GENEVA CONVENTION

It is a set of rules that prescribe guidelines for combatant behaviour during a war.

It comprises four treaties, standardised in 1949.

Three more protocols were later added which codify ethical and legal international norms for the humanitarian treatment of civilians who are affected by the war.

The convention mainly focuses on:

•Treatment of civilians and prisoners of war

•Restricting the use of conventional or biological and chemical weapons

•The Conventions have been ratified by 196 states, including all UN member states.

•India is a party to the Geneva Convention.

Four Geneva Conventions:

First Convention:

•It safeguards wounded and sick soldiers on land during the war.

•The convention also extends to medical and religious personnel.

Second Convention:

•It safeguards wounded, sick and shipwrecked military personnel at sea during the war.

•This Convention replaced the Hague Convention of 1907 for the Adaptation to Maritime Warfare of the Principles of the Geneva Convention.

•This convention also extends to hospital ships and medical transports by sea.

Third Convention:

•It is the most famous convention among all and it applies to the prisoners of war.

•It includes a wide range of guidelines with respect to the humane treatment of prisoners, conditions of captivity, evacuation of prisoners, transit camps, food, clothing, medical facilities, and hygiene.

•It also guarantees rights to religious, intellectual, and physical activities for the prisoners.

Fourth Convention: 

•Unlike other conventions that protect the military personnel, this convention extends protection to the civilians including those in occupied territory.

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Ten More Ramsar Sites Added

 India adds ten more wetlands designated as Ramsar sites to make a total 64 sites covering an area of 12,50,361 ha in the country. The ten new sites include, six in Tamil Nadu and one each in Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha. 

Designation of these sites would conserve and manage wetlands and wise use of their resources.

India is one of the Contracting Parties to Ramsar Convention, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971. India signed it on 1st Feb 1982. So far 64 wetlands covering an area of 12,50,361 hectare have been designated as Ramsar Sites of International Importance from India, till date.

 Ten sites are:

1- Koonthankulam Bird Sanctuary (TN): It is the largest reserve for breeding resident and migratory water birds and an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area forming part of the Central Asian Flyway.

2- Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve (TN): This will be the first Marine Biosphere Reserve in South & South -East Asia.

3-Vembannur Wetland Complex (Kanya kumari, TN): It is an artificial human-made inland tank and part of the Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA). It forms the southernmost tip of peninsular India.

4-Vellode Bird Sanctuary (TN): It lies near the temple town of Erode in the State of Tamil Nadu and is considered a paradise for bird lovers.

5-Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary (TN): This also comes under the Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA).

6-Udhayamarthandapuram Bird Sanctuary (TN): Notable species observed at the site are oriental darter, glossy ibis, grey Heron & Eurasian spoonbill.

7-Satkosia Gorge (Odisha): The wetland is located over the Mahanadi River. Satkosia is the meeting point of the Deccan Peninsula and the Eastern Ghats (two biogeographic regions of India), thus is a very important place for biodiversity.

8-Nanda Lake (Goa): The lake in South Goa had already been notified as a wetland. This will be Goa’s 1st Ramsar site.

9-Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary (Karnataka): It is a bird sanctuary in the Mandya District of the state of Karnataka in India. It is the largest bird sanctuary in the state on the bank of the Kaveri River. It is designated as an Important Bird area (IBA).

10-Sirpur Wetland (Madhya Pradesh): Situated on the Sirpur Lake (created by the Holkars of Indore State in the early 20th century), the wetland is situated in Indore City

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India Designates 5 New Ramsar Sites

India has designated five (5) new wetlands of International importance, which include three wetlands (Karikili Bird Sanctuary, Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest & Pichavaram Mangrove) in Tamil Nadu, one (Pala wetland) in Mizoram and one wetland (Sakhya Sagar) in Madhya Pradesh, making a total of 54 Ramsar sites in the country.

1- Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest (TN): It is a freshwater marsh in Chennai. It is the only surviving wetland ecosystem in Chennai and the last remaining natural wetlands of South India.

