Topic 1: Suing of countries for climate change
Context: The UN asked the International Court of Justice to give an ‘advisory opinion’ on whether countries have legal obligations to protect people from climate extremities.
Key details:
- The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution that asked the International Court of Justice at The Hague to provide an opinion on what kind of obligations countries have towards climate change reduction, based on the promises they have made to the UN Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC).
- The resolution passed by consensus had been pushed through by one of the smallest countries in the world, the Pacific Island of Vanuatu.
- The island was devastated in 2015 by the effects of Cyclone Pam, believed to have been spurred by climate change, that wiped out 95% of its crops and affected two-thirds of its population.
The resolution:
- The draft resolution invoked article 96 of the UN Charter to ask the ICJ to deliberate on two questions:
- What are the obligations of states under international law to ensure the protection of the climate system for present and future generations?
- What are the legal consequences under these obligations for states where they, by their acts and omissions, have caused significant harm to the climate system, particularly for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and for people who are harmed.
- The resolution refers to several international protocols including:
- the Paris Agreement (2015),
- the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and
- the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
India’s position
- India did not join the overwhelming majority of countries that co-sponsored the draft resolution.
- In the neighbourhood, the list of co-sponsors included Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and a number of island countries in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
- India is also watching how global powers like the U.S. and China respond to the resolution, as without their support, it will be hard to implement.
Is the advisory opinion of the ICJ binding?
- The ICJ is being asked for an “advisory opinion”, which by definition would not be legally binding as an ICJ judgment.
- However, its clarification of international environmental laws would make the process more streamlined.
- The ICJ carries legal weight and moral authority such as advisory opinions given in the past on the Palestinian issue (Construction of the Wall) and nuclear threats that have been respected.
| The International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN).It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations.Headquarter:The seat of the Court is in The Hague (Netherlands).Of the six principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York (United States of America).Role:The Court’s role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.Composition:The Court is composed of 15 judges, who are elected for terms of office of nine years by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council.It is assisted by a Registry, its administrative organ.Official languages:English and French. |
Topic 2: Microplastics
Context: An estimated 170 trillion plastic particles weighing about 2 million metric tons are currently afloat in the oceans across the world, according to a new study.
What are microplastics?
- Microplastics are fragments of any type of plastic less than 5 mm in length.
- They cause pollution by entering natural ecosystems from a variety of sources, including cosmetics, clothing, food packaging, and industrial processes.
- Microplastics are particularly harmful to the oceans as they don’t readily break down into harmless molecules and adversely affect the health of marine organisms, which mistake plastic for food.
- Moreover, these particles can trigger loss of biodiversity and threaten ecosystem balance.
Findings of the new study
- From 1990 to 2005, the number of plastic particles more or less fluctuated.
- One of the reasons for this could be due to the effective implementation of important policy measures at the time.
- In the 1980s and 90s, there were some international policies, like MARPOL Annex 5 that enforced laws against dumping trash at sea.
- The concentration of plastic particles including microplastics in the ocean has skyrocketed in the oceans since the mid-2000s, and it continues to increase.
- If the world fails to take any drastic action about the issue, there will be a 2.6-fold increase in plastic flowing into aquatic environments by 2040.
Impact of microplastics on the oceans and marine life
- Ingestion of such particles can cause mechanical problems, such as lacerations and blockages to internal systems.
- Ingested plastics can cause chemical problems by leaching absorb chemicals into organisms.
- Microplastics absorb many hydrophobic compounds, like DDT, PCBs and other industrial chemicals, and evidence shows they can be released when ingested.
- Microplastics can also disrupt the carbon cycle of the oceans.
- Normally, phytoplankton absorbs carbon and are eaten by zooplankton, who excrete the carbon in the form of faecal pellets that sink to the sea floor.
- Once these carbon-containing pellets reach there, the carbon can be remineralized into rocks — preventing it from escaping back into the atmosphere.
- But if zooplanktons consume microplastics, their faecal pellets sink at a much slower rate.
- They are more likely to break apart or be eaten by other animals making it less likely that the carbon will reach the seafloor and become permanently sequestered.
Way forward:
- There is an urgent need to implement a global resolution to limit the production of single-use, throwaway plastic.
- Cities should be responsible for managing their waste so it does not leave their territory.
- We need to reduce the amount of chemical additives in new plastic products.
- There have to be requirements that recycled plastic be used in new products.
- Industries have to legally be required to put at least 75% recycled plastic in any new product.
Topic 3: Kala-azar
Context: Experimental work undertaken in mice has shown a novel quinoline derivative to be effective in sharply reducing the load of Leishmania donovaniin, also called kala-azar (black fever) both the spleen and liver of lab-grown mice.
Key details:
- The quinoline derivative is a potent inhibitor of an enzyme called topoisomerase 1 (LdTop1), which is essential for maintenance of DNA architecture in the parasites.
- This enzyme is distinct from the one found in humans.
- Poisoning of LdTop1 imparts a significant level of cytotoxicity to both the Leishmania parasites found in gut of sandfly vectors (promastigotes) as well as the form found in the infected humans (amastigotes) of both the wild type and the antimony-resistant isolates without inducing any lethality to human and mice host cells.
What is kala-azar or black fever disease?
- Kala-azar or Visceral Leishmaniasis is a protozoan parasitic disease, spread by sandfly bites.
- Sandflies are brown in colour and have hairs on their bodies.
- The flies are infected with the parasite called ‘leishmania donovani’.
- The vector sandfly is known to live in cracks and crevices of muddy houses, especially in dark and humid corners.
- According to the WHO, there are 3 main forms of leishmaniases of which kala-azar is the most serious form.
- In 2020, more than 90 per cent of new cases reported to WHO occurred in 10 countries:
- Brazil, China, Ethiopia, Eritrea, India, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen.
