1. REVAMP OF BILLS (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – Governance)

Context: Recently, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs examined three Bills aimed at replacing the Indian Penal Code, CrPC, and the Evidence Act, and it approved its draft reports, despite multiple dissent notes from opposition members on the panel.

Key Changes and Provisions

• Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, replaces the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860.
• Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, replaces The Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973 (originally enacted in 1898).
• Bharatiya Sakshya (BS) Bill, 2023, replaces the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

New provisions in Bills

• Mob lynching is subject to penalties of seven years imprisonment, life imprisonment, or the death penalty.
• Fast-track justice is facilitated through video trials and electronic filing of First Information Reports (FIRs).
• The definition of sedition has been broadened, and provisions against corruption, terrorism, and organized crime have been strengthened.
• New forms of punishment, such as community service and solitary confinement, have been introduced.
• Trials can take place even in the absence of the accused.
• The scope of offenses related to sexual intercourse through "deceitful means" involving women has been extended.

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2. SOUTH LOHNAK LAKE DISASTER (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Disaster Management)

Context: Recently, the breach of South Lhonak Lake in the Himalayan state of Sikkim led to a devastating glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) that affected four districts, resulting in the tragic loss of at least 42 lives, with 77 individuals still unaccounted for. 

• The Sikkim government has been claiming that the GLOF was triggered by a cloudburst. In fact, Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority’s daily reports on deaths and damages continue to call the flood “cloudburst induced”.

Role of Climate Change

• In 1990, the South Lhonak glacier measured 6.4 km in length, but a research article published in 2021 revealed that by 2019, it had shrunk by approximately 1.3 km and its area had decreased by about 0.96 sq. km.
• Back in 1976, the South Lhonak Lake occupied a mere 0.20 sq. km, as reported in a research article from 2018. However, as the glacier continued to diminish, the lake expanded significantly. 

Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs)

• About: Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) is a type of flood that occurs when a glacier-contained water body is suddenly released.
• Causes of GLOF: GLOFs happen when the natural dam formed by a glacial lake fails, allowing the stored water to flow rapidly. GLOF can be triggered by several reasons, including earthquakes, extremely heavy rains and ice avalanches.

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3. TRIBAL YOUTH EXCHANGE PROGRAM (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – Gov. Scheme)

Context: Recently, a youth delegation from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh who are attending the Tribal Youth Exchange Programme (TYEP) called on the President of India.

Tribal Youth Exchange Program (TYEP)

• About: The Ministry of Home Affairs has been running the Tribal Youth Exchange Programme (TYEP) for the last 15 years.
• The program is being run through Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

Objective

• Young men and women of the tribal community from the interior areas most affected by Left left-wing extremism are taken on a tour to major cities and metros across the country.
• Promoting the aspirations of the youth in areas affected by Left Wing Extremism.
• Countering the propaganda against the government being spread by CPI Maoists.
• Informing the youth of tribal areas about the development activities and industrial progress and sensitizing them about the rich cultural heritage of India.
• Deepening the confidence in the democratic system in these areas.
• Spreading awareness about major development and welfare schemes among the youth of the tribal community.
• Developing an emotional bond between youth belonging to the tribal community and their peer groups in other parts of the country.

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4. GIRAFFE EXTINTION THREATS (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Env and Eco)

Context: A recent study (Global Change Biology) highlights the five biggest threats that could lead to the extinction of giraffes.

• Giraffes are the world’s tallest mammals and an African icon, but they are also vulnerable to extinction.
• Giraffe populations have declined by 40 per cent in the last 30 years, and there are now fewer than 70,000 mature individuals left in the wild.

Key Highlights of Study

• The study used data from more than 3,100 giraffes identified over eight years in an unfenced 4,500km² area of the Tarangire ecosystem in Tanzania.
• Giraffes need large areas of savanna with abundant native bushes and trees to feed on. 
• The biggest threat to giraffes is the degradation, fragmentation and loss of their habitats through human activities such as farming and human settlement expansion.
• Habitat loss outside protected areas is the main reason for the recent decline in giraffe numbers. 
• Insufficient Law Enforcement: Another major threat to giraffes is illegal hunting (poaching) for bushmeat markets. This is usually controlled by international criminal syndicates.
• Ecological changes: Giraffes are human-caused ecological changes that affect their food availability and mobility. 
• These changes include deforestation of savannas for fuelwood and charcoal production, mining activity, and road and pipeline building.
• Climate change: Climate change from human-caused carbon dioxide pollution is forecast to increase temperatures and rainfall in many African savanna areas.

