Articles Covered:

• Go back to dictionary meaning of ‘forest’: Supreme Court
• Elephant tracking in Idukki forests gets easier as new AI camera beams live images on social media
• Bringing AI to AIIMS to help identify cancer therapies
• La Nina impacted air quality in India in the winter of 2022: What a new study says
• Jnanpith honour for Gulzar and Sanskrit scholar Jagadguru Rambhadracharya
• 14th CoP (Conference of Parties) to Convention on Migratory Species (CMS)
• damselfly

Go back to dictionary meaning of ‘forest’: Supreme Court

Bench says the expression ‘forest’ will continue to have a “broad and all-encompassing” meaning for the time being; order comes on petitions challenging the amended Forest Conservation Act of 2023

• Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act 2023: States, UTs must act as per definition in TN Godavarman judgement, says SC  
• Apex court was hearing a PIL challenging constitutionality of the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023
• The states and Union territories (UT) must act according to the definition of ‘forest’ as laid down in the landmark TN Godavarman Thirumalpad v. Union of Indiajudgement issued in 1996, the Supreme Court said in an interim order issued on February 19, 2024.
• The apex court was hearing a public interest litigation challenging the constitutionality of the Forest (Conservation) Act. The Act was amended by the Union government in 2023

Forest will continue to have a broad and all-encompassing meaning SC directed that the expression ‘forest’ will continue to have a “broad and all-encompassing” as per the 1996 judgement. This means it includes 1.97 lakh square km of undeclared forest lands. The Bench emphasized that the broad dictionary meaning of “forest” upheld by the Supreme Court over 25 years ago will still apply. This will continue until the States and union territories compile a comprehensive record of all lands marked as ‘forest’ in government records, including forest-like areas, unclassified, and community forest lands. Directions to states :  SC also directed states to file, by the end of March, reports on forest land identified as per its ruling in the T N Godavarman case. Establishment of zoos or safaris :  The Bench also mandated that no government or authority should proceed with the establishment of “zoos or safaris” without the final approval of the apex court.

Petitions filed in SC against

• Petitions were filed challenging the amendments introduced in 2023 to the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
• The petitions had argued that Section 1A introduced through the amended Act had substantially diluted the definition of forest to two categories:

1. declared forests and
2. lands recorded as forests in ‘government records’ after 1980.

Stand of Centre

1. The government rejected claims of reducing forest coverage.
2. It highlighted an amendment to Section 1A, broadening the definition of government records to include lands recognized as forest by state or union territory authorities, local bodies, councils, or recognized communities.

Definition of forest in India

No clear definition

1. At present, in India, there is no clear nationally-accepted definition of ‘forest’.
2. In September 2019, the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) observed that there cannot be any uniform criteria to define forest which can be applicable to all forest types in all states and union territories.

Responsibility of States

1. States are responsible for determining their definition of forests.
2. In November 2019, the environment ministry emphasised that the states, having well-established forest departments.
3. They are in a better position, rather than the MoEFCC, to understand their own forests and needs, and should frame criteria for their forests.
4. The prerogative of the states to define forests stems from a 1996 Supreme Court order called the T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad Vs the UoI

Godavarman Thirumulpad judgment

1. In 1995, T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad filed a writ petition with the Supreme Court to protect the Nilgiris forest land from deforestation by illegal timber operations.
2. One of the aspects of the judgement is related to the meaning of the word forest.
3. In the judgement, the Supreme Court interpreted that the word forest must be understood according to its dictionary meaning.
4. This description covers all statutorily recognised forests, whether designated as reserved, protected or otherwise.
5. The ruling instructed state governments to form a panel of experts to recognize, declare, and outline areas as forests.
6. It also offered additional instructions on managing forest areas, including transferring forest land for non-forest purposes, as per the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.

Forest Conservation Act

The Forest Conservation Act 1980

It was enacted to –

1. protect India’s forests and
2. empower the Central government to regulate the extraction of forest resources (from timber and bamboo to coal and minerals) by industries as well as forest-dwelling communities.

Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act 2023

Inserted a ‘preamble’ that underlines –

1. India’s commitment to preserving forests, their biodiversity and tackling challenges from climate change and
2. Amending the name of the Act to Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam (translated as Forest Conservation and Augmentation) from the existing Forest (Conservation) Act.

