UPSC Daily Current Affairs- 23rd October 2022 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

GS-II

Context

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks on English in a recent campaign rally, the controversy over medical education in Hindi and the parliamentary report on promoting Hindi, will give new life to Hindi vs non-Hindi debate.

The status of Hindi language in India

• The 2011 linguistic census: Accounts for 121 mother tongues, including 22 languages listed in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.
• Widely spoken language: Hindi is the most widely spoken, with 52.8 crore individuals, or 43.6% of the population, declaring it as their mother tongue. The next highest is Bengali, mother tongue for 97 lakh (8%) less than one-fifth of Hindi’s count. In terms of the number of people who know Hindi, the count crosses more than half the country.
• Hindi as second language: Nearly 13.9 crore (over 11%) reported Hindi as their second language, which makes it either the mother tongue or second language for nearly 55% of the population.

What does constitution say about Hindi?

• What is the Eighth Schedule?
  • The Eighth Schedule contains a list of languages in the country. Initially, there were 14 languages in the schedule, but now there are 22 languages.
  • There is no description of the sort of languages that are included or will be included in the Eighth Schedule.
• Constitutional position of Eighth Schedule 

There are only two references to these languages in the text of the Constitution.

• Article 344(1):
  • It provides for the formation of a Commission by the President, which should have a chairman and members representing these scheduled languages.
  • The purpose of the Commission is to make recommendations for the progressive use of Hindi for official purposes of the Union and for restricting the use of English.
• Article 351:
  • It says it is the Union government’s duty to promote the spread of Hindi so that it becomes “a medium of expression for all elements of the composite culture of India”.
  • It also aims to assimilate elements of forms and expressions from Hindustani and languages listed in the Eighth Schedule.

What are challenges for promotion of Hindi Language?

• Higher knowledge is not available in Hindi: The challenge of Hindi is that inhabiting the world of Hindi is seen as closing off access to the frontiers of knowledge, not just in science but in civic knowledge, like higher echelons of law.
• Perceived as inferior language: It is also treated as a marker of parochialism and inferior status.
• Hindi as language of Identity not as knowledge: The problem may be less acute with other languages like Tamil, Kannada or Bengali, but it exists. The anomaly of the India experiment is not diversity: It is the claim that the language of self, identity and culture be different from the language of knowledge, privilege and access. This is the experiment India is conducting on a large scale. Is it a sustainable one?
• Cultural assertion through language: It is the untapped resentment of a Hindi culture that often is made conscious of its own second-class status in global hierarchies. Millions of vernacular speakers feel disenfranchised in the worlds of knowledge and prestige.
• Poor translation mechanism: Our translation missions are so meagre that except for literature, they do not grow the language by translating knowledge into it. So, the division of the function of languages has also become a division of persons, between those whose fluency in English is greater than their fluency in a vernacular, and those who might know English but struggle with it.
• English transition is not easy in mid high school: There was also a generation that was taught in a vernacular language very well. They found it easy to switch to English later. Now the education system does not prepare you for either trajectory, not at least on a mass scale, leaving the Hindi speaker relatively stranded.

What should be the way forward?

• Hindi should be used for knowledge sharing and communication: The discussion of the language issue ought to be pedagogical rather than political. It will be, for instance, important for doctors to have English to easily access a continually evolving world of research; just translating a few textbooks into vernaculars will not solve the challenge. But it is equally true that the ability to communicate fluently in vernacular languages will be a great asset.
• Higher Education in Hindi should be made available: It is also possibly true that for those who did not get an English education, continuing vernacular education should be a medium of expanding their opportunities.
• Government has to do its homework: Our education system will have to do the homework to make any language strategy work fully. The skepticism of teaching medicine or engineering in the vernaculars (and not just Hindi) is that our knowledge eco system is not prepared for it; the skepticism of English is that it has left so many people behind.

Conclusion

The genius of India is that it has, historically, not locked itself into binaries over language choice. With creative pedagogies, we can reclaim that heritage. But raising the political pitch on language serves neither the cause of knowledge or national unity.

Context

Recently, the Supreme Court has rejected a plea by a political leader challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Money Laundering charges.

