23 DECEMBER 2023

Topic 1 : Elephant Trunk Rock

Why in news: A famous natural attraction in northern Taiwan, the Elephant Trunk Rock collapsed into the sea recently.
 

Key details:

• Causes of collapse:
  • Long periods of seawater erosion and natural weathering. 
• Elephant Trunk Rock is located on a narrow strip of land called Shen’ao.
• It has been a popular tourist attraction for many years.
• The area was once a military-protected zone and it opened to the public in 2000.Topic 2 : 14th Amendment of the US Constitution

Why in news: The top court in the US state of Colorado ordered former US President Donald Trump to be taken off the ballot in the state for the Presidential elections under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
 

What is the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution?

• The Amendment was passed and ratified between 1866 and 1868.
• It was brought in after the Civil War ended (1861-65) and extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people.
  • The war was fought between the Northern and Southern states over the issue of slavery.
  • The North wanted slavery to be abolished, while the South wanted to retain it.
  • The Southern states’ economies were also comparatively more dependent on agriculture, where most of the workers were African-American slaves.
• Section 3 of the amendment says that if any person previously elected to any government office took part in an insurrection or rebellion, they cannot hold office again.
• Therefore, the idea that an elected official would have rebelled against the constitution itself would be seen as a threat to that system of constitutional politics.
• It does not necessarily mean an overthrow of the government, but rather an expression of disobedience of existing laws and structures.

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Topic 3:  Outcomes of the COP-28 climate summit

Why in news: The 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) happened in Dubai this year, with high expectations that countries would take concrete steps to address the climate crisis.
 

About CoP:

• An annual meeting:
  • COP is the annual United Nations (UN) climate meeting
  • In 1992, at the Rio Earth Summit, 154 countries signed a multilateral treaty called the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
  • It aimed to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human-induced) interference with the climate system.
  • The treaty came into force two years later, and since then, countries which are part of the UNFCCC, meet every year at different venues.
  • Today, there are 198 ‘parties’ or signatories of the Convention.
• International Agreements on common platform:
  • COP was a result of a strong belief in the power of international agreements to tackle environmental problems
  • Policymakers of that era believed in a unified commitment to deal with climate change.
  • Their belief was strengthened by the success of the 1987 Montreal Protocol, an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer, and a 1991 bilateral agreement between the US and Canada that helped combat acid rain by limiting the emission of sulphur dioxide (SO2).
  • This led to the inception of UNFCCC.
• The First COP:
  • The first COP took place in Berlin, Germany, in 1995
  • The first edition of COP entailed a discussion on how to implement the UNFCCC.
  • At the meeting, an agreement was reached to meet annually to discuss action on climate change and emissions reductions.
  • In the following two years, Kyoto Protocol was made that placed international obligations on the set of rich and industrialised countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by assigned amounts.
    • The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, during the COP-3.
• Aim of the CoP:
  • COP meetings aim is to review progress towards the overall goal of limiting climate change
  • The annual conference takes place to discuss a global agreement to cut emissions of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
  • It mostly revolves around negotiations and debates.
  • Sometimes, COP will result in new agreements and treaties, often with the goal of refining targets, agreeing rules or forming binding treaties, like the Kyoto Protocol.
• Role of individual countries:
  • Each member country details how they are tackling climate change
  • A crucial part of COP meetings is the review of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
  • An NDC is essentially a climate action plan to cut emissions and adapt to climate impacts.
  • It is submitted by those member countries which are also part of the Paris Agreement (2015) and is updated every five years.

Key Outcomes of COP-28:

• Loss and damage fund:
  • Following the agreement reached at COP-27 to create a ‘Loss and Damage’ (L&D) fund, the fund was operationalised at COP-28.
  • Only a meagre $790 million has been pledged so far, by a few nations, despite the corpus requiring $100 billion to more than $400 billion a year.
  • The U.S., the largest historical emitter, committed only $17.5 million.
  • The World Bank was designated to oversee and administer the fund.
  • Concerns:
    • legal autonomy,
    • flexibility,
    • decision-making authority,
    • general scepticism about the fund’s agility in responding promptly to emergencies, have emerged.
  • There is also a prevailing sentiment among countries that the communities affected by climate-related disasters should be able to directly access funding, preferably in the form of grants and not loans.

