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The Central government proposes to make birth certificates a mandatory document for almost every sphere of life — admission in educational institutions, inclusion in the voter list, appointment in Central and State government jobs, issue of driving licence and passport — according to a draft Bill to amend the Registration of Birth and Death (RBD) Act, 1969.
The centrally-stored data will be updated in real time without any human interface required, leading to addition and deletion from the electoral roll when an individual turns 18, and after death, respectively.
According to the proposed changes, it shall be mandatory for hospitals and medical institutions to provide a copy of all death certificates, stating the cause of death, to the local registrar apart from the relative of the deceased.
Though registration of birth and death is already compulsory under the RBD Act, 1969 and violating it is a punishable offence, the government intends to improve compliance by making the registration mandatory to avail basic services such as admission in schools and registration of marriages.
The Bill to amend the RBD Act, 1969, proposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), states that birth certificates issued by the local registrars will be “used to prove the date and place of birth of a person born on or after the date of Amendment for: admission into educational institutions; issuance of driving licence; preparation of voter list; registration of marriage; appointment in Central Government, State Government, local bodies and Public Sector Undertakings, statutory bodies, autonomous bodies under Central and State government; Issuance of passport and other cases as prescribed by rules.”
Recreating sacred groves in north T.N. (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Once found in plenty across the country, sacred groves have shrunk in many places due to rampant encroachments, the spread of invasive species, and unfettered human interference.
“We had a lot of sacred groves, not only in south India, but also in the northeast,” notes S. Theodore Baskaran, a well-known conservationist and former trustee of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) India.
In Tamil Nadu’s arid northern Villupuram region, the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) Department, which administers 1,500 temples in the Villupuram and Kallakurichi districts, has embarked on a project to protect these forest patches by recreating sacred groves.
Along with nature enthusiasts and volunteers, the Department has now launched a campaign to maintain and protect these fragile ecosystems, which are vestiges of the past and recreate them on temple lands.
Every temple has a Sthala Vriksham (sacred plant) and that denotes the importance given for plants and trees in the ancient days.
A lot of these forest patches are found in Villupuram, Cuddalore, Puducherry, and the Coromandel Coast. While they are being protected in a few temples, the groves have been shrinking in size in others due to anthropogenic activities and the need is to protect them.
The campaign began recently with the distribution and plantation of saplings at the Sri Manjaneeswarar Ayyanar temple at Kilputhupattu near Marakkanam in Villupuram district. Out of 110 acres of land owned by the temple, 35 acres are sacred groves.
States
PSLV-C54 successfully places nine satellites in multiple orbits (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)
In one of its longest missions, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully placed nine satellites, including an Earth Observation Satellite (EOS-06) in multiple orbits with the help of the space agency’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C54).
The eight nano satellites include ISRO Nano Satellite-2 for Bhutan (INS-2B), Anand, Astrocast (four satellites), and two Thybolt satellites.
Notably, EOS-6 is the Oceansat series’ third-generation satellite. This is the 56th flight of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and the 24th flight of the PSLV-XL version with 6 PSOM-XLs.
EOS-06 is envisaged to observe ocean colour data, sea surface temperature and wind vector data to use in oceanography, climatic and meteorological applications.
The satellite also supports value added products such as potential fishing zone using chlorophyll, SST and wind speed, and land based geophysical parameters.
A collaborative mission between India and Bhutan, the INS-2B satellite has two payloads namely NanoMx, developed by SAC, and APRS-Digipeater, which is jointly developed by DITT-Bhutan and URSC.
News
Kargil hill council passes resolution for Ladakh’s Statehood (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Kargil (LAHDC-K), an elected body of the Union Territory of Ladakh, has passed a joint resolution and demanded Statehood and special status under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution for the region.
At least 21 members of the 30-member Council supported the resolution moved by executive councillor Punchok Tashi on Friday.
The joint resolution demanded full-fledged Statehood for Ladakh, protection under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, separate Lok Sabha seats for Kargil and Leh districts and establishment of the Ladakh Public Service Commission with Ladakh Resident Certificate as a mandatory requirement for all gazetted posts.
“After the reorganisation of the State of J&K, there has been a greater resentment among the general masses of Ladakh regarding the representation of the public in the government.
