DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS 29 JANUARY
ENVIRONMENT
African cheetahs to prowl Indian forests
Court observation:
- The Supreme Court lifted its seven-year stay on a proposal to introduce African cheetahs from Namibia into the Indian habitat on an experimental basis.
- It set up a three-member committee, comprising former Director of Wildlife Institute of India Ranjit Singh, DG of Wildlife Institute of India Dhananjay Mohan, and DIG, Wildlife, Ministry of Environment and Forests, to ‘guide’ the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
- The committee would help, advise and monitor the NTCA on these issues.
- A proper survey should be done to identify the best possible habitat for the cheetahs.
- Efforts should be taken to ensure that they adapt well to Indian conditions.
Earlier Court Observation:
- In May 2012, the top court had stalled the plan to initiate the foreign cheetahs into the Palpur Kuno sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh.
- It feared that they may come into conflict with a parallel and a much-delayed project to reintroduce lions into the same sanctuary.
- The court was also worried whether the African cheetahs would find the sanctuary a favourable clime as far as abundance of prey is concerned.
Gains from Introducing Cheetah:
- Improvement of grasslands
- Global recognition for successfully reviving the animal in India.’
- Increase in Tourism.
- 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.
About Cheetah:
- The cheetah does not breed well in captivity and requires vast stretches of grasslands and access to adequate prey to thrive.
- The cheetah is a large cat of the subfamily Felinae that occurs in North, Southern and East Africa and a few localities in Iran.
- It inhabits a variety of habitat but mostly prefer arid habitats like dry forests, scrub forests and savannahs.
- The species of African Cheetah is IUCN Red Listed as Vulnerable.
- It is active mainly during the day, with hunting its major activity.
- African cheetahs may achieve successful hunts running at a speed of only 64 km/h (40 mph) while hunting due to their exceptional ability to accelerate, but are capable of accelerating up to 112 km/h (70 mph) on short distances of 100 m (330 ft).
- The cheetah is therefore the fastest land animal.
Indian Process to reintroduce the Cheetah:
- Before Namibia, India had approached Iran for Asiatic cheetahs, but the request was refused.
- The Asiatic cheetah is classified as a “critically endangered” species by the IUCN Red List.
- It is believed to survive only in Iran.
- Physically, there are barely any differences between the Asiatic and African sub-species of cheetahs.
Extinction of Cheetah in India:
- In 1952, the cheetah was officially declared extinct from India.
- Cheetah which derives from the Sanskrit ‘chitra’ (speckled) is the only mammal hunted to extinction in modern India.
Reference: https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/african-cheetahs-to-prowl-indian-forests/article30679814.ece
‘E-commerce giants need to set up system for collecting plastic waste’
Central Pollution Control Board arguments:
- E-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart need to fulfil their extended producer responsibility under the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016.
- They need to establish a system for collecting back the plastic waste generated due to the packaging of their products.
- As per provisions 9(2) of the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, “Primary responsibility for collection of used multi-layered plastic sachet or pouches or packaging is of producers, importers and brand owners who introduce the products in the market.
Arguments of E-Commerce Giants:
- Amazon has been “relentlessly” working to reduce single-use plastic in its supply chain and is committed to eliminating its usage in their buildings in the country by June 2020.
- Flipkart has been “constantly striving to find eco-friendly alternatives for plastic packaging which is resilient and keeps the product safe during transit”.
Objective of Plastic waste management rules:
Increase minimum thickness of plastic carry bags from 40 to 50 microns and stipulate minimum thickness of 50 micron for plastic sheets to facilitate collection and recycle of plastic waste.
- Expand the jurisdiction of applicability from the municipal area to rural areas, because plastic has reached rural areas also;
- To bring in the responsibilities of producers and generators, both in plastic waste management system and to introduce collect back system of plastic waste by the producers/brand owners, as per extended producers responsibility;
- To introduce collection of plastic waste management fee through pre-registration of the producers, importers of plastic carry bags/multi-layered packaging and vendors selling the same for establishing the waste management system;
- To promote use of plastic waste for road construction as per Indian Road Congress guidelines or energy recovery or waste to oil etc. for gainful utilization of waste and also to address the waste disposal issue.
Plastic Waste Management Rules,2016:
- The minimum thickness of plastic carry bags has been increased from 40 microns to 50 microns.
- The producers, importers and brand owners who introduce the plastic carry bags, multi-layered plastic sachet, or pouches, or packaging in the market within a period of six months from the date of publication of these rules, need to establish a system for collecting back the plastic waste generated due to their products.
- Manufacture and use of non-recyclable multi-layered plastic if any should be phased out in two years’ time.
- All institutional generators of plastic waste shall segregate and store the waste generated by them in accordance with the Solid Waste Management Rules and handover segregated wastes to authorized waste processing or disposal facilities or deposition centres, either on its own or through the authorized waste collection agency.
- The local bodies shall be responsible for setting up, operationalisation and co-ordination of the waste management system and for performing associated functions.
- Retailers or street vendors shall not sell or provide commodities to consumers in carry bags or plastic sheet or multi-layered packaging, which are not manufactured and labelled or marked, as prescribed under these rules.
10 more wetlands in India declared as Ramsar sites
India has added 10 more wetlands sites to be protected under the Ramsar Convention.
The 10 new ones are:
- Nandur Madhameshwar, a first for Maharashtra;
- Keshopur-Miani, Beas Conservation Reserve and Nangal in Punjab;
- Nawabganj, Parvati Agra, Saman, Samaspur, Sandi and Sarsai Nawar in Uttar Pradesh.
About Ramsar Convention:
- The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands.
- It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands.
- It was signed in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar. It is one of the oldest inter-governmental accord for preserving the ecological character of wetlands.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
EU motion calls CAA ‘discriminatory’
Five groups at the European Parliament tabled a joint motion resolution that “condemned” India’s decision to adopt the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
Resolutions:
- Condemn the police action on protesters as a “brutal crackdown” particularly on university campuses.
- Severely criticises the detentions and alleged torture.
- Criticises the Internet shutdown undertaken in Uttar Pradesh and other States.
- It also expresses concerns about the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and calls on India to adhere to UN Human Rights Council procedures.
Criticisms of resolution by European parliamentarians:
- Many parliamentarians were “uncomfortable” with the harsh language the other groups were attempting to add.
- Content is very broad based and ill-informed.
- The resolutions were timed to “derail” India-EU relations ahead of the EU-India summit.
1.png)