Global stocktake:

• What is it?
  • This year’s COP summit saw the first global stocktake (GST).
  • The GST enables countries and other stakeholders to see where they are collectively making progress towards meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement and where they are not.
• Transition away from fossils:
  • The decision of countries’ at COP-28 to transition away from fossil fuels was coupled with the ambition to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030.
  • More than 20 countries also pledged to triple their nuclear energy capacity.
  • However, the transition from fossil fuels is restricted to energy systems alone as they can continue to be used in the plastics, transport, and agriculture sectors.
• Transitional fuels:
  • The declaration also refers to ‘transitional fuels’, such as natural gas, for ensuring energy security.
  • But this falls short of true climate justice as it allows industries to continue operating in the business-as-usual mode.
• Carbon capture and storage:
  • While the declaration called for accelerated climate mitigation, it alluded to unproven and risky technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon removal.
  • The former enables users of fossil fuels to prevent their emissions from entering the atmosphere by capturing the emissions at the source and storing them permanently underground.
• Green finance:
  • The financial segment of the GST implementation framework explicitly recognises the responsibility of developed nations to take the lead in climate finance.
  • There is also a reference to the private sector’s role in addressing financial shortfalls and an imperative to supplement grant-oriented, concessional finance to enable equitable transition in developing countries.
  • Specific information regarding the entities obligated to furnish this grant-based finance is lacking.
  • The COP-28 also witnessed the establishment of innovative global green-finance mechanisms to support developing nations in their transition to sustainable practices.
  • The Green Climate Fund received fresh support of $3.5 billion, allowing it to finance adaptation and mitigation projects in vulnerable regions.
  • An additional $188 million was pledged to the Adaptation Fund.
  • The COP-28 Presidency also introduced ALTÉRRA, an investment initiative with an ambitious goal to globally mobilise an unprecedented sum of $250 billion by 2030.
  • Despite these efforts, the available funds fall well short of the $194-366 billion annual funding requirement for adaptation, as estimated by the United Nations.

How did India fare at COP-28?

• India did not sign the declaration:
  • The declaration, signed by 123 countries, has collectively committed $1 billion to address the growing climate-health crisis.
  • India didn’t sign this declaration because reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the health sector would mean reduction in emissions from gases used for cooling.
  • As India’s healthcare infrastructure is still growing, such a commitment could compromise the healthcare requirements of a growing population, particularly rural.
• India did not sign the Global Methane Pledge:
  • The Global Methane Pledge launched at COP-26 received renewed attention at COP-28, with the Climate and Clean Air Coalition becoming the new secretariat and partners of the pledge announcing more than $1 billion in new grants for funding projects to reduce methane emissions from the agriculture, waste, and gas sectors.
  • More than 150 countries signed the pledge to reduce methane pollution.
  • India isn’t a signatory to this pledge because it shifts focus from carbon dioxide to methane, a GHG with a lower lifetime.
  • Also, methane emissions in India are primarily from rice cultivation and enteric fermentation (livestock rearing), which support the livelihoods of small and marginal farmers.

Way forward:

• Many firsts in this COP:
  • The COP-28 outcomes had a lot of firsts, such as:
    • the declaration on climate and health,
    • acknowledgement of the role of nature-based solutions for biodiversity conservation and climate, and
    • the need to transition away from fossil fuels.
  • Some 134 countries also agreed to a landmark declaration to transition to sustainable and resilient food systems.
• Phasing out fossil-fuel subsidies:
  • One key issue of contention was fossil-fuel subsidies.
  • While developed countries advocated for phasing them out, developing countries, including India, refused a phase-out over implications on economic growth and development.
  • Social implications of such phase-out:
    • several communities rely on fossil fuels (coal, in India’s case) for gainful employment.
• Increase of climate finance:
  • Developing countries argued for increasing the flow of climate finance and technologies to facilitate just job transitions and inclusive development.
• Other issues need to be resolved:
  • Some other contentious issues that need attention are:
    • market mechanisms,
    • financial resource allocation,
    • the role of the World Bank as the agency for managing the L&D fund, and
    • private sector engagement in climate action.

