PM IAS DEC 01 NEWS ANALYSIS

Heat waves & India’s Cooling Sector

In Context

• Recently, the report, “Climate Investment Opportunities in India’s Cooling Sector” was released by the World Bank.

Report Highlights 

• Exposure to heat waves:
  • From 2030 onwards, more than 160 to 200 million people could be exposed to a lethal heat wave in India every year.
• Productivity Decline:
  • Around 34 million Indians will face job losses due to heat stress-related productivity decline. 
• Demand for cooling:
  • By 2037, the demand for cooling is likely to be eight times more than current levels, the World Bank has said in a report.
  • In this scenario, it is imperative for India to deploy alternative and innovative energy-efficient technologies for keeping spaces cool. 
• Significance of India’s Cooling Sector:
  • India’s Cooling Sector could open an investment opportunity of $1.6 trillion by 2040 besides reducing greenhouse gas emissions significantly and creating 3.7 million jobs.
  • With