What is Money Laundering?

• About:
  • Money laundering is the process of making large amounts of money generated by criminal activity, such as drug trafficking or terrorist funding, appear to have come from a legitimate source.
  • Criminal activities like illegal arms sales, smuggling, drug trafficking and prostitution rings, insider trading, bribery and computer fraud schemes produce large profits.
  • Thereby it creates the incentive for money launderer to "legitimize" the ill-gotten gains through money laundering.
  • The money generated is called 'dirty money' and money laundering is the process of conversion of 'dirty money', to make it appear as 'legitimate' money.
• Stages:
  • Placement: The first stage is when the crime money is injected into the formal financial system.
  • Layering: In the second stage, money injected into the system is layered and spread over various transactions with a view to obfuscate the tainted origin of the money.
  • Integration: In the third and the final stage, money enters the financial system in such a way that original association with the crime is sought to be wiped out and the money can then be used by the offender as clean money.

What is the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002?

• Background:
  • The PMLA was enacted in response to India’s global commitment (Vienna Convention) to combat the menace of money laundering. These include:
    • United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances 1988
    • Basle Statement of Principles, 1989
    • Forty Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering, 1990
    • Political Declaration and Global Program of Action adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1990.
• About:
  • It is a criminal law enacted to prevent money laundering and to provide for confiscation of property derived from, or involved in, money-laundering and related matters.
  • It forms the core of the legal framework put in place by India to combat Money Laundering.
  • The provisions of this act are applicable to all financial institutions, banks (Including RBI), mutual funds, insurance companies, and their financial intermediaries.
• Recent Amendments:
  • Clarification about the Position of Proceeds of Crime: Proceeds of the Crime not only includes the property derived from scheduled offence but would also include any other property derived or obtained indulging into any criminal activity relate-able or similar to the scheduled offence.
  • Money Laundering Redefined: Money Laundering was not an independent crime rather depended on another crime, known as the predicate offence or scheduled offence.
    • The amendment seeks to treat money laundering as a stand-alone crime.
    • Under Section 3 of PMLA, the person shall be accused of money laundering if in any manner that person is directly or indirectly involved in the proceeds of the crime.
      • Concealment
      • Possession
      • Acquisition
      • Use or projecting as untainted property
      • Claiming as untainted property
  • Continuing Nature of Offence: This amendment further mentioned that the person will be considered to be involved in the offence of money laundering till the time that person is getting the fruits of activities related to money laundering as this offence is of a continuing nature.

What is the Enforcement Directorate?

• History:
  • The Directorate of Enforcement or the ED is a multi-disciplinary organization mandated with investigation of economic crimes and violations of foreign exchange laws.
  • The origin of this Directorate goes back to 1st May, 1956, when an ‘Enforcement Unit’ was formed in the Department of Economic Affairs for handling Exchange Control Laws violations under Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947 (FERA ’47).
  • With the onset of the process of economic liberalization, FERA, 1973, which was a regulatory law, was repealed and in its place, Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) came into operation.
  • Recently, with the increase in the number of cases relating to economic offenders taking shelter in foreign countries, the Government has passed the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 (FEOA) and ED is entrusted with its enforcement.
• Functions:
  • The PMLA, 2002:
    • ED has been given the responsibility to enforce the provisions of the PMLA by conducting investigation to trace the assets derived from proceeds of crime, to provisionally attach the property and to ensure prosecution of the offenders and confiscation of the property by the Special court.
  • The FEMA, 1999:
    • ED has been given the responsibility to conduct investigation into suspected contraventions of foreign exchange laws and regulations, to adjudicate and impose penalties on those adjudged to have contravened the law.
  • The FEOA, 2018:
    • It is a law whereby the Directorate is mandated to attach the properties of the fugitive economic offenders who have escaped from India warranting arrest and provide for the confiscation of their properties to the Central Government.
  • Sponsoring agency under COFEPOSA:
    • Under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA), Directorate is empowered to sponsor cases of preventive detention with regard to contraventions of FEMA.

GS-III

Context

Coffee cultivation is becoming an increasingly loss-making proposition in India. Already weighed down by the high cost of inputs and production as well as labor shortage, the industry is now also affected by changes in climate patterns, reports from Karnataka’s coffee heartland.

