Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE
Topics Covered
- Criminal Procedure Identification Bill
- Coral Reefs and coral Bleaching
- Microplastics
- Assam – Meghalaya Agreement
- Articulated All terrain Vehicle
- UNESCO City of Literature
- Facts for Prelims
1 . Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022
Context : The government introduced the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022 in Lok Sabha on Monday amid strong protests from the Opposition. The Bill proposes to allow the police and prison authorities to collect, store and analyse physical and biological samples including retina and iris scans.
What is the proposed law?
- The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022 compels certain individuals, convicted and accused of offences, to share biological personal data. This has raised concerns about excess state surveillance and violation of privacy.
- According to the text of the Bill, it is “to authorise for taking measurements of convicts and other persons for the purposes of identification and investigation in criminal matters and to preserve records and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto”.
- Section 2(1)(b) of the Bill defines “measurements” to include finger impressions, palm-print impressions, footprint impressions, photographs, iris and retina scans, physical and biological samples and their analysis, behavioural attributes including signatures and handwriting, or any other examination referred to in Section 53 or Section 53A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973. Section 53 relates to medical examination of a person arrested.
- The law also seeks to replace the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920 which applied to collection of “measurements” for mostly those who were convicted and who would serve a prison sentence. Measurements under the 1920 Act involved only finger impressions and footprint impressions.
Who does the law apply to?
- Compared to the 1920 Act, the Bill expands the individuals it seeks to cover. It proposes that the law apply to three categories of individuals:
- – Those convicted of an offence punishable under any law for the time being in force.
- – Those ordered to give security for good behaviour or maintaining peace under Section 117 of the CrPC for a proceeding under Section 107, 108, 109 or 110 of the Code. These are provisions involving “suspected criminals” or “habitual offenders” with a view to preventing crime.
- – Those arrested in connection with an offence punishable under any law in force or detained under any preventive detention law. This would include the National Security Act or the Public Safety Act.
- Additionally, the Bill states that except for those accused of offences committed against a woman or a child, or for any offence punishable with imprisonment for a period that is not less than seven years, a person accused of any other offence can refuse to allow taking of his biological samples under the Bill.
- The Bill says that even if such data is collected from the accused, it can be destroyed from the records unless a magistrate in writing directs otherwise, after the accused is released without trial or discharged or acquitted by a court.
How will this data be stored?
- The Bill states that the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shall be entrusted with the biological data collected, “in the interest of prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of any offence under any law for the time being in force”.
- The NCRB can collect the record of measurements from the state government or Union Territory Administration concerned, or any other law-enforcement agencies, and will have the power to store, preserve and destroy the record of measurements at national level and share and disseminate such records with any law enforcement agency. Given that policing is still a state subject, it remains to be seen if any states refuse to share this information. But the Bill provides a legal framework for police to carry out surveillance using technology.
- The modalities of collection, storage or use of this data will be prescribed in rules by the government and are not outlined in the Bill, except that the record of measurements shall be retained in digital or electronic form for a period of 75 years from the date of collection.
- However, the Bill states that the rules will necessarily be placed before state legislatures or Parliament.
What are the issues being raised about the Bill?
- Lack of Clarity : Several provisions are not defined in the Bill itself. For a law that impacts fundamental rights, this can raise concerns. For instance, the statement of objects says it provides for collection of measurements for “convicts and other persons” but the expression “other persons” is not defined. It does include those accused of certain offences, but it can be argued that the police could use the law to expand it to others. The Bill allows those “ordered to give security for his good behaviour or maintaining peace under section 117 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 for a proceeding under section 107 or section 108 or section 109 or section 110 of the said Code” to be compelled to share biometic data. These provisions cast a wide net on range of individuals — even those who are not booked for any offence but are simply “suspected” of committing one or “likely” to commit one.
- Conflict with Fundamental Rights : Opposition members argued that the Bill was beyond the legislative competence of Parliament as it violated fundamental rights of citizens including the right to privacy — the Constitution states that Parliament can bring no law that violates the fundamental rights of citizens. The proposed law will be debated against Article 20(3) of the Constitution, which is a fundamental right that guarantees the right against self-incrimination. It states that “no person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself”.