Conclusion:

• In sum, COP-28 is a mixed bag of outcomes.
• The commitment to ramp up renewable energy targets is a significant step forward.
• Issues on L&D metrics, fund management and disbursal, market mechanisms, risky technologies, the room left for continued use of fossil fuels in many sectors, and natural gas as a transitional fuel leave much to be desired.

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 Topic 4: Place in news: Punaura Dham/Mithila

Why in news: Bihar Chief Minister recently launched a Rs 72-crore development plan for Goddess Sita’s birthplace at Punaura Dham in Sitamarhi.
 

Geographical extent of Mithila:

• In the Vishnu Puran, Mithila is described as a place to the north of Ganga and south of Himalayas.
• Abul Fazl in Ain-e-Akbari clearly mentions Mithila as one of the parganas (administrative divisions), earmarking its location and spread, which includes the present-day:
  • Darbhanga,
  • Madhubani,
  • Sitamarhi,
  • Supaul,
  • Saharsa,
  • Madhepura and
  • some adjoining areas of Bihar and Nepal.
• Mithila has also been called Mahla, and finds mention in the revenue records of the erstwhile Sanyukt Prant (United Provinces) of Bihar, Bengal and Orissa.

Birthplace of Sita:

• Until recently, it was believed that the Janaki Sthan in Sitamarhi, which has a pond and other religious structures, was the birthplace of Sita.
• But a research showed that the Janaki temple was built by a sage around 200 years ago.
• The research ruled in favour of Punaura Dham, which also has a 100-year-old temple along with Sitakund, Sita Vatika and Luv Kush Vatika.

History of Janakpuri in Nepal:

• Janakpuri is a relatively modern name for Mithilapuri, which is mentioned in Valmiki Ramayan.
• Our government, in coordination with the Nepal government, has made Janakpuri a part of the Ramayana Circuit.
  • Ramayana Circuit is one of the fifteen thematic circuits identified for development under the Swadesh Darshan scheme of Ministry of Tourism.
• Janakpur became a part of Nepal after the 1816 Indo-Nepal treaty.

Bihar government’s plans for Punaura:

• The Punaura Development plan includes:
  • renovation of the temple,
  • preparing a roofed pradakshina path (path for circumambulation) around it, and
  • developing the Luv Kush Vatika, Sita Vatika, and Sita Kund.
• A meditation mandap will also come up, and a 3-D film screened to show Sita’s life journey.
• A Sita temple will be constructed inside the Sitakund on a budget of Rs 100 crore.Topic 5 :  National Culture Fund (NCF)

Why in news: National Culture Fund (NCF) received rs. 3.70 crore from Non-Government Sources during last five years.
 

About NCF:

• National Culture Fund (NCF) was set up as a Trust in 1996 under the Charitable Endowment Act, 1890.
• Aim:
  • To mobilize extra resources through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) towards promoting, protecting & preserving India’s Cultural Heritage.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Culture
• It is an innovative pattern of cultural funding which enables institutions and individuals to perform their rightful role in promoting and preserving India’s rich cultural heritage.
• Under the NCF it is possible for a donor to identify a project and a monument along with any specific aspect of funding and also an agency for the execution of the project.
• All contributions to NCF are entitled to a tax rebate Section 80 G of the Income Tax Act.

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Topic 6  : Vipassana

Why in news: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will skip a summons by the Enforcement Directorate in the Delhi excise policy case to attend a 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat in Punjab.
 

