UPSC Daily Current Affairs- September 26, 2022 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

GS-II

Context

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches at 59 locations across 20 States and one Union Territory, as part of a pan-India drive against the circulation and sharing of child sexual abuse material.

• The operation code-named “Megh Chakra” was carried out following the inputs received from the Interpol’s Singapore special unit based on the information received from the authorities in New Zealand.

About Operation Megh Chakra

• The CBI has registered two cases alleging that a large number of Indian nationals were involved in the online circulation, downloading and transmission of such material using cloud-based storage.
• The searches were carried out in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Karnataka, Telangana and Tamil Nadu. The agency seized electronic devices belonging to the suspects.
• Preliminary scrutiny of the devices using cyberforensic tools allegedly revealed that a huge quantity of child pornography material was stored in them.
• The operation sought to collate information from various law enforcement agencies in India, engage with the relevant law enforcement agencies globally and coordinate closely through the Interpol channels on the issue.
• The agency had launched a similar exercise code-named “Operation Carbon”, searching the premises of suspects in 13 States and one Union Territory.
  • The previous operation was conducted at 76 locations. The persons named in the FIRs were booked under the relevant provisions of the IPC and the Information Technology Act, for allegedly being part of the syndicates that uploaded, circulated, sold and viewed such material.
• The CBI had later decided to send requests to several countries for sharing and gathering information under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs) on those involved in the racket.

About Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

• The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was set up in 1963 after the recommendation of Santhanam committee under Ministry of Home affairs and was later transferred to the Ministry of Personnel and now it enjoys the status of an attached office.
• Now, the CBI comes under the administrative control of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
• The CBI derives its powers from the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, however, it is NOT a Statutory Body.
• CBI is the apex anti-corruption body in the country – Along with being the main investigating agency of the Central Government it also provides assistance to the Central Vigilance Commission and Lokpal.
• The CBI is required to obtain the prior approval of the Central Government before conducting any inquiry or investigation.
• The CBI is also the nodal police agency in India which coordinates investigations on behalf of Interpol Member countries.
• The CBI’s conviction rate is as high as 65 to 70% and it is comparable to the best investigation agencies in the world.
• The CBI is headed by a Director and he is assisted by a special director or an additional director. It has joint directors, deputy inspector generals, and superintendents of police.

Functions of CBI

• Investigating cases of corruption, bribery and misconduct of Central government employees.
• Investigating cases relating to infringement of fiscal and economic laws, that is, breach of laws concerning export and import control, customs and central excise, income tax, foreign exchange regulations and so on. However, such cases are taken up either in consultation with or at the request of the department concerned.
• Investigating serious crimes, having national and international ramifications, committed by organized gangs of professional criminals.
• Coordinating the activities of the anti-corruption agencies and the various state police forces.
• Taking up, on the request of a state government, any case of public importance for investigation.
• Maintaining crime statistics and disseminating criminal information.
• The CBI acts as the “National Central Bureau” of Interpol in India.

Challenges of CBI

• The CBI has been dubbed a “caged parrot speaking in its master’s voice” by the Supreme Court of India due to excessive political influence in its operations. It has frequently been utilised by the government to conceal misdeeds, keep coalition allies in line, and keep political opponents at away. It has been accused of massive delays in concluding investigations, such as in its investigation into high-ranking Jain dignitaries in the Jain hawala diaries case [in the 1990s].
• Loss of Credibility: Improving the agency’s image has been one of the most difficult challenges so far, as the agency has been chastised for its mishandling of several high-profile cases, including the Bofors scandal, the Hawala scandal, the Sant Singh Chatwal case, the Bhopal gas tragedy, and the 2008 Noida double murder case (Aarushi Talwar).
• Lack of Accountability: CBI is exempt from the Right to Information Act, which means it is not accountable to the public.
• Acute staff shortage: One of the key causes of the shortfall is the government’s mishandling of the CBI’s employees, which includes an inefficient and inexplicably biassed recruitment policy that was utilised to bring in favoured officials, possibly to the organization’s damage.
• Limited Authority: Members of the CBI’s investigative powers and jurisdiction are subject to the consent of the State Government, restricting the scope of the CBI’s inquiry.
• Restricted Access: Obtaining prior authorisation from the Central Government to initiate an inquiry or probe into Central Government workers at the level of Joint Secretary and above is a major impediment to tackling corruption at the highest levels of government.