It has given rise to apprehensions among the public with regards to safeguard of land, job, culture and ecology. There is a need of providing full-fledged statehood to Ladakh keeping in view of its strategic importance, unique culture, and population,” reads the resolution.
World
India is the lone absentee at China’s Indian Ocean forum of 19 countries (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
China this week convened a first “China-Indian Ocean Region Forum” bringing together 19 countries from the region – and all of India’s neighbours, except for India itself, the lone absentee from a new Beijing strategic initiative.
The forum, held in Kunming in southwestern Yunnan province on November 21, brought together representatives from 19 countries including Indonesia, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Afghanistan, Iran, Oman, South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius, Djibouti, and Australia, according to a statement from the organisers, the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA).
India was not invited. The CIDCA is China’s new development aid agency, and is currently headed by former Vice Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui, who also earlier served as envoy to India and Pakistan.
The forum underlined China’s stepped up diplomacy in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Earlier this year, during a visit to Sri Lanka, Foreign Minister Wang Yi proposed creating another forum “on the development of Indian Ocean island countries” to “build consensus and synergy, and promote common development”. He called on Sri Lanka to “play an important role” in the initiative.
At CIDCA’s Kunming forum, China “proposed to establish a marine disaster prevention and mitigation cooperation mechanism between China and countries in the Indian Ocean region, and stood ready to provide necessary financial, material, and technical support to countries in need”.
China also “proposed the establishment of a blue economy think tank network for China and countries in the Indian Ocean region with the support of Yunnan.”
Science
Scientists discover new species of black corals near Australia (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)
Using a remote-controlled submarine, researchers at Smithsonian Institution, Washington, discovered five new species of black corals living as deep as 2,500 feet (760 metres) below the surface in the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea off the coast of Australia.
Black corals can be found growing both in shallow waters and down to depths of over 26,000 feet (8,000 metres), and some individual corals can live for over 4,000 years.
Many of these corals are branched and look like feathers, fans or bushes, while others are straight like a whip. Unlike their colourful, shallow-water cousins that rely on the sun and photosynthesis for energy, black corals are filter feeders and eat tiny zooplankton that are abundant in deep waters.
In the past, corals from the deep parts of this region were collected using dredging and trawling methods that would often destroy the corals.
The researchers first sent a robot down to these particular deep-water ecosystems, allowing the team to actually see and safely collect deep sea corals in their natural habitats. Over the course of 31 dives, the researchers collected 60 black coral specimens.
They then removed the corals from the sandy floor or coral wall using the rover’s robotic claws, placed the corals in a pressurised, temperature-controlled storage box and then brought them up to the surface.
Among the many interesting specimens were five new species – including one that was found growing on the shell of a nautilus more than 2,500 feet (760 metres) below the ocean’s surface.
Mumbai measles outbreak due to low vaccination coverage (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)
One of the biggest fallouts of the pandemic globally has been the low routine immunisation coverage of children. Asper WHO dataof November 23, 2022,nearly 40 million children globally had missed a measles vaccine doselast year. As a result,there were an estimated nine million measles cases and 1,28,000 deathsin 2021.
The ongoing measles outbreak in Mumbai is a reflection of the lower immunisation coverage due to disruption in vaccination services and hesitancy by parents to get their children vaccinated.
As of November 24, there have been 233 measles infections and 13 deaths in Mumbai. As per recent data,538 confirmed measles cases have been reported in Maharashtra this year, as of October. There have also been increased number of measles cases in Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, and Kerala.
“It is clear that in all such geographies, the effected children are unvaccinated and the average coverage of MRCV [Measlesand Rubella containing vaccine] among the eligible beneficiaries is also significantly below the national average,” Health Ministry said in a letter dated November 23.
Evidence from elsewhere suggests that unvaccinated children have nearly 70% higher mortality risk compared with vaccinated children.
Ironically, even in 2021 when the COVID-19 pandemic was at the peak in India, measles vaccination coverage in Mumbai was 78%, while in 2022 (till October) when the pandemic has largely been on low burn after the third wave, measles vaccination coverage in the city has been just 41.9%, as per Maharashtra health officials.
