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GS Paper: GS3

  • Report of the All India Tiger Estimation 2020

    India’s tiger population has reached a new high at 2,367.

    Before reading this newscard, try these PYQs:

    1. The term ‘M-STrIPES’ is sometimes seen in the news in the context of: (CSP 2017)

    (a) Captive breeding of Wild Fauna

    (b) Maintenance of Tiger Reserves

    (c) Indigenous Satellite Navigation System

    (d) Security of National Highways

    Q.Consider the following protected areas: (CSP 2012)

    1. Bandipur
    2. Bhitarkanika
    3. Manas
    4. Sunderbans

    Which of the above are declared Tiger Reserves?

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 1, 3 and 4 only

    (c) 2, 3 and 4 only

    (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

    All India Tiger Estimation

    MP-tops-country-with-526-tigers-as-per-All-India-Tiger-Estimation-2018
    • The tiger count is prepared after every four years by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) provides details on the number of tigers in the 18 tiger reign states with 50 tiger reserves.
    • However, this time, the census also included data collected from the rough terrains of north-eastern states which were not possible due to logistic constraints before.
    • The entire exercise spanned over four years is considered to be the world’s largest wildlife survey effort in terms of coverage and intensity of sampling.
    • Over 15, 000 cameras were installed at various strategic points to capture the movement of tigers. This was supported by extensive data collected by field personnel and satellite mapping.

    Details of the report

    • India has 70% of the world’s tigers, says the report.
    • Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of tigers at 526, closely followed by Karnataka (524) and Uttarakhand (442).
    • Chhattisgarh and Mizoram saw a decline in tiger population and all other States saw a “positive” increase, according to a press statement.

    Implementing CATS frameworks

    • India had embarked upon assessing management interventions through the globally developed Conservation Assured | Tiger Standards (CA|TS) framework.
    • This framework will now be extended to all fifty tiger reserves across the country.

    Back2Basics: Project Tiger

    • Project Tiger is a tiger conservation programme launched in April 1973 during PM Indira Gandhi’s tenure.
    • In 1970 India had only 1800 tigers and Project Tiger was launched in Jim Corbett National Park.
    • The project is administrated by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
    • It aims at ensuring a viable population of Bengal tigers in their natural habitats, protecting them from extinction etc.
    • Under this project the govt. has set up a Tiger Protection Force to combat poachers and funded relocation of villagers to minimize human-tiger conflicts.

  • Nutrition security along with food security

    • The “State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World” was recently released.

    About the report

    • It is published by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other UN agencies including the WHO.
    • The report estimated that 820 million people worldwide did not have enough to eat in 2018, up from 811 million in the previous year.
    • At the same time, the number of overweight individuals and obesity continue to increase in all regions.

    Highlights of the report

    • The number of people going hungry has risen for the third year running to more than 820 million. After decades of decline, food insecurity began to increase in 2015.
    • Africa and Asia account for more than nine out of ten of the world’s stunted children, at 39.5% and 54.9% respectively.
    • However at the same time, obesity and excess weight are both on the rise in all regions, with school-age children and adults affected particularly.

    India scenario

    • The number of obese adults in India has risen by a fourth in four years, from 24.1 million in 2012 to 32.8 million in 2016.
    • While India’s undernourished population has dropped by roughly the same fraction in 12 years, from 253.9 million in 2004-06 to 194.4 million in 2016-18.

    Compared with China

    • The report has a section on economic growth in China and India, and its effect on poverty.
    • Between 1990 and 2017, the two countries had an average GDP per capita growth rate of 8.6 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively, the report said, citing World Bank.
    • In both countries, the increase in GDP per capita has been accompanied by poverty reduction.

  • What is Interplanetary Contamination?

    As ambitious space missions are proliferating, along with advances in commercial space flight, astrobiologists have expressed concerns about possible ‘interplanetary contamination’.