All you need to know about Coffee plantation

• Coffee is a tropical plantation crop.
• 16° – 28°C temperature, 150-250cm rainfall and well-drained slopes are essential for its growth.
• It grows on hilly slopes at the height of 900-1800m.
• Low temperature, frost, dry weather for a long time and harsh sunshine are harmful for its plant.

The status Coffee in India

• India contributes about 4% of the world’s total coffee production. It ranks 6thin the world in coffee production.
• At present, more than half of the total coffee production in India is produced by Karnataka alone, followed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• Coffee plants grow better in the laterite soils of Karnataka in India.
• The Arabica variety initially brought from Yemen is produced in the country.
• Indian coffee is highly rated and commands premium prices in the global coffee markets.
• Indian coffee offering innumerable flavors, aromas and blends. The commodity, for several decades, enjoyed a special position in India’s export lists.
• Coffee has high value and high imagery potential at home and overseas market. From being handled and sold as a berry, a green bean, a processed bean, a roasted bean and now a roasted and ground offering, coffee has climbed the hierarchy of value-addition.
• Coffee was an important export item for the Union government, when the commodity’s exports were in the range of ₹4,000-₹5,000 crore annually.

Do you know the history of Coffee in India?

• The history of Indian coffee dates back to around 1600 AD with the planting of Seven Seeds of Mocha by legendary saint Baba Budan in the courtyard of his hermitage in Chikmangalur, Karnataka. The coffee plants remained a garden curiosity before they gradually spread as backyard plantings, and later on to the hills of what is now known as Baba Budan Hills.
• However, it wasn’t until the 18th century the British entrepreneurs started taking coffee cultivation properly and turned forests in Southern India into commercial coffee plantations

What are Challenges faced by Coffee cultivation in India?

• Impact of Climate Change: Drastic changes in climate patterns over the last few years have adversely impacted India’s coffee production and the quality of the crop. There were dry spells between 2015 and 2017 and unseasonal heavy rains, floods and landslides between 2018 and 2022. According to the Coffee Board of India’s post-blossom estimate, production for the 2022 crop is anticipated to be some 30% lower than the estimated production due to the extreme climatic conditions.
• Impact of heavy rains: Destruction caused by heavy rains between July and September. The impact of the rains continues, with diseases affecting plants, and estate infrastructure suffering long-term damage. Plantations in Wayanad in Kerala and Palani in Tamil Nadu have also suffered similar losses. fruit rot, stalk rot and root rot and other irreparable damage due to heavy rainfall and landslides, berries turned black and dropped.
• Emergence of New diseases: Erratic weather conditions are helping pests to breed and new diseases to emerge, further stressing coffee plantation.

Crisis in Coffee Industry of India

• No adequate fund support by government: Sturdy and weather-resistant varieties of coffee may help and stand against climate change, but sadly the government is not providing adequate funds to coffee research stations to develop these.
• The volatility in market prices marginalizing producers: The volatility in market prices and the reduced influence of producers in the value chain render coffee cultivation an increasingly loss-making proposition. Producers are getting marginalized. This is rapidly turning out to be a buyer-driven commodity market.
• Impact of Exports on cost competitiveness: More than 75% of Indian coffee production is exported. This has an impact on the cost competitiveness of Indian coffee vis-à-vis the coffee that is exported from other producer regions, especially since those growers get their finances at very low interest rates.
• High Cost of financing: Most private banks insist that growers provide collateral for financing. Since small and medium-size growers are invariably not in a position to provide collateral, the interest rates are high, at around 12%. International interest rates, on the other hand, are negligible, mostly in single digits. This is an advantage for competing coffee-producing region.
• Increasing cost of Inputs: Due to the rise in the cost of inputs year on year and the increase in the cost of labor and benefits, which constitute 60% to 70% of total plantation expenditure, coffee growers are left with very little money in hand which is not adequate to repay loans. The cost of inputs around coffee such as fertilizers and agrochemicals has increased by almost 20% in a year.
• No pricing mechanism: There is no official price setting mechanism even in the domestic market. So, traders and curers are calling the shots and fixing prices, and growers are at their mercy.
• Identity crisis for Indian coffee: On the brand front, Indian coffee is still facing an identity crisis in global markets, although the country started exporting coffee actively before the 19th century. The fact that India sells Robusta and Arabic at a price higher than the hugely advertised Colombia is an indication of the brand building done by the Indian exporter and the quality of Indian coffee. 