2- Karikili Bird Sanctuary (TN): Located in the Kancheepuram District of Tamil Nadu

3- Pichavaram Mangrove (TN): It is located near Chidambaram in the Cuddalore District of Tamil Nadu. It could be counted among the largest mangrove forests in the country (more than 1100 hectares).

4-Pala wetland (Mizoram): It is the largest natural wetland in Mizoram. The wetland is surrounded by green woodlands.

5-Sakhya Sagar (MP): This lake is an integral part of Madhav National Park in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh.

The Ramsar sites have been increased from 49 to 54 sites. 

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.

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LORD RIPON AND HIS ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS

Lord Ripon was Viceroy of India from 1880 to 1884. Gladstone, after coming into power, chooses Ripon and sent him to India as a Viceroy. Therefore, Ripon was the representative of Gladstone. He had a strong belief in the laisse-fair, virtues of peace, and self-government.

Lord Ripon had a different perspective towards India than other Viceroys. Gladstone explained his policy towards India:

“Our title to be in India depends on a first condition, that our being there is profitable to the Indian natives; and on a second condition, that we can make them see and understand it to profitable”

Reforms brought by Lord Ripon in India-

1- The First Factory Act, 1881-In 1875, a committee was appointed to examine the conditions of factory work in the country. This committee brought some important changes in the factories.

And in 1881, Lord Ripon passed the First Factory Act. This act prohibited the employment of children under the age of seven. The number of working hours are limited for children below twelve. It also required that dangerous machinery should be fenced.

This act provided one hour of rest during the working period and four days’ leave in a month for the workers. Inspectors were also appointed to supervise the implementation of these measures.

This was the first time when the British Government tried to improve the working conditions of laborers in factories.

2- Financial Decentralization, 1882- Lord Mayo introduced the policy of financial decentralization, which was followed by Lord Ripon. Lord Ripon decided to increase the financial responsibilities of the provinces. 

The sources of revenue were divided into three classes: Imperial, Provincial, and Divided.

Imperial Heads: Revenue from Customs, Posts, and Telegraphs, Railways, Opium, Salt, Mint, Military Receipts, Land Revenue, etc. were included in the imperial head. The Central Government was expected to meet the expenses of central administration out of this revenue.

Provincial Heads: Revenue from Jails, Medical slices, Printing, Roads, General Administration, etc. were included in the provincial heads. As the income from provincial heads was insufficient for provincial expenses, a part of Land revenue was allocated to the provinces.

Divided Heads: The revenue from Excise, Stamps, Forests, Registration, etc. was divided in equal proportion among the Central and Provincial Governments. The system of Divided Heads begun by Ripon remained operative till it was changed by the Reforms of 1919.

3- Repeal of Vernacular Press Act-

Lord Lytton had imposed restrictions upon the newspapers published in Indian languages by the Vernacular Press Act. Vernacular newspapers were not allowed to publish anything likely to cause dissatisfaction among the people against the government.

In 1882, Lord Ripon repealed the Vernacular Press Act. It allowed equal freedom to the Indian Press. The repeal of this Act made Ripon popular in India and also he got the unending gratitude of the people of India.

4-Local Self Government (resolution of 1882)-

In 1882, Lord Ripon introduced the Local Self Government. This scheme developed the Municipal institutions, which had been growing up in the country ever since India was occupied by the British Crown.

Local Self-Government was given to the rural and urban bodies and the elective people received some wider rights. It was not enacted by any act. It was a resolution passed in 1882.

5-Hunter Education Commission 1882-83-  In 1882, Lord Ripon appointed the Hunter Commission under the leadership of William Wilson Hunter. 

William Wilson Hunter was the statistician, a compiler, and a member of the Indian Civil Service, who later became Vice President of Royal Asiatic Society.

 The Hunter Commission brought out the default of the primary and secondary education in the country. The commission recommended that: the responsibility for Primary Education must be given to the Local Boards and Municipal Boards. 