Context

Recently, the president of Nepal sent back the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2006 to the lower house of the Nepal Parliament for reconsideration.

What's the Issue About?

• About: After the fall of the monarchy and the transition of Nepal into democracy in 2006, there was the emergence of the multiparty system followed by the adoption of a constitution in 2015.
  • Due to this, all-Nepalese citizens born before the adoption of constitution got naturalised citizenship.
  • But their children remained without citizenship as that was to be guided by a federal law that has not yet been framed.
    • The recent amendment is expected to pave the way to citizenship for many stateless youths and their parents.
• Issues in the Act: Against Gender Justice
  • It goes against established parameters of gender justice, according to a new amendment, a person born to a father or a mother with Nepalese citizenship can get citizenship by descent.
  • Also, a person who is born to a Nepalese mother (who has lived in the country) and an unidentified father will also get citizenship by descent.
    • But this part seems humiliating to the mother because her husband has to declare his unknown in order for the child to apply for citizenship.
    • Further, in the case of a Nepali father, no such declaration is required.
• Contradictory in Nature: If a child born to a Nepalese mother and a father holding foreign citizenship can get naturalised citizenship.
  • This places a condition of permanent residency on the mother (and the child) which will determine the grant of citizenship for the child.
• Flawed nature of Law: If a person who is born to a Nepalese mother and an unidentified father can be granted citizenship by descent, in case the unidentified father turns out to be a foreigner, the citizenship by descent would be converted to naturalised citizenship.

What was the Need to bring this Amendment?

The Nepalese men, particularly from the Terai region, continue to marry women from northern India, so this could affect their Nepali Identity.

• "Beti-Roti" (Nepalese men marrying Indian women) issue, many women could not become citizens of Nepal as they were subjected to the infamous seven-year cooling-off period before they could apply for citizenship in Nepal.
  • As such women were stateless, and children of such families were also often found to be without Nepalese citizenship.
  • That’s why the new amendments have done away with the cooling-off period for these stateless women.
  • This will benefit the children of such families where the mother and children remained stateless for years.

Context

Recently, under various interventions of the Ministry of Women and Child Development jointly (MWCD) with Ministry of Ayush, close to 4.37 lakh Anganwadi Centres have set up Poshan Vatikas.

• Under ongoing Poshan Maah 2022, activities for setting-up Poshan Vatikas with backyard poultry/fishery units are being carried out in a big way across the country.
• Additionally, so far, 1.10 lakh medicinal saplings have also been planted across some of the selected districts of 6 States.

What do we Know about Poshan Maah?

• The Rashtriya Poshan Maah is being celebrated during the month of September every year under POSHAN Abhiyaan.
• It includes a month-long activity focused on antenatal care, optimal breastfeeding, Anemia, growth monitoring, girls' education, diet, right age of marriage, hygiene and sanitation and eating healthy (Food Fortification).
• The activities focus on Social and Behavioural Change Communication (SBCC) and are based on Jan Andolan Guidelines.
  • SBCC is the strategic use of communication approaches to promote changes in knowledge, attitudes, norms, beliefs and behaviours.

What do we know about Poshan Vatika?

• About: Poshan Vatika means that small piece of land where the people of the house grow vegetables to make sure that all in the family specially children and women should not become victim of mal-nutrition.
• Objective: Its main objective is to ensure supply of nutrition through organically home-grown vegetables and fruits simultaneously ensuring that the soil must also remain healthy.
• Implementation: Plantation drives for Poshan Vatikas would be taken up by all the stakeholders in the space available at anganwadis, school premises and gram panchayats.

What do we Know about Poshan Abhiyan?

