06 APRIL 2023

Topic 1: GI Tag for Ladakh’s Wood Carving

Context: The Prime Minister of India applauds GI Tag for Ladakh’s Wood Carving

Key details:

• The unique form of wood carving which has received GI tag is concentrated in Wanla and Cjoglamasar districts of Leh.
• The craft has a distinct cultural and religious influence.
• The carving is carried out for  products such folding tables, cupboards, wooden pots, tea mixing pot (Grugur) and ritual bowls etc, employing special tool box called zag ham.

What is a GI Tag?Geographical Indication (GI) Tags act as a special identification ascribed to any region, town, or state.These tags are assigned to certain products like agriculture or handicraft that symbolise the uniqueness of that particular region or place.India, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.It came into force with effect from 2003.GI has been defined as – Indications which identify a good as originating in the territory of a member, or a region or a locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographic origin.GI tags mean that that product, name or sign thus assigned is unique, bears distinctive qualities, are made with traditional methods representing the reputation of the region.One can also view this tag as a means of protection from any sort of copyright violation.The Darjeeling Tea was the first product in India that was given a GI tag around 2004-2005.

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Topic 2: The third Bodo accord

Context: A TRIPARTITE accord signed by representatives of Bodo organisations with the Central and Assam governments, presents a new model of power sharing and governance in Assam under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.

Key details:

• The Bodo parties to the agreement include:
  • the All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU),
  • the United Bodo People’s Organisation (UBPO) and
  • all the four factions of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB). 
• The new accord:
  • This model reduces the dependence of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), constituted under the Sixth Schedule on the State government for funds,
  • It provides scope for expansion of the territory, and
  • Empowers the BTC to have a say in the appointment of Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police
    • Although the Home and Police departments will continue to be with the State government.
• Implications:
  • The augmented area and powers of the BTC, under the new accord may trigger fresh aspirations in the nine autonomous councils in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram to graduate to the new model.
  • That is likely to have an impact on the existing power-sharing arrangements between the governments and the autonomous councils constituted under the Sixth Schedule in these States. 
  • The peace accord has brought the curtain down on over three decades of insurgency in Bodoland areas, which is critical for the return of peace in the Bodo heartland.
• What is the Bodo Accord?
  • The Tripartite Bodo Accord is a peace treaty signed in 2020, between:
    • the Assam State Government,
    • Central Government, and
    • the National Democratic Front of Bodoland.
  • The objective was to stop separatist demands from the Bodo-Kachari community and bring peace.
• Salient features of the Bodo Accord:
  • The Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD) was renamed Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) as a part of a peace treaty.
  • The number of seats in the BTC will be increased from 40 to 60 without adversely affecting the existing percentage of reservation for tribals.
  • The accord promises more legislative, executive, and financial powers to the BTC in respect of 40 subjects already transferred to it and eight additional subjects.
  • The Assam government will set up a Bodo-Kachari Autonomous Council, which will be a satellite council for the focussed development of Bodo villages outside the BTR on the lines of the existing six councils for plains tribes.
  • The accord also promises Scheduled Tribe status to Bodos living in the hill districts of Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao.
  • Assam has autonomous councils for Rabhas, Deoris, Misings, Tiwas, Sonowal–Kacharis and Thengal Kacharis.
  • The BTAD and area under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution are exempt from the Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019.

What is the Bodo issue?

• Bodos are the single largest community among the notified Scheduled Tribes in Assam.
• Part of the larger umbrella of Bodo-Kachari, the Bodos constitute about 5-6% of Assam’s population.
• The first organised demand for a Bodo state came in 1967-68 under the banner of the political party Plains Tribals Council of Assam.
• In 1987, the All Bodo Students Union (ABSU) led by Upendra Nath Brahma revived the Bodo statehood demand.

What is the BTC?

• It is an autonomous body under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
• There have been two Bodo Accords earlier, and the second one led to the formation of BTC.
• The ABSU-led movement from 1987 culminated in a 1993 Bodo Accord, which paved the way for a Bodoland Autonomous Council (BAC), but ABSU withdrew its agreement and renewed its demand for a separate state.
• In 2003, the second Bodo Accord was signed by the extremist group Bodo Liberation Tiger Force (BLTF), the Centre and the state.
  • This led to the BTC.
• The Bodo Peace Accord signed in 2020 is an extension of the existing agreement of 2003.

