • Factors underlying city governance include spatial planning, municipal capacities, empowered mayors and councils and inter-agency coordination, and ward-level citizen participation.
    • Twenty-seven after the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, these reform agendas continue to be slow in implementation.
    • India’s metropolitan cities have weak capacities in finance and staffing.
    • Bengaluru’s average percentage of own revenue to total expenditure is 47.9%, Chennai 30.5%, Mumbai 36.1% and Kolkata at 48.4%.
    • According to ASICS 2017, Mumbai has the highest number of officers per lakh population at 938 in the country.
    • Yet it is abysmally low compared to global cities such as Johannesburg with 2,922 and New York with 5,446 officers per lakh population

    Limited powers of mayors

    • The leaders steering India’s metropolitan cities are toothless.
    • No big metropolitan cities with 10 million-plus population has a directly-elected Mayor.
    • Mumbai’s Mayor has a tenure of 2.5 years, Delhi and Bengaluru, a mere one year.
    • Mayors do not have full decision-making authority over critical functions of planning, housing, water, environment, fire and emergency services in most cases.
    • Our metropolitan cities are far from being local self-governments.
    • Parastatal agencies for planning, water and public transport report directly to State governments.
    • The State government also largely controls public works and police.
    • Globally, metropolitan cities are steered by a directly-elected leader.
    • Evolved examples include the Tokyo metropolitan government and recent experimental models such as combined authorities in the United Kingdom and Australia.

    Suggestions

    • India needs home-grown solutions suited to its context and political realities while imbibing lessons on institutional design from global examples.
    • It is time the Central and State governments lead efforts towards a metropolitan governance paradigm.
    • The first steps should include empowered Mayors with five-year tenure, decentralised ward level governance, and inter-agency coordination anchored by the city government.

    Lack of transparency, accountability and citizen participation

    • Transparent cities with institutional platforms encouraging citizen participation improve urban democracy.
    • No metropolitan has functional ward committees and area sabhas.
    • An absence of citizen participation is worsened by poor transparency in finance and operations.
    • As per ASICS 2017, India’s big metropolitan cities on average score 3.04/10 in transparency, accountability and participation.

    Significance of smaller cities

    • A World Bank report notes that despite the emergence of smaller towns, the underlying character of India’s urbanisation is “metropolitan”.
    • Under this metropolitan character, new towns emerge around existing large cities.
    • According to a McKinsey report, in 2012, 54 metropolitan cities and their hinterlands accounted for 40% of India’s GDP.
    • The report also estimates that by 2025, 69 metropolitan cities, combined with their hinterlands, will generate over half of India’s incremental GDP between 2012 and 2025.
    • Despite this, India is yet to begin an active discourse on cohesive metropolitan governance frameworks.
    •  Studies by the Centre for Policy Research point that India’s spatial feature exhibits the growth of small towns beyond the economics of large agglomerations.
    • This indicates that while India’s urban vision should focus on its metropolitan cities to reap the benefit of scale, it shouldn’t ignore smaller cities.

    Consider the question “Examine the issues in the governance of metropolitan cities. To what extent the limited power of mayors contributes to the issues of the metropolitan cities in India?”

    Conclusion

    India should use the current pandemic as an opportunity to introspect and reform the way its metropolises are governed.

    Back2Basics: ASICS 2017

    • The Annual Survey of India’s City-Systems (ASICS) 2017 evaluates quality of governance in cities, covering 23 major cities in India across 20 states based on 89 questions.
    • Indian cities scored between 3.0 and 5.1 on 10, with Pune topping the charts for the first time.
    • Other cities that came in the top five include Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram, Bhubaneswar and Surat, with scores in the range of 4.6 to 4.5.

  • Technical Platform on the Measurement and Reduction of Food Loss and Waste

    The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has unveiled a new platform to help accelerate the global reduction in food loss and waste.

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2016:

    Q. The FAO accords the status of ‘Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS)’ to traditional agricultural systems. What is the overall goal of this initiative?

    1. To provide modern technology, training in modern farming methods and financial support to local communities of identified GIAHS so as to greatly enhance their agricultural productivity.
    2. To identify and safeguard eco-friendly traditional farm practices and their associated landscapers, agricultural biodiversity and knowledge systems of the local communities.
    3. To provide Geographical Indication status to all the varieties of agricultural produce in such identified GIAHS.

    Select the correct answer using the code given below.

    (a) 1 and 3 only
    (b) 2 only
    (c) 2 and 3 only
    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    About the Platform

    • The Technical Platform on the Measurement and Reduction of Food Loss and Waste brings together information on measurement, reduction, policies, alliances, actions and examples of successful models applied to reduce food loss and waste across the globe.
    • The platform will contain information on measurement, reduction policies, alliances, actions and examples of successful models applied to reduce food loss and waste.
    • The platform will be officially launched on the first International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste on 29 September 2020.