About Vipassana:

• Vipassana, literally means “super-seeing” or “seeing things as they really are” in Pali.
• It is an ancient meditation technique, derived from the teachings of the Buddha.
• Vipassana is a way of self-transformation through the process of self-observation.
• Its practitioners believe, helps achieve true peace of mind, and thus lead a happy, useful life.
• Vipassana is the oldest of Buddhist meditation practices coming directly from the Satipatthana Sutta, a discourse attributed to the Buddha himself.
• Disappearance and re-introduction:
  • Roughly five centuries after Buddha’s death, the tradition of Vipassana disappeared from India.
  • As the Theravada tradition became less popular amongst the masses, the practice of Vipassana was preserved for over two millennia only among a lineage of monks in Burma (now Myanmar).
  • It is here that the tradition was re-introduced to the masses in the 19th century by the highly influential monk Ledi Sayadaw.
  • It was then further spread across the world by Sayadaw’s disciples in the 20th century.
• Howdid Vipassana ‘return’ to India?
  • SN Goenka (1924-2013) brought Vipassana back to India in 1969.
  • He was authorised to teach by Sayagyi U Ba Khin, after training under him for 14 years.
  • In 1976, he would open his first meditation centre, Dhamma Giri, in Igatpuri, near Nashik, Maharashtra.
  • Today there are over 380 Vipassana centres, spread across all six continents, that carry on Goenka’s legacy.
• Does one have to be a Buddhist to learn Vipassana?
  • One does not have to be a Buddist to join a course and there is no religious practice involved.
  • There is no dependence on books, theories, or intellectual games in Vipassana.
• 3 steps to the training:
  • First is the practice of sila or morality.
    • This involves abstaining from actions which cause harm — killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and the use of intoxicants.
  • Second is Anapana meditation, focussing attention on one’s breath.
    • This helps gaining control over one’s unruly mind, and is practised for the first three-and-a-half days.
  • Third is the actual practice of Vipassana, where one penetrates one’s entire physical and mental structure with the clarity of panna (wisdom, insight).Topic 7 : Enforcement Directorate’s powers of arrest

Why in news: The Supreme Court ruled that it is enough for the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to orally inform an accused of the grounds of their arrest at the time of arrest.
 

Key details:

• The court said that the written grounds of arrest must be supplied to the accused within 24 hours of their arrest.
• The recent Supreme Court ruling dilutes a previous ruling of the Supreme Court that mandated the ED to furnish the grounds of arrest to the accused in writing when they are being taken into custody.
• Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which deals with the ED’s power to arrest, says that the agency shall, as soon as may be, inform him (the person arrested) of the grounds for such arrest.
   

What are ED’s powers of arrest?

• Section 19 of the PMLA 2002 allows authorised ED officials to arrest persons based on material in their possession, which gives them a reason to believe that one is guilty of an offence punishable under that law.
• The reasons for such belief must be recorded in writing, and the grounds of arrest be informed to the accused as soon as may be.
• Anyone arrested shall, within 24 hours, be taken to a Special Court, Judicial Magistrate, or Metropolitan Magistrate.
• Article 22(3)(b) exempts the application of these safeguards to persons held under any preventive detention law, such as:
  • the Gujarat Prevention of Antisocial Activities Act, 1985, and
  • the Bihar Control of Crimes Act, 1981, among others.

Recent ruling of the Supreme Court:

• In its recent ruling, the court held that the previous ruling in Pankaj Bansal, mandating furnishing of arrest grounds to the accused in writing at the time of arrest, cannot be applied retrospectively, as in the current case the arrest happened three months before the previous ruling.
• The court underscored that the previous ruling was by a two-judge Bench, it could easily be superseded by its decision in Vijay Mandanlal Choudhary vs. UOI, by a three-judge Bench.
• The court relied on its ruling in Vijay Madanlal’s case to say that orally informing the accused of the grounds of arrest is sufficient.

Vijay Madanlal Choudhary versus Union of India:

• In its landmark 2022 ruling on Vijay Madanlal Choudhary versus Union of India, the Supreme Court upheld various provisions of the PMLA which relate to the powers of arrest, attachment, search, and seizure conferred upon the ED.
• The court was of the opinion that all the provisions under PMLA have a reasonable nexus with the objects sought to be achieved by the Act to effectively prevent money-laundering.

Pankaj Bansal case:

• The SC held that to give true meaning to the constitutional and statutory mandate of Section 19(1) of informing the arrested person of the arrest grounds, henceforth, it would be necessary, that a copy of such written grounds be furnished to the arrested person without exception.
• The SC has now ruled that the word “henceforth” in its earlier ruling implies its application to cases where the arrest took place after the Pankaj Bansal case, not before.

