Why in the news?

A recent report by NITI Aayog on multidimensional poverty and the Global Multi-dimensional Poverty Index Report, 2023 have shown a declining trend of Poverty in India.

• The NITI Aayog report on multidimensional poverty
  • Decline of percentage of poor from 25% in 2015-16 to 15% in 2019-21.
  • 135 million people were lifted out of poverty during this period.
• The Global Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index Report, 2023
  • Released by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI).

The incidence of the multidimensional poverty index declined from 27.5% in 2015-16 to 16.2% in 2019-21.

Poverty-Estimation Committees set up in India:

Tendulkar Committee (2009):

1. The estimates revealed that over a 7-year period between 2004-05 and 2011-12, the number of poor-population decreased by 137 million despite an increase in population.

 Rangarajan Committee methodology:

1. Decline between 2009-10 and 2011-12 is 92 million, which is 46 million per annum.

In absolute terms, the poverty ratios based on the Tendulkar and Rangarajan Committee methodologies are lower than estimated by global MPI.

Issues with the use multi-dimensional indicators in the measurement of poverty:

Issues highlighted by the Expert Group to Review the Methodology for Measuring Poverty (2014):

1. Measurability

There is a problem with the child mortality indicator as it is for population groups and not for households.

2. Aggregation across indicators is an issue as the indicators should be independent.

For instance, access to safe drinking water cannot be aggregated with indicators such as child mortality.

3. Databases that provide the requisite information at reasonably short intervals is a constraint.
4. The arbitrariness in devolving weighted sum of non-commensurate indexes.
   • For instance, in Human Development Index (HDI), an equal weight of 1/3 is given to three variables- life expectancy, literacy rate and GNI per capita. This lacks some value judgement and seems to be quite arbitrary.

Need for changes in Surveys:

1. Consumption expenditure is a multidimensional conceptualisation of poverty
2. Following one method for poverty estimation is required for purposes of comparison.
3. There is a need to supplement the results of consumption surveys with a study of the impact of public expenditure on health and education of different expenditure classes.

Source URL: Consumption-based poverty estimates have relevance

Tourism in Himalayas:

As per the NITI Aayog report, the growth of tourism in Indian Himalayan Region is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 7.9% from 2013 to 2023.

The Indian Himalayan Region (IHR):

1. The Himalayan landscapes spans across three regions – Western Himalayas, Sikkim and Western Arunachal Pradesh.
2. IHR extends from the Indus River in the west to the Brahmaputra River in the east.

Advantages of Tourism in IHR:

1. Valuable economic and business opportunities and jobs
2. State governments and private entrepreneurs it brings revenues and profits.
3. Economic development and employment generation, particularly in remote and backward areas
4. Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP):
   1. Contributes up to 10% of GDP to states such as Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Tripura, Assam, and Meghalaya.
   2. Arunachal Pradesh (3-4%), Sikkim (2-3%) and Nagaland (3-4%)
5. Gives fresh stimulus to multi-sectoral investments in the NER (North Eastern Regions)

Challenges:

1. Illegal mining
2. Construction of ill-planned Infrastructures such as roads and railways to facilitate connectivity to tourist destinations.
   • inadequate solid waste management
3. Deforestation
   • The state of Uttarakhand has Tourism in the highest contribution to its state GDP but on contrary, the state lost 268 sq.km of forest in a span of two years.
   • Afforestation efforts are linked mostly to monocultures while natural forest cover and dense canopy forest having higher value has been decreasing.
4. Land degradation and overexploitation
5. Natural disasters like floods, cloudbursts, landslides, etc.,
6. Inadequate solid waste management
7. Loss of natural resources, impacting biodiversity and ecosystem services
8. Growing impacts of climate change
9. Loss of indigenous culture

Sustainable tourism in the Himalayas:

Steps taken so far:

1. Helping locals in Ladakh to set up homestays, eco-cafes and Community-based Tourism (CBT) in the Eastern Himalayas.
2. Bhutan Climate Summit, 2011: shared vision for conservation and sustainable development in the Eastern Himalayas between the countries of Bhutan, India and Nepal.
3. Waste Warriors" in Dharamsala Town

Way Forward:

1. Elaborate and inclusive policy and plan documents have to be formulated for the entire IHR, as currently only western Himalayan states have such a policy.
2. Forest policies have to be made holistic rather than sector-centric policies.
3. Optimal use of environmental resources foe ensuring a balance between tourism development and maintaining essential ecological processes

An integrated approach for biodiversity conservation, livelihood enhancement, and addressing the impacts of climate change for conservation of Himalayan landscapes

Source URL: Turning a Deaf ear to Himalayas

Why in the News?

Russia has launched a mission to the moon name Luna-25 that could land on the moon days before Chandrayaan-3 in the Lunar South Pole, likely to take away the title of the first country soft -land close to the South Pole

Why is Russia reaching the moon earlier than India?

1. Luna-25 was launched in Soyuz rocket almost a month after the launch of Chandrayaan-3.
2. The reason for less time to cover the 3.84-lakh-km journey to lunar surface within days is because of a more direct trajectory followed towards the moon due to its lighter payload and more fuel storage.
   1. The lift-off mass for Luna 25 is just 1,750 kg while that of Chandrayaan-3 was 3,900 kg.
3. Chandrayaan-3 followed a a more circuitous route to make up for the lower fuel reserve available on the LVM3 vehicle.
4. Another reason for early landing of Luna-25 is because lunar dawn at its landing site will happen earlier compared to Chandrayaan-3 landing site.

Differences between Chandrayaan-3 and Luna-25:

	Chandrayaan-3	Luna-25
1.	has a rover capable of moving around 500 metres	does not carry a rover
2.	Mission life is 14 days because it doesn’t have heating mechanism to keep the electronics safe from the extreme cold temperatures during the lunar night.	Mission life is 1 year because it has heating mechanism as well as a power source other than just solar panels.
3.	Follow a trajectory consisting of Earth-bound manoeuvres Lunar transfer trajectory Moon- bound manoeuvres	Follows nearly a direct directory to the moon.
4.	Lift-off mass is ~3900 kg	Lift-off mass is ~1750kg

About: Chandrayaan-3:

1. 1. The spacecraft has been launched to demonstrate
      1. An end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface.
      2. New technologies required for Inter planetary missions.
      3. Conduct in-situ scientific experiments.
   2. Launcher: GSLV-Mk3 which will place the integrated module (PM, LM & RM) into the Elliptical parking Orbit (EPO)
   3. It consists of 3 indigenous modules
      1. Propulsion module (PM) – carries the Lunar Module from launch vehicle injection till final lunar 100 km circular Lunar orbit.
      2. Lander module (LM) – Rover is present inside the Lander.

Several Lander special tests carried out in earth conditions include:

1. 1. 2. 1. 1. Integrated cold test
            2. Integrated Hot test
            3. Lander Leg Mechanism
      3. Rover Module (RM)

Source URL: Russia’s Luna 25 could land on the moon days before Chandrayaan-3: How the two missions compare

Why in the News?

The state of Kerala is likely to face drought due to widening monsoon deficit and threat of drought looming in other states of South India as well.

News in Detail:

1. Kerala registered a shortfall of 90% rain in the month of August, receiving only 25mm against the usual pattern of 240.2mm of rainfall.
2. The water availability in the key reservoirs stands at a mere 37% of the total storage capacity.
3. The total power generational potential of the reservoirs has also reduced to half of the corresponding year in 2022.
4. Even normal rainfall in the month of September is highly insufficient to make up for the rain deficit and it can be compensated only by extreme rainfall events.
5. The Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the tropical Pacific are currently exceeding El Niño threshold and is projected to continue up to early 2024.
6. Since the Indian Ocean Dipole is still neutral, it has less potential to lessen the impact of El Niño effect- suppressing the rainfall on the Indian continent. 