- The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Puttaswamy v Union of India, which recognised the right to privacy as a fundamental right, made it clear that any state action infringing on the right needs to be backed by legislation. It also laid down a three-fold test to allow such laws. First, the activity must be backed by a law. Second, the state must have a legitimate interest in the subject to bring such a law that collides with fundamental rights. Third, the state’s infringement must be proportional to its aim.
- The government could argue that the proposed Bill helps in maintaining law and order, which is a legitimate state interest. However, the Bill also states “increasing conviction rate” as one of its aims. If the law is passed and challenged, the court will have to look into whether “increasing conviction rate” can be a legitimate aim and if it can outweigh rights of citizens.
- To the extent that the proposed Bill brings a legal framework for police surveillance using technology, experts fear that it could be expanded or misused.
- Other Concerns : The Bill also brings to focus rights of prisoners and the right to be forgotten since biometric data can be stored for 75 years. While the jurisprudence around the right to be forgotten is still in an early stage in India, the Puttaswamy judgment discusses it as a facet of the fundamental right to privacy. In the Puttaswamy II case in 2018, the Supreme Court upheld the Aadhaar scheme and allowed the state to collect fingerprints and iris scan for welfare schemes.
2 . Coral Reefs and Coral Bleaching
Context : The management authority of the world’s largest coral reef system, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, confirmed on March 25 that the reef is experiencing a mass coral bleaching event. This is the sixth time that the coral reef system is being hit by a widespread and damaging bleaching event and the fourth time in six years that such an event has occurred. The bleaching event coincides with a 10-day UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) scientific mission currently underway in Australia.
What are coral reefs?
- Corals are marine invertebrates or animals not possessing a spine. Each coral is called a polyp and thousands of such polyps live together to form a colony, which grows when polyps multiply to make copies of themselves.
- Corals are of two types — hard coral and soft coral. Hard corals, also called hermatypic or ‘reef building’ corals extract calcium carbonate (also found in limestone) from the seawater to build hard, white coral exoskeletons. Soft coral polyps, however, borrow their appearance from plants, attach themselves to such skeletons and older skeletons built by their ancestors. Soft corals also add their own skeletons to the hard structure over the years and these growing multiplying structures gradually form coral reefs. They are the largest living structures on the planet.
- Corals share a symbiotic relationship with single-celled algae called zooxanthellae. The algae provides the coral with food and nutrients, which they make through photosynthesis, using the sun’s light. In turn, the corals give the algae a home and key nutrients. The zooxanthellae also give corals their bright colour.
- Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest reef system stretching across 2,300 km. It hosts 400 different types of coral, gives shelter to 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of mollusc.
What is coral bleaching?
- Bleaching happens when corals experience stress in their environment due to changes in temperature, pollution or high levels of ocean acidity. Under stressed conditions, the zooxanthellae or food-producing algae living inside coral polyps start producing reactive oxygen species, which are not beneficial to the corals. So, the corals expel the colour-giving zooxanthellae from their polyps, which exposes their pale white exoskeleton, giving the corals a bleached appearance. This also ends the symbiotic relationship that helps the corals to survive and grow.
- Bleached corals can survive depending on the levels of bleaching and the recovery of sea temperatures to normal levels. If heat-pollutions subside in time, over a few weeks, the zooxanthellae can come back to the corals and restart the partnership but severe bleaching and prolonged stress in the external environment can lead to coral death. Over the last couple of decades, climate change and increased global warming owing to rising carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases have made seas warmer than usual. Under all positive outlooks and projections in terms of cutting greenhouse gases, sea temperatures are predicted to increase by 1.5°C to 2°C by the time the century nears its end.
- The first mass bleaching event had occurred in 1998 when the El Niño weather pattern caused sea surfaces in the pacific ocean to heat up; this event caused 8% of the world’s coral to die. The second event took place in 2002. In the past decade, however, mass bleaching occurrences have become more closely spaced in time, with the longest and most damaging bleaching event taking place from 2014 to 2017. This started with reefs in Guam in the Western Pacific region getting affected, to then affecting the North, South-Pacific, and the Indian Ocean. Global temperature in 2017, was the third-highest to ever be recorded. In the 2014-17 event, more than three times as many reefs were exposed to bleaching-level heat stress as compared to 1998.