What is the Sixth Schedule?According to Article 244 of the Constitution, the Sixth Schedule was enacted in 1949 in order to protect indigenous groups through the establishment of autonomous administrative divisions known as Autonomous District Councils (ADCs).The Sixth Schedule contains provisions that grant indigenous tribes significant autonomy, and it currently applies to the Northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram (three Councils each), and Tripura (one Council).Assam has the Bodoland Territorial Council, Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council, and Dima Hasao Autonomous District Council;Meghalaya has the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council, Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council, and Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council;Tripura has the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council; andMizoram has the Chakma Autonomous District Council, Lai Autonomous District Council and the Mara Autonomous District Council.Ladakh currently has the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC).They are only executive powers that allow the LAHDC to function as an administrator to manage development, as specified in the LAHDC Act of 1997.While the LAHDC has jurisdiction over land, it cannot enact regulations restricting the use or transfer of any land.It can only assign and stipulate how government land should be used.

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Topic 3: Idu Mishmis

Context: The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) said that the Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh would soon be notified as a tiger reserve.

Who are the Idu Mishmis

• The Idu Mishmi is a sub-tribe of the larger Mishmi group (the other two Mishmi groups are Digaru and Miju) in Arunachal Pradesh and neighbouring Tibet.
• They are known for their weaving and craftsmanship skills
• The Idu Mishmis primarily live in Mishmi Hills, bordering Tibet.
• The tribe is estimated to comprise around 12,000 people (as per census 2011), and their language (also called Idu Mishmi) is considered endangered by UNESCO.
• Religion and cultural practices:
  • Traditionally animists, the tribe has strong ties with the region’s rich flora and fauna.
  • Animals such as the hoolock gibbons and tigers have deep cultural relations with the Idu Mishmi.
  • Tigers are especially important to the Idu Mishmis — according to Idu mythology, they were born to the same mother, and thus, tigers are their “elder brothers”.
  • There is a complete prohibition on killing tigers.

The proposed tiger reserve

• While the Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary was notified in 1998 and plans to declare it as a tiger reserve have been afoot for a while now.
• In 2014, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in collaboration with NTCA had carried out a survey to determine the presence of tiger population in the area.
• Their study recorded the presence of tigers in the highest reaches of the Mishmi Hills.
• It is primarily based on these findings that a case is being made to declare the sanctuary as a tiger reserve.

The Idu Mishmi resistance

• The tribe has been opposing any move to convert the wildlife sanctuary into a tiger reserve, fearing that the move will cut off access to their lands.
• In its current form as a wildlife sanctuary, the community’s access to the Dibang forests has not been impacted.
• An upgrade to a tiger reserve would feature stricter security measures like a ‘Special Tiger Protection Force’, which would be guarding the area at all times.
• More recently, the community has declared part of its forest land as a ‘Community Conserved Area’, or a CCA.
  • It is a model governed entirely by local populations, where villagers are demarcate a part of their ancestral land as a “biocultural conserved area”, where they ban hunting, felling trees, and implement other conservation measures

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Topic 4: The NPCI’s new circular on levy charges

Context: The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which governs UPI, in a circular issued directly to banks, intimated that they can now levy charges on merchant transactions made through Prepaid Instrument wallets using UPI.

What are PPIs?

• Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) are payment methods that can be used to purchase goods and services and send/receive money by using the stored value in the wallet.
• Users have to pre-load the wallet with a desired amount.
• The amount can be loaded/reloaded against cash or through debit to bank account, or by using credit/debit cards, UPI, or any other approved payment method in India.
• PPIs can only be used in Indian rupees.
• PPIs can be in the form of:
  • mobile wallets,
  • physical smart cards,
  • secure tokens,
  • vouchers, or
  • any other method that allows access to prepaid funds.

What is PPI interoperability?