About:

Droughts in India:

1. Drought is a complex-phenomenon that is indicated by shortage of water availability for an extended period due to inadequate precipitation, excessive rate of evaporation and over-utilisation of water from the reservoirs and other storages, including the ground water.
2. Types of Droughts:
   1. Meteorological Drought:
      • Characterised by prolonged period of inadequate rainfall marked with uneven distribution of the rainfall over time and space.
   2. Agricultural Drought/ soil moisture drought:
      • It is a situation when there is low moisture in the soil which is necessary to support the crops and results in crop failures.
      • Areas with more than 30% of its gross cropped area under irrigation are excluded from the drought-prone category.
   3. Hydrological Drought:
      • When the availability of water in different storages and reservoirs falls below what the precipitation can replenish can result in this type of drought.
   4. Ecological Drought:
      • When the productivity of a natural ecosystem fails due to shortage of water and results in ecological distress, damages to the ecosystem, it is called Ecological Drought
3. Drought Prone Areas in India
   1. ~19% of the total geographical area of the country and 12% of the total population suffer due to drought every year.
   2. Some parts of India might be facing droughts and simultaneously other regions face floods.
   3. The variations in the time and space factor of droughts is due to large-scale variations and unpredictability in the behaviour of the monsoon in India.
   4. On the basis of severity of droughts, India can be divided into the following regions:
      • Extreme Drought Affected Areas: Includes most parts of Rajasthan, particularly areas to the west of the Aravali hills, i.e., Marusthali and Kachchh regions of Gujarat fall in this category
      • Severe Drought Prone Areas: Parts of eastern Rajasthan, most parts of Madhya Pradesh, eastern parts of Maharashtra, interior parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka Plateau, northern parts of interior Tamil Nadu and southern parts of Jharkhand and interior Odisha are included in this category
      • Moderate Drought Affected Areas: Northern parts of Rajasthan, Haryana, southern districts of Uttar Pradesh, the remaining parts of Gujarat, Maharashtra except Konkan, Jharkhand and Coimbatore plateau of Tamil Nadu and interior Karnataka are included in this category
      • Remaining parts of India can be considered either free or less prone to the drought.

Consequences of Droughts:

1. Crop failure leading to scarcity of food grains and fodder
2. Inadequate rainfall, resulting in shortage of water
3. Large-scale death of cattle and other animals along with migration of humans and livestock in the drought-affected areas.
4. Scarcity of water compels people to consume contaminated water resulting in spread of many waterborne diseases like gastro-enteritis, cholera, hepatitis, etc.

Soure URL: Threat of drought looms large as monsoon plays truant in Kerala

Why in the News?

The Tamil Nadu (TN) government has sought the Supreme Court’s intervention to make Karnataka (KA) release 24,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs) from its reservoirs immediately and also direct the latter to release 36.76 TMC as per Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT)’s final award of February 2007 that was modified by the SC in 2018.

News in Detail:

1. KA has agreed to release only 8,000 cusecs of water in contrary to 15,000 cusecs for 15 days agreed in the CWRC meeting, which led to the TN govt to approach the SC.
2. Karnataka has cited the issue of low rainfall in the Cauvery catchment area including in Kerala that has resulted in poor inflow to its own reservoirs and refused to accept the distress-sharing formula of TN.
3. TN currently has only about 20 TMC of water stored in the Mettur reservoir and will last only for 10 days, while sufficient water at least for 1 more month is required for the standing short-term crop, Kuruvai.

About:

Inter-States Water Disputes:

Article 262 of the Constitution: Deals with adjudication of inter- state water disputes

1. A law can made by the Parliament to deal with adjudication of any dispute or complaint with respect to the use, distribution and control of waters of any inter-state river and river valley.