- Kala-azar is climate-sensitive as it affects the epidemiology in several ways.
Prevalence in India:
- The four Statesendemic for kala-azar in India are:
- Bihar (33 districts),
- Jharkhand (4 districts),
- West Bengal (11 districts), and
- Uttar Pradesh (six districts).
- Mostly poor socio-economic groups of population primarily living in rural areas are affected
- The current treatment regimens against kala-azar use formulations that are toxic and induce high levels of drug-resistance.
- There is only one sandfly vector of Kala-azar in India Phlebotomus aregentipes
- India is committed to eliminating Kala Azar from the country by 2023.
- India signed a Tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bangladesh and Nepal to achieve Kala-azar elimination from the region.
Topic 4: ISRO’s Reusable Launch Vehicle Mission RLV LEX
Context: The Indian Space Research Organisation and its partners successfully demonstrated a precise landing experiment for a Reusable Launch Vehicle at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR), Chitradurga, Karnataka.
Key details:
- The Reusable Launch Vehicle Autonomous Landing Mission (RLV LEX) test was the second of five tests that are a part of ISRO’s efforts to develop RLVs.
- These are space planes/shuttles, which can travel to low earth orbits to deliver payloads and return to earth for use again.
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About the project:
- The RLV-TD will be used to develop technologies like:
- hypersonic flight (HEX),
- autonomous landing (LEX),
- return flight experiment (REX),
- powered cruise flight, and
- Scramjet Propulsion Experiment (SPEX).
- The RLV-TD will be used to develop technologies like:
- ISRO’s RLV-TD looks like an aircraft.
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Origins of the RLV project
- One of the first trials of an RLV was announced by ISRO as far back as 2010, but was put off due to technical reasons.
- Another was hinted at in 2015 but was again grounded over technical issues.
- Finally, the first trial of the RLV-TD was conducted on May 23, 2016.
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Advantages
- A reusable launch vehicle is considered a low-cost, reliable, and on-demand mode of accessing space.
- By using RLVs the cost of a launch can be reduced by nearly 80 percent of the present cost.
Topic 5: Quote: The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining
Background:
- Nothing lasts forever, neither the good times nor the bad times.
- Therefore, over centuries, numerous ancient texts and philosophers have advised people to prepare for the inevitable downturn, while enjoying the present upturn.
- For instance, Christine Lagarde, the former chief and managing director of the IMF and current president of the European Central Bank, referred to this advice when she said, “the time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining”, during her speech at Harvard University in 2017.
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Original quote:
- The quote was originally said by the United States’ President John F Kennedy more than six decades ago.
- The full quote: Moreover — pleasant as it may be to bask in the warmth of recovery — let us not forget that we have suffered three recessions in the last seven years. The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining by filling three basic gaps in our anti-recession protection.
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Meaning of the quote
- Simply put, the quote underlines the importance of timely action to avoid the worst possible outcomes when things go downhill.
- Good times don’t mean that one should just sit back and enjoy the moment, waiting for the next crisis to happen.
- It’s better to see such moments as an opportunity to make reforms or fix what’s broken to prepare for tougher times.
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Where can it be used?
- Apart from signalling the need for preparedness in general in life, one use can be in the context of climate change.
- To avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis in the future one must repair the roof when the sun is shining.
- In its 2022 report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stressed on stronger action in the near term in a bid to restrict temperature rise to within 1.5 degree Celsius from pre-industrial times.
- Apart from signalling the need for preparedness in general in life, one use can be in the context of climate change.
- The quote can also be used to emphasise the need for planning for retirement.
- It could mean investing in different government schemes such as National Pension Scheme (NPS) and Public Provident Fund (PPF) at a young age to ensure a secure future after one retires.
Topic 6: Utkal Dibasa
Context: The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has greeted the people on Utkal Dibasa.
Key details:
- Utkala Diwas, also known as the Odisha Diwas, is the foundation day of Odisha.
- Every year, the state celebrates April 1 as the day of its origin.
- On this day, the state of Odisha was declared an independent province when divided by Bihar.
- The state is the 8th largest state by area and the 11th largest state by population.
- The reports from the World Bank suggest that the state of Odisha has a rich mineral reserve containing 30 percent of India’s iron ore and 90 percent of India’s chromite deposits.
- It also has resources like coal, bauxite, nickel, and manganese.
Topic 7: Eravikulam National Park
Context: The Eravikulam National Park (ENP) in Kerala has a new attraction — a fernarium set up inside the park. This is the first time such a fern collection is being set up in the hill station.
Key details:
- That ferns are the ecological indicator of healthy forests.
- The climatic condition inside the ENP is more suitable for growing ferns.
- Ferns are part of the Epiphytic family.
- They grow naturally in a soilless condition.
- The plants obtain water and nutrients through leaching from trees.
About ENP:
- Eravikulam National Park is located in the Southern Western Ghats near Idukki, Kerala.
- The area of the park used to be managed as a Game Preserve till 1978 when the Government of Kerala elevated its status to that of a National Park.
- The area of the park was home to the now highly endangered Nilgiri Tahr.
- It was placed under protection in this habitat in 1975.
- Eravikulam National park is covered with high altitude grasslands.
- This park is full of undulating terrain and the highest peak in the region is Anamudi at 2695 meters.
- The three major kinds of vegetation in the area include:
- Grasslands:
- High plateaus and hills surrounding the park are primarily covered by the grasslands
- Shrublands:
- shrubland is more visible along the base of the cliffs
- Shola forests:
- Shola forests are located in the valleys between the hills and plateaus.
- Grasslands:
- The Turner’s Valley is the deepest valley of this region and it roughly divides the park into two parts.
- This park is also the famous habitat of Neelakurunji which blooms only once every 12 years.