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Hundreds of vulnerable Olive Ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) have washed ashore along the coastline between Kakinada and Antarvedi in the Godavari region of Andhra Pradesh during the ongoing annual breeding season on the east coast.
The breeding grounds — Sakhinetipalli, Malikipuram, Mamidikuduru and Allavaram — have been witnessing the mass mortality of the turtles over the past few weeks.
The effluents being released from the aqua ponds along the coastline and the discharges from the pipelines of the onshore oil exploration facilities are blamed for the mass mortality of the turtles.
Environmental activist Venkatipathiraja Yenumala, in a complaint to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the AP Forest Department and the Pollution Control Board, said, there is mass mortality of Olive Ridley turtles in the Mandals of Sakhinetipalli, Malikipuram, Mamidikuduru and Allavaram in the Konaseema region, where treated water is being discharged into the sea through pipelines by the oil exploration units, including ONGC facilities.
In 2021, Mr. Venkatipathiraja waged a legal battle against the marine and groundwater pollution in the Konaseema region in the National Green Tribunal.
The waste water from the aqua ponds is also being released into the sea and it is suspected to be one of the reasons for the mortality of turtles.
A probe had been launched into the mortality of Olive Ridley turtles in our district. A report is expected to be prepared on the reasons for the mortality.
Editorial
The new and dark interpretations of ‘We the People’ (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Constitution)
The raging controversy over the very meaning of ‘We the People’, after the speech made by the Vice-President of India and Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Jagdeep Dhankhar at the 83rd all India conference of presiding officers’ in Jaipur, Rajasthan, on January 11, needs a closer look.
With its particular reference to the judiciary, Mr. Dhankhar’s speech was of the view that ‘We the People’ essentially gives primacy to elected members of Parliament and the State legislatures.
The Speaker of Lok Sabha supported Mr. Dhankar’s view that the separation of powers (as enshrined in the Constitution) gives this primacy.
Expatiating on this theme, Mr. Dhankhar implied that the separation of powers does not equate the three pillars of democracy: Parliament, judiciary and the executive.
In his view (although he did not explicitly say this), as the judiciary and the executive are appointed and not elected directly by the people, they are inferior.
Let us first sort out the meaning of ‘We the People’. The Constitution does not define ‘people’. Its concern is about citizens and not any group or a particular institution.
There are people in the judiciary, in the executive and in most other constitutional institutions. There are also those in the military, the police, public enterprise and the vast private enterprise. They are all people no less.
To identify representatives in the legislature to be the sole representatives of the people is a travesty. Apart from being enshrined in the Constitution, the theory of a separation of powers is basic to any democratic society, more than the letter of the Constitution.
It is a case of staggering irony that over seven decades after Independence, the Indian nation is being subject to a re-education of what the essence of democracy is, from a person who as Governor, caused innumerable problems for the elected government of West Bengal.
Working hand in hand to showcase India (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Service Sector)
Today is National Tourism Day (January 25) and the Ministry of Railways, in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism, is launching its Jagannath Yatra train package, an eight-day tour that begins in from Delhi, traverses Kashi, Baidyanath Dham, Jagannath Puri, Bhubaneshwar and Konark, and ends at the Vishnupad temple in Gaya. All this is linked to using Bharat Gaurav Trains (or theme-based tourist circuit trains) to highlight India’s rich cultural heritage and history.
The example given above is one of many cases of a Government of India ministry other than the Tourism Ministry taking the initiative to showcase India’s rich heritage using a ‘whole of government’ approach.
The government of India has always felt that the promotion of India’s tourism will only be effective when different Ministries at the Union level and States work in cohesion by combining their domain expertise.
Over the last eight years, the Ministry of Tourism has prioritised the task of inter-ministerial cooperation and coordination, breaking down silos and working together effectively with other Ministries.
Today, the Ministry of Tourism coordinates its work effectively with over 20 central government Ministries in the promotion and the development of tourism in the country.
In October 2022, the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Home Affairs organised the National Conference on Tourist Police (to develop tourist specific policing), aimed at working with the police and sensitising them on addressing the needs of foreign and domestic tourists.
