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The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) has flagged alleged discrepancies with respect to the forest clearance granted for the ₹72,000-crore Great Nicobar Island (GNI) Project.
Citing alleged violations under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, the panel issued notice in April to district authorities on the Andaman and Nicobar islands on grounds that the project will significantly affect the rights of local tribespeople and that the NCST was not consulted.
The National Green Tribunal ordered a stay on the project and constituted a committee to revisit the environmental clearance.
Months after the project was granted forest clearance, implementation reports prepared by the Tribal Affairs Ministry show the island administration neither recognised nor granted ownership of any forest land to tribespeople under the FRA, a requisite step under the Forest Conservation Rules, 2017, before Stage I clearance is granted.
The clearance was granted in October 2022, two years after the application was received. The project being implemented by the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation includes a transshipment port, airport, power plant and greenfield township.
The government has said in Parliament that the project intends to use about 7.114 sq. km of tribal reserve forest land, where the Shompen, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), and the Nicobarese reside. It insisted that local people will not be displaced for the project.
Behind the ‘dearth’ of rabies vaccine (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
Every year from November to March, when the weather improves across most of India and people begin to spill out of their homes, the mating season for dogs begins.
This brings on aggression and bites and attacks increase. “There are on an average six to seven million dog bites every year in India.
Each dog bite will require five doses of vaccine. Many cases may also go unreported and not all patients who are bitten get their vaccines on time.
None of the deceased had got the rabies vaccine after the bite. Those who had come into contact with the people who died were advised vaccination.
Yet, in States such as Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the emphasis on procurement of rabies vaccine is low, say government officials.
In other States such as Kerala, there was a shortage. So they raised demands for stocks to be moved from neighbouring Tamil Nadu. But earlier this year, the Central Research Institute in Kasauli had to discard vaccine vials due to a lack of demand.
India’s rabies vaccine market is growing at a steady rate. In 2022, its market value stood at $141.4 million, while the 2023 estimated value is at $147.6 million, Coherent Market Insights. It is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.2% between 2023 and 2030.
However, last September, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) reported that it had only 5,000 doses of vaccine left for 2022, with many municipal corporation hospitals not having them at all.
News
A push for rehab instead of jail time (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Social Justice)
As the Union government debates decriminalising consumption of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, it is likely to bring in a policy where addicts and users will have to submit themselves before treatment centres and declare themselves as such in order to escape criminal prosecution.
In the past two years, the number of vulnerable districts (for drug use) have gone up from 272 to 372, with Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Goa, Chandigarh, Puducherry and Tripura having 100% districts marked as vulnerable. These are followed by Uttarakhand and Punjab, where 92.3% and 86.95% of the districts have been marked vulnerable, respectively.
According to the substance usage survey conducted by the Social Justice Ministry through the AIIMS in 2018, alcohol had emerged as the most used substance among adults at 17.1% prevalence.
Apart from this, the survey showed that cannabis use had the highest prevalence at 3.3%, followed by opioids (2.1%), sedatives (1.21%), inhalants (0.58%) and cocaine (0.11%).
Currently, under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, the consumption of any narcotic drugs or psychotropic substance may attract a jail term of up to one year and/or fines up to ₹20,000.
As of now, while enforcement agencies are targeting supply chains, the Social Justice Ministry is concurrently running country-wide awareness and rehabilitation campaigns to treat users and addicts like victims and not criminals.
Citing examples of countries that have followed the total decriminalisation path, a senior government official argued that it was an “ineffective policy”. The official said that under the scheme that is being considered, consumers who are caught must submit themselves to treatment facilities and can only be back into society once cleared by the rehabilitation centre.
For minors who are caught consuming illegal substances, the onus will be on the parents to declare their wards as users or addicts and check them into an appropriate facility.
Anticipating an influx of users once this option becomes a reality, the Social Justice Ministry is now preparing to scale up the network of 508 rehabilitation and de-addiction facilities it supports under the campaign for drug demand reduction — Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan.
Safety concerns over e-pharma put Centre in a spot (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Union Health Ministry sources say that they are in no mood to give the e-pharma platforms a “free run’’, calling the move far too dangerous.
Consumer safety is our primary focus. Unlimited accessibility to medicines through e-pharmacy, sale of sub-standard, habit-forming medicines, profiling of patients and buyers, and illegal data collection are the main concerns.
A cautious Health Ministry has maintained this despite a rap on its knuckle by a parliamentary panel asking it to finalise the draft e-pharmacy rules and implement them without further delay. “Vigilance wins over the perceived convenience and economics of the e-pharma market.
The parliamentary panel also expressed concern over the possible misuse of online pharmacies in the absence of regulation and mentioned that there are concerns over the distribution of illegal or unethical medicines, or outdated, substituted, or counterfeit medications.
According to a report – ‘E-pharmacy Market in India 2022-2027’ – compared to its physical counterparts, e-pharmacy has emerged in recent years as a superior and more practical strategy for addressing consumer problems and delivering excellent customer solutions.