    How will it work?

    • The platform is as a gateway to information on food loss and waste from various resources, including the largest online collection of data on what food is lost and wasted.
    • Links to related portals from development partners are also provided.

    Why need such a portal?

    • Food loss and waste is a sign of food systems in distress. Nutritious foods are the most perishable, and hence, the most vulnerable to lose.
    • Not only food is being lost, but food safety and nutrition are being compromised as well.
    • At least 14 per cent of food is lost (food wastage and food loss together), valued at $400 billion annually.
    • In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, the food that is lost is associated with around 1.5 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
    • Major losses are seen in roots tubers and oil-bearing crops (25 per cent), fruits and vegetables (22 per cent), and meat and animal products (12 per cent).
    • Reducing food loss and waste can bring about many benefits: more food available for the most vulnerable; a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions; less pressure on land and water resources; and increased productivity and economic growth.

    Food loss vs food wastage

    • There is a difference between food wastage and food losses.
    • Food is wasted when it is discarded by consumers or is disposed of in retail due to its inability to meet quality standards.
    • Food loss, on the other hand, occurs when it is spoilt or spilt before reaching the final product or retail stage.
    • For example, dairy, meat, and fish can go bad in transit because of inadequate refrigerated transport and cold storage facilities.

    Back2Basics: Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)

    Objective: Lead international efforts to defeat hunger

    Members: FAO has 194 Member Nations, two associate members and one member organization, the European Union

    Headquarters: Rome, Italy

    Year Founded: Established in 1945

  • Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI)

    The CHRI has released a report on “Eradicating Modern Slavery: An assessment of Commonwealth government progress”.

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2012:

    Q.Consider the following statements:

    1. The Commonwealth has no charter, treaty or constitution
    2. All the territories/countries once under the British Empire (jurisdiction/rule/mandate) automatically joined the Commonwealth as its members

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) Both 1 and 2

    (d) Neither 1 nor 2

    About the report

    The report was released on the occasion of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) and an international anti-slavery organisation Walk Free.

    Highlights of the report

    • The report assessed the progress made by Commonwealth countries on the promises made in 2018 to end modern slavery by 2030 and achieve the SDGs of ending forced labour, human trafficking and child labour.
    • The report found that one-third of the Commonwealth countries had criminalised forced marriage, while 23 had not criminalised commercial sexual exploitation of children.
    • Commonwealth countries have made little progress towards their commitment to eradicate modern slavery by 2030.
    • One in every 150 people in the Commonwealth is living in conditions of modern slavery.
    • Out of 54 countries, only four engage with business to investigate supply chains, and all countries report gaps in victim assistance programs
    • None of the Asian countries in the group had implemented laws against forced labour in supply chains.

    India is the worst performer

    • India had fared the worst in terms of coordination with no national coordinating body or National Action Plan in place.
    • India, like all other Commonwealth countries in Asia, had not ratified the International Labour Organization’s 2011 Domestic Workers Convention or the 2014 Forced Labour Protocol.
    • The report said India accounted for one-third of all child brides in the world.
    • Despite being the largest country in the region, India has the weakest response on national coordination, with no national coordinating body or National Action Plan in place.

    Back2Basics: Commonwealth of Nations

    • The Commonwealth of Nations is an intergovernmental organisation of 53 member states that are mostly former territories of the British Empire.
    • It dates back to the first half of the 20th century with the decolonization of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories.
    • It was originally created as the British Commonwealth of Nation through the Balfour Declaration at the 1926 Imperial Conference, and formalized by the UK through the Statute of Westminster in 1931.
    • The current body was formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949, which modernized the community, and established the member states as “free and equal”.
    • The symbol of this free association is Queen Elizabeth II, who is the Head of the Commonwealth.
    • The Queen is head of state of 16 member states, known as the Commonwealth realms, while 32 other members are republics and five others have different monarchs.
    • Member has no legal obligations to one another. Instead, they are united by language, history, culture and their shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

    Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI)

    • It is an independent, non-partisan & nonprofit international NGO which works towards the practical realization of human rights in the countries of the Commonwealth.
    • It was founded in 1987 and is headquartered at New Delhi.
    • CHRI’s objectives are to promote awareness and adherence to the Commonwealth’s Harare Declaration, to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to other internationally recognised human rights instruments.
    • The organisation specializes in transparency and accountability issues, with a focus on access to justice and access to information.
    • The organisation mainly works in South Asia, East Africa, and Ghana region.