In partnership with the Ministry of Education, the Tourism Ministry has begun establishing ‘Yuva Tourism’ clubs to nurture young ambassadors of Indian tourism.
In another instance, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is aiming to make India an attractive cruise tourism destination using state-of-the-art infrastructure.
India’s middle class is now prioritising some of their discretionary spending on new experiences such as cruises. In partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs, tourism officers have been placed in 20 Indian missions in countries that contribute to some of the highest foreign tourist arrivals in India.
Their role includes facilitating and providing inputs for country-specific sensibilities and having them reflected in tourism products. Similarly, with the Ministry of Roadways and the Petroleum Ministry, steps are being taken to ensure that highways and fuel stations have clean sanitation infrastructure.
The Ministry of Tourism is also funding several commercial flight routes in partnership with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, making them viable.
Opinion
Developing schools without barriers (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 2, Social Justice)
“Ma’am, may I please go to the toilet?” or “Can I go play outside?” are usually innocuous requests by most schoolchildren. But for children with disability/disabilities (CWD), these are difficult tasks, due to the higher care needed to complete the actions. These actions become tougher in schools which do not have accessible spaces and guiding infrastructure to get there safely.
A UNESCO 2019 report mentioned that CWD comprise 1.7% of the total child population in India (Census 2011). As they are faced with physical, institutional, socioeconomic and communication barriers from an early age, more than 70% of five-year-olds with disabilities in India have never attended any educational institution, the report said. Many CWD also tend to drop out of school as they grow older.
To motivate all children to meaningfully participate in all indoor and outdoor activities without barriers or limitations, the school ecosystem has to be made safe, accessible, and reliable.
Several barriers impede the participation of CWD in accessing educational opportunities such as inaccessible school buses; inaccessible facilities in schools (drinking water facilities, canteens and toilets); and inappropriate infrastructure in classrooms (uncomfortable seating, slippery flooring and low illumination). Misinformed attitudes and perceptions among parents, teachers, staff, and communities further influences the child’s emotional development.
The lack of teaching and learning practices that integrate inclusive technologies and digital equipment to engage the child, such as assistive devices, are additional challenges.
At training programmes conducted by UN-Habitat India and IIT Kharagpur recently, school teachers and special educators said that accessible infrastructure within schools, such as ramps or tactile paths, are either in deficit or have not been constructed utilising suitable materials.
School management authorities added that if such provisions are maintained regularly and adequate funding is provided for the construction of new infrastructure, we would have accessible places.
The cooperation, involvement, and sensitisation of parents and caregivers, teachers, school management authorities, and the local government departments are required so that all these barriers are actively addressed.
Article 21A of the Constitution and the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 outline the fundamental right to education and the right to have free and compulsory education for children aged 6-14 years.
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, which adopted a ‘zero rejection policy’, emphasises that “every child with special needs, irrespective of the kind, category and degree of disability, is provided meaningful and quality education”.
Explained
What ails the Ken-Betwa River link project? (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 1/3, Geography/Infrastructure)
On January 18, the Steering Committee of the Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP) held its third meeting in New Delhi. It was chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Water Resources, in the Ministry of Jal Shakti, who reiterated that the KBLP was a “flagship” project of the national government and that it “is critical for the water security and socio-economic development of Bundelkhand region”.
In December 2021, the Union Cabinet approved KBLP at a total cost of ₹44,605 crore. In this project, the national and the Madhya Pradesh governments will link the Ken River with the Betwa river so that the latter can water the Bundelkhand region in Uttar Pradesh.
The link will be in the form of a canal that will be fed by the new Daudhan Dam on the Ken, to be built within the Panna Tiger Reserve. The national government has said that the dam will generate 103MW of hydroelectric power.
The linking canal will flow through Chhatarpur, Tikamgarh and Jhansi districts, with the project expected to irrigate 6.3 lakh hectares of land every year.
However, hydrological and ecological experts aren’t convinced, mainly because the government’s plan is based on a ‘surplus and deficit’ model that they have said has little basis in science.
They are also concerned that the project will endanger the water security of Panna. In 2018, environmentalist Ravi Chopra called the idea “nonsense”; in 2021, conservation biologist Raghu Chundawat said that thanks to KBLP, “Bundelkhand will suffer for decades to come”.