What happens when two Benches of equal strength differ?

• There is no constitutional or statutory prescription on the issue.
• The rule of precedents has evolved by practice in India to prevent the possibility of inconsistent decisions on similar points of law by different benches of equal strength – the SC said in its 1989 ruling in UOI vs. Raghubir Singh.
• The court also ruled that a statement of law by a Division Bench is considered binding on a Division Bench of the same or lesser number of Judges.
• In Pradip Chandra Parija vd. Pramod Chandra Patnaik (2002), a Constitution Bench ruled that if two Benchesof equal strength arrive at different conclusions on the same question of law, the matter must be referred to a higher Bench.
  • If the Bench of three Judges also comes to the conclusion that the earlier judgment of a Bench of three learned Judges is incorrect, reference to a Bench of five Judges is justified.About Enforcement Directorate
  • The Directorate of Enforcement is a multi-disciplinary organization mandated with investigation of offence of money laundering and violations of foreign exchange laws.
  • The statutory functions of the Directorate include enforcement of following Acts:
    • The Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA):
      • It is a criminal law enacted to prevent money laundering and to provide for confiscation of property derived from, or involved in, money-laundering and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
      • ED has been given the responsibility to enforce the provisions of the PMLA by:
        • conducting investigation to trace the assets derived from proceeds of crime,
        • to provisionally attach the property and
        • to ensure prosecution of the offenders and confiscation of the property by the Special court.
    • The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA):
      • It is a civil law enacted to consolidate and amend the laws to facilitate external trade and payments and to promote the orderly development and maintenance of foreign exchange market in India.
      • ED has been given the responsibility to conduct investigation into suspected contraventions of foreign exchange laws and regulations, to adjudicate and impose penalties on those adjudged to have contravened the law.
    • The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 (FEOA):
      • This law was enacted to deter economic offenders from evading the process of Indian law by remaining outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts.
      • It is a law whereby Directorate is mandated to attach the properties of the fugitive economic offenders who have escaped from India warranting arrest and provide for the confiscation of their properties to the Central Government.Topic 8 : PM e-Bus Seva Scheme

Why in news: The Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs informed the Rajya Sabha about implementation of PM e-Bus Seva scheme.
 

About the scheme:

• Government of India has launched PM-eBus Sewa Scheme with the aim to augment bus operations by deployment of 10,000 electric buses on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. 
• The Scheme will support bus operations for 10 years.

Key features of the scheme:

• Reaching the Unreached:
  • The scheme will cover cities of Three lakh and above population as per census 2011 including all the Capital cities of Union Territories, North Eastern Region and Hill States.
  • Under this scheme priority will be given to cities having no organized bus service.
• Direct Employment Generation:
  • The scheme will generate 45,000 to 55,000 direct jobs through deployment of around 10,000 buses in city bus operation. 
• The Scheme has two segments:
  • Segment A –Augmenting the City bus services:(169 cities)
    • The approved bus scheme will augment city bus operations with 10,000 e-buses on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.
    • Associated Infrastructure will provide support for Development/ up-gradation of depot infrastructure and Creation of behind-the-meter power infrastructure (substation, etc.) for e-buses.
  • Segment B– Green Urban Mobility Initiatives (GUMI): (181 cities)
    • The scheme envisages green initiatives like bus priority, infrastructure, multimodal interchange facilities, NCMC-based Automated Fare Collection Systems, Charging infrastructure, etc.
• Support for Operation:
  • Under the scheme, States/Cities shall be responsible for running the bus services and making payments to the bus operators. 
  • The Central Government will support these bus operations by providing subsidy to the extent specified in the proposed scheme.
• Boost to E-Mobility:
  • The scheme will promote e-mobility and provide full support for behind-the-meter power infrastructure.
  • Cities will also be supported for development of charging infrastructure under Green Urban Mobility Initiatives.
  • Adoption to Electric mobility will reduce noise and air pollution and curb carbon emission.