    A statements based question can be expected from the two types of interplanetary contamination.

    What is Interplanetary Contamination?

    • Interplanetary contamination refers to biological contamination of a planetary body by a space probe or spacecraft, either deliberate or unintentional.
    • There are two types of interplanetary contamination:
    1. Forward contamination is the transfer of life and other forms of contamination from Earth to another celestial body.
    2. Back contamination is the introduction of extraterrestrial organisms and other forms of contamination into Earth’s biosphere. It also covers infection of humans and human habitats in space and on other celestial bodies by extraterrestrial organisms, if such habitats exist.
    • The main focus is on microbial life and on potentially invasive species.
    • Non-biological forms of contamination have also been considered, including contamination of sensitive deposits (such as lunar polar ice deposits) of scientific interest.

    Are there any mechanisms to prevent such contaminations?

    • Current space missions are governed by the Outer Space Treaty and the COSPAR (Committee on Space Research) guidelines for planetary protection.
    • Forward contamination is prevented primarily by sterilizing the spacecraft.
    • According to NASA, the guidelines have had far-reaching implications on human spacecraft design, operational procedures, and overall mission structure.

  • Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA)

    India has ranked third among the top 10 countries that have gained in forest areas in the last decade a/c to the latest Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA).

    Possible prelim question:

    Q.The Global Forest Resources Assessment Report recently seen in news is published by-

    a) UN-FAO

    b) UN Forum on Forests

    c) International Union of Forest Research Organizations

    d) None of these

    India gains in forest cover

    • The top 10 countries that have recorded the maximum average annual net gains in a forest area during 2010-2020 are China, Australia, India, Chile, Vietnam, Turkey, the US, France, Italy and Romania.
    • India accounts for two per cent of total global forest area.
    • Globally, 12.5 million people were employed in the forestry sector. Out of this, India accounted for 6.23 million, or nearly 50 per cent.

    Global prospects

    • The Asian continent reported the highest net gain in a forest area in 2010-2020, according to the report.
    • It recorded a 1.17 million hectares (ha) per year net increase in forests in the last decade.
    • However, the South Asia sub-region reported net forest losses during 1990-2020.
    • But, this decline would have been much higher without the net gain in India’s forest during this period, according to FRA 2020.

    How did India gain?

    • The FRA 2020 has credited the government’s Joint Forest Management programme for the significant increase in community-managed forest areas in the Asian continent.
    • The forest area managed by local, tribal and indigenous communities in India increased from zero in 1990 to about 25 million ha in 2015, the assessment said.
    • India has been taking up massive afforestation and plantation schemes.

    About Global Forest Resources Assessment

    • The Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) reports on the status and trends of the world’s forest resources.
    • It is led by the Forestry Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN.
    • It reports the extent of the world’s forest area as well as other variables, including land tenure and access rights, sustainable forest management (SFM), forest conservation, and sustainable use.

    Back2Basics: Defining forests as per FRA

    • The definition excludes tree stands in agricultural production systems, such as fruit tree plantations, oil palm plantations, olive orchards, and agroforestry systems when crops are grown under tree cover.

    The FAO definition of a forest includes:

    • land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higher than 5 meters and a canopy cover of more than 10 per cent, or trees able to reach these thresholds in situ
    • does not include land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban land use

  • [pib] Knowledge Resource Centre Network (KRCNet)

    The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has planned to develop a World-Class Knowledge Resource Centre Network (KRCNet).

    Note the salient features of the KRCNet. UPSC may puzzle you asking which of these is/are not a feature of KRCNet.

    KRCNet Portal

    • KRCs will be connected with each other and integrated into the KRCNet portal.
    • It will be a single point entry to the intellectual world of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
    • The resources and services of the MoES system will be accessible 24X7 through a one-point dynamic, updated and integrated on this portal.