The major recommendations were as follows:

•The government should take proper care to increase primary education.

•There should be literary and vocational training in secondary education.

•The commission brought out inadequate facilities available for female education in the country.

               The recommendations were partly executed and there was a slow growth in the number of secondary schools in the country. 

6- Illbert Bill (1884) - The Ilbert Bill is named after Courtenay Peregrine Ilbert, a legal adviser to the Council of India.

Viceroy Ripon introduced the bill in 1883, with the intention of removing racial prejudice from the Indian Penal Code. Ripon proposed amending the country's existing laws to give Indian judges and magistrates the authority to try British offenders in criminal cases at the District level. It was never previously permitted.

As a result, Europeans living in India saw it as a humiliation, and the bill's introduction sparked fierce opposition in both Britain and India (by the British residents). As a result, it was withdrawn, but reintroduced and enacted in a severely weakened form in 1884.

           The amended bill stated that Europeans would be conferred on both European and Indian District Magistrates and Sessions Judges. In all cases, however, a defendant would have the right to a jury trial, with at least half of the members being European. Thus, this enactment stated that European criminals would only be heard by Indian Judges "aided by European Judges."

The passage of this bill opened Indians' eyes and deepened antagonism between the British and Indians. The result was increased nationalism and the formation of the Indian National Congress the following year.

The amended Ilbert Bill was passed as the Criminal Procedure Code Amendment Act 1884 on January 25, 1884.

Conclusion-  Lord Ripon was the man who worked for the betterment of native Indians and wanted to expand and improve the condition of education in the country.Even though he is described as Gladstone agent in India, he has proven to be a libertarian and a good administrator.

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FOOD FORTIFICATION

What is food fortification?

Food fortification is defined as the practice of adding vitamins and minerals to commonly consumed foods during processing to increase their nutritional value.These nutrients may or may not have been originally present in the food before processing.

It can be noted that biofortification differs from conventional food fortification in that biofortification aims to increase nutrient levels in crops during plant growth rather than through manual means during processing of the crops.

Fortification in India

Currently government is promoting fortification in following 5 food items:

1- Rice:  Department of Food & Public Distribution (DFPD) has been running a “Centrally Sponsored Pilot Scheme on Fortification of Rice & its distribution through Public Distribution System”. The scheme was initiated in 2019-20 for a three-year pilot run. This scheme will run till 2023 and rice will be supplied to the beneficiaries at the rate of Re 1 per kilogram.

For rice fortification, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution is the nodal agency. 

2- Wheat: The decision on fortification of wheat was announced in 2018 and is being implemented in 12 states under India’s flagship Poshan Abhiyaan to improve nutrition among children, adolescents, pregnant mothers and lactating mothers.

3- Edible oil: Fortification of edible oil, too, was made compulsory across the country by FSSAI in 2018.

4- Milk: Fortification of milk was started in 2017 under which the National Dairy Development Board of India (NDDB) is pushing companies to add vitamin D.

5- Salt: Adding iodine

 Benefits of fortification

1- High benefit-to-cost ratio: Food fortification has a high benefit-to-cost ratio. The Copenhagen Consensus estimates that every 1 Rupee spent on fortification results in 9 Rupees in benefits to the economy. While an initial investment to purchase both the equipment and the vitamin and mineral premix is required, the overall costs of fortification are extremely low.

Also, fortification ensures a threshold level of nutrition at a very low cost—just 15 paisa to fortify a litre of oil and 2 paisa for a litre of milk.

2- No socio-cultural barriers: Fortification does not require any changes in food habits and patterns of people. It is a socio-culturally acceptable way to deliver nutrients to people

3- No alteration of food characteristics: It does not alter the characteristics of the food like the taste, aroma or the texture of the food

4- Quick implementation: It can be implemented quickly as well as show results in improvement of health in a relatively short period of time.

5- Wide reach: Since the nutrients are added to widely consumed staple foods, fortification is an excellent way to improve the health of a large section of the population, all at once.

