08 DECEMBER 2023

Topic 1 : Assam catkin yew

Why in news: Experts raises concern that there is a need to conserve Assam catkin yew.
 

Key details:

• It is also known as Amentotaxus assamica.
• It is a critically endangered (IUCN) and endemic species found only in two locations in Arunachal Pradesh:
  • Changlagam in Anjaw district, and
  • Deb village in Toru Hills, Papum Pare district.
• The species, a conifer and part of the Taxaceae genus, primarily grows in the subtropical biome at altitudes of 1,600 to 2,000 metres.
• The original habitat and ecology of this plant have undergone severe land transformation, rendering it critically endangered due to its low reproduction rate.
• It is believed to have evolved during the age of the dinosaurs.
• Conservation status:
  • IUCN: Critically endangered
  • Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule 6
• Threats:
  • The species faces a severe risk of extinction due to unknowing and reckless exploitation in the area.
  • Owing to its strength and fortification, it is highly threatened by accidental cutting for construction purposes, or use in households and other utilities.
  • Amentotaxus has significant economic and ecological value, considered for medicinal treatment, besides the extraction of a poisonous chemical from yew.
• Why does it need conservation?
  • This species is critical and is found nowhere else worldwide, except in two regions in Arunachal Pradesh.
  • The species holds a unique identity in the context of Arunachal’s flora, and has great potential for wildlife tourism in the state.Topic 2 : Article 99 of the UN Charter

Why in news: Amid Israel’s ongoing military attacks on the Gaza Strip, particularly in its southern region, United Nations Secretary-General has invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter in a bid to establish a ceasefire.
 

About Article 99 of the UN Charter:

• The UN Charter is the founding document of the United Nations.
• Based on the powers conferred through it, the UN can take action on a wide variety of issues.
• The Charter is considered an international treaty, meaning UN Member States are bound by it.
• Article 99 states that the Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.
• It is seen as a discretionary power.

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Topic 3 : Section 6A of the Citizenship Act

Why in news: A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court began hearing pleas challenging Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, which was introduced in the statute following the signing of the Assam Accord.

What is Section 6A?

• Section 6A was a special provision inserted into the 1955 Act in furtherance of a Memorandum of Settlement called the ‘Assam Accord’ signed on August 15, 1985.
• It was done by the then Rajiv Gandhi government with the leaders of the Assam Movement to preserve and protect the Assamese culture, heritage and linguistic and social identity.
• The Accord came at the end of a six-year agitation by the All Assam Students Union (AASU) to identify and deport undocumented immigrants, mostly from neighbouring Bangladesh, from the State.
• Under Section 6A, foreigners who had entered Assam before January 1, 1966, and been “ordinarily resident” in the State, would have all the rights and obligations of Indian citizens.
• Those who had entered the State between January 1, 1966 and March 25, 1971 would have the same rights and obligations except that they would not be able to vote for 10 years.
• Therefore, this act fixes March 25, 1971 as the cut-off date for granting citizenship to Bangladeshi migrants in Assam.

 

The Assam Accord

• The Assam Accord was a Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) signed between representatives of the Government of India and the leaders of the Assam Movement.
• The Assam movement ended with the signing of the Assam Accord.
• The leaders of the Assam Movement agreed to accept all migrants who had entered into Assam prior to 1 January 1966.
• The government agreed to identify and deport any and all refugees and migrants after March 25 1971.
• According to the Assam Accord, the Government of India agreed to secure the international border against future infiltration by the erection of physical barriers like walls, barbed wire fencing and other obstacles at appropriate places and deploying a patrol by security forces on land and river routes all along the international Bangladesh-India border.
• All open police charges against the participants and the leaders of the Assam Movement, prior to and on the date of signing the Accord, were also withdrawn and closed.
• As per this accord:
  • all foreigners who had entered Assam between 1951 and 1961 were to be given full citizenship including the right to vote.
  • Migrants those who had come after 1971 were to be deported.
  • Those who entered between 1961 and 1971 were to be denied voting rights for ten years but would enjoy all other rights of citizenship.

The citizenship Act:

• As per the Citizenship Act, 1955, every person born in India:
  • on or after the 26th day of January 1950, but before the 1st day of July 1987;
  • on or after the 1st day of July 1987, but before the commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003 and either of whose parents is a citizen of India at the time of his birth;
  • on or after the commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003, where-
    • both of his parents are citizens of India; or
    • one of whose parents is a citizen of India and the other is not an illegal migrant at the time of his birth, shall be a citizen of India by birth.

