Achievements of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) during the year 2023 (GS Paper 3, Environment)
Context:
- The year 2023 holds special significance for conservation community and for the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), a statutory body under Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, as several conservation milestones were achieved during the current year.
Project Tiger completes 50 years:
- The Centrally Sponsored Scheme ‘Project Tiger’ that has put the endangered wild tigers of India on assured path of recovery has completed 50 years of successful implementation.
- A commemorative event “Commemoration of 50 years of Project Tiger” was inaugurated by Prime Minister of India in Mysuru, Karnataka on 9th April 2023.
- He also released a commemorative coin on the completion of 50 years of Project Tiger.
India is now home to more than 70% of world's wild tigers:
- As per the 5th cycle of All India Tiger Estimation 2022 summary report released, India has a minimum of 3167 tigers and now is home to more than 70% of wild tiger population of the world.
- Further data analysis using latest statistical models for camera-trapped and non-camera-trapped tiger presence areas, the upper limit of the tiger population is estimated to be 3925 and the average number is 3682 tigers, reflecting a commendable annual growth rate of 6.1% per annum.
- This remarkable conservation feat has been achieved due to the pioneering initiatives undertaken by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, Government of India in collaboration with State Governments.
Launch of International Big Cats Alliance (IBCA):
- During the commemorative program, the Prime Minister launched the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) for conservation of seven big cats namely Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Cheetah, Jaguar and Puma that inhabit our planet.
- The alliance aims to reach out to range countries covering the natural habitats of Tiger, Lion, Snow Leopard, Puma, Jaguar, and Cheetah.
- IBCA would further strengthen global cooperation and efforts to conserve the wild denizens, especially the big cats.
Amrit Kaal Ka Vision for Tiger Conservation:
- Released by the Prime Minister during the commemorative event, the vision plan aims to sustain tigers for posterity while preserving tangible and intangible gains derived from tiger reserves through landscape level planning, sectoral integration and convergence.
Successful reintroduction of cheetah:
- Cheetah is the only large carnivore that has been extirpated in India over historical times. A project to bring back Cheetah by way of introduction has been launched.
- As part of the project, consultative bilateral meetings and negotiations were held with Namibia and South Africa. The bilateral negotiations culminated with signing of MoUs with Republic of Namibia and Republic of South Africa on 20th July 2022 and 17th January 2023 respectively.
- These MoUs facilitate biodiversity conservation with specific focus on conservation and restoration of cheetah in their former range areas from which they went extinct.
- Following the signing of MoU with Republic of Namibia, a first of batch eight cheetahs have been successfully translocated from Namibia to Kuno National Park and on 17th September 2022.
- Under the provisions of the MoU signed with South Africa,12 Cheetahs (7 males, 5 females) were translocated from South Africa to Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh, India on 18th February 2023.
- As per the Action Plan, work is under progress at Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, Madhya Pradesh for establishing the second home for cheetah meta population.
- At present there are 15 Cheetah in Kuno including a cub borne on the Indian soil. More cheetahs are to be imported soon for introduction in Gandhisagar Wildlife Sanctuary. Cheetah interpretation centre, training centre, museum, research centre and safari are being planned at Sesaipura near Kuno.
- Further, a conservation breeding program of cheetahs in Banni grasslands of Gujarat has also been approved.
Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) of Tiger Reserves:
- In order to assess the management effectiveness of tiger reserves, the NTCA has been undertaking "Management Effective Evaluation" (MEE) at an interval of 4 years.
- Adopted from the framework of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) World Commission on Protected Areas, Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) has emerged as the most important tool to assist and improve the management perspectives of Tiger Reserves and their associated landscape connectivity.
- The 5th cycle of MEE was carried out during 2022 for 51 tiger reserves the report was released during the ‘Global Tiger Day Event 2023’ in Corbett Tiger Reserve, Uttarakhand on 29th July 2023.
- A total of 12 Tiger Reserves have achieved ‘Excellent ’ category, followed by 21 Tiger Reserves in ‘Very Good’ category, 13 Tiger Reserves in ‘Good ’ category and 5 Tiger Reserves in ‘Fair ’ category.
Reintroduction of tigers:
- As a part of active management to rebuild wild tiger population in tiger reserves where tigers became locally extinct recently, the initiative of tiger reintroduction has been undertaken.
- Under this active management initiative, tigers have been re-introduced in the western part of the Rajaji Tiger Reserve (Uttarakhand), Madhav National Park (Madhya Pradesh), Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve and Ramgarh Vishdhari (Rajasthan).