2. Parliament may also provide that neither the Supreme Court nor any other court is to exercise jurisdiction in respect of any such dispute or complaint.

The Parliament has enacted two laws under the given Constitutional provisions:

1. The River Boards Act, 1956:

   • Provides for the establishment of river boards for the regulation and development of inter-state river and river valleys.
   • A river board is established by the Central government on the request of the state governments concerned to advise them.
2. The Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956:
   • The Central government has been empowered to set up an ad hoc tribunal for the adjudication of a dispute between two or more states in relation to the waters of an inter-state river or river valley.
   • The decision of the tribunal is final and binding on the parties to the dispute.
   • Neither the SC nor any other court is to have jurisdiction in respect of any water dispute which may be referred to such a tribunal under this Act.
   • So far (2019), the Central government has set up nine Inter-State Water dispute tribunals.

Source URL: Why is the Cauvery water sharing issue flaring up again?

Why in the News?

The Madras High Court has ordered relocation of 495 families of Thengumarahada village within the eastern boundary of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) draw special attention to the right of animals to live free from fear and distress.

News in Detail:

1. The court ordered the total compensation amount of ₹74.25 crore be released from the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) funds to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), with an outlay of ₹15 lakh each to 495 families.
2. The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) must disburse the compensation and relocate the villagers within a month of funds released from CAMPA.

3. Rationale behind the order for relocation:

   1. The TN Government Order in 1948 granted permitted leasing out 100 acres to Thengumarahada Vivasaya Corporation (now Thengumarahada Cooperative Society) for farming.
   2. This was increased to 500 acres in 1961.
   3. Lately, it was deciphered that the village was situated in the confluence of the rich biodiversity regions of the Eastern Ghats and the Western Ghats which serves as a corridor for most of the long-ranging wild animals. The human settlement in the forest area was leading to man-animal conflict.
   4. The village lies in the valley region and had heavily fenced farmlands spread over 500 acres in the mist of pristine forest which can increase the instances of man-animal conflict.
   5. The human habitation in the area blocks the crucial migratory routes of Elephants in the Mudumalai- Sathyamangalam landscape.
4. The Court noted that though TN contributes only a negligible or minimum share to the CAMPA funds, the compensation to people cannot be compromised to their disadvantage. Also, the Centre has the constitutional duty under Article 48A to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country. Therefore, it becomes necessary for the govt. to allocate necessary funds to the NTCA.

About:

Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA):

1.  The CAMPA fund is a national-level corpus fund where the compensation amount collected from agencies like industries when forest land is diverted for non-forest purposes is deposited.
2. The CAMPA funds are used for compensating the loss of forest land and ecosystem services by
   1. Raising of compensatory afforestation
   2. Improving quality of forests through assisted natural regeneration
   3. Enrichment of biodiversity
   4. Improvement of wildlife habitat
   5. Control of forest fire
   6. Forest protection
   7. Soil and water conservation measures.
3. The utilization of CAMPA Fund is governed by
   1. The Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF Act), 2016 à provides for monitoring and evaluation of CAMPA activities 
   2. Rules, 2018 à provides for guidelines to submit the Annual Plan of Operations (APO), prepared by State CAMPA.
4. CAMPA supports creation of nurseries for growing quality planting material of locally suitable plant species.
5. Internal and Third-Party monitoring and e-Green watch web portal are used to monitor the CAMPA activities in States/UTs.
6. CAMPA activities are implemented by engaging local communities in the activities like afforestation, nursery raising, soil-water conservation and forest protection activities.
7. The Comptroller and Auditor- General of India (C&AG) conducts audit of the accounts of both National and States/UTs CAMPA Authorities as per CAF Act, 2016. 

Source URL: Madras High Court bats for right of animals to live without fear and distress; orders relocation of 495 families in Thengumarahada

Why in the News?                           

On the backdrop of third-anniversary of the National Education Policy  (NEP) 2020 with laudable efforts in advancing skill-based education and practical learning, the science education and training at State-affiliated colleges and universities has been subpar.