The Act would only apply to: Lands notified in any government record as ‘forest’ on or after 1980.

Exemptions: The Act would not apply –

1. If notified forest land was legally diverted between 1980 and 1996, for non-forest use.
2. To forest land situated 100 km away from international borders and to be used for “strategic projects of national importance” or
3. To land ranging from 5-10 hectares for security and defence projects.

The Act specifies some activities that can be carried out in forests, such as establishing check posts, fencing, and bridges.

The Bill also allows running zoos, safaris and eco-tourism facilities.

The state government requires prior approval of the central government to assign any forest land to a private entity.

The Bill extends this to all entities, and allows the assignment to be made on terms and conditions specified by the central government.

Elephant tracking in Idukki forests gets easier as new AI camera beams live images on social media

• The Forest department in Idukki has introduced an AI-powered camera system in Anakkulam to monitor wild elephants.
• Live images from the camera will be accessible to tourists via a Telegram channel named ‘Anakkulam Elephant Oru’.
• The initiative is a collaboration between the Mankulam Forest Division and the Government Engineering College, Idukki.

Installation and Functionality:

1. The AI camera, installed near the waterhole in Anakkulam, captures live images of wild elephant herds.
2. Users can receive these images within 30 seconds to one minute by sending a request on the Telegram channel.
3. The project was led by S. Santhosh Kumar, a faculty member at the Government Engineering College.

Improved Tourist Experience:

1. The initiative aims to enhance the tourist experience by providing real-time updates on the presence of wild elephants at the waterhole.
2. Tourists can now visit Anakkulam confidently, knowing they can observe wild elephants without fear.

Impact on Wildlife Conservation:

1. The system facilitates the monitoring of wild elephants’ movements, aiding in their conservation.
2. It also helps mitigate human-wildlife conflicts by providing early warnings to forest officials and tourists.

Western Ghats (2012) Western Ghats consist of a chain of mountains running parallel to India’s Western Coast and passing from the states of Kerala, Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. They cover an immense area in a 1600 km long stretch and are interrupted only once by a 30km Palghat gap at around 11 degrees North. They also influence the Indian monsoon weather patterns that mediate the warm tropical climate of the region and act as a barrier to rain-laden monsoon winds that sweep in from the south-west. Western Ghats are also home to tropical evergreen forests, as well as to 325 globally threatened species.

Significance of Anakkulam: Anakkulam, located within the Mankulam forest division, is a UNESCO world heritage site in the Western Ghats. The area has become a popular tourist destination, attracting visitors interested in observing wildlife, particularly wild elephants. The unique water source in Anakkulam, with its distinct salty flavour, attracts wild elephants from neighbouring forests, especially those under the Malayattoor forest division. The introduction of an AI-powered camera system at Anakkulam in Idukki enhances tourist experiences by providing real-time imagery of wild elephant herds. This collaborative effort aims to promote wildlife conservation and mitigate human-wildlife conflicts in the region. Idukki Dam: It is located in Kerala, India.It is built on the Periyar River. It is a 168.91 meter (554 ft) tall arch dam.It is one of the highest ten arch dams in the world and the third highest in India after the Tehri Dam (Uttarakhand) and Bhakra Nangal Dam (Himachal Pradesh). It is the first dam in Asia that is constructed in a double-curvature arch dam type and the second in the world. The dam stands between the two mountains, Kuravanmala (839m) and Kurathimala (925m). It supports a 780 MW hydroelectric power station.

Bringing AI to AIIMS to help identify cancer therapies

The AI model, powered by a supercomputer, has been tested on 1,500 breast and ovarian cancer patients from AIIMS and was found to be over 75 per cent accurate. Can artificial intelligence (AI) help doctors identify the best cancer therapy for their patients?

So far, the AI model has been 75 per cent as accurate as doctors in diagnosing the type of cancer

• Supercomputers are high-performing computers,designed to tackle complex computational challenges. They encompass multiple central processing units that break down the required tasks into multiple parts and process them simultaneously, which effectively results in high-speed computation. The performance of supercomputers is measured in terms of floating-point operations per second (FLOPs).
• Supercomputers can be utilised for general purposes as well as special purposes such as Belle, Hydra, and Deep Blue for playing chess.