• Previously, to use PPI at any merchant, it was necessary that the concerned merchant was engaged directly by the specific PPI issuer (specific network).
• All PPIs with which the merchant did not have a direct tie-up would get rejected.
• The most prevalent form of PPI used in the country is the mobile wallet, and this restriction meant that customers of one specific mobile wallet could spend the money in the wallet only at specific merchant locations which were directly tied up with the same PPI wallet provider.
  • For example, if you had a Paytm or Mobikwik wallet, you could only use it at merchants that accepted Paytm or Mobikwik QR codes.
• To overcome this limitation of PPIs, the RBI has mandated interoperability among different PPI issuers.
• Subsequently, PPI issuers tied-up with NPCI for issuing
  • interoperable RuPay PPI cards or
  • creating interoperable wallets on UPI rails.
• Prepaid instruments in the form of wallets can now be linked to UPI, thus creating interoperable wallets on UPI rails.

PPI interoperability through UPI

• After linking one’s PPI wallet to UPI, customers can transact using Scan and Pay on all UPI interoperable QR codes.
• Similarly, a merchant with any UPI QR code can now accept payments from any PPI issuer or mobile wallet.

Charges for wallet transaction on UPI

• For the merchants:
  • The PPI enabled merchants were already paying charges to the PPI issuer for acceptance of mobile wallets or prepaid cards.
  • Now the charges are aligned at a network level with some standardisation.
  • Now, for using prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) such as gift cards, wallets etc for transactions on UPI, an interchange fee of up to 1.1% has been levied from April 1, 2023.
    • The charges are applicable if the transaction is more than ₹2,000.
  • If you are a merchant and accepting UPI payments from a customer’s bank account, then there are no charges applicable.
  • Charges are applicable only if you have accepted or consented for the transactions made using PPI Wallet.
• For the customers:
  • Officially there are no charges to be paid by the customer.
  • However, merchants may pass on the additional burden to customers by way of price increase or some other means.

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Topic 5: Open-source seeds movement

Context: With the emergence of the global IPR regime over plant varieties, there was a dire need to ‘open-source’ seeds.

Intellectual property (IP) in agriculture

• There are two forms of IPR protection in agriculture:
  • Plant-breeders’ rights (PBRs) and
  • Patents
• In this regime, rights-holders could demand royalty on seeds and legally enforce IPR.
• In some national IPR regimes, rights-holders can also restrict the unauthorised use of seeds to develop new varieties.
• In 1994, the establishment of the World Trade Organization cast a global IPR regime over plant varieties.
• The Trade-Related IPR Agreement (TRIPS) required countries to provide at least one form of intellectual property (IP) protection.
• Problems with this system:
  • This consolidation of rights in the seeds sector raised concerns about the freedom to innovate.
  • Unlike the Green Revolution, which was spearheaded by public-sector institutions, the genetic revolution in agriculture was led by the private sector, with seeds mostly availed as hybrids or protected by strong IPRs.
  • Together, they restrict farmers’ rights and the freedom to develop new varieties using germplasm from IP-protected varieties
  • This have thus increased the number of IP-protected plant varieties.

Need for Open source seeds:

• The high prices of genetically modified seeds and IP claims triggered many problems and issues, including the State’s intervention in Bt cotton seeds in India.
• As public sector breeding declined and the private sector began to dominate the seed sector, the need for alternatives became keenly felt.
• This is when the success of open-source software inspired a solution.
• In 1999, plant-breeder named T.E. Michaels suggested an approach to seeds innovation based on the principles of open-source software.

What are ‘open-source seeds’?

• Here, the user agrees inter alia to not patent seeds bought under the open-source licence.
• In the U.S., the open source seeds initiative opted for a pledge based model for sharing seeds.
• Under India’s Plant Variety Protection and Farmers’ Rights Act 2001, farmers can register ‘farmer varieties’ if they meet certain conditions, and have the right to reuse, replant, and exchange seeds.
  • However, they can’t breed and trade in varieties protected under the Act for commercial purposes.
• Benefit for India:
  • It will ultimately be beneficial to India’s food security and climate resilience.