• About: POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission) was launched by the government on March 8, 2018.
• Aim
  • The Abhiyaan targets to reduce stunting, undernutrition, anemia (among young children, women and adolescent girls) and reduce low birth weight by 2%, 2%, 3% and 2% per annum respectively.
  • The target of the mission is to bring down stunting among children in the age group 0-6 years from 38.4% to 25% by 2022.
  • POSHAN Abhiyaan aims to ensure service delivery and interventions by use of technology, behavioural change through convergence and lays-down specific targets to be achieved across different monitoring parameters.
  • Under the Abhiyaan, Swasth Bharat Preraks will be deployed one in each district for coordinating with district officials and enabling fast and efficient execution of the Abhiyaan across the country. Swasth Bharat Preraks would function as catalyst for fast tracking the implementation of the Abhiyaan.
• POSHAN 2.0
  • About: The government has amalgamated various programmes with similar objectives such as Supplementary Nutrition Programme and POSHAN Abhiyaan under one umbrella–Mission POSHAN 2.0—for creating synergies in operations and adopting an integrated approach in the nutrition services mechanism.
  • Components
    • Convergence: The Abhiyaan is to ensure convergence of all nutrition related schemes of MWCD on the target population. The Abhiyaan will ensure convergence of various programmes.
    • ICDS-CAS: Software based tracking of nutritional status will be done.
    • Behavioral change: The Abhiyaan will be run as a Jan Andolan where mass involvement of people is desired. A community-based event will happen once a month to create awareness and address issues.
    • Incentives: Front line workers will be given incentives for performance.
    • Training and Capacity Building: Incremental Learning Approach will be adopted to teach 21 thematic modules. The training will be given by Master Trainers to front line workers.
    • Grievance Redressal: A call centre will be set up for ease of access to solutions to any issues faced.

What was the Need for Poshan Abhiyan?

• Malnutrition and Anaemia among Children
  • According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5, India has unacceptably high levels of stunting, despite marginal improvement over the years.
  • In 2019-21, 35.5% of children below five years were stunted and 32.1% were underweight.
• Global Nutrition Report-2021: According to the Global Nutrition Report (GNR, 2021), India has made no progress on anaemia and childhood wasting.
  • Over 17% of Indian children under 5 years of age are affected due to childhood wasting.
  • The data in NFHS 2019-21 shows the highest spike in anaemia was reported among children aged 6-59 months from 67.1% (NFHS-5) from 58.6% (NFHS-4, 2015-16).
• Human Capital Index (2020): India ranks 116 out of 180 countries on the human capital index.
  • Human capital consists of the knowledge, skills, and health that people accumulate over their lives, enabling them to realize their potential as productive members of society.

What are the other Related Initiatives?

• Anemia Mukt Bharat Abhiyan.
• The National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013.
• Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY).
• PM-POSHAN Scheme.

Context

Recently, Nayagarh, a district in Odisha, has adopted a unique initiative- Aliva to eradicate child marriage.

• As per Odisha’s child marriage prevention strategy, the State aims to eradicate child marriage by 2030.

About Aliva to eradicate child marriage

• The programme was launched in January, 2022.
• Workers at anganwadi programmes were instructed to track down and identify every teenage girl in their area.
• Aanganwadi centres in the district include records called Aliva that contain information about adolescent girls, such as the date of their birth registration, their Aadhaar number, their family details, their skill training, etc.
• The local headmaster, the girl’s father, the supervisor, and the Child Marriage Prohibition Officer have all approved the girl’s age (CMPO).
• Currently, the district has 48,642 adolescent females’ information recorded in the Aliva registries.
• District administration and the police consult registers to confirm girls’ ages when they are tipped off about child weddings.
• The district has made the decision to keep the record for ten years, from 2020 to 2030.

Significance

• The Aliva registers are by far the most comprehensive ones that keep tabs on girls’ lives for 10 years.
• The register has been useful for law enforcement agencies, as parents attempt to lie about the age of their girls to escape punishment.
• Though the register was conceptualised to prevent child marriages, it has been very useful for tracking the health of girls especially if they are anaemic.

Context

In September last year, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said it was reviewing the status of cannabis, which is prohibited in competition. This followed the positive test of USA’s sprinting star Sha ‘Carri Richardson during the US Olympic Track and Field trials in June. She was banned and missed the Olympics. However, recently WADA said the recreational drug would remain on its list.

About Cannabis and Marijuana

• Cannabis is sourced from the cannabis sativa plant.
• There are over 500 chemical substances in the plant but the one on Wada’s prohibited list is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
• THC gives users of marijuana a high. So, cannabis in Wada’s books is marijuana, the chemical in which is THC.