Supercomputers in India

In 1987, the USA denied India’s request to purchase the Cray X-MP for academic and weather forecasting purposes, which compelled India to promote its supercomputing programme.

Agencies involved: Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), and Advanced Numerical Research and Analysis Group (ANURAG) took the lead in this direction.

• C-DOTdeveloped “CHIPPS“, a high-performance Parallel Processing System.
• BARC created the Anupam series of supercomputers.
• ANURAG created the PACE series of supercomputers.
• Param Series:PARAM supercomputers are designed and assembled by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in Pune, India.
• PARAM means “supreme” in Sanskrit, and also creates an acronym for “PARAllelMachine“.
• The PARAM 8000was a success for C-DAC in delivering a gigaFLOPSrange parallel computer. It was launched in 1991.
• In 1993, the PARAM 9000series was released, which had a peak computing power of 5 GFLOPS.
• In 1998, the PARAM 10000series had a sustained performance of 38 GFLOPS on the LINPACK benchmark.
• The AI Supercomputer‘AIRAWAT’and PARAM Siddhi – AI are currently the fastest supercomputers in India. AIRAWAT has been ranked 75thin the world as of June 2023.

Indian Supercomputers in Top 500 List

As of June 2023, there are 4 systems based in India on the TOP 500 supercomputer list.

Rank	Site	Name	Rmax (TFlop/s)	Rpeak (TFlop/s)
75	Centre for Development of Advanced Computing	AIRAWAT – PSAI	8.5	13.17
131	Centre for Development of Advanced Computing	PARAM – Siddhi AI	4.62	5.27
169	Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology	Pratyush (Cray XC40)	3.76	4.01
316	National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting	Mihir (Cray XC40)	2.57	2.81

 

National Supercomputing Mission The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in 2015 announced a “National Supercomputing Mission” (NSM) to install 73 indigenous supercomputers throughout the country by 2022. Objectives: The primary goal of the mission is to establish a cluster of geographically distributed high-performance computing centres connected by a high-speed network, forming the National Knowledge Network (NKN). It aims to enhance both capacity and capability in high-performance computing across academic and research institutions in Indiain their respective Domains. Characteristics: Infrastructure: It involves the deployment of high-performance computing centres, including three petascale supercomputers. Financial Investment: The mission spans a seven-year program with a budget of $730 million (Rs. 4,500 crores), indicating a significant financial commitment to advancing supercomputing capabilities in the country. Localisation: It aims to produce all the components within India. Implementing Agencies: Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and the Indian Institute of Science. Achievements: PARAM Shivay, the first supercomputer of India under NSM was installed in 2020 at IIT, BHU. Other installed supercomputers are PARAM Pravega (IISc, Bangalore), PARAM Utkarsh (C-DAC, Bangalore), PARAM Ananta (IIT, Gandhinagar), PARAM Himalaya (IIT, Mandi), PARAM Siddhi-AI (C-DAC, Pune), and PARAM Vidya series.

La Nina impacted air quality in India in the winter of 2022: What a new study says

This is the first time that air quality in Indian cities has been linked to a La Nina event — and indirectly to climate change, which is making El Nino and La Nina more severe.

El Nino and La Nina El Nino and La Nina are two opposing climate trends that deviate from the normal conditions and normally run nine to twelve months, but can often extend. These events occur every two to seven years on average (El Nino is more frequent than La Nina), but not on a regular basis and together are referred to as the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle by scientists. El Nino is typically known as the warm phase (a band of warmer water spreading from west to east in the equatorial Pacific Ocean) and La Nina is identified as the cold phase (a band of cooler water spreads east-west) of ENSO. Both El Nino and La Nina can have global effects on weather, wildfires, ecosystems and economics.

La Nina

• La Nina means The Little Girl in Spanish. It is also sometimes called El Viejo, anti-El Nino, or simply “a cold event.”
• La Nina events represent periods of below-average sea surface temperaturesacross the east-central Equatorial Pacific.
• It is indicated by sea-surface temperature decreased by more than 0.9℉ for at least five successive three-month seasons.
• La Nina event is observed when thewater temperature in the Eastern Pacific gets comparatively colder than normal,as a consequence of which, there is a strong high pressure over the eastern equatorial Pacific.