Giraffes

• Giraffes are exotic species to India and are conserved under captivity.
• The British brought northern giraffes (Giraffa Camelopardalis) from their African colonies to India 150 years ago.
• Now giraffes in India comprise a captive population of 29 giraffes in 11 zoos across the country.
• A recent study at Kolkata Zoological Garden shows that these giraffes may belong to different varieties of species.

o Nubian giraffes -  IUCN status - Critically Endangered

o Rothschild giraffe - IUCN status - Endangered

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5. INDIA BHUTAN RELATIONSHIP (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – IR)

Context: Recently, India and Bhutan have made the decision to enhance cross-border linkages by expanding bilateral cooperation in areas such as trade, technology, cross-border connectivity, mutual investments, education, and people-to-people connections.

Key Points

• Both Countries discussed expanding partnership in various areas, including connectivity, trade infrastructure, mutual investments, energy, health, education, skill development, space technology, and environment conservation.
• They decided to conduct the Final Location Survey for a proposed cross-border rail link connecting Kokraj and Hashimara, in consultation with Bhutan.
• The goal is to strengthen cross-border trade and cooperation, fostering close people-to-people connections between India and Bhutan.

Significance of Bhutan to India

• Buffer to China: Bhutan serves as a buffer state between India and China, sharing a border with China. 
• Its strategic location is crucial for India's security interests.
• Vital Connectivity: The Chumbi Valley, located at the tri-junction of Bhutan, India, and China, is vital for India's connectivity as it lies close to the "Chicken's neck" in North Bengal.
• Security in North-East: Bhutan has cooperated with India in addressing security concerns in India's north-eastern region by assisting in flushing out militant groups.
• Chinese Inroad: China is interested in establishing diplomatic relations with Bhutan and has territorial claims in western Bhutan. India's close relationship with Bhutan is essential to counter Chinese influence.

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6. AIEC (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – IR)

Context: Recently, the Union Minister for Education and Skill Development of India held a bilateral meeting with his Australian counterpart, HE Jason Clare, MP, the Education Minister.

Australian India Education Council (AIEC)

• About: The AIESC, earlier the Australian India Education Council (AIEC), is a bi-national body established in 2011 to guide the strategic direction of the education, training and research partnerships between the two countries.
• Aim: Promoting cooperation and collaboration in the field of education between Australia and India.
• Objective: The interaction is expected to identify innovative opportunities for deepening bilateral research collaborations in a thriving research ecosystem through industry partnerships, research workforce and strategies.

o It will also aim to facilitate research networks across chosen disciplines between the two countries.

o AISEC will provide a platform for academic and skill experts to discuss a wide range of mutually agreed priorities, with the ultimate aim of shaping the future of education and skilling in both our nations.

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7. MSCI INDEX (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Economy)

Context: Taiwan’s weighting in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose to 14.2 per cent, behind leader China’s at 31.2 percent, while India’s fell to the third spot with 13 percent, according to Bloomberg-compiled data.

MSCI Index

• About: The MSCI World is a stock market index of 1,643 world stocks. 
• It is maintained by MSCI Inc., formerly Morgan Stanley Capital International, and is used as a common benchmark for ‘world’ or ‘global’ stock funds.
• The index includes a collection of stocks of all the developed markets in the world, as defined by MSCI. 
• The index includes securities from 23 countries but excludes stocks from emerging and frontier economies making it less worldwide than the name suggests. 
• A related index, the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI), incorporated both developed and emerging countries. 
• MSCI also produces a Frontier Markets index, including another 31 markets.
• MSCI Index India: As per the official definition, the MSCI Index India is used to evaluate the performance of large and mid-cap segments of the Indian market. 

o MSCI Global Investable Indexes (GIMI) Methodology is used for MSCI Index India.

o Around 85 percent of the Indian equity universe is covered by the MSCI Index India.

o There are four constituents: Largest, Smallest, Average, and Median.