FAQ
Preventing suicides: what is the new strategy? (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Governance)
The story so far:
Taking it up as a public health priority, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare last week released the nation’s first-ever National Strategy for Suicide Prevention. It posted a copy of the strategy online on its website.
Structured closely on the lines of the World Health Organization’s guidelines for Suicide Prevention in the South East Asian region, the National Strategy promises to adhere to the cultural and social requirements of India, with specific recognition of its current field-level infrastructure.
The overall vision of the document is to “create a society, where people value their lives and are supported when they are in need”. It aims at reducing suicide mortality by 10% in the country by 2030.
It provides a framework for multiple stakeholders to implement activities for prevention of suicides in the country.
In his introductory note, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said, “Further efforts are now required to prevent suicides as a public health priority.
Suicides impact all sections of the society and thus require concerted and collaborative efforts from individuals and the community at large.
The aim is to synthesise stakeholder efforts with the motto of ‘energise to synergise’. It is with this mindset that the country’s first National Suicide Prevention Strategy has been developed.”
The national strategy includes an action framework for key stakeholders, providing a path forward for preventing suicides.
This will provide guidance to every stakeholder for setting targets, implementing, monitoring and taking corrective actions, to attain the aim of the strategy.
Why is the Darjeeling Tea industry in crisis? (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Early this month, during the annual general meeting of the Indian Tea Association (ITA) in Kolkata, the Tea Board of India said it had sought a special financial package of ₹1,000 crore from the Centre for the tea Industry over five years. Tea Board officials admitted that Indian tea had not been able to establish itself globally, and that one of its key brands, Darjeeling Tea, was under acute stress.
Darjeeling Tea, called the ‘Champagne of Teas’, was the first Indian product to get the GI (Geographical Identification) tag in 2004 for its distinctive aroma and flavour.
About 87 gardens in Darjeeling which employ about 55,000 workers produce approximately 7 million kg of tea, most of which is exported.
According to insiders, over the past few months a lot of gardens in the hills have changed hands because the owners were reeling under higher costs of production and other issues.
ITA chairperson Nayantara Palchoudhuri said the financial problems of the Darjeeling Tea industry were acute, and the Government’s help was needed.
A report by the Parliamentary Standing Committee of the Ministry of Commerce, tabled in Parliament in June, said “unhampered and easy influx of substandard tea from neighbouring countries, especially Nepal” is jeopardising the tea industry of India.
The document pointed out that inferior quality tea from Nepal was being imported, and then sold and re-exported as premium Darjeeling Tea. Under the Revised Treaty of Trade between the Governments of India and Nepal in October 2009, both parties had agreed to exempt from basic customs duty, as well as from quantitative restrictions, the import of mutually agreed primary products.
Business
Industry urges govt. to establish ‘India Rare Earths Mission’ to reduce reliance on China (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
To counter India’s reliance on China for imports of critical rare earth minerals, industry has urged the government to encourage private sector mining in the sector and diversify sources of supply for these strategic raw materials.
“Set up an ‘India Rare Earths Mission’, manned by professionals, like the India Semiconductor Mission and make their exploration a critical component of the Deep Ocean Mission plan of the government,” the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has submitted, suggesting steps to encourage private players to mine such minerals.
Though India has 6% of the world’s rare earth reserves, it only produces 1% of global output, and meets most of its requirements of such minerals from China, the industry grouping pointed out in a memorandum of suggestions for the Union Budget recently submitted to the Finance Ministry.
In 2018-19, for instance, 92% of rare earth metal imports by value and 97% by quantity were sourced from China. “Clearly there is a need to build domestic capability and broad-base supply sources for such an important and strategic raw material,” the CII said, making a pitch for harnessing the potential of the country’s own rare earth reserves.
Suggesting that such minerals should not be held captive to India’s civil nuclear programme, the industry body has recommended that the public sector firm Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL), administered by the Department of Atomic Energy, should be split into two entities.
While IREL primarily focuses on Thorium mining, CII has suggested that the second entity could pursue other minerals.
The industry group has also mooted making rare earth minerals a part of the ‘Make In India’ campaign, citing China’s ‘Made in China 2025’ initiative that focuses on new materials, including permanent magnets that are made using rare earth minerals.