Disadvantages Of Food Fortification

1- Not A Substitute Of Good Nutrition

While fortified foods contain increased amounts of selected micronutrients, they are not a substitute for a good quality diet that supplies adequate amounts of energy, protein, essential fats and other food constituents required for optimal health.

2- Might Not Benefit Infants And Children

A child will get nutrition only if the lactating mother will be healthy and consumes adequate nutrition. After the six months, complementary feeding is initiated, wherein infants and children consume relatively small amounts of food.

3- Fails To Cater To The Poorest Segment of The Population

Poorest segments of the general population have restricted access to fortified foods in the open markets due to low purchasing power and an underdeveloped distribution channel. 

4- Not A Long Term Solution-

Food fortification is a short and medium term measure. For long term sustainability, dietary diversity is the key to address micronutrient malnutrition.

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POLAR AMPLIFICATION

Polar amplification can be defined as the climate models that predict amplified warming in Polar Regions due to climate feedbacks. 

 other words, when climate change near the pole compared to the rest of the hemisphere or globe in response to a change in global climate forcing, such as the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is called Polar amplification.

Reasons:

Change in Albedo:

• Albedo is a measure of how much light that hits a surface is reflected without being absorbed.

• When bright and reflective ice (with more albedo) melts, it gives way to a darker ocean (lowering albedo); this amplifies the warming trend because the ocean surface absorbs more heat from the Sun than the surface of snow and ice.

Changing Ocean currents:

• Ocean currents normally bring in warmer water from the Pacific, and colder water exits out of the Arctic into the Atlantic.

• But those currents may be changing because more melting ice is injecting the Arctic Ocean with freshwater. The missing ice also exposes the surface waters to more wind. This mixes up colder freshwater at the surface and warmer saltwater below, raising surface temperatures and further melting ice.

Changing Weather

• Ocean currents drive the powerful polar jet stream, which moves hot and cold air masses around the Northern Hemisphere. This is a product of the temperature differences between the Arctic and the tropics.

• But as the Arctic warms, the jet stream now undulates wildly north and south. This has been injecting the Arctic with warm air.

• Thunderstorms are also much more likely to occur in the tropics than the higher latitudes. The storms transport heat from the surface to higher levels of the atmosphere, where global wind patterns sweep it toward higher latitudes.

• The abundance of thunderstorms in tropics creates a near-constant flow of heat away from the tropics towards the Arctic

Impact in the Arctic:

1- The floating sea ice cover of the Arctic Ocean is shrinking, especially during summer.

2- Snow cover over land in the Arctic has decreased, notably in spring.

3- In addition, frozen ground in the Arctic, known as permafrost, is warming and in many areas thawing.

Effects Worldwide:

1- Higher temperature will cause a Sea-Level Rise globally that in turn has impacts like the destruction of ecosystems, displacement, loss of life and property etc.

2- Arctic permafrost thaw is also releasing the potent greenhouse gas methane causing profound global warming effects.

3- Arctic wildfire, called Zombie Fire intensity is also increasing each year as thawing ground dries out.

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UNION BUDGET

The Union Budget of India is the country’s comprehensive annual financial statement and is mentioned in Article 112 of the Indian constitution. It is a detailed account of the government’s finances including its revenues from various sources and outlays that will be incurred on different activities. It is important to note that the term “budget” is not mentioned in our constitution. 

The Union Budget is presented on 01st February every year since 2017. Prepared by the Department of Economic Affairs under the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, it is presented by the means of a finance bill and appropriation bill. These bills need to be passed in the Parliament before the budget can come into effect on 01st April.

It is a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the Government in a financial year. In addition to it, the Budget contains:

1-Estimates of revenue and capital receipts,

2-Ways and means to raise the revenue,

3-Estimates of expenditure,

4-Details of the actual receipts and expenditure of the closing financial year and the reasons for any deficit or surplus in that year, and

5-economic and financial policy of the coming year, i.e., taxation proposals, prospects of revenue, spending programme and introduction of new schemes/projects.

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