- A 2021 study by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN), which is supported by the United Nations, showed that 14% of the world’s coral on reefs had been lost between 2009 and 2018, with most of the loss attributed to coral bleaching.
Why does it matter?
- Coral reefs support over 25% of marine biodiversity, including fish, turtles and lobsters; even as they only take up 1% of the seafloor.
- The marine life supported by reefs further fuels global fishing industries. Even giant clams and whales depend on the reefs to live.
- Coral reef systems generate $2.7 trillion in annual economic value through goods and service trade and tourism.
- Dead reefs can revive over time if there are enough fish species that can graze off the weeds that settle on dead corals, but it takes almost a decade for the reef to start setting up again. The reefs which were severely damaged in 1998 did recover over time.
What is the current condition of the Great Barrier Reef?
- The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its report this month, which warned that the life of the Great Barrier is in grave danger. The report said that if temperatures continue to rise, bleaching events may occur more often and a large proportion of the remaining reef cover in Australia could be lost.
- Just a couple of weeks after this warning, the Barrier Reef Authority confirmed a mass bleaching phenomenon affecting all pockets of the reef system.
- The Authority said that its a first that the current bleaching event has occurred during a La Niña weather pattern, when warm areas in the pacific ocean shift, giving more cloud cover, rain and creating cooler weather conditions over the reef. The Authority further stated that bleached reefs are affected at different levels from mild to severe, and while stressed, they are alive and could recover if temperatures moderate.
3 . Microplastics
Context : Microplastics are, as the name suggests, tiny particles of plastics found in various places — the oceans, the environment, and now in human blood.
About the News
- A study by researchers from The Netherlands (Heather A. Leslie et al, Environment International, Published online 24 March) has examined blood samples of 22 persons, all anonymous donors and healthy adults, and found plastic particles in 17 of them.
- A report on this work conveys that about half of these were PET (polyethylene tertraphthalate) plastics, which is used to make food grade bottles. The size of the particles that the group looked for was as small as about 700 nanometres (equal to 0.0007 millimetres). This is really small and it remains to be seen if there is a danger of such particles crossing the blood cell walls and affecting the organs. Also, a larger study needs to be conducted to firm up the present findings.
What are microplastics?
- Microplastics are tiny bits of various types of plastic found in the environment. The name is used to differentiate them from “macroplastics” such as bottles and bags made of plastic. There is no universal agreement on the size that fits this bill — the U.S. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the European Chemical Agency define microplastic as less than 5mm in length.
- However, for the purposes of this study, since the authors were interested in measuring the quantities of plastic that can cross the membranes and diffuse into the body via the blood stream, the authors have an upper limit on the size of the particles as 0.0007 millimetre.
What were the plastics that the study looked for in the blood samples?
- The study looked at the most commonly used plastic polymers. These were polyethylene tetraphthalate (PET), polyethylene (used in making plastic carry bags), polymers of styrene (used in food packaging), poly (methyl methylacrylate) and poly propylene. They found a presence of the first four types.
How was the study conducted?
- In the study, blood from 22 adult healthy volunteers was collected anonymously, stored in vessels protected from contamination, and then analysed for its plastic content. The size of the bore in the needle served to filter out microplastics of a size greater than desired. This was compared against suitable blanks to rule out pre-existing plastic presence in the background.
Key results of this study
- The study found that 77% of tested people (17 of the 22 persons) carried various amounts of microplastics above the limit of quantification. In 50% of the samples, the researchers detected PET particles. In 36%, they found presence of polystyrene. 23% of polyethylene and 5% of poly(methyl methylacrylate) were also found. However, traces of poly propylene were not detected.
- They found in each donor, on average, 1.6 microgram of plastic particles per milli litre of blood sample. They write in the paper that this can be interpreted as an estimate of what to expect in future studies. It is a helpful starting point for further development of analytical studies for human matrices research.
