Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

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Supreme Court asks Meghalaya govt. to hand over ₹100 cr. fine to CPCB

News

• The Supreme Court directed the Meghalaya government to deposit the ₹100 crore fine imposed on it by the National Green Tribunal for failing to curb illegal coal mining with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

Beyond News

• A bench directed the state administration to hand over the illegally extracted coal to Coal India Limited (CIL) which will auction it and deposit the funds with the state government.
• The bench also allowed the mining operation to go on in the state on the privately and community owned land subject to the permissions from the concerned authorities.
• The National Green Tribunal had fined the Meghalaya government on January 4.
• The State government had admitted that a large number of mines were operating illegally in the northeastern state.
• A total of 15 miners were trapped on December 13 last year in an illegal coal mine at Ksan in East Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya, about 3.7 km deep inside a forest, when water from the nearby Lytein river gushed into it.
• Only two bodies have been recovered from the mine so far.

India says Iran oil imports not stopped

News

• Indicating that there is still some confusion in India’s position on stopping oil imports from Iran in line with sanctions by the United States, the government said that it does not propose to cancel trade, including oil imports, from Iran.

Beyond News

• India’s bilateral relations with Iran stand on their own and are not influenced by India’s relations with any third country.
• At the G20, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly told U.S. President Donald Trump that New Delhi had, in fact, reduced its intake of Iranian oil, in accordance with Washington’s request to “zero out” Iranian oil imports after May 2.
• Ministry of Petroleum could confirm that levels of Iranian oil imports had, in fact dropped, but that the decision to reduce oil imports was based on “commercial considerations and national interest”.
• According to industry sources, Indian companies have placed no new orders for oil from Iran since May 2.

• Work on Kondapochamma reservoir nearing completion

News

• As the construction of Kondapochamma reservoir is nearing completion, officials are now focusing on digging connecting canals that would supply water to the fields.
• Water would be supplied from the reservoir to the fields in three phases main canals in the first phase, by distributaries in the second and sub-minors/ field channels in the third.

Beyond News

• Land acquisition for main canals is complete and work is progressing at a fast pace.
• The canals would be constructed for about 600 km, of which 450 km would be distributary canals. On each distributary, there would be 10 or 20 field channels that would supply water to the fields in the last leg. The canal digging work would be taken up in about 170 villages.
• Further, officials estimate that about 2,000 acres is required for the distributaries and minors, for which survey and land acquisition would commence shortly.
• These canals would benefit each and every farmer in this area and they can cultivate two crops every year with assured irrigation.

Centre’s ‘inter-disciplinary, high quality’ research team to fix precise cause of AES

News

• The Central government on July 3 informed the Supreme Court that it had decided to constitute an “inter-disciplinary, high quality” research team to ascertain the precise cause of the acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) outbreak that led to mass child deaths in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar.

Beyond News

• In an 11-page affidavit, the Centre said the decision was taken to “save precious human lives in future”. The AES in Muzaffarpur dated back to 1995. Though ‘health’ was a State subject, it had taken “substantive measures” to support and guide the State government. It had been reviewing the situation, it pointed out.
• A 23-page affidavit filed by the State government said that as of June 30, the total number of reported AES cases were 824 and 157 deaths recorded.
• The affidavits come in response to the court’s order to provide details of of public medical care facilities, nutrition and sanitation/hygiene followed in the State.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Pakistan announces crackdown against Hafiz Saeed

News

• Pakistani authorities announced a crackdown against Hafiz Saeed, leader of the group blamed for the deadly attacks on Mumbai in 2008, amid growing international pressure to act against militant groups.

Beyond News

• Pakistan’s Counter-Terrorism Department said it had launched 23 cases against Saeed and 12 aides for using five trusts to collect funds and donations for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), blamed by India and the U.S. for the attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people.
• Two banned LeT-linked charities, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa and the Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation, were also targeted.
• All the assets of these organisations and individuals will be frozen and taken over by the state.
• The counter-terrorism department said the action was in accordance with U.N. sanctions against the individuals and entities.
• The move follows pressure from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which last year placed Pakistan on its “grey list” of countries with inadequate controls over money laundering and terrorism financing.
• Crackdown was a direct result of the FATF plenary’s ultimatum to Pakistan to implement all the 27 points of action by October. The plenary met in Orlando, U.S., last month.
• Pakistan was pulled up on four counts, which included “no investigation done by Pakistan against terror funding done by UN designated terrorists”.
• Other areas pertained to Pakistan include not freezing weapon stores, ammunition dumps of the terror outfits, lack of implementation of legal provisions for targeted financial sanctions against all UN designated entities and not stopping the sustenance allowance to terrorists given by the Pakistani government.

Baloch Liberation Army in the Specially Designated Nationals List

News

• S. Treasury included the Baloch Liberation Army, which operates in Balochistan, in the Specially Designated Nationals List.