What are the reasons behind the High cost of production?

• Rising labor charges: In India, production of coffee is low while the cost of production is on the rise compared to other coffee countries such as Vietnam and Brazil. In Brazil, labour charges account for 25% of the entire production cost, but in India, planters say they account for about 65%
• Hard terrain and topography: It is possible to bring down the cost of production to some extent through mechanization, but India’s coffee terrains and topography limit this possibility. At the same time, Indian coffee has a unique positioning as it is shade-grown and grown at elevations, while other major producing countries grow coffee in flat lands.
• High cost of Irrigation: Power cuts makes irrigation expensive as the cost of diesel is high. The high cost of inputs leads to the high cost of production which is the main problem for coffee growers. It makes coffee cultivation unviable. Earlier, the cost of production would go up by 4% to 5% annually, but now it goes up at least 20% annually.
• Unskilled migrant labour and wage costs: There is increasingly a shortage of labor while the cost of labour is on the rise in the coffee sector. The children of workers in all the three coffee-growing States Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala prefer to move to urban areas. This means plantations are forced to depend heavily on migrant labours who are unskilled. A lot of effort, time and energy has to be invested in training migrant labours.

Way forward

• Alternative source of revenue: Finding alternative sources of revenue and increasing domestic consumption on the one hand and branding and promoting Indian coffee better in the global market on the other.
• Creating in addition revenue streams: Growers should create additional revenue streams through inter-cropping or through innovative measures. In addition to traditional inter-cropping of pepper and cardamom, coffee growers could try planting exotic fruit-bearing trees, food crops, or getting into fish farming, dairy farming, apiary or green tourism to increase incomes from their coffee gardens. For instance, progressive farmers from Thandikudi in Dindigul district in Tamil Nadu, and from Sakleshpur in Chikkamagaluru district, are growing avocados, mangosteens, oranges, guavas and other fruit bearing trees, amid their coffee plants. In some seasons they say they have even earned more money from these than from coffee and pepper.
• Government should permit to plant alternate crops: Considering the change in land use, the government could permit growers to plant alternate crops in a land not suitable for coffee cultivation. Timely conversion will prevent growers from going financially sick.
• Coffee Act and the new Coffee (Promotion and Development Bill), 2022: India’s share in the global coffee market may be less than 5%, but the coffee sector is hopeful that the Coffee Act and the new Coffee (Promotion and Development Bill), 2022, will do away the 80-year-old coffee regulation and usher in change.

Conclusion

The coffee community in India, comprising close to 4 lakh coffee growers, hundreds of large planters, associations that represent growers, planters, curers and exporters, and over a dozen Fair Trade Organizations, hopes to boost coffee in the domestic and international markets and counter the problems the industry faces.

Context

Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), which functions in the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, might approve the commercial cultivation of modified mustard [DMH-11].

• A group of activists have also written to the ministry, objecting to the potential approval of “unsafe, unneeded and unwanted genetically modified organisms.”
• This would be the first time since 2002 for such approval to grow GM mustard, a genetically modified hybrid variety of the mustard species, for consumption by the masses.

Experts are fearful –

• The move that could pose a threat to crop diversity, food security and increase tolerance for use of pesticides.
• Might also severely affect the agrarian sector, as the seed market will be in the hands of private companies instead of farmers.
• Indigenous crop varieties may get threatened, which are crucial to fight climate change. If these varieties are lost, it would be a huge risk when the effects of climate change are worsening and food security is threatened
• The entire biosafety assessment of GM mustard has been unscientific and no guidelines have been followed. There have been irregularities and the need for certain tests has been unreasonably questioned and ignored.
• GM mustard is a herbicide-tolerant crop, which can become hazardous to the environment. The move will also pave the way for pesticide and insecticide-tolerant companies
• Genetic modifications can have irreversible damage to the environment

Conclusion

The modification technology is comparatively new and we do not know how it will reflect in the long term. It may open gates for unwanted or unknown diseases and how it will manifest in an open field is not assessed or analysed. Even scientists cannot predict this without its execution. In such a situation, agriculture will go beyond the control of farmers and scientists. Therefore, India must prepare to pick up its battles thoughtfully.