The Conditions of La Nina.

• La Nina is caused by a build-up ofcooler-than-normal waters in the tropical Pacific,the area of the Pacific Ocean between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
• La Nina is characterized bylower-than-normal air pressure over the western Pacific.These low-pressure zones contribute to increased rainfall.
• La Nina events are also associated withrainier – than – normal conditionsover southeastern Africa and northern Brazil.
• However, strong La Nina events are associated with catastrophic floods in northern Australia.
• La Nina is also characterized by higher-than-normal pressureover the central and eastern Pacific.
• This results in decreased cloud production and rainfall in that region.
• Drier-than-normal conditionsare observed along the west coast of tropical South America, the Gulf Coast of the United States,and the pampas region of southern South America.

Impact of La Nina

Europe: In Europe, El Nino reduces the number of autumnal hurricanes.

• La Nina tends to lead to milder winters in Northern Europe(especially UK) and colder winters in southern/western Europe leading to snow in the Mediterranean region.
• North America:It is continental North America where most of these conditions are felt. The wider effects include:

1. Stronger winds along the equatorial region, especially in the Pacific.
2. Favourable conditions for hurricanes in the Caribbean and central Atlantic area.
3. Greater instances of tornados in various states of the US.
4. South America: La Nina causes drought in the South American countries of Peru and Ecuador.

• It usually has a positive impact on the fishing industryof western South America.
• Western Pacific:In the western Pacific, La Nina increases the potential for landfall in those areas most vulnerable to their effects, and especially into continental Asia and China.

1. It also leads to heavy floods in Australia.
2. There are increased temperatures in Western Pacific, Indian Ocean and off the Somalian coast.

La Nina in 2010

• The 2010 La Nina event correlates with one of the worst floods in the history of Queensland, Australia.
• More than 10,000 people were forced to evacuate, and damage from the disaster was estimated at more than $2 billion.

Jnanpith honour for Gulzar and Sanskrit scholar Jagadguru Rambhadracharya

Literary prize carries a cash component of ₹11 lakh, a statue of Vagdevi and a citation; it is the second time the award is being given for Sanskrit and the fifth time for Urdu

1. his is the second time the Jnanpith Award has been given to Sanskrit and the fifth time for Urdu.
2. Goan writer Damodar Mauzo has received the prestigious award for 2022

Rambhadracharya: He is the founder and head of Tulsi Peeth in Chitrakoot. He is a renowned Hindu spiritual leader, educator and writer of more than 240 books and texts, including four epics. Famous Literary Works: Śrīrāghavakṛpābhāṣyam, Bhṛṅgadūtam, Aṣṭāvakra. He is a polyglot who speaks 22 languages, Rambhadracharya is a poet and writer in several Indian languages, including Sanskrit, Hindi, Awadhi, and Maithili. He was named Giridhara Misra and lost his eyesight at the age of two months due to trachoma. Earlier Achievements: In 2015, he received the Padma Vibhushan award. He is one of the four Jagadguru Ramanandacharyas of the Ramananda sect and has held this position since 1982.

Gulzar: Renowned for Sampooran Singh Kalra, popularly known as Gulzar, is celebrated for his works in Hindi cinema and is considered one of this era’s finest Urdu poets. In poetry, he invented a new genre, ‘Triveni’, a non-muqaffa poem of three lines. Earlier Achievements: Sahitya Akademi Award for Urdu in 2002, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2013, Padma Bhushan in 2004, and at least five National Film awards for his works. One of his finest works includes the song “Jai Ho” for the film “Slumdog Millionaire”, which received an Oscar award in 2009 and a Grammy Award in 2010.

Jnanpith Award:

• Establishment: In 1944.
• It was instituted in 1961, and the first award was given in 1965.
• Sponsored by: The cultural organization Bharatiya Jnanpith.
• Eligibility: The Award is open for only Indian citizens.
• The Highest Literary Award in India: The Jnanpith Award is given annually for outstanding contributions to Indian literature.
• It is given annually for the best creative literary writing to writers in any Constitutionally recognized 22 Scheduled Languages and, since 2013, in English.Honor: The prize carries a cash award of Rs 21 lakh, a citation, and a bronze replica of Vagdevi (Saraswati), the goddess of learning.