The Ban of Cannabis

• Cannabis is banned only in-competition.
• This means that an athlete faces a risk of getting banned only for a positive test from a sample collected during a competition.
• For example, an athlete can smoke marijuana in the off-season and test positive but is unlikely to be banned.
• From 2021 onwards, a positive test for cannabis can result in as short a ban as one month, according to Wada.
• For a reduced ban; down from two to four years earlier, athletes must prove that the use of cannabis was before entering a competition, which means the athlete did not intend to experience its effects while competing.

Review by WADA Code

• Under the Wada code, cannabis is defined as a ‘substance of abuse’.
• Wada says the current limit of 150 nanograms per millilitre in urine will be found in athletes who are frequent users and are impaired because of the effects of cannabis. The threshold limit in 2013 was just 15 ng/ml.
• Potential to enhance performance, health risk to athletes and the spirit of the sport are the criteria these experts looked at. A substance needs to meet two of these three criteria to be included in the prohibited list.
• Wada says that use of cannabis violates the spirit of the sport but didn’t specify which of the other two criteria the recreational drug met.

About World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)

• A foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. 
• Set up on 10 November 1999 in Lausanne, Switzerland, as a result of what was called the “Declaration of Lausanne”.
• Headquarters: In Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
• The agency’s key activities include scientific research, education, development of anti-doping capacities, and monitoring of the World Anti-Doping Code, whose provisions are enforced by the UNESCO International Convention Against Doping in Sport.
• It delegates work in individual countries to Regional and National Anti-Doping Organizations (RADOs and NADOs) and mandates that these organisations are compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code.

GS-III

Context

Recently, residents of Karipani and Budra villages in Chhattisgarh carried out a massive afforestation drive over 100 acres, as it was the last-ditch effort of the villagers to secure rights over their forest land.

• As many as 10 villages in protected areas of the state received the Community Forest Resource Rights (CFRR) titles on Adivasi Divas observed on August 9, 2022, but Karipani and Budra were not among them.

What is a community forest resource?

• The community forest resource area is the common forest land that has been traditionally protected and conserved for sustainable use by a particular community.
• The community uses it to access resources available within the traditional and customary boundary of the village; and for seasonal use of landscape in case of pastoralist communities.
• Each CFR area has a customary boundary with identifiable landmarks recognised by the community and its neighboring villages.
• It may include forest of any category – revenue forest, classified & unclassified forest, deemed forest, DLC land, reserve forest, protected forest, sanctuary and national parks etc.

What are Community Forest Resource rights?

• The Community Forest Resource rights under Section 3(1)(i) of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act (commonly referred to as the Forest Rights Act or the FRA) provide for recognition of the right to “protect, regenerate or conserve or manage” the community forest resource.
• These rights allow the community to formulate rules for forest use by itself and others and thereby discharge its responsibilities under Section 5 of the FRA.
• CFR rights, along with Community Rights (CRs) under Sections 3(1)(b) and 3(1)(c), which include nistar rights and rights over non-timber forest products, ensure sustainable livelihoods of the community.
• These rights give the authority to the Gram Sabha to adopt local traditional practices of forest conservation and management within the community forest resource boundary.

Why is the recognition of CFR rights important?

• Aimed at undoing the “historic injustice” meted out to forest-dependent communities due to curtailment of their customary rights over forests.
• It is important as it recognises the community’s right to use, manage and conserve forest resources, and to legally hold forest land that these communities have used for cultivation and residence.
• It also underlines the integral role that forest dwellers play in sustainability of forests and in conservation of biodiversity.
• It is of greater significance inside protected forests like national parks, sanctuaries and tiger reserves as traditional dwellers then become a part of management of the protected forests using their traditional wisdom.
• But while CFR rights are an important empowerment tool, getting a consensus amongst various villages about their traditional boundaries often proves a challenge.