Significance
- Making a human health risk assessment in relation to plastic particles is not easy, perhaps not even possible, due to the lack of data on exposure of people to plastics. In this sense, it is important to have studies like this one. The authors of the paper also remark that validated methods to detect the tiny (trace) amounts of extremely small-sized (less than 10 micrometre) plastic particles are lacking. Hence this study, which builds up a methods to check the same, is important. Owing to the small size of the participants, the study results cannot be taken as such to mould policy etc, but the power of this paper is in the method and in demonstrating that such a possibility of finding microplastics in the blood exists.
Does the presence of microplastics in blood have health impacts?
- It is not yet clear if these microplastics can cross over from the blood stream to deposit in organs and cause diseases. The authors point out that the human placenta has shown to be permeable to tiny particles of polystyrene ( 50, 80 and 24 nanometre beads). Experiments on rats where its lungs were exposed to polystryrene spheres (20 nanometre) led to translocation of the nanoparticles to the placental and foetal tissue. Oral administration of microplastics in rats led to accumulation of these in the liver, kidney and gut.
- Further studies have to be carried out to really assess the impact of plastics on humans.
4 . Assam – Meghalaya Border Dispute
Context : Assam and Meghalaya have partially resolved a 50-year-old border dispute in six of the 12 sectors along their 885-km boundary. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad K. Sangma on Tuesday signed a “historic” agreement for a closure in six disputed sectors that were taken up for resolution in the first phase. The pact was inked in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi.
About the dispute
- Meghalaya was carved out of Assam as a separate state in 1972 but the new state had challenged the Assam Reorganisation Act, 1971, leading to dispute in 12 locations in the border areas.
- 12 locations in the border areas are Upper Tarabari, Gazang reserve forest, Hahim, Langpih, Borduar, Boklapara, Nongwah, Matamur, Khanapara-Pilangkata, Deshdemoreah Block I and Block II, Khanduli and Retacherra.
Major point of contention
- Meghalaya’s Langpih district, bordering the Kamrup district of Assam, in West Garo Hills, is a major point of contention between the two neighbouring states.
- Langpih was part of the Kamrup district during the British colonial period but after India’s Independence in 1947, it became part of the Garo Hills and Meghalaya.
- Another point of contention is the Mikir Hills, which Assam considers to be its part. Meghalaya has questioned Blocks I and II of the Mikir Hills, now Karbi Anglong region, being part of Assam. Meghalaya says these were parts of erstwhile United Khasi and Jaintia Hills districts
Efforts undertaken to resolve the dispute
- The two states have formed border dispute settlement committees. Recently, Sarma and Sangma had decided to set up two regional panels to resolve the border disputes in a phased manner. According to Sarma, five aspects were to be considered in resolving the border dispute –historical facts, ethnicity, administrative convenience, mood and sentiments of the people concerned and the contiguity of the land.
- Six points, including Tarabari, Gijang, Hahim, Baklapara, Khanapara-Pilingkata and Ratacherra, were in consideration in the first phase.
Agreement of First Phase
- Out of the 12 points of dispute between Assam and Meghalaya, the six areas with relatively less critical differences were taken up in the first phase.
- There are 36 villages in the six places, covering an area of 36.79 sq km, with regard to which the agreement has been reached.
- According to the joint final set of recommendations made by the committees, out of 36.79 sq km disputed area taken up for settlement in the first phase, Assam will get full control of 18.51 sq km and Meghalaya 18.28 sq km.
5 . Articulated All Terrain Vehicles
Context : The Indian Army has issued a Request For Information (RFI) for the supply of Articulated All-Terrain Vehicles to be deployed in Ladakh and Kutch.
What are Articulated All Terrain Vehicles?
- Articulated All-Terrain Vehicle is a twin cabin, tracked, amphibious carrier for off road mobility. The special design of this equipment exerts low ground pressure on the soil and a pull-push mode of locomotion between two cabins facilitates mobility over varied terrains like snow, desert and slush. A ballistic protection in the cabin body ensures protection to troops travelling in it from small arms fire.