Applications:

• One potential application of the open-source approach is to use it in farmer-led seed conservation and distribution systems.
• The model can also be used to promote farmer-led participatory plant-breeding exercises.
• Traditional varieties often lack uniformity and aren’t of excellent quality for seed development and breeding purposes.
  • Open-source principles can help overcome these two challenges by facilitating testing, improvisation, and adoption.

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Topic 6: National Overseas Scholarship Scheme

Context: Minister of state for Social Justice and Empowerment informed about the scheme in Lok Sabha.

Key details:

• The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment implements two National Overseas Scholarship (NOS) schemes.
  • One is implemented by the Department of Social Justice & Empowerment for pursuing Master’s degree or Ph. D courses abroad for:
    • students from Scheduled Castes,
    • Denotified Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes,
    • Landless Agricultural Labourers and
    • Traditional Artisans category.
  • The other is implemented by Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DoEPwD) to provide financial assistance to students with benchmark disabilities for pursuing Master’s level courses and Ph. D abroad.
• Eligibility criteria:-

Criteria	DoSJE	DoEPwD
Minimum Qualification	For Ph.D.: At least 60% (sixty percent) marks or equivalent grade in relevant Master’s Degree.For Masters’ Degree: At least 60% (sixty percent) marks or equivalent grade in relevant Master’s Degree	For Ph.D.: First class or 55% (fifty five per cent) marks or equivalent grade in relevant Master’s Degree.For Masters’ Degree: 55% (fifty five per cent) marks or equivalent grade in relevant Bachelor’s Degree.
Age	Age not more than 35 years as on first day of April for Selection Year.	Below 35 (Thirty -Five) years as on Ist January of the year of application.
Income	Total family income from all sources shall not exceed Rs. 8.00 lakh per annum.	Parents/Guardian’s income: Should not be more than Rs.8.0 lakh per annum.

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Topic 7: Coastal Aquaculture Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2023

Context: The Coastal Aquaculture Authority (Amendment) Bill 2023 was introduced in the Lok Sabha.

Key details:

• Concerned ministry:
  • Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Ministry
• Aims and Purpose:
  • It seeks to amend the Coastal Aquaculture Authority Act 2005.
  • The Bill seeks to decriminalise the offences under the Act for promoting ease of doing business and to fine-tune the operational procedures of the Coastal Aquaculture Authority.
  • It also aimed at promoting newer forms of environment-friendly coastal aquaculture including cage culture, seaweed culture, marine ornamental fish culture and pearl oyster culture which has the potential for creating additional employment opportunities.
  • The Bill also has a provision to prevent the use of antibiotics and pharmacologically active substances which are harmful to human health in coastal aquaculture.

• What is aquaculture:
  • Aquaculture essentially means, breeding, raising, and harvesting fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants.
  • It’s farming in water.
  • Saline water along the coast has been found to be suitable for practising aquaculture which produces shrimp, majorly.
  • Aquaculture can be practised on about 12 lakh hectares in the country along the coast, of which only 14% has been utilized so far.
  • This sector shows immense potential which should be harnessed. 
• The Amendments
  • In order to expand the scope, to include all activities under its umbrella, the bill substitutes the term “farm or farms” with “activity or activities”. 
  • The Act proposes to set up new subordinate offices in CAA to look after the stringent regulation.
  • An amendment has been proposed to delegate to the authority to fix the tenure in harmony with the tenure of allotment of land by the government. 
  • Coastal aquaculture hatchery activity, seaweed culture, and cage culture are allowed in the “No Development Zone” (200m from the High Tide Line towards the coast).
  • Decriminalization of the act by removing the punishment of up to 3 years imprisonment for practising aquaculture without registration. 

Coastal Aquaculture Authority Act 2005:The Coastal Aquaculture Authority (CAA) has been a strong force in ensuring the regulation and registration of coastal aquaculture farms.The act mandates the Central government to ensure that these farms do not cause any ill impacts on the coastal environment.Ever since its enactment the act has been helpful in fostering the growth and development of the sector.This has led to a whopping $8 billion worth of seafood export in the last financial year.