India enacted the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 at a critical juncture, when its wildlife was in peril. The key provisions of the Act (Sections 18 and 35) relate to setting aside areas of significance to wildlife as ‘sanctuaries’ and ‘national parks’. Sections 29 and 35(6) restrict human activities within them without prior approval.
Diversion or stopping or enhancement of the flow of water into or outside wildlife sanctuaries/parks is taboo unless doing so is deemed to be necessary to improve and better manage wildlife within a sanctuary or a national park.
And in the case of the Panna Tiger Reserve, the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) of the Supreme Court has found such diversion to not be necessary to improve and better manage wildlife in the park.
Additionally, downstream of the national park lies the Ken Gharial Sanctuary, created to protect the critically endangered Gangetic gharial (Gavialis gangeticus).
The destructive impact of the proposed dam on the flow of water into and outside of this sanctuary should be immediately clear. The CEC is quite firm in its report that “the Standing Committee of the NBWL has not considered the impact of the project on the downstream gharial sanctuary”.
News
What if risk of commercial release of GM Mustard is irreversible, SC asks govt (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Biotechnology)
The Supreme Court asked the Centre what will happen if the risk of commercial release of the GM Mustard crop is “irreversible”.
“What happens when the risk is irreversible,” Justice B.V. Nagarathna, accompanying Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, asked Attorney-General R. Venkataramani, appearing for the government.
The top law officer said the risks were known and the approval given would not be blanket, but subject to specific conditions which covers every scenario or aspect of risk. Justice Maheshwari said the court may add to these conditions.
Mr. Venkataramani said the conditions for release could not be a “straitjackett” and the government was open to modifications by the court.
The Attorney- General said the petitioners had found fault with the environmental clearance of GM Mustard crop but had not challenged the adequacy or efficiency of the regulatory framework.
At this, senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, for one of the petitioners, intervened to say that the rules had indeed been challenged. Mr. Parikh had earlier argued how the widespread use of herbicide-tolerant crops would encourage farmers to spray chemical weed-killers, leaving toxic chemical residue in large amounts on the crops.
The Supreme Court’s own Technical Expert Committee (TEC) had said that these GM crops were not meant for agriculture in the Indian context.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, for activist Aruna Rodrigues, had submitted that India had 5,477 varieties of mustard, which would be at risk.
He had argued that the regulatory system under the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) which cleared the environmental release of Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 (DMH-11), a genetically engineered variant of mustard, was “horrendous” and riddled with conflict of interest.
In a first, EPFO to hold mass outreach programme on Friday (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Complaints and queries regarding higher provident fund pension are likely to come up during a mass outreach programme set to be organised by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in more than 700 districts on January 27.
Senior officials of the EPFO will listen to the grievances of employers, employees and pensioners during the programme. The EPFO has sent letters to all the Chief Secretaries seeking help from the State administrations in conducting the programme.
Named the Nidhi Aapke Nikat 2.0, the programme aims to increase the EPFO’s presence in all districts of the country. “This is first such mass outreach programme of the EPFO,” a senior official said, adding that the EPFO headquarters would ensure that complaints which are not resolved during the programme are addressed in a time-bound manner.
The official added that the programme would now be a permanent feature and would be held on the 27th of every month. “If 27 is a holiday, we will hold the programme on the next working day.
The EPFO headquarters will identify monthly themes at the beginning of the quarter which will be be circulated to the zonal and regional offices for special emphasis during the programme.
Among the preferred venues for the programme would be the District Collectorate, the District Industries Office and the State Labour Commissioner’s Office, which are “decent, easily accessible, neat and clean”.
The EPFO has also instructed its offices to inform employers, trade unions and pensioners about the programme through advertisements.
Though the EPFO is yet to finalise the process to implement the Supreme Court order on higher PF pension, the issue is likely to be taken up during the programme.
Several organisations of pensioners, employees and employers had asked the EPFO for further clarity on the process of implementing the order.
The programme will also function as a pension adalat. The EPFO had launched a monthly pension adalat in 2021 to address the complaints of pensioners. This adalat has now been merged with Nidhi Aapke Nikat 2.0.