    Salient features of the KRCNet:

    • Establish a Total Quality Management (TQM) system by securing ISO certification for documenting MoES knowledge resources, its maintenance, easy retrieval and dissemination.
    • Collect, collate, analyze, index, store and disseminate the intellectual resources, products and project outputs available in MoES headquarter and its institutes.
    • Develop and maintain an up-to-date meta-data of the print & digital resources available in MoES headquarter and MoES institutes, including MoES services.
    • Provide 24X7 accesses to the subscribed knowledge contents through the KRCNet portal.
    • Application of information-analytical tools & techniques like bibliometrics, scientometrics, big-data analytics, social media analytics etc., for policy formulation, report preparation and information dissemination.
    • Periodically organize training workshops to popularize the usage of electronic journals, databases, digital products, data analytics etc.

  • Information war

    Information war waged against India from across the border needs consideration. Three factors have triggered the war in the realm of information. This article examines the way in which it is perpetrated.

    Factors

    •  Following three triggers are responsible for Pakistan’s information war.
    • 1) The Balakot attack of February 2019.
    • Balakot demolished Pakistan’s presumed nuclear equivalence that guaranteed that India would not retaliate against terrorist attacks
    • 2) The return of the BJP government in the May 2019 elections-which signalled that India would follow aggressive muscular policy.
    • 3) The August 2019 revision of Article 370.
    • The Article 370 decision demolished the centrepiece of Pakistan’s nationalism build on Kashmir.
    • The move also raised apprehensions about India’s plans for Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
    • These developments have forced it to shift the emphasis of its anti-India strategy from fomenting terrorism supported by an information war component to an information war supported by terrorism.

    How the information war is waged

    • The ISI and the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) two main instruments for the furtherance of this policy.
    • The ISPR has, over the years, recruited thousands of youth, trained them in the mechanics of social media and used them to project anti-India themes.
    • The core Pakistani objective is to demolish “Brand India” by attacking its key components — an inclusive and secular society, democratic polity, decisive government, a developing economic powerhouse and strong foreign policy.
    • The expectation is that such a strategy would adversely impact India’s secular and democratic credentials, scare foreign investment and lead to questions about its international image.
    • The key platforms for this strategy are Twitter, WhatsApp, YouTube and Facebook.
    • A large number of fake social media accounts, especially on Twitter, have been created.
    • The use of handles with phoney Middle Eastern identities is the latest addition to its bag of tricks.

    Themes of information war

    • Internal developments and dissent in India have been manipulated, packaged and used to develop a narrative damaging India’s social fabric.
    • On J&K, the key themes are: Kashmir is a “disputed territory” awaiting solution under the UN resolutions; India needs to talk to Pakistan to resolve the issue and since India refuses to talk, there must be international intervention, the Indian Army is violating the human rights of Kashmiris.

    Consider the question “Internet has made waging information war easier. Examine the threat posed by the information war to Indian polity. Suggest the measures to contain the threat emanating from the information war.”

    Conclusion

    Even though the Indian polity is strong, such persistent venomous attacks can temporarily damage our social fabric. We must not allow ourselves, wittingly or unwittingly, to fall prey to such machinations to polarise society, even temporarily.

  • In news: Ghazipur Landfill

    The Ghazipur landfill site rises by nearly 10 metres a year and is expected to surpass the height of Qutub Minar and other vertical structures in the country.

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2016:

    Q.What can be the impact of excessive/inappropriate use of nitrogenous fertilizers in agriculture?

    1. Proliferation of nitrogen-fixing microorganisms in soil can occur.
    2. Increase in the acidity of soil can take place.
    3. Leaching of nitrate to the ground-water can occur.

    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

    What are Landfills?

    • A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials.
    • Some landfill sites are also used for waste management purposes, such as temporary storage, consolidation and transfer, or for various stages of processing waste material, such as sorting, treatment, or recycling.

    Threats posed by landfills

    Landfills have the potential to cause a number of issues. Infrastructure disruption, such as damage to access roads by heavy vehicles, may occur amongst others.