  • What is Black Rain?

    Ahead of the 75th anniversary of Hiroshima, a Japanese court has recognised 84 survivors of the post-nuclear explosion “black rain” as the atomic bomb survivors. This would enable them to avail free medical benefits.

    Try this question from CSP 2011:

    Q.Acid rain is caused by the pollution of the environment by:

    (a) Carbon dioxide and nitrogen

    (b) Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide

    (c) Ozone and carbon dioxide

    (d) Nitrous oxide and Sulphur dioxide

    What is Black Rain?

    • An estimated 69 per cent of the buildings in Hiroshima were destroyed by the atomic bomb.
    • The debris and soot from this, mixed with the radioactive fallout from the bomb, raised high into the atmosphere in the form of a mushroom cloud.
    • This material combined with the vapour in the atmosphere and came down as dark drops of liquid that have been called black rain.
    • Survivors of the black rain described it as consisting of large, greasy drops that are much heavier than normal raindrops.
    • It is full of highly radioactive material, and studies have shown that exposure to it can result in serious illnesses.

    What was its effect?

    • A study conducted in the year 1945 itself showed that black rain had come down as far as 29 km away from ground zero.
    • The rain contaminated everything it came in contact with, and dead fish were reported floating in water bodies and severely ill cattle were seen lying in the fields.
    • It has caused acute radiation symptoms (ARS) in many who were exposed to it, with reports of people suffering from nausea and diarrhoea for weeks.
    • Other ARS include fever, sore throat and loss of hair. Over time, many people who were exposed to black rain have developed cancer.

  • Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance: A strong EC Act is still needed

    As the Union government announced massive reforms as a response to the coronavirus pandemic.  All attention went to three agriculture sector ordinances related to farmers’ trade, contract farming and amendments in the Essential Commodities Act.

    Try this question for mains:

    Q.Discuss how Essential Commodities Act works to maintain fair prices of commodities for consumers.

    Recent amendment to the EC Act

    • Recently, the Centre notified an Amendment Ordinance to the EC Act.
    • A new sub-section 1A in Section 3 of the act stipulated control orders — with respect to the supply of certain foodstuffs was added.
    • It would be issued only under extraordinary circumstances that may include war, famine, extraordinary price rise and natural calamity of grave nature.

    An order for regulating stock limit of any agricultural produce may be issued only if there is:

    • A full increase in the retail price of horticultural produce, or
    • A 50 per cent increase in the retail price of non-perishable agricultural food items over the price prevailing immediately preceding a year or the average retail price in the past five years, whichever is lower

    The Essential Commodities Act

    • The EC Act, 1955 was enacted at a time when the country faced an acute shortage of several commodities, especially food items.
    • Under the act, an ‘essential commodity’ is a commodity specified under the schedule of the Act.
    • The Union government is empowered to amend the schedule to add or remove a commodity to said schedule in the public interest and in consultation with state governments.
    • The schedule was amended recently in March 2020, when the Centre declared face masks and hand sanitisers as essential commodities and fixed their prices.

    Issues over the amendment ordinance:

    1. Ordinance route and federalism

    • Though agriculture is a state subject, the concurrent list empowers the Centre to legislate on production and trade and supply of foodstuffs.
    • By taking the ordinance route, a clear attempt was made to bypass the parliamentary process.
    • When a proposed amendment is introduced in Parliament, it is open to debate, scrutiny, comments and valuable inputs from stakeholders before being passed.

    2. Surpassing concerns

    • Critical legislation like this should certainly have been put before Parliament.
    • The Sarkaria Commission report on Centre-state relations pointed out that the Centre disproportionately empower itself in the sphere of agriculture.
    • The power of the Centre in agriculture management has certainly increased through this ordinance.
    • States like Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have repeatedly called for transfer such entities from the Concurrent to the State list.

    3. Constitutional validity and Ninth Schedule

    • The constitutional validity of price fixation under the act was in question before the Supreme Court in the Prag Ice and Oil Mills case, 1978.
    • It was observed that the dominant purpose of price fixation was to ensure availability of essential commodities to consumers at a fair price.
    • It was also held that availability of an essential commodity to the common man, at a fair price, must rank higher than any other consideration.
    • The Essential Commodities Act is enlisted under the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution. This does not, however, mean it is outside the scope of judicial review.

    4. EC Act is no exception

    • The Ninth Schedule came under scrutiny after the landmark IR Coelho, 2007 judgement.
    • The Supreme Court said the laws inserted in it after April 24, 1973 — the day the Kesavananda Bharti verdict was pronounced — are also open to judicial review if they are violative of the basic structure of the Constitution.
    • Farmers may approach the Supreme Court if they feel laws such as the Essential Commodities Act violate their fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19, 21 or 32.