Context

Recently, the prices of natural gas, crude oil, and coal have all hit new highs in the international market due to disruption because of the Ukraine-Russia War, rising demand after COVID-19, and bad weather.

• Coal prices breached the $200 per short tonne mark in the USA.
• China is going to add 300 million tonnes of coal mining capacity.
• European coal imports have surged more than 35per percent this year.
• At the IMF-World Bank meeting, the Finance Minister of India indicated the necessity to go back to coal.

About Clean Energy:

• Clean energy is energy that comes from renewable, zero-emission sources that do not pollute the atmosphere when used. For example, Solar Energy, Wind Energy, Nuclear Energy, etc.
• India has overachieved its commitment made at COP 21- Paris Summit by already meeting 40% of its power capacity from non-fossil fuels- almost nine years ahead of its commitment.

Why is it Important?

• These are environmentally friendly since there is no negative impact on the environment by the use of clean energy.
• Clean energy reduces the risk of environmental disasters, such as fuel spills, etc.
• It helps to create reliable power supplies to enhance energy security.

Recent Global Trends:

• China:
  • China, the world’s biggest coal-based power generator, has a deep economic interest in thermal energy, particularly coal-based plants.
  • It is also the biggest producer and exporter of thermal power plant equipment.
  • Chinese banks have financed about 70 percent of the new coal-based plants globally.
• European Countries:
  • Most EU nations have reopened mothballed coal-based power plants and ramped up output.
  • It is forecasted that Germany will become the world’s third-biggest importer of coal after China and India.
• In India:
  • Because of intermittency issues with solar and wind power, India’s large renewable capacity addition will not be matched by the consumption of renewable-based power.
  • India plans to increase its coal-based power generating capacity by 25 percent by 2030.
  • Increasing energy consumption is a development imperative for India because-
  • Increased energy consumption is not only a prerequisite for overall growth but also human development.
  • India has a low per capita energy consumption ( India ranks 104 out of 140 countries)

Coal Sector at a glance:

• Coal is the largest single source of energy-related CO2 emissions.
• China and India together consume double the amount of coal as the rest of the world combined.
• In India, the Coal sector was nationalized in 1972 in two phases.
• Coal blocks are allocated on the basis of the auction.
• Bituminous type of coal is mostly found in India.
• It is mainly found in the provinces of Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh.

About Coal

• Coal is a sedimentary deposit composed predominantly of carbon that is readily combustible.
• It is formed from plant remains that have been compacted, hardened, chemically altered, and metamorphosed by heat and pressure over geologic time.
• Coal is the most widely available and cheapest energy source.

Types of Coal

• Anthracite:
  • It is also known as “hard coal”.
  • It contains the highest amount of carbon out of all coal ranks (86%-97%).
  • It is used mostly in industrial settings and the metals industry due to its high heat value.
• Bituminous:
  • It is also called “soft coal”.
  • It has a slightly lower carbon content than anthracite (45%-86%).
  • It is used for both electricity and steel production.
  • Subbituminous: It has lower carbon content than bituminous coal (35%-45%).It is primarily used for electricity generation
• Lignite:
  • It is known as “brown coal”.
  • It has the lowest carbon content out of all the coal ranks (25%-35%).
  • It has high moisture content and a crumbly texture.
  • It is mainly used in electricity generation

Consumption of Coal by Country:

• China:
  • China is the largest consumer of coal, and has comprised more than half of global consumption since 2011, with this share growing year upon year.
• India:
  • India Consumes about 11% of coal globally.
  • Coal is the most important and abundant fossil fuel in India.
  • It accounts for 55% of the country’s energy needs.
• The United States:
  • In 2021, about 546 million short tons (MMst) of coal were consumed in the United States mainly in the power generation sector.