• Significance: It is considered to be one of the important indices that focus on different geographic areas and stock types such as small-caps, mid-caps, and large-caps.

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8. BULAVA BALLISTIC MISSILE (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Sci and Tech)

Context: Russia recently carried out a successful test launch of the Bulava ballistic missile, designed to carry nuclear warheads.

Bulava Ballistic Missile

• The new Russian submarine-launched Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) is known as the Bulava.
• Development of the Bulava missile began in 1998, with its first powered flight test occurring in September 2005, followed by the first submerged test launch in December of the same year.
• The Bulava missile is designed to be deployed on Russia's Borey-class ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs).
• Features
• It measures 12-13.5 meters in length, has a diameter of about 2.0 meters, and a launch weight of 36,800 kilograms.
• The Bulava is a three-stage solid-fuel missile capable of carrying multiple warheads, each intended to strike a different target.
• It can carry up to six Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicles (MIRVs), which have the ability to maneuver in-flight and retarget to evade hostile air defenses.
• The missile is reported to have an accuracy of 350 meters.

Ballistic Missile

• It is a rocket-propelled, self-guided strategic weapon system that adheres to a ballistic trajectory for the delivery of a payload from its launch site to a preselected destination.
• Initially, ballistic missiles are propelled by one or multiple rocket stages, after which they follow an unpowered trajectory that ascends in an arched path before descending to reach their designated target.
• Ballistic missiles have the capability to transport either nuclear or conventional warheads.

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9. INDO-PACIFIC ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Economy)

Context: India, along with 13 other nations under the US-initiated Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), is likely to substantially close discussions on two more pillars – clean and fair economy – during the upcoming ministerial slated to take place in San Francisco next week.

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF)

• About: The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework is a unique type of trade pact that the United States is pushing among the region’s governments.
• Origin: India and 12 nations led by the United States inaugurated the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) on 23rd May 2022 to provide an economic alternate solution to China’s Geostrategic footprint in the Indo-Pacific area. 
• Partner Countries: Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the United States. 

o Within days of its launch, IPEF expanded its membership to the Pacific Island states, with Fiji joining the initiative.

• Objectives: The IPEF seeks to strengthen economic relationships between all of the participating nations to enhance resilience, sustainable development, inclusiveness, economic expansion, fair treatment, and competitive spirit in the Indo-Pacific region.
• Pillars: It was proposed as an elaborate framework of rules covering four pillars, namely, fair and resilient trade, supply chain resiliency, clean energy decarbonization, and tax and anti-corruption.

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10. WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING IN CAMEROON (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Env and Eco)

Context: Cameroon ranked seventh out of 29 African nations in terms of being a source or transit point for illegal wildlife trafficking (IWT) during the decade spanning from 2009 to 2019, according to a new report.

Key Points of Report

• The most frequently seized items included unprocessed elephant tusks, crafted ivory articles, pangolin scales, African Grey Parrots, and a variety of primate species.
• Elephant-related products made up a significant 40 percent of seized commodities, ranging from raw tusks to crafted ivory, meat, tails, and bones. 
• These elephant products were frequently bundled with other illicitly traded items. Some wildlife criminals even engaged in cyber-enabled IWT.
• The report also brought to light that a significant 24 percent of cases displayed substantial indications of influence peddling and corruption within the legal process

Illegal Wildlife Trade

• About: Illegal wildlife trade refers to the illegal activities involving the capture, collection, transport, and trade of wildlife and their products, including live animals, animal parts, and derivatives.
• In India, trade in over 1,800 species of wild animals, plants, and their derivatives, is prohibited under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

African Elephants

• The African elephant is the largest animal walking the Earth.
• African elephants were treated as a single species, listed as Vulnerable; this is the 1st time two species have been assessed separately for the IUCN Red List, following the emergence of new genetic evidence.
• Forest elephants occur in the tropical forests of Central Africa and in a range of habitats in West Africa. They rarely overlap with the range of the Savanna elephant.
• Savanna elephant prefers open country and is found in a variety of habitats in Sub-Saharan Africa including grasslands and deserts.

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