    5. Questions over the amendment

    • The ordinance does not expressly define ‘extraordinary circumstances’, which ‘may’ include war, famine, extraordinary price rise and natural calamities of a grave nature.
    • Even in extraordinary circumstances, the government only ‘may’ choose to exercise regulation.
    • Such legislative ambiguity makes one question the entire exercise of introducing this particular provision.

    6. Farmers stake are still at risk

    • Drastic changes such as the removal of stock limits and exemption to exporters, traders and value chain participants may not help farmers directly.
    • Big corporates and MNC may prefer to stock up their quota at the time of harvest when prices are low and, thus, would not need to buy from farmers when prices rise.
    • If farmers decide to retain produce for later, prices may not go up or the private sector may not enter the market to purchase.

    Conclusion

    • India no longer faces food shortage problems, according to the Economic Survey, 2020.
    • What is seemingly ignored, however, is the population of India increased to 1.3 billion in 2020 from 360 million in 1951.
    • There are more mouths to feed and the responsibility of ensuring food security to the masses cannot be shunned.
    • Sights of migrants scraping for morsels of food during the COVID-19 crisis continue to haunt.
    • Our policies, thus, must ensure sustainable farm growth taking into consideration factors like climate change, land holdings, consumer capacity and farmers’ interests.

    Original article:

    https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/governance/essential-commodities-amendment-ordinance-a-strong-ec-act-is-still-needed-72540

  • How aerial seeding is helping plantation in hard-to-access Aravalli regions?

    The Haryana Forest Department has started aerial seeding across the state on a pilot basis with special focus on the Aravalli region.

    Do you know?

    The Aravalli range is considered the “lungs” of the polluted National Capital Region.

    What is Aerial Seeding?

    • Aerial seeding is a technique of plantation wherein seed balls – seeds covered with a mixture of clay, compost, char and other components.
    • They are sprayed on the ground using aerial devices, including planes, helicopters or drones.

    How does this technique work?

    • Seeds balls or seed pellets are dispersed in a targeted area by the low-flying drones, falling to the ground with the help of the coating of clay, compost, char and other material.
    • Coating provides the required weight for seeds to drop on a predetermined location rather than disperse in the wind.
    • These pellets will then sprout when there is enough rain, with the nutrients present within them helping in the initial growth.

    Why Aravallis?

    • Aravallis these days is severely inundated due to heavy mining and has undergone rapid development and construction activities.

    What are the advantages of this technique?

    • Areas that are inaccessible, have steep slopes, are fragmented or disconnected with no forest routes, making conventional plantation difficult, can be targeted with aerial seeding.
    • Furthermore, the process of the seed’s germination and growth is such that it requires no attention after it is dispersed – the reason why seed pellets are known as the “fire and forget” way of the plantation.
    • They eliminate the need for ploughing and digging holes in the soil and the seeds do not need to be planted, since they are already surrounded by soil, nutrients, and microorganisms.
    • The clay shell of these pellets along with the other items in the mixture also protects them from birds, ants and rats.

    What kind of species can be dispersed using aerial seeding?

    • The species selected have to be native to the area and hardy, with seeds that are of an appropriate size for preparing seedballs and have to have a higher survival percentage.
    • It is critical that the timing of the seeding be correct in order for the plantation to be successful.

    Can this replace conventional plantation methods?

    • Seeding should be done only on a pilot basis to evaluate the effectiveness of the technology and the dispersal mechanism.
    • Conventional methods of afforestation cannot be replaced but supplemented with areal seeding.
    • In this case, the technique will allow plantation in sections of the Aravallis that are either difficult to access or inaccessible altogether.

    Back2Basics: Aravalli Range

    • The Aravalli Range is a mountain range running approximately 692 km in a south-west direction, starting near Delhi, passing through southern Haryana and Rajasthan, and ending in Gujarat.
    • The highest peak is Guru Shikhar at 1,722 metres (5,650 ft).
    • The Aravalli Range, an eroded stub of ancient mountains, is the oldest range of Fold Mountains in India.
    • The natural history of the Aravalli Range dates back to times when the Indian Plate was separated from the Eurasian Plate by an ocean.
    • Aravalli, being the old fold mountains, have stopped growing higher due to the cessation of upward thrust caused by the stopping of movement of the tectonic plates in the Earth’s crust below them.
    • In ancient times, Aravalli was extremely high but since have worn down almost completely by millions of years of weathering, whereas the Himalayas being young fold mountains are still continuously rising.