Coronavirus: WHO declares global emergency
Context :
World Health Organisation (WHO) declares the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) as the outbreak continues to spread outside Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the virus.
In news :
- The decision taken in the second consecutive meeting of the Emergency Committee convened by the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
- The meeting held under the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) regarding the outbreak of coronavirus in China with exportations to other countries.
- Ministry of Health of China reported on the current situation and the public health measures taken.According to WHO, there are now 7711 confirmed and 12167 suspected cases throughout the country.
- Of the confirmed cases, 1370 are severe, and 170 people have died.
- One hundred twenty-four people have recovered and discharged from the hospital.
- India already requested China for permission to operate two flights to bring back its nationals from worst-affected central Hubei province.
- WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, centre, speaking at the press conference following a emergency committee discussion on the coronavirus on January 31, 2020.
No travel or trade restrictions required :
The WHO’s Emergency Committee, an advisory body of international experts, said in a statement that evidence had shown that restricting movement of people and goods during public health emergencies “may be ineffective and may divert resources from other interventions”.
“Further, restrictions may interrupt needed aid and technical support, may disrupt businesses, and may have negative effects on the economies of countries affected by the emergencies,” the committee said.
WHO- Diseases
The WHO has called a public health emergency of international concern only five times since the relevant legislation took effect — for swine flu, polio, Zika and twice for Ebola outbreaks in Africa.
State of emergency declared as bushfire threatens Australian capital
Context :
Australian officials declared a state of emergency for the capital city of Canberra and surrounding regions.
In news :
- Andrew Barr, Chief Minister for the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), said the decision to declare the first state of emergency since fatal wildfires in 2003 indicated the potential danger over the weekend.
- An uncontrolled fire in the ACT’s south, on the doorstep of Canberra, had grown to 185 sq km, almost 8% of the territory’s land mass.
- The fire may become very unpredictable. It may become uncontrollable,
- The combination of extreme heat, wind, and a dry landscape will place suburbs in Canberra’s south at risk.
- Heatwave conditions are also expected to sweep through Victoria and New South Wales states over the weekend, where some 80 fires are burning.
- In neighbouring New Zealand, where smoke from the Australian blazes has turned glaciers brown, firefighters were battling to contain around 25 fires that spread rapidly to cover around 100 hectares on the South Island.
Australia has been battling bushfires across its east coast that have killed 33 people and an estimated 1 billion native animals since September. Around 2,500 homes have been destroyed as more than 11.7 million hectares (117,000 sq km) have been razed.
Bhuvan Panchayat 3.0
Context :
The Bhuvan Panchayat V 3.0 web portal was recently launched.
About Bhuvan Panchayat Version 3.0 :
Bhuvan Panchayat is part of ISRO’s Space-based Information Support for Decentralised Planning Update project.
Aim :
For better planning and monitoring of government projects.
Services :
This version of the portal will provide database visualisation and services for the benefit of panchayat members, among others.
The targeted audiences for this portal are Public, PRIs and different stakeholders belonging to the gram panchayats.
Features :
Using Bhuvan satellite imagery, hi-resolution database at 1:10,000 scale is applied to identify land use land cover, settlements, road and rail network etc. The portal offers database visualization, data analytics, generation of automatic reports, model-based products and services for Gram Panchayat members and other stake-holders.
Implementation :
In the project that will last for at least two years, ISRO will collaborate with the gram panchayat members and stakeholders to understand their data requirements.
Significance :
The project is meant to provide geo-spatial services to aid gram panchayat development planning process of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
Sources : pib
Govt signs accord with NDFB, ABSU to resolve Bodo issue
Context :
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the Assam government and the Bodo groups have signed an agreement to redraw and rename the Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD) in Assam.
The BTAD district is currently spread over four districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri.
Overview of the agreement signed :
As per the agreement, villages dominated by Bodos that were presently outside the BTAD would be included and those with non-Bodo population would be excluded.
The memorandum of settlement says that the criminal cases registered against members of the NDFB factions for “non-heinous” crimes shall be withdrawn by the Assam government and in cases of heinous crimes it will be reviewed.
The families of those killed during the Bodo movement would get Rs. 5 lakh each.
A Special Development Package of Rs. 1500 Crore would be given by the Centre to undertake specific projects for the development of Bodo areas.
A committee will decide the exclusion and inclusion of new areas in the BTAD. Subsequent to this alteration, the total number of Assembly seats will go up to 60, from the existing 40.
After the agreement, the NDFB factions will leave the path of violence, surrender their weapons and disband their armed organisations within a month of signing the deal.
Background:
The first Bodo accord was signed with the ABSU in 1993, leading to the creation of a Bodoland Autonomous Council with limited political powers. The BTC was created in 2003 with some more financial and other powers.
The BTAD and other areas mentioned under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution have been exempted from the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, that enables undocumented non-Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who entered India on or before December 31, 2014 to apply for Indian citizenship.