Beyond News

• BLA remains a proscribed entity in Pakistan since 2006 and in recent times has carried out several attacks in the country.
• The U.S. action against the BLA came weeks after the outfit claimed responsibility for an attack on a five-star hotel in Gwadar. Attack on the Pearl Continental Hotel of Gwadar left at least five dead and several injured. Gwadar port is part of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor project and has emerged as a hub of international activities led by China.
• The BLA has been at the forefront of armed militancy in the region for years and is believed to have 6,000 cadre spread across Pakistan’s Balochistan province and in bordering areas of Afghanistan. In 2017, a group of labourers was targeted by Baloch militants. The attack that led to several casualties was initially blamed on the BLA, though subsequently it was blamed on a splinter group.
• The BLA is the oldest and largest militant movement in the province, which is in focus due to a confrontation between the Pakistan military and the rebels of the province who are seeking freedom.
• The BLA rebels claim that Pakistan has been exploiting the rich resources of the province without due share to the locals and the indigenous Baloch tribes.
• In recent years, the BLA has emerged as a movement that has created network in both urban and rural areas of Balochistan and has created a space for itself away from the traditional hold of the sardars or chieftains of tribes.

Indian suppliers of U.S. tech to Huawei warned

News

• Indian entities that will supply U.S.-origin technology components to Chinese telecom major Huawei may face penal action under American regulations, Union Telecom Minister said in Parliament.

Beyond News

• Any Indian company which will act as a supplier of U.S.-origin equipment, software, technology to Huawei and its affiliates in entity list could be subject to penal action/sanction under US regulations.
• The Department of Commerce, USA, had added Huawei Technologies to the entity list on May 16, 2019, by amending the U.S. Export Administration Regulations.
• Huawei’s inclusion in the entity list implies that U.S. companies require prior export licence for sale of any equipment/software/technology to Huawei.
• The U.S. government has directed its companies, including Google, not to supply software and hardware to Huawei, alleging security risk from the company.
• Huawei has teamed up with Vodafone Idea to conduct 5G trials in India.
• So far six proposals have been received which include proposals from China’s ZTE and Huawei. Any field trial in respect of 5G is to be carried out only through licensed Telecom Service Providers in a restrictive, limited geographical area and for specific use case.
• Committee under Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) has been constituted to give recommendations on various issues, including security, relating to 5G and technology trials in India.

Cabinet approves leasing out three major airports of Airports Authority of India

News

• The Union Cabinet gave its approval to the proposals for leasing out three major airports Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Mangaluru of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) through public-private partnership (PPP).

Beyond News

• Earlier this year, the Adani group had won the bids to operate the three airports for a period of 50 years.
• The Adani group had also won the bids to operate the Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports, owned by the AAI.
• The AAI had chosen the winner on the basis of the “per-passenger fee” offered by the bidders.

Mekadetu project to take land away from Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary

News

• The Mekedatu project has come under controversy with Tamil Nadu vehemently opposing construction on fears that the project will result in lower release of water to the State; while, environmentalists fear large-scale, irreversible damage to the eco-system at the wildlife sanctuary.

Beyond News

• The pre-feasibility document offers a glimpse into environmental damage due to the project. Maps show that a linear path along the existing forest land along the river will be submerged, cutting off many wildlife and elephant migratory routes. The Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary is part of the Mysore Elephant Reserve notified in 2002.
• The sanctuary is the only habitat in the State for the near-threatened grizzled giant squirrel, apart from harbouring honey badgers, endangered and endemic Deccan Mahseer fish, smooth-coated otter and oriental small clawed otter, Indian Pangolin, the endemic Madras tree shrew, and the Kollegal ground gecko, among others, notes the report.
• Moreover, the sanctuary acts as a buffer to absorb surplus tiger populations from B.R. Hills and M.M. Hills.
• The project will also see the displacement of the Iruliga tribals and other residents of five villages: Madavala, Kongedoddi, Sangama, Bommasandra, and Muthathi villages. The report estimates that 250 buildings and houses will be submerged.
• Even the popular Bheemeshwari Fishing Camp and Galibore Fishing Camp, apart from tourist spots in Muthathi will be under water.
• In the justification of the project, CNNL has said nearly 1 crore people in Bengaluru can be supplied with 135 litres of water per day.
• Furthermore, the pre-feasibility report states that the project conforms to the Cauvery Tribunal verdict which says that State has the rights to “regulate within its boundaries the use of water, or to enjoy the benefit of waters within the State in a manner not inconsistent with the order”.
• More than 60% of land needed for the Mekedatu Balancing Reservoir project will be in the core area of the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, according a pre-feasibility report prepared in June.
• Of the 52.52 sq. km needed for the project, 31.81 sq. km comes in the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, while another 18.69 sq. km is adjacent forest land. Just 2.01 sq. km is revenue or private land.
• The report, states that the ₹9,000-crore project will utilise an additional 4.75 tmcft of drinking water to provide for Bengaluru Metropolitan Region, will store flood waters to prevent it from “escaping to the sea” and to generate 400 MW of energy.

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