    1) Leachate

    • When precipitation falls on open landfills, water percolates through the garbage and becomes contaminated with suspended and dissolved material, forming leachate.
    • If this is not contained it can contaminate groundwater.

    2) Decomposition gases

    • Rotting food and other decaying organic waste create decomposition gases, especially CO2 and CH4 from aerobic and anaerobic decomposition, respectively.
    • Both processes occur simultaneously in different parts of a landfill.

    3) Other threats

    • Poorly run landfills may become nuisances because of vectors such as rats and flies which can spread infectious diseases.
    • The occurrence of such vectors can be mitigated through the use of daily cover.
    • Other potential issues include wildlife disruption due to occupation of habitat and animal health disruption caused by consuming waste from landfills, dust, odour, noise pollution, and reduced local property values.

  • Kashmir saffron gets GI certificate

    The J&K administration has issued the certificate of geographical indication (GI) registration for saffron grown in the Kashmir Valley.

    Must read:

    GI Tags in news for 2020 Prelims

    All time GI tags in news

    Kashmir saffron

    • It is cultivated and harvested in the Karewa (highlands) in some regions of Kashmir, including Pulwama, Budgam, Kishtwar and Srinagar.
    • It is a very precious and costly product. Iran is the largest producer of saffron and India is a close competitor.
    • It rejuvenates health and is used in cosmetics and for medicinal purposes.
    • It has been associated with traditional Kashmiri cuisine and represents the rich cultural heritage of the region.
    • Saffron cultivation is believed to have been introduced in Kashmir by Central Asian immigrants around 1st Century BCE. In ancient Sanskrit literature, saffron is referred to as ‘bahukam’.

    3 Types

    The saffron available in Kashmir is of three types —

    • ‘Lachha Saffron’, with stigmas just separated from the flowers and dried without further processing;
    • ‘Mongra Saffron’, in which stigmas are detached from the flower, dried in the sun and processed traditionally; and
    • ‘Guchhi Saffron’, which is the same as Lachha, except that the latter’s dried stigmas are packed loosely in air-tight containers while the former has stigmas joined together in a bundle tied with a cloth thread

    Whats’ so special about Kashmir Saffron?

    • The unique characteristics of Kashmir saffron are its longer and thicker stigmas, natural deep-red colour, high aroma, bitter flavour, chemical-free processing, and high quantity of crocin (colouring strength), safranal (flavour) and picrocrocin (bitterness).
    • It is the only saffron in the world grown at an altitude of 1,600 m to 1,800 m AMSL (above mean sea level), which adds to its uniqueness and differentiates it from other saffron varieties available the world over.

  • Need for open protocols and networks in the realm of internet

    We are familiar with the dominance of some platforms on the internet. That dominance start to create problems. This article discusses the issues with dominance and suggests the solution drawing on the success of UPI.

    Platforms on the internet

    • Platforms are technology layers that leverage the internet to bring together producers, resellers and consumers.
    • Platforms reduce transaction costs by cutting out intermediaries.
    • Amazon started by selling books but became a profitable giant by creating the e-commerce platform called Amazon Marketplace.
    • The most valuable companies today are platforms for search, social interaction, advertising, insurance, travel, real estate, etc.

    Issues with the platforms

    • 1)The promise of the internet was disintermediation, but the process has hit a speed breaker with major platforms taking on the role of mediation. 
    • 2) There may be multiple platforms in the game to start with, but due to network effects and the non-portability/lock-in, only a few monopolies space.
    • 3) Big platforms have tried to create a sort of  cartel in which to trap the customers while fencing off the rest of the internet.
    • 4) The platforms amass data about users which is used to influence user behaviour, which is not limited to guiding the buying decisions.

    So, what is the solution?