In 2021, the market for online pharmacies was worth ₹25.50 billion. It is anticipated to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.20% from 2022 to 2027 when it is expected to reach ₹89.47 billion.
E-pharma business insiders maintain that shutting down business doesn’t help. “Stringent laws and strong e-pharmacy code of conduct will help this market,” they say.
World
Uzbekistan holds referendum on new Constitution that puts human rights at the forefront (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Not just your car, this Constitution is also yours’, reads a message on electronic screens at the public buildings in Tashkent. It also asks the voters not to forget to cast their ballots when Uzbekistan, the landlocked Central Asian country of 35 million, holds its third referendum since it became independent in 1991 following the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
In the referendum, the voters would be asked if they support rewriting the Constitution. The new draft, which would rewrite over 60% of the current charter, promises more freedoms, better social protection, gender equality, and abolition of death penalty, among others.
The new Constitution is defining Uzbekistan as a sovereign, democratic, rule of law, social and secular state. All changes are based on the idea that human rights and freedoms are paramount. He added that the new charter would better the investment and business environment of the country.
According to Uzbekistan’s Constitutional Commission, it received more than 2,20,000 proposals from citizens during the drafting process.
The amendments represent “a transformation of the new Uzbekistan”, Chairman of the Legislative Chamber Committee responsible for the constitutional reforms. “Where once the state came first, now the citizen comes first, a profound shift from our recent history,” he said in a statement jointly released by the Oliy Majlis, the parliament, and the Constitutional Commission.
Election Commission officials said all arrangements have been made for a free vote which would be held in the presence of international observers.
In Bukhara, the ancient city in south central Uzbekistan, a polling station has been set up in the State University. Election Commission officials told visiting journalists that the voting would take place in the presence of the representatives of all five recognised political parties in the country as well as international observers, media and civil society representatives. Bukhara city alone has 84 voting stations.
The new Constitution has been in the making for months. A lot of preparation has gone into it, and a lot of public interaction was held to gauge the needs of the people of Uzbekistan, India’s Ambassador in Tashkent.
Science
H5N1 kills 50 million birds, spreads to mammals (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
This year, the world has been witnessing one of the worst-ever documented outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 killing millions of birds.
The virus, which is known to cause severe disease and death in birds, has also been detected in mammalian species and also in humans.
This has put health authorities on high alert regarding the implications of the large outbreak on public health.
Although avian influenza has different subtypes, H5N1 is a highly pathogenic subtype that causes mortality in birds.
Since 2022, the virus has infected over 100 million birds across the globe, resulting in the deaths of over 50 million and culling of millions of poultry.
Unlike previous outbreaks of highly pathogenic subtypes of avian influenza, H5N1 is heavily impacting wild bird species, including many which were on the verge of extinction.
While it is difficult to ascertain how many wild birds have been affected by the virus, a significant impact has been seen in eagles, pelicans, geese, waterfowl, gulls, falcons and shorebirds, in addition to the highest possible impact on poultry seen till date, at least in the U.S.
The impact of H5N1 on wild bird populations has varied depending on several factors, such as level of exposure, geographical locations and migratory patterns of the affected species.
High mortality in wild birds due to the virus could lead to significant ecological consequences, including vulnerability of predators and alterations in species composition in affected ecosystems, and therefore a possible impact on biodiversity not just limited to avian species.
In recent weeks, reports suggest that at least 20 California condors, a species that was on the verge of extinction since 1980s, have succumbed to H5N1 avian influenza.
With around 300 condors estimated to be remaining in the wild, this would roughly account for a significant 7% of the species.
H5N1 has also killed a large number of bald eagles and Caspian terns in the U.S. since January 2022, along with thousands of cranes in Israel. Last year, H5N1 hit a colony of the endangered African penguins in South Africa, killing at least 30 penguins.
New study finds a way to massively decarbonise steelmaking (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
India is the world’s second largest steelmaker, having produced 118.2 million tonnes in 2021. Making one tonne of steel releases 1.8 tonne of carbon dioxide, making the sector’s decarbonisation plans an integral part of the country’s ability to achieve its climate commitments.
One way is to use hydrogen in the chemical reaction that separates iron from iron oxide. Carbon is currently used in this place, and that is the problem.
But hydrogen cannot be substituted directly because doing so makes the separation reaction very slow, for previously unknown reasons.
Strong steel consists of less than 1% of carbon. To achieve this, iron oxide is heated with coke (a form of coal with high carbon content) at 1,700 degree Celsius inside a blast furnace. The carbon removes oxygen by forming carbon dioxide.
As per a December 2021 paper, this process accounts for almost 90% of the carbon footprint of steelmaking.
When oxygen leaves the iron oxide, scientists know that it leaves behind minuscule pores in iron.
The German team used phase-field models and electron microscopy to discover that when hydrogen is the reactant, the departing oxygen combines with it to form water that becomes trapped inside the pores. From here, it reoxidises the iron and considerably slows oxygen removal.