Higher Education in India:

Current status of Higher education in India:

1. India produces over 25 lakh graduates in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) every year, accounting for the largest number of students obtaining bachelor-equivalent science degrees worldwide.
2. The no. of science graduates at the master’s level drops to 2.9 lakh (25% of BSc graduates), and even further at the doctoral level, with only 6,000 science PhDs awarded each year.
3. majority of bachelors-level science graduates in India graduate from State-affiliated colleges and universities, either via three-year BSc courses or integrated BSc-MSc programmes (4-5 years).
4. 422 out of 1,113 universities in India are public universities managed by State governments in which science courses host the 2^nd highest no. of students enrolments after arts.

Issues with the science education and training at State-affiliated colleges and universities:

1. Largely outdated Curricula and course content in BSc and other integrated programs with syllabi not addressing the skillset and Knowledge of contemporary technologies.
2. The courses offer insufficient practical training and inadequate, poorly-maintained laboratory facilities.
3. Programmes encourage students to undertake external internships, but they can hardly substitute the rigorous curricular and practical training in laboratories.

Problems faced by the State-affiliated colleges and universities:

What needs to be done?

1. Skill-based education with State-affiliated universities and colleges re-envisioned as hubs for skill-based science education.
2. teaching, training, and research in the universities should align with employability in the scientific sector.
3. BSc or integrated course curricula could focus on industry-relevant skills and certifications- programming, data analysis techniques, instrumentation and facility expertise, quality assurance, and benchmarking.
4. Longstanding collaborations with industry-Academia via seminars, apprenticeships, interactions with expert faculty members, job fairs, and funding support.
5. advancing education in regional communities, while building workforce-ready graduates – the community college and technical university models in the U.S. and Europe can be replicated in India also.

Source URL: Reimagining the role of state universities in science education

• Murmansk port is the main northern gateway of Russia and a transshipment hub, located about 2,000 km northwest of Moscow.
• Recently, India accounts for 35% of cargo handled by Murmansk port constituting the maximum share of cargo handled by the port this year,
• Turkey and China were among other countries served by the Murmansk port with a share of 34% and 19% respectively.
• The shortest shipping route (5600km) - Northern Sea Route (NSR) connecting the western part of Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific region was used as the transit route for shipping the goods.
• The NSR route includes the seas of the Arctic Ocean-Kara, Laptev, East Siberian and Chukchi which remain icebound during most parts of the year and the icebreaking process is carried out by the fleet operator of nuclear-powered icebreakers.

Source URL: India accounts for 35% of cargo handled by Murmansk this year

• About 275 bird species, including two critically endangered, four vulnerable ones and two endangered species, were counted during a survey at Corbett Tiger Reserve.
• Two endangered species — Pallas’s fish-eagle, Egyptian vulture and four vulnerable bird species — great hornbill, great slaty woodpecker, grey-crowned prinia and river tern — have been counted in the survey.
• The report was compiled by Oriental Trials, an NGO working for conservation of wildlife.
• Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve
  • A national park in India located in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand state.
  • The first national park in India was established in 1936 and named formerly called as Hailey National Park.
  •  It was renamed Corbett National Park after the hunter and naturalist Jim Corbett, who had played a leading role in its establishment.
  • Comprises 520.8 km² (201.1 sq mi) area of hills, riverine belts, marshy depressions, grasslands and a large lake and encompasses Dense moist deciduous forest mainly consists of sal, haldu, peepal, rohini and mango trees.
  • Corbett National Park is one of the thirteen protected areas covered by the World Wide Fund for Nature under their Terai Arc Landscape Program.
  • The reserve, located partly along a valley between the Lesser Himalaya in the north and the Shiwalik in the south, has a sub-Himalayan belt structure.

Source URl: 275 bird species counted during survey at Corbett Tiger Reserve