    Let’s look at the success story of  the UPI

    • Unified Payment Interface (UPI) is a set of protocols that standardises the language of money transfer.
    • It is an interface: a simple and structured protocol for instructions and a clearinghouse that relays well-formed requests to concerned parties for execution.
    • Once the language is there, a user may choose any app to link their bank account to a UPI ID and make a pay or collect request involving any other bank account.
    • UPI handled 1.3 billion transactions in June 2020, overtaking the aggregate number of transactions of all legacy “platforms”.
    • UPI succeeded because it treated all players, big or small, equally.
    • This allowed third-party innovators to drive adoption by creating solutions that addressed the need of the people.

    Solution: Adopting of open protocols

    • Application Programming Interfaces (or API) are protocols that define the meaning of data exchanged between two computers.
    • Universally accepted API definitions could allow a cabbie to be discovered by any cab aggregator app the rider may choose.
    • In healthcare, it could facilitate finding a doctor, booking an ambulance, taking out insurance, filing a claim, sharing a medical report or purchasing medicines from a pharmacy.

    Advantages of open protocols

    • Open protocols create ecosystems that are non-rivalrous and non-excludable by design.
    • Even smallest of application developers or start-ups can offer low-cost, locally relevant solutions using the protocol.
    • We can address the needs of the diverse business community and achieve much greater penetration for e-commerce than the 10 per cent of today.
    • Open systems have the potential to transform education, food delivery, by enabling entrepreneurs to compete on their quality and reputation alone.
    • Portability from one application to another, privacy and data empowerment will be some of the issues taken care of.
    • We can reduce our dependence on foreign platforms.

    Consider the question “What are APIs? Examine the issues created by the dominant internet platforms and how the adoption of open protocols for API could address the problem?”

    Conclusion

    With such a huge potential in APIs open protocols, the government must bring out the policy for the creation of open protocols and realise the untapped potential it offers.

  • RBI signs $400 mn currency swap facility for Sri Lanka

    The RBI has agreed to a $400 million currency swap facility for Sri Lanka till November 2022.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q. What are Currency Swaps? Discuss the efficacy of Currency Swap Agreements for liberalizing bilateral trade.

    Why such move by RBI?

    • The RBI’s action follows a recent bilateral ‘technical discussion’ on rescheduling Colombo’s outstanding debt repayment to India.
    • Following the outbreak of COVID-19 in the region, India had proposed a virtual meeting to discuss the request. Sri Lanka owes $960 million to India.
    • In turn, Sri Lanka would facilitate, protect and promote a liberal ecosystem for Indian investors.

    What are Currency Swaps?

    • A currency swap, also known as a cross-currency swap, is an off-balance sheet transaction in which two parties exchange principal and interest in different currencies.
    • Currency swaps are used to obtain foreign currency loans at a better interest rate than could be got by borrowing directly in a foreign market.

    How does it work?

    • In a swap arrangement, RBI would provide dollars to a Lankan central bank, which, at the same time, provides the equivalent funds in its currency to the RBI, based on the market exchange rate at the time of the transaction.
    • The parties agree to swap back these quantities of their two currencies at a specified date in the future, which could be the next day or even three months later, using the same exchange rate as in the first transaction.
    • These swap operations carry no exchange rate or other market risks, as transaction terms are set in advance.

    Why does one need dollars?

    • FPIs investors look for safer investments but the current global uncertainty over COVID outbreak has led to a shortfall everywhere in the global markets.
    • This has pulled down foreign exchange reserves of many small and developing countries.
    • This means that the government and the RBI cannot lower their guard on the management of the economy and the external account.

    Benefits of currency swap

    • The absence of an exchange rate risk is the major benefit of such a facility.
    • This facility provides the flexibility to use these reserves at any time in order to maintain an appropriate level of balance of payments or short-term liquidity.
    • Swaps agreements between governments also have supplementary objectives like the promotion of bilateral trade, maintaining the value of foreign exchange reserves with the central bank and ensuring financial stability (protecting the health of the banking system).