Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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‘Heavy snowfall due to global warming’

News

• The unprecedented snowfall and prolonged cold weather in the Himalayan region this winter was caused by global warming, said scientists.

Beyond News

• The trend will continue in the coming years as global weather patterns are changing rapidly.
• The erratic patterns of western disturbances, that cause rain and snowfall in winter months in the northern part of the globe, have become so due to the changing patterns of weather caused by global warming.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Justice P.C. Ghose appointed first Lokpal

News

• Former Supreme Court judge Pinaki Chandra Ghose became the first Lokpal of the country with his appointment along with other eight members.

Beyond News

• Justice (retd.) Ghose’s appointment has come nearly five years after the Lokpal Act was notified on January 16, 2014 after it was passed in 2013 following a countrywide anti-corruption movement.
• The law provides for a Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in States to probe cases of corruption against top public servants including the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers. 

Justice (retd.) Ghose is currently member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). He retired from the Supreme Court on May 27, 2017. He assumed charge as Supreme Court judge on March 8, 2013. His was among the top 10 names short-listed by the Lokpal Search Committee.

Mizoram Assembly passes Bill to detect illegal foreigners

News

• The Mizoram Assembly unanimously passed a Bill that seeks to detect foreigners illegally residing in the north-eastern State that shares over 700-km-long border with Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Beyond News

• The influx of foreigners into the State through its porous borders has remained a serious concern for several decades.
• The measures proposed under the legislation are intended to provide credible individual identification system and to prevent “usurpation” of benefits of developmental schemes by those who are not entitled.
• It defines “citizens” as a person registered as such, or having requisite qualification as prescribed under the Citizenship Act, 1955.
• In many cases the benefits of development are found to have been eaten away to a large extent by foreigners who “clandestinely” stay back and get assimilated with the people of the State by taking advantage of the mistaken identity and of difficulties in detecting them.
• Even the Supreme Court had expressed concern over such continuous influx of foreigners and their assimilation into the mainstream and it was felt imperative by the State to invoke its legislative powers to enact a suitable law.
• Such influx had resulted in an abnormal increase in the population which posed a serious threat to law and order as well as the State’s internal security.
• It is a strongly felt necessity to develop a comprehensive database in respect of all the residents of Mizoram whether in villages or in towns and whether permanent or temporary and to ensure its updation and maintenance.

U.S. human rights report flags curbs on Indian media

News

• The country Human Rights reports for 2018were released last week as part of an annual exercise in which the U.S. State Department submits its assessment of such rights as per the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international agreements to the U.S. Congress.
• The 2018 India report covers a range of issues including press and media freedoms, forced disappearances, custodial deaths and the NGO clampdown which became an issue between the U.S. and India, after the government cancelled licenses of some 15,000 NGOs under the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act.

Findings

• In terms of custodial deaths, the Report cites official (Indian) figures of 1,674 cases of such death between August 2017 and February 2018, with 1,530 occurring in judicial custody and 144 in police custody.
• Regarding data from the Home Ministry in response to an RTI request on the 2016 NGO Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative report regarding human rights violations committed under the AFSPA (the report said just under half of the cases reported were from Jammu and Kashmir in the 2012-2016 period).
• The report also cites figures from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on alleged violation of human rights by security forces in Kashmir. It says 130-145 civilian deaths by security forces in Jammu & Kashmir occurred between June 2016 and April 2018.
• The report adds that, Non-governmental forces, including organized insurgents and terrorists, committed numerous killings and bombings in the State of Jammu and Kashmir, the northeastern States, and Maoist-affected areas.
• Maoists in Jharkhand and Bihar continued to attack security forces and key infrastructure facilities such as roads, railways, and communication towers.
• Taking note of undertrials, the report, based on National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) data, says just over 2,93,000 individuals were awaiting trial at the end of 2016. It also cites a 2017 Amnesty International report saying that Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis comprised a disproportionate number (53%) of pre-trial detainees,
• Regarding press freedom and the safety of journalists, the report says ,there were numerous instances of journalists and members of media being threatened or killed in response to their reporting. Police rarely identified suspects involved in the killing of journalists. It cites a 2017 Press Council of India report saying at least 80 journalists were killed since 1990 but only one conviction had occurred thus far.
• The report quotes the 2018 World Press Freedom Index as saying online trolling and attacks on journalists was a major issue.
• The government also made an increasing number of requests for data from internet companies as per the report. 22,024 requests were made in 201.
• The Central Monitoring System (CMS) of the government, could, without informing the subject or a judge, monitor electronic communication in real time.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

40-kg plastic found in dead whale’s belly

News

• A starving whale with 40 kilos of plastic trash in its stomach has died after being washed ashore in the 

Beyond News

• Environmental groups have tagged the Philippines as one of the world’s biggest ocean polluters due to its reliance on single-use plastic. That sort of pollution,which is also widespread in other southeast Asian nations, regularly kills wildlife like whales and turtles that ingest the waste.
• In the latest case, a Cuvier’s beaked whale died in the southern province of Compostela Valley where it was stranded a day earlier.
• The agency and an environmental group performed a necropsy on the animal and found about 40 kilograms of plastic, including grocery bags and rice sacks.
• The animal died from starvation and was unable to eat because of the trash filling its stomach.
• The death comes just weeks after the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternative released a report on the “shocking” amount of single-use plastic in the Philippines, including nearly 60 billion sachets a year. The Philippines has strict laws on garbage disposal but environmentalists say these are poorly implemented.
• The problem also plagues the archipelago’s neighbours, with a sperm whale dying in Indonesia last year with nearly six kilograms of plastic waste discovered in its stomach. In Thailand,a whale also died last year after swallowing more than 80 plastic bags. A green turtle, a protected species, suffered the same fate there in 2018.

U.K. court issues warrant for Nirav Modi’s arrest

News

• An arrest warrant has been issued for fugitive diamond trader Nirav Modi, by the Westminster Magistrates Court.
• The warrant had been issued last week.

Beyond News

• The warrant had been widely expected after Home Secretary Sajid Javid referred India’s extradition request for Modi, wanted in connection with the ₹13,000 crore Punjab National bank fraud case, to Westminster Magistrates Court, for approval by a judge earlier this month.
• Once an arrest is made, Nirav Modi would face a judicial process similar to Vijay Mallya, who is currently appealing the extradition order against him.
• Modi was tracked down and filmed by reporters of the newspaper earlier this month, near a luxury apartment complex by Oxford Street where he is living.
• The paper had also reported that he had been given a National Insurance number by Britain’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which is used by the British government for putting together a person’s work, social security and tax details, and issued to people with the ability to work in the country.
• In June last year, Interpol issued a Red Notice against Modi and two others on the Enforcement Directorate’s request.

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