The challenge:

• The plea before the Constitutional bench challenges one of the core elements of the Accord which determines who is a foreigner in the state.
• This was also the basis of the final National Register of Citizens in Assam, published in 2019.
• Assam Accord states that January 1, 1966 shall serve as the base cut-off date for the detection and deletion of foreigners but it also contains provisions for the regularisation of those who arrived in the state after that date and up till March 24, 1971.
  • Section 6A of the Citizenship Act was inserted as an amendment to accommodate this.
• It effectively establishes March 24, 1971 as the cut-off date for entry into the state, meaning that those entering the state after that would be considered “illegal immigrants”.
• While those who came to Assam on or after January 1, 1966, but before March 25, 1971 from Bangladesh will be detected as “foreigners”.
  • They would have the opportunity to register themselves according to rules made by the Central Government.
• Except for being included in electoral rolls, they would be granted the same rights and obligations as Indian citizens for a period of 10 years from the date they were detected as foreigners.
• At the end of this ten-year period, however, they would be deemed citizens.What is NRC?
• The NRC is an official record of those who are legal Indian citizens.
• It includes demographic information about all those individuals who qualify as citizens of India as per the Citizenship Act, 1955.
• So far, such a database has only been maintained for the state of Assam.
• An NRC was first created in 1951 in Assam to identify those born in India and migrants from erstwhile East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.
• In 2013, the Supreme Court issued directions to the Centre and State to initiate an exercise in Assam to update the 1951 register.
• The first draft was released in 2018.
• The final list, published in 2019, included those who could establish their Indian citizenship by being residents or descendants of people living in Assam before March 25, 1971:
  • the cut-off date for deportation of foreigners as per the Assam Accord of August 1985.
  • As many as 19.06 lakh people out of 3.3 crore applicants were excluded due to a lack of adequate documents to prove their citizenship.

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Why is Section 6A under challenge?

• The plea before the bench, while questioning the constitutional validity of Section 6A, wants 1951 to be established as the cut-off date for inclusion in the National Register of Citizens instead of 1971.
• Their core argument is that by establishing a different cut-off date for Indian citizenship in Assam than in the rest of India (which is July 1948) Section 6 A is discriminatory, arbitrary and illegal and violative of the rights of indigenous Assamese people.Topic 4 : Pompe disease

Why in news: India’s first Pompe disease patient, passed away recently at the age of 24 years after battling the disease.
 

About Pompe Disease:

• Also known as Glycogen Storage Disease Type II, Pompe disease is a rare genetic disorder caused by a deficiency of the enzyme acid alpha-glucosidase (GAA).
• This enzyme is crucial for breaking down glycogen into glucose within the lysosomes of cells.
• Its prevalence estimates range from 1 in 40,000 to 1 in 300,000 births.
• Some key symptoms are:
  • Muscle weakness:
    • Progressive muscle weakness is a primary feature of Pompe disease.
    • It affects both skeletal and smooth muscles, leading to difficulties in mobility and daily activities.
    • Weakness in the respiratory muscles can result in breathing difficulties, especially during physical exertion or even while lying down.
  • Motor skill delay:
    • Children with the disease may experience delays in achieving motor milestones, such as sitting, crawling, and walking.
    • The degree of motor skill delay can vary, and some individuals may never attain certain motor milestones.
  • Degenerative impact on bones:
    • Prolonged muscle weakness and reduced mobility can have a degenerative impact on bones, leading to joint contractures and skeletal deformities.
  • Respiratory complications:
    • The weakening of respiratory muscles, including the diaphragm, can have an impact.
    • Patients may experience, shortness of breath, respiratory infections, and in severe cases, respiratory failure.
  • Cardiac involvement:
    • In some cases, Pompe disease can affect the heart muscles, leading to complications.
  • Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy:
    • Pompe disease can cause hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, characterised by the thickening of the heart muscle walls.
    • This can lead to impaired heart functions and cardiovascular symptoms.
  • Implications for daily living:
    • Patients may face challenges in performing daily activities independently due to muscle weakness and respiratory limitations.
    • Assistive devices such as wheelchairs and respiratory support equipment may become necessary.

Diagnosis:

• Enzyme assays are conducted to measure the activity of acid alpha-glucosidase (GAA), the deficient enzyme.
• Genetic testing identifies mutations in the responsible GAA gene.
• Clinical evaluations consider the patient’s symptoms and medical history.

Treatment:

• While there is currently no cure for Pompe disease, there are treatment options available to manage symptoms and improve the patient’s quality of life.
• Enzyme Replacement Therapy (ERT) is a standard treatment, involving the infusion of the missing enzyme to alleviate glycogen buildup.

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Topic 5 : Global Cooling Pledge

Why in news: Sixty-three countries, including the US, Canada, and Kenya, signed up to the world’s first-ever pledge to drastically cut cooling emissions at the ongoing COP28 climate summit.
 

Key details:

• The Global Cooling Pledge commits the countries to reduce their cooling emissions by at least 68% by 2050 and outlines several strategies to tackle them.
• These kinds of emissions now account for 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions and are expected to triple by 2050.
• The situation is set to get worse as rising global temperatures will lead to a large-scale cooling demand — the use of more ACs and refrigerators would cause more cooling emissions.

Sources of cooling emissions:

• Cooling emissions are essentially emissions generated from refrigerants, used in appliances like ACs and refrigerators, and the energy used for cooling.
• Refrigerants:
  • Refrigerants, also known as coolants, they allow the refrigeration process to work due to their ability to quickly change their state.
  • As they readily absorb heat from the environment, refrigerants turn from being a cool liquid into a gas.
  • When they release that heat into the outside (it could be outside a building (in case of ACs) or outside a fridge) they transform back into liquid form and then are cycled back to start the cooling process again.
• Chlorofluorocarbons:
  • For the longest time, most of the cooling appliances used chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) as refrigerants.
  • In 1987Montreal Protocol was signed.
    • It is an agreement signed by nearly 200 countries to freeze the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances, including CFCs, at then current rates.

• Hydrofluorocarbons and Hydrochlorofluorocarbons:
  • In the following years, CFCs were largely replaced by two groups of chemicals, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs).
  • Although HFCs and HCFCs don’t damage the ozone layer, they are powerful greenhouse gases.
  • Both of them can absorb infrared radiation, trapping heat inside the atmosphere rather than letting it escape back into space, generating a greenhouse effect that warms Earth.
  • CFCs are also potent global warming gases.
  • Even in relatively small amounts they (HFCs) contribute significantly to near-term warming as greenhouse gases which are hundreds to thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2) per unit of mass.
• How are HFCs and HCFCs leaked into the atmosphere?
  • They are released from damaged appliances or from car air conditioning systems.
  • Ninety per cent of the refrigerant emissions occur at the equipment’s end of life and are disposed of improperly.

• Energy consumption:
  • The other source of cooling emissions is the electricity used to run the cooling appliances.
  • A large section of this electricity is produced by fossil fuels across the world, especially in developing countries like India.
  • Fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas are by far the largest contributor to climate change, accounting for over 75% of greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90% of all CO2 emissions.
  • Since 1990, the energy consumption for space cooling (the process of cooling indoors) has more than tripled.
  • The consumption further increased by more than 5% from 2021.

Concerns:

• As global warming worsens, the demand for cooling will increase dramatically, which will create more warming in a destructive feedback loop.
• The greatest cooling demand will arise in Africa and Asia, where more than 1 billion people are at high risk from extreme heat due to a lack of cooling access.
• The number of global cooling devices is expected to jump from 3.6 billion to 9.5 billion by 2050, according to a report.
• If cooling is provided to everyone who needs it, and not just who can afford it, there is a need for 14 billion devices by 2050.

Way forward:

• Kigali agreement:
  • In 2016, over 150 countries signed the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, agreeing to reduce HFC consumption by 80% by 2047.
  • If achieved, this could avoid more than 0.4 degree Celsius of global warming by 2100.
• Climate friendly chemicals:
  • The phasing-out of HFCs involves promoting the use of climate-friendly chemicals, also called natural refrigerants, such as ammonia, certain hydrocarbons, and CO2 in cooling devices.
  • These chemicals have lower or zero global warming potential.
• Proper disposal:
  • As most of the HFCs and HCFCs take place at the appliance’s end of life, consumers and authorities need to dispose of them properly.
  • Proper management and reuse of potent refrigerant gases could slash 100 billion gigatons of global CO2 emissions between 2020 and 2050.
• Avoiding air conditioners:
  • There is also a need to focus on ways to cool buildings without air conditioners.
  • Improving insulation materials and constructing buildings with large openings for better ventilation can help reduce heat inside.Topic 6 : Regulating deepfakes and AI in India

Why in news: Recently a video featuring an actor went viral on social media which was manipulated using deepfake technology.
 

What are deepfakes?

• Deepfakes are videos or audio recordings manipulated using AI to make it appear as if someone is saying or doing something they never did.
• It has emerged as a significant technological threat with far-reaching implications.
• These can be digital media, video, audio, and images, edited and manipulated using Artificial Intelligence (AI).
• Since they incorporate hyper-realistic digital falsification, they can potentially be used to damage reputations and undermine trust in democratic institutions.
   

Emergence of deepfake technology:

• Deepfakes are made using technologies such as AI and machine learning, blurring the lines between fiction and reality.
• The first-ever use of deepfake technology can reportedly be traced back to 2017.
• Now, deepfakes can easily be generated by semi-skilled and unskilled individuals by morphing audio-visual clips and images.
• As such technology becomes harder to detect, more resources are now accessible to equip individuals against their misuse.
• A 2019 study found that a staggering 96% of deepfakes were pornographic, and 99% of them involved women.
   

Laws against the misuse of deepfakes:

• India lacks specific laws to address deepfakes and AI-related crimes, but provisions under a many legislations could offer both civil and criminal relief.
• IT Act:
  • Section 66E of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act) is applicable in cases of deepfake crimes that involve the capture, publication, or transmission of a person’s images in mass media thereby violating their privacy.
    • Such an offence is punishable with up to three years of imprisonment or a fine of two lakh.
  • Sections 67, 67A, and 67B of the IT Act can be used to prosecute individuals for publishing or transmitting deepfakes that are obscene or contain sexually explicit acts.
  • The IT Rules, also prohibit hosting any content that impersonates another person and require social media platforms to quickly take down artificially morphed images of individuals when alerted.
• Indian Penal Code:
  • Sections 509  deals with words, gestures, or acts intended to insult the modesty of a woman
  • Section 499 deals with criminal defamation
  • Section 153 (a) and (b) deals with spreading hate on communal lines.

Legal vacuum:

• The IT Rules only addresses instances wherein the illegal content has already been uploaded and the resultant harm has been suffered.
• Instead, there has to be more focus on preventive measures, for instance, making users aware that they are looking at a morphed image.
• Agreeing that there is a need to revamp the existing laws.
• The current regulations only focus on either online takedowns or criminal prosecution but lack a deeper understanding of how generative AI technology works and the wide range of harm that it can cause.
• The laws place the entire burden on the victim to file a complaint.

How have other countries fared?

• United States:
  • In 2023, U.S. President signed a far-reaching executive order on AI to manage its risks, ranging from national security to privacy.
  • The DEEP FAKES Accountability Bill, 2023 requires creators to label deepfakes on online platforms and to provide notifications of alterations to a video or other content.
  • Failing to label such ‘malicious deepfakes’ would invite criminal sanction.
• European Union:
  • The European Union (EU) has strengthened its Code of Practice on Disinformation to ensure that social media giants like Google, Meta, and Twitter start flagging deepfake content or potentially face fines.
  • Under the proposed EU AI Act, deepfake providers would be subject to transparency and disclosure requirements.

Way forward:

• AI governance in India cannot be restricted to just a law and reforms have to be centred around establishing standards of safety, increasing awareness, and institution building.
• AI also provides benefits so you have to assimilate it in a way that improves human welfare on every metric while limiting the challenges it imposes.
• India’s regulatory response cannot be a replica of laws in other jurisdictions such as China, the US, or the EU.
• The Indian context have to be kept in mind that our economy is still sort of developing.Topic 7 : Hatti community

Why in news: An organisation of the Hatti community in Himachal Pradesh will organise a protest march to press their demand for the implementation of a law giving the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the community.
 

Key details:

• The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Act, 2023, granting the ST status to the Hatti community, was enacted few months ago.
• However the State government is not implementing it.

Who are the Hattis?

• The Hattis are a close-knit community who got their name from their tradition of selling homegrown vegetables, crops, meat and wool etc. at small markets called ‘haat’ in towns.
• The Hatti community is cut off fromSirmaur by two rivers called Giri and Tons.
  • Tons divides it from the Jaunsar Bawar area of Uttarakhand.
• The Hatti community is largely concentrated in the Trans-Giri area of the Sirmaur district.
• They were once part of the royal estate of Sirmaur until Jaunsar Bawar’s separation in 1815.
• There is a fairly rigid caste system among the Hattis —
  • the Bhat and Khash are the upper castes,
  • the Badhois are below them.
• Inter-caste marriages are rare.
• Due to topographical disadvantages, the Hattis lag behind in education and employment.
• The Hattis are governed by a traditional council called Khumbli, which like the khaps of Haryana, decide community matters.
  • The Khumbli’s power has remained unchallenged despite the establishment of the panchayati raj system.

Since when have the Hattis been demanding tribal status?

• The community has been making the demand since 1967.
• Their demand for tribal status gained strength because of resolutions passed at various maha Khumblis over the years.