What next :
As of now the agreement has not addressed the issue of “citizenship or work permit” for non-domiciles in the BTAD, to be renamed as the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR).
Several Bodo groups have been demanding a separate land for the ethnic community since 1972, a movement that has claimed nearly 4,000 lives.
Who are the NDFB :
Alongside political movements, armed groups have also sought to create a separate Bodo state.
In October 1986, the prominent group Bodo Security Force (BdSF) was formed by Ranjan Daimary. The BdSF subsequently renamed itself as the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), an organisation that is known to be involved in attacks, killings, and extortions.
Who are Bodos :
Bodos are the single largest tribal community in Assam, making up over 5-6 per cent of the state’s population. They have controlled large parts of Assam in the past.
The four districts in Assam — Kokrajhar, Baksa, Udalguri and Chirang — that constitute the Bodo Territorial Area District (BTAD), are home to several ethnic groups.
The Bodoland dispute:
In 1966-67, the demand for a separate state called Bodoland was raised under the banner of the Plains Tribals Council of Assam (PTCA), a political outfit.
In 1987, the All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) renewed the demand. “Divide Assam fifty-fifty”, was a call given by the ABSU’s then leader, Upendra Nath Brahma.
The unrest was a fallout of the Assam Movement (1979-85), whose culmination — the Assam Accord — addressed the demands of protection and safeguards for the “Assamese people”, leading the Bodos to launch a movement to protect their own identity.
Cheetah reintroduction project
Context :
The Supreme Court has allowed the Centre to introduce the African cheetah to a suitable habitat in India.
Background :
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had previously told the Supreme Court that African cheetahs would be translocated in India from Namibia and would be kept at Nauradehi wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh.
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has given a ‘no objection’ for the translocation.
What is reintroduction and why reintroduce Cheetah now :
‘Reintroduction’ of a species means releasing it in an area where it is capable of surviving.
Reintroductions of large carnivores have increasingly been recognised as a strategy to conserve threatened species and restore ecosystem functions.
- The cheetah is the only large carnivore that has been extirpated, mainly by over-hunting in India in historical times.
- India now has the economic ability to consider restoring its lost natural heritage for ethical as well as ecological reasons.
Facts :
- The cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus, is one of the oldest of the big cat species, with ancestors that can be traced back more than five million years to the Miocene era.
- The cheetah is also the world’s fastest land mammal.
- It is listed as vulnerable in IUCN red listed species.
- The country’s last spotted feline died in Chhattisgarh in 1947. Later, the cheetah — which is the fastest land animal — was declared extinct in India in 1952.
- The Asiatic cheetah is classified as a “critically endangered” species by the IUCN Red List, and is believed to survive only in Iran.
Cheetah reintroduction programme in India:
The Wildlife Institute of India at Dehradun had prepared a ₹260-crore cheetah re-introduction project seven years ago.
Nauradehi in Madhya Pradesh was found to be the most suitable area for the cheetahs as its forests are not very dense to restrict the fast movement of the spotted cat. Besides, the prey base for cheetahs is also in abundance at the sanctuary.
Reasons for extinction :
- The reasons for extinction can all be traced to man’s interference. Problems like human-wildlife conflict, loss of habitat and loss of prey, and illegal trafficking, have decimated their numbers.
- The advent of climate change and growing human populations have only made these problems worse.
- With less available land for wildlife, species that require vast home range like the cheetah are placed in competition with other animals and humans, all fighting over less space.
About NTCA :
The National Tiger Conservation Authority is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
It was constituted under enabling provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2006, for strengthening tiger conservation.
Ramsar sites in India
Context :
India has added 10 more wetlands to sites protected by the Ramsar Convention. With this, a total of 37 sites in the country have been recognised under the international treaty.
The 10 new ones are :
Nandur Madhameshwar, a first for Maharashtra; Keshopur-Miani, Beas Conservation Reserve and Nangal in Punjab; and Nawabganj, Parvati Agra, Saman, Samaspur, Sandi and Sarsai Nawar in Uttar Pradesh. The other Ramsar sites are in Rajasthan, Kerala, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Tripura.
About Ramsar convention :
- It is an international treaty for the conservation and wise use of wetlands.
- It is named after the Iranian city of Ramsar, on the Caspian Sea, where the treaty was signed on 2 February 1971.
- Known officially as ‘the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat’ (or, more recently, just ‘the Convention on Wetlands’), it came into force in 1975.
Montreux Record :
Montreux Record under the Convention is a register of wetland sites on the List of Wetlands of International Importance where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring, or are likely to occur as a result of technological developments, pollution or other human interference.
It is maintained as part of the Ramsar List.
The Montreux Record was established by Recommendation of the Conference of the Contracting Parties (1990).
Sites may be added to and removed from the Record only with the approval of the Contracting Parties in which they lie.
- Currently, two wetlands of India are in Montreux record: Keoladeo National Park (Rajasthan) and Loktak Lake (Manipur).
- Chilka lake (Odisha)was placed in the record but was later removed from it.