Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE
Topics Covered
- Olive Ridley Turtles
- Election Laws Amendment Bill
- Facts for Prelims
- Places in News
1 . Olive Ridley Turtles
Context : Scientists have resumed tagging of Olive Ridley turtles at Rushikulya rookery along the Odisha coast, which would help them identify the migration path and places visited by the marine reptiles after congregation and nesting.
About the News
- Researchers of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) are carrying out tagging of the Olive Ridleys at three mass nesting sites — Gahirmatha, Devi River mouth and Rushikulya.
- The exercise was undertaken in Odisha in January 2021 after a span of about 25 years and 1,556 turtles had been tagged.
- It will help in studying the path taken by turtles in the sea, if they keep coming to one nesting site for laying eggs, and the number of sites they visit over the years. Besides, the growth of turtles could be measured during the current study
- The study would also reveal the inter-rookery movement of turtles in Odisha. The migration pattern to other countries would be recorded in detail.
About Tagging
- The metal tags affixed to turtles are non-corrosive and they do not harm their body. It can be removed later.
- The tags are uniquely numbered containing details such as the name of the organisation, country-code and email address.
- If researchers in other countries come across the tagged turtles, they will email their location in longitude and latitude
About Olive Ridley Turtles
- The Olive ridley turtle is the smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles
- The Olive ridley gets its name from its olive green coloured carapace, which is heart-shaped
- Olive ridley turtles use three different strategies to nest: arribadas, solitary nests and mixed strategy.
- An arribada is a mass-nesting event when thousands of turtles come ashore at the same time to lay eggs on the same
- In the Indian Ocean, the majority of olive ridleys nest in two or three large groups near Gahirmatha in Odisha. The coast of Odisha in India is the largest mass nesting site for the olive ridley, followed by the coasts of Mexico and Costa Rica
- The Gahirmatha Beach in Kendrapara district of Odisha (India), which is now a part of the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary, is the largest breeding ground for these turtles
- IUCN list status – Vulnerable
Nesting
- Conservation of the Olive Ridley turtles in Odisha began with the discovery and worldwide recognition of the Gahirmatha rookery close to the mouth of Brahmani-Baitarani (Dhamra) River, in 1974. A second mass nesting was discovered in 1981 at the Devi River mouth, about 55 nautical miles south of Gahirmatha. In 1994, a third mass nesting area was also discovered at the Rushikulya river mouth, 162 nautical miles south of Gahirmatha.
- The Olive Ridely Turtles come to the beaches of Odisha coast annually between November and December and stay on until April and May for nesting. Off late, nesting has been observed to start from late January to early February. The turtles choose the narrow beaches near estuaries and bays for laying their eggs. Each adult female lays approximately hundred to hundred and forty eggs at a time.
Threats
- Olive-ridleys face serious threats across their migratory route, habitat and nesting beaches, due to human activities such as turtle unfriendly fishing practices, development and exploitation of nesting beaches for ports, and tourist centres.
- Though international trade in these turtles and their products is banned under CITES Appendix I, they are still extensively poached for their meat, shell and leather, and their eggs, though illegal to harvest, have a significantly large market around the coastal regions.
- However, the most severe threat they face is the accidental killing of adult turtles through entanglement in trawl nets and gill nets due to uncontrolled fishing during their mating season around nesting beaches.
Conservation
- All the five species of sea turtles occurring in India, including the Olive Ridley turtles, are legally protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and Appendix I of the CITES Convention which prohibits trade in turtle products.
- The mass nesting beach at Gahirmatha is a part of Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary and the waters around Bhitarkanika were declared as Gahirmatha (Marine) Wildlife Sanctuary in September 1997, to protect the nesting and breeding habitat of the Olive Ridley.
- The coastal waters off Devi and Rushikulya rookery are declared as a nofihing zone during the sea turtle breeding season under the Odisha Marine Fisheries Regulation Act (OMFRA), 1982 and Odisha Marine Fisheries Regulation Rules, 1983. The Coast Guard is empowered to enforce the provisions of the Act.
- To reduce accidental entrapment and death of turtles, the Odisha Government has made it mandatory for the mechanized fishing trawlers to use
- Turtle Excluder Device or TEDs, which is a specially designed net with an exit cover that retains the catch while allowing the turtles to escape
- As the nesting period stretches over six months, the Indian Coast Guard undertakes the Olive Ridely Turtle protection program under the code name ‘Operation Olivia’ every year.
2 . Election Laws Amendment Bill
Context : Both Houses of Parliament have passed a Bill that seeks to amend the law relating to elections. It amends both The Representation of the People Acts of 1950 and 1951. A key amendment relates to the introduction of a provision to link the electoral rolls with the Aadhaar ecosystem. This measure has attracted considerable criticism from the Opposition as well as sections of civil society.
Key clauses in the Bill
- The Bill enables the voter registration officer to require applicants for inclusion of their names in the voters’ list, as well as those already enrolled in it, to submit their Aadhaar numbers.
- The idea is to verify the identity of voters by linking the Aadhaar database, which contains the unique identification numbers of every resident in the country, with the details contained in the electoral rolls.
- The government says this will help weed out bogus voters, non-citizens being wrongfully included as voters, and those who figure in the electoral rolls in more than one constituency.
- The Bill also increases the number of qualifying dates for the revision of electoral rolls from one per year to four. At present, January 1 of each year is the qualifying date. Every year, those turning 18 on or before that day is eligible to be a voter. This has been amended to include April 1, July 1 and October 1 so that one need not wait for the end of the year to apply for inclusion.
- The Bill replaces the word ‘wife’ to ‘spouse’ to make the laws gender-neutral.
- Another clause allows for the requisition of any premises for the storage of election material, accommodation for security forces and election personnel.
Is Aadhaar-voter ID link mandatory?
- The step is voluntary in nature to the extent that it says that no person can be denied inclusion in the electoral roll or any entry deleted because of the inability of an individual to furnish or intimate Aadhaar number.
- However, such inability or non-submission must have “sufficient cause as may be prescribed”. This means that a separate rule will be prescribed to list the possible reasons that may constitute “sufficient cause” for an applicant or voter not to submit their Aadhaar number.
What are the objections to the Bill?
Some of the Objections raised by Opposition Parties are as under :
- It violates individual privacy by mandating the linking of Aadhaar details with voter identity cards;
- It goes against the Supreme Court judgment that limits the use of Aadhaar to the financial and welfare benefits given by the government, and bars the unnecessary expansion of the scope of Aadhaar to other areas of life;
- It may lead to large-scale deletion of names either inadvertently or deliberate targeting;
- It is not really voluntary, as only a set of reasons to be prescribed later can be given for those who cannot or do not wish to give their Aadhaar number;
- It may help political parties to profile voters as favourable or unfavourable.
3 . Facts for Prelims
Zoological Survey of India
- The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) is the premier taxonomic research organization in India.
- It was established on 1 July 1916 to promote surveys, exploration and research leading to advancement of our knowledge of various aspects of the exceptionally rich animal life of India.
- The ZSI had its genesis as the Zoological Section of the Indian Museum at Calcutta in 1875.
- Since its inception, the ZSI has been documenting the diversity and distribution of the fauna of India towards carrying out its mandate of conducting exploration-cum-taxonomic-research programmes.
- The ZSI has published an extremely large amount of information on all animal taxa, from Protozoa to Mammalia.
4 . Facts for Prelims
Naypyidaw
- Naypyidaw is the modern capital of Myanmar (Burma), north of former capital, Yangon.
Pillar of Shame
- Pillar of Shame is a series of sculptures in Hong Kong by Danish artist Jens Galschiøt commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Each sculpture is an eight-metre tall statue of bronze, copper or concrete