CMS COP 14

14th CoP (Conference of Parties) to Convention on Migratory Species (CMS)

India and CMS (Bonn Convention): India has been a signatory to Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) since 1983. For conservation and management, India has signed a non-legal binding MoU with CMS on the conservation and management of Raptors, Dugongs, Siberian Cranes, and Marine Turtles. India’s contribution to global biodiversity is about 8% with 2.4% of the World’s land area. India contains a significant bird flyway network like the Central Asian Flyway. Migratory species like Amur Falcon, Black-necked Cranes, Dugongs, Humpback Whales, etc are provided temporary shelter in India.

Adoption of Listing Proposals:

• Parties agreed toadopt listing proposals for 14 migratory species, including the Eurasian lynx, Peruvian pelican, Pallas’s cat, guanaco, Lahille’s bottlenose dolphin, harbour porpoise, Magellanic plover, bearded vulture, Blackchin guitarfish, Bull ray, Lusitanian cownose ray, Gilded catfish, and Laulao catfish.
• These listings aim to enhance protection and conservation efforts for these species.

Cooperation and Conservation Efforts:

1. The proposals emphasised the importance of cooperation betweenrange states to address threats to migratory species, conduct research, and implement conservation activities.
2. Range statesrefer to countries or territories that are within the geographical range where a particular species occurs naturally. These countries or territories are directly involved in the management, conservation, and protection of the species and its habitat.
3. Efforts were focused on maintaining existing populations, improving connectivity, safeguarding habitats, and restoring populations.

Focus on Threats:

1. Various threats to migratory species were highlighted,including habitat degradation, fragmentation, illegal trade, bycatch, contaminants, and human activities such as fencing, oil and gas development, mining, and underwater noise.
2. The inclusion of these species in the CMS appendices aims to addressthese threats and promote their conservation.

International Collaboration:

1. Range states collaborated to propose listing amendments and adoption of conservation measures.
2. Countries like North Macedonia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Ecuador, Panama, and others supported listing proposals and urged forjoint efforts to protect migratory species and their habitats.

Recognition of Endangered Status:

• Several species, such as the Lahille’s bottlenose dolphin, Peruvian pelican, and Magellanic plover, were recognized as ‘Vulnerable,’ ‘Endangered,’ or ‘Critically Endangered’ in IUCN REDLISTdue to population decline and various threats.
• Listing these species in CMS appendicesaims to improve their conservation status and provide support for habitat protection.

Regional and Global Conservation Initiatives:

• The adoption of proposals reflected efforts to address conservation issues at regional and global levels.
• Measures were recommended to protect specific populations, such as the Baltic Proper population of the harbour porpoise and the Mediterranean Sea populations of various species, while also considering broader conservation strategies.

damselfly

A team of researchers have discovered a new species of damselfly at the Ponmudi hills in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala.

Key facts about the new species of damselfly

• Name:Cliffside Bambootail (Phylloneura rupestris).
• Group:Belongs to a group known as bambootails, characterized by a long abdomen resembling bamboo stalks.
• Habitat:Lays eggs in moss beds located in seasonal rills that flow over rock cliffs.
• Significance:The discovery is notable because, for over 160 years, the genus Phylloneura was considered monotypic, having only one described species, the Myristica Bambootail.

Myristica Bambootail:

1. Population associated with myristica swamps, earning it the common name Myristica Bambootail.
2. Sole described species of the genus Phylloneura.
3. Considered near-threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
4. Endemic to the Western Ghats, recorded only in the area between the Nilgiri Hills and Sharavathi Valley, north of the Palghat Gap.

Ponmudi Hills:

• Location: Ponmudi, translating to ‘Golden Hill’ or ‘Golden Peak,’ is situated in the state of Kerala, India.
• Geography: It forms part of the Western Ghats Mountain range, running parallel to the Arabian Sea, and is situated at an altitude of 1100 meters above sea level.
• Agasthyamalai Landscape:Ponmudi hills are integral to the Agasthyamalai landscape, located at the southernmost tip of the Western Ghats.

Biodiversity: The hills are renowned for their rich biodiversity, and they recently became notable for the discovery of the third species of damselfly within this region.