Way Forward:

• In case of big economic countries , the approach of taking care of requirements first, and worrying about the planet later needs to be rationalized to achieve the commitment made under Paris Agreements.
• There is a need for urgent attention to work towards achieving a clean energy-oriented economy.
• The deployment of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies needs to be prioritized.
• The future of clean energy looks bright, with recent years showing that more renewable energy capacity has been installed globally than new fossil fuel and nuclear capacity combined.

Context

The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) had recommended to the Union Environment and Forest Ministry to put the new Forest Conservation Rules, 2022, on hold.

What are the Forest Conservation Rules?

• The Forest Conservation Rules deal with the implementation ofthe Forest Conservation Act (FCA), 1980.
• They prescribe the procedure to be followed for forest land to be diverted for non-forestry uses such as road construction, highway development, railway lines, and mining.
• The broad aims of the Forest Conservation Act are to protect forests and wildlife, put brakes on State governments’ attempts to hive off forest land for commercial projects, and strive to increase the area under forests.

Forest Advisory Committee (FAC):

• For forest land beyond five hectares, approval for diverting land mustbe given by the Central government.
• This is via aspecially constituted committee, called the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC).
• This committee examines whether the user agency or those who have requested forest land, have made a convincing case for the upheaval of that specific parcel of land, whether they have a plan in place to ensure that the ensuing damage — from the felling of trees in that area, denuding the local landscape — will be minimal and the said piece of land doesn’t cause damage to wildlife habitat.
• Once the FAC is convinced and approves(or rejects a proposal), it is forwarded to the concerned State government where the land is located, which then has to ensure that provisions of the Forest Right Act, 2006, a separate Act that protects the rights of forest dwellers and tribals over their land, are complied with.
• The FAC approval also means that the future users of the land must provide compensatory landford afforestation as well as pay the net present value (ranging between ₹10-15 lakh per)

What do the updated rules say?

The latest version of the rules consolidates changes to the Act over the years from various amendments and court rulings.

• Private plantation:
  • The rules make a provision for private parties to cultivate plantations and sell them as land to companies who need to meet compensatory forestation targets.
  • This, according to the government, will help Indiaincrease forest cover as well as solve the problems of the States not finding land within their jurisdiction for compensatory purposes.
• Consent of Gram Sabha for diversion of land:
  • Prior to the updated rules,state bodies would forward documents to the FAC that would also include information on the status of whether the forest rights of locals in the area were settled.
  • After 2009, the Environment Ministry passed an order mandating that proposals would not be entertained by the FAC unless there was a letter from the State specifying that the forest rights in the place had been “settled” and the gram sabha, or the governing body in villages in the area, had given their written consent to the diversion of the forest.
  • However, therehave been a series of orders by the Environment Ministry over the years that have sought to skirt the necessity for consent from the gram sabha.
  • The new rulesformally codify this and say that a project, once approved by the FAC, will then be passed on to the State authorities who will collect the compensatory fund and land, and process it for final approval.
  • Only in passing, is it mentioned that the States will ensure“settlement” of Forest Rights Acts applicable.
  • This, many forestry experts say, doesn’t automatically imply the consent of the resident tribals and forest dwellers.

Concerns:

• Favour of Corporates:
  • Corporates and other commercial entities can now easily arm-twist tribal communities to obtain necessary consent or suppress any opposition.
  • Plantations for commercial use by private players are another threat as the locals will be deprived of the use of land primarily meant for them
• Threat to biodiversity:
  • Tribals use the revenue forest land for livelihood purposes. The new guidelines allow private players to use the land for plantation, whichcan lead to monoculture cultivation — thus affecting biodiversity.
• Relaxed clearance process:
  • Due to relaxation in the clearance process a developer does not need to take clearances at one go for diverting land use.
  • One may take approval over a part of the land to begin the work and take clearance at the final stage.
  • Such a provision would encourage illegalities and confusion and the statutory requirement of obtaining the consent of locals can be ignored.

Way Forward:

• The new forest protection regulations should be re-evaluated following constructive consultations with the key stakeholders.
• They must be adjusted to take into account the crucial importance of tribal and forest rights and the responsibility of the government to safeguard them.