- Efforts are on to reintroduce tigers in the Buxa Tiger Reserve soon.
Declaration of new Tiger Reserves:
- With declaration of new tiger reserve “Rani Durgavati" in Madhya Pradesh, the total number of tiger reserves in the county has gone up to 54 with more than 78,000 Square KM area and covers more than 2.30% of geographical area of India.
Conservation Assured' Tiger Standards (CA|TS) accreditation of Tiger Reserves in India:-
- Conservation Assured) Tiger Standards (CA|TS) is a set of criteria which allows tiger sites to check if their management will lead to successful tiger conservation as per the international standards.
- In the current year, six tiger reserves namely Kali, Melghat, Navegaon – Nagzira, Pilibhit and Periyar have been awarded with CA|TS accreditation. So far a total of 23 tiger reserves of India have received CA|TS accreditation.
Bilateral co-operation with Tiger Range Countries:
- For fostering transboundary conservation of tigers across India and Bangladesh in Sundarban landscape, a bilateral meeting was held on 14th February 2023 at Kolkata, West Bengal.
- For promoting tiger conservation in Cambodia, both India and Cambodia have signed a MoU on "Cooperation in biodiversity conservation and sustainable wildlife management recovery strategy of tiger and its habitat".
- As part of bilateral initiative, the Indian delegation visited Cambodia for assessing the field situation and the capacity building requirements for tiger reintroduction initiative in Cambodia.
International award to tiger reserves:
- During 2022-23, Pench Tiger Reserve (Madhya Pradesh) and Pench Tiger Reserve (Maharashtra) jointly and Satpura Tiger Reserve (Madhya Pradesh) have been awarded with Tx2 award, which is instituted by a consortium of international organization namely GEF, UNDP, IUCN, WWF and GTF.
From Article 370 to demonetisation, key judgements delivered in 2023
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Constitution)
Context:
- Several important rulings, ranging from the status of Article 370 to the refusal of recognition of same-sex marriages, as well as decisions on demonetisation, have shaped the judicial discourse throughout the year.
Major judgements of 2023:
Supreme Court's Article 370 verdict
- In a landmark decision on December 11, the Supreme Court (SC) upheld the central government’s decision to abrogate Article 370, which granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
- The apex court, in its majority judgement, held that the Presidential Orders issued in 2019, which revoked Article 370 and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories; Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh were constitutionally valid.
- The bench concluded that Article 370 was a temporary provision and that the President, acting under Article 370 itself, had the power to revoke it.
Supreme Court declines to legally recognise same-sex marriage
- On October 17, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court refused to grant legal recognition to same-sex marriages.
- The apex court said that the right to marriage is not a fundamental one. It added that it cannot strike down the provisions of the Special Marriage Act or read words differently while maintaining that homosexuality is not an urban or elite concept.
- The focus of the petitions was the gender-neutral interpretation of the Special Marriage Act, a secular legislation designed to facilitate inter-caste and inter-faith marriages.
Supreme Court upholds legality of 2016 note ban decision
- The Supreme Court upheld the legality of the government’s decision in 2016 to demonetise 86 per cent of the country’s cash in circulation, saying the decision was taken in consultation with the central bank and followed due process.
- A five-judge bench of the country’s top court passed the verdict on January 2 by a majority on a batch of petitions questioning the move. One out of the five judges wrote a dissenting opinion.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a surprise TV announcement in November 2016, led the move to outlaw all Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes to target undeclared “black money” and fight corruption.
Supreme Court stays Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in ‘Modi surname’ remark
- On August 4, the Supreme Court stayed Rahul Gandhi's conviction in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark, paving the way for revival of his Lok Sabha membership.
- A bench comprising Justices B R Gavai, P S Narasimha and P V Sanjay Kumar said the trial court did not give any particular reasons for imposing a punishment of two years imprisonment on Gandhi.
Maharashtra Shiv Sena split
- The Supreme Court on May 11 held that then Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari was not justified in calling upon then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove majority in the Assembly on June 30 last year but refused to order status quo ante, saying he resigned first and did not face the floor test.
- The verdict was delivered by a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and comprised of Justices M R Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli and P S Narasimha.
- “In the present case, the governor did not have any objective material to indicate the government had lost confidence…so his exercise was not legal,” the Supreme Court said.
Cauvery River Dispute
- On September 21, the Supreme Court refused to interfere with the order of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) directing the Karnataka government to release 5,000 cusecs of water per day to Tamil Nadu for 15 days.
- The CWRC in its September 12 order, which was upheld by CWMA, directed Karnataka to release 5,000 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water every day for the next 15 days to Tamil Nadu.
- A bench of Justices B R Gavai, P S Narasimha, and Prashant Kumar Mishra said it was not inclined to entertain Tamil Nadu's plea challenging the CWMA decision on the ground that it was facing a drought-like situation due to rain deficit.
Marital rape 'no offence' if wife is 18 or above
- The Allahabad High Court observed that marital rape cannot be considered an offence under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) if the wife is 18 or above. The court made these remarks while acquitting a husband of charges of committing an ‘unnatural offence’ against his wife.
- While holding that the accused in this case cannot be convicted under Section 377 of the IPC, the bench of Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra stated that marital rape has not been criminalised in this country as yet.
Journalist Soumya Vishwanathan’s killers get life sentence
- On November 25, Delhi's Saket court sentenced four convicts in the killing of TV journalist Soumya Vishwanathan in 2008 to life imprisonment, while a fifth convict was sent to three years in jail.
- The court said the crime does not fall under the rarest of rare and hence did not give the convicts the death penalty.
- Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik, and Ajay Kumar have been sentenced to life imprisonment. The fifth convict, Ajay Sethi, has been sentenced to three years for helping them.
Surrogate mothers cannot be denied maternity leave
- The Rajasthan High Court ruled that maternity leave must be granted to women who have children through surrogacy, stating that any distinction between different types of mothers is an "insult" to motherhood.
- The court ordered the state to grant the petitioner 180 days of maternity leave and to enact legislation for maternity leave for surrogate and commissioning mothers.
Gujarat High Court rejects plea to ban loudspeakers at mosques
- On November 28, the Gujarat High Court dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a ban on the use of loudspeakers for 'azaan' or the Islamic call to prayer at mosques, terming the plea as "wholly misconceived."
- A division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Aniruddha P Mayee also asked, during the hearing, if it was the petitioner's case that the noise of bells and gongs during 'aarti' at a temple is not heard outside.
Delhi govt gets control over administrative services
- In a dispute between the Centre and the Delhi government, the Supreme Court held on May 11, that the Delhi government has control over the bureaucracy in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi.
- The five-judge Constitution bench led by CJI Chandrachud, however, clarified that the power of the Delhi government would not extend to the administrative services that come under land, law and order, and police.
Woman’s plea for abortion rejected by SC
- On October 16, the Supreme Court rejected the petition for medical termination of a woman’s 27-week pregnancy, saying that there was no immediate threat to her or her child.
- A bench of CJI Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra noted that the pregnancy had crossed the 24-week threshold under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971.
- The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act allows women to opt for abortion even after the 24-week limit if a board of doctors agree that the continuation of pregnancy is a risk to her life or if a substantial abnormality was medically detected in the foetus.
- The petitioner had sought an abortion on the grounds that it was her third pregnancy and that she had been suffering from postpartum psychosis since October 2022, when she delivered her second child. Her request to abort the pregnancy was also based on her financial situation.
Supreme Court dismisses PFI's plea against Centre's ban under UAPA
- The Supreme Court refused to hear a plea filed by the Popular Front of India (PFI) challenging a ban on the organisation and its designation as an 'unlawful' organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) by the Union government.
- In its observations, a two-judge bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi said it would be appropriate for the PFI to first approach the high court against a tribunal’s order which upheld the government's decision of banning and designating PFI and eight other organisations as 'unlawful' under the UAPA Act.
Supreme Court blames parents for Kota suicides
- The Supreme Court said that parents, not the institutions, put excessive pressure on students to perform well in competitive exams.
- The apex court further said that blaming the mushrooming of coaching institutes for the increased suicides among students, particularly in Kota, was incorrect since it was the high expectations placed by parents in a competitive surrounding that drove youngsters to end their lives.
'Total eradication of manual scavenging'
- The Supreme Court directed the central and state governments to eradicate the practice of manual scavenging entirely. The court also called for an increase in compensation to Rs 30 lakh in cases of fatalities during sewer cleaning.
- The court recognised the need to address permanent disability resulting from sewer operations and suggested an increase in compensation to Rs 20 lakh.
- It also called for not less than Rs 10 lakh in compensation for other forms of disablement.