Forest Rights Act, 2006

• Schedule Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers Act or Recognition of Forest Rights Act came into force in 2006.
• The Nodal Ministry for the Act is Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
• It has been enacted to recognize and vest the forest rights and occupation of forest land in forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers, who have been residing in such forests for generations, but whose rights could not be recorded.
• This Act not only recognizes the rights to hold and live in the forest land under the individual or common occupation for habitation or for self-cultivation for livelihood, but also grants several other rights to ensure their control over forest resources.
• The Act also provides for diversion of forest land for public utility facilities managed by the Government, such as schools, dispensaries, fair price shops, electricity and telecommunication lines, water tanks, etc. with the recommendation of Gram Sabhas.
• Rights under the Forest Right Act 2006:
  • Title Rights- ownership of land being framed by Gram Sabha.
  • Forest management rights– to protect forests and wildlife.
  • Use rights- for minor forest produce, grazing, etc.
  • Rehabilitation– in case of illegal eviction or forced displacement.
  • Development Rights– to have basic amenities such as health, education, etc.

Context

Three lifeless rhinos have risen from the ashes of the most conspicuous part of the herbivore, at the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.

About Indian rhinoceros

• The Indian rhinoceros also called the Indian rhino, greater one-horned rhinoceros or great Indian rhinoceros, is a rhinoceros species native to the Indian subcontinent.
• It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, as populations are fragmented and restricted to less than 20,000 square kilometers.
• Moreover, the extent and quality of the rhino’s most important habitat, the alluvial Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands and riverine forest, is considered to be in decline due to human and livestock encroachment.
• The Census of Rhinoceros is undertaken at the State-level by the respective State Governments periodically.

Status of Rhinoceros in India

• The population of Greater One-horned Rhinoceros reached to the brink of extinction by the end of the 20th century with fewer than 200 animals in wild.
• The Indian rhinoceros once ranged throughout the entire stretch of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, but excessive hunting and agricultural development reduced its range drastically to 11 sites in northern India and southern Nepal.
• Nearly 85% of the global Indian rhinoceros population is concentrated in Assam, where Kaziranga National Park contains 70% of rhino population.
• Kaziranga National Park alone had an estimated population of more than 2,000 rhinos in 2009.
• Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam has the highest density of Indian rhinos in the world.
• Although poaching remains a continuous threat (more than 150 rhinos were killed in Assam by poachers between 2000 and 2006), their numbers have increased due to conservation measures taken by the government.

Indian Rhino Vision (IRV) 2020 programme

• The WHO-India launched Indian Rhino Vision (IRV) 2020 programme to protect and increase the population of the one-horned rhinoceros.
• It is an ambitious effort to attain a wild population of at least 3,000 greater one-horned rhinos spread over seven protected areas in the Indian state of Assam by the year 2020.

IVR 2020 is a partnership among

• Government of Assam,
• International Rhino Foundation,
• World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF),
• Bodoland Territorial Council, and
• U.S. Fish & World Wildlife foundation.

Procedure followed

• The horns of rhinos will be trimmed (in a way that any damage is not done to their internal organs and the trimmed horns will grow back to their original shape within a few months) before their translocation to protect them from the poachers, who hunt them just to take away their horns.
• Manas National Park was the first to receive translocated rhinos.
• One of the biggest challenges turned out to be the difficulty in obtaining etorphine — a major component of the tranquilizing drug used to sedate large wild animals like rhinos and elephants.
• In partnership with local NGO’s and the State Agriculture Department, the livelihood options of the communities living on the fringes of the park are being developed by undertaking agriculture support programs.

Context

• The sonification project is led by the Chandra X-ray Center in collaboration with NASA’s Universe of Learning Program (UoL).
• The objective of the project is to transform data from astronomical images into audio.
  • This project allows audiences — including visually-impaired communities — to experience space through data.

About Data Sonification
It refers to the use of sound values to represent real data. Simply put, it is the auditory version of data visualization.

How did NASA translate astronomical images into sound?

• NASA’s distant telescopes in space collect inherently digital data, in the form of ones and zeroes, before converting them into images.
• The images are essentially visual representations of light and radiation of different wavelengths in space, that can’t be seen by the human eye.
• The Chandra project has created a celestial concert of sorts by translating the same data into sound. Pitch and volume are used to denote the brightness and position of a celestial object or phenomenon.

Ready projects
So far, the astronomers behind Project Chandra have released three examples made using data collected from some of the most distinct features in the sky — the Galactic Centre, Cassiopeia A, and Pillars of Creation Nebula.

Significance of the project

• With this data sonification project, users can now experience different phenomena captured in astronomical images as an aural experience.
• The birth of a star, a cloud of dust or even a black hole can now be ‘heard’ as a high or low pitched sound.