- These vehicles are very useful to move troops or supplies in snow-bound terrains and in marshy/sandy environments. They can reach where wheeled vehicles cannot due to deep snow, slush or marshy terrain and can be very effective for patrolling and rapid deployment in operational situations.
- As per the RFI issued by the Army on March 25, it requires 18 Articulated All-Terrain Vehicles. The RFI document specifies that 12 vehicles need to be supplied to Nimu in Ladakh and six to Bhuj in Gujarat. This shows that the Army wishes to use these vehicles in the snow-bound areas of Ladakh and in the marshy terrain of the Rann of Kutch.
- As per the specifications in the RFI, the vehicle should be able to perform at heights of 18,000 feet in glaciated and snow bound conditions and in salty/dry marshes.
6 . UNESCO ‘City of Literature
Context : Kozhikode in Kerala to vie for UNESCO ‘City of Literature’ distinction
About UNESCO’s City of Literature Programme
- UNESCO’s City of Literature programme is part of a wider Creative Cities Network which was launched in 2004 and is currently made up of 246 UNESCO Creative Cities globally. Members are drawn from more than 72 countries and cover seven creative fields: Crafts & Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Music, and Media Arts. The Network was born out of UNESCO’s Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity initiative which was created in 2002.
- The Creative Cities Network’s aim is to “promote the social, economic and cultural development of cities in both the developed and the developing world.” The cities in the network promote their local creative scene and conform to UNESCO’s goal of fostering cultural diversity. They recognise past, present and future: a strong cultural heritage, a vibrant and diverse contemporary cultural scene, and aspirations to extend culture to the next generation at home and to other cities in a global partnership.
- The UNESCO Cities of Literature network of 39 cities represents 6 continents and 28 countries, and a combined population of over 26 million.
Criteria
To be approved as a City of Literature, cities need to meet a number of criteria set by UNESCO. Designated UNESCO Cities of Literature share similar characteristics:
- Quality, quantity and diversity of publishing in the city
- Quality and quantity of educational programmes focusing on domestic or foreign literature at primary, secondary and tertiary levels
- Literature, drama and/or poetry playing an important role in the city
- Hosting literary events and festivals which promote domestic and foreign literature;
- Existence of libraries, bookstores and public or private cultural centres which preserve, promote and disseminate domestic and foreign literature
- Involvement by the publishing sector in translating literary works from diverse national languages and foreign literature
- Active involvement of traditional and new media in promoting literature and strengthening the market for literary products.
7 . Facts for Prelims
K Shaped Recovery
- A K-shaped recovery occurs when, following a recession, different parts of the economy recover at different rates, times, or magnitudes. This is in contrast to an even, uniform recovery across sectors, industries, or groups of people.
- A K-shaped recovery leads to changes in the structure of the economy or the broader society as economic outcomes and relations are fundamentally changed before and after the recession.
- This type of recovery is called K-shaped because the path of different parts of the economy when charted together may diverge, resembling the two arms of the Roman letter “K.”
Bal swaraj Portal
- “Bal Swaraj-COVID-Care” portal is aimed at tracking the children affected by COVID-19 right from the production of children before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) to the restoration of the children to their parent/guardian/relative and its subsequent follow-up.
- Through the data filled in the portal by the District officers and State officers for each child, the Commission will be able to get information about whether the child is being able to get his/her entitlements, benefits and monetary gains for which the child is entitled to.
- It will also come to know whether the child has been produced before the CWC and the orders are being passed for him/her. The Commission can also identify if the State is needing financial assistance in getting more funds for giving benefit under implemented schemes to the children.
Zojilla Tunnel
- The tunnel will connect Baltal in Kashmir with Minamarg in Ladakh. “This will reduce travel time by two-and-a-half hours. Once the tunnels are through, one can drive from Sonamarg to Minimarg in less than 30 minutes. At present it takes two to three hours,” he said.
Sariska
- Sariska Tiger Reserve is a tiger reserve in Alwar district, Rajasthan, India. It stretches over an area of 881 km² comprising scrub-thorn arid forests, dry deciduous forests, grasslands, and rocky hills. This area was a hunting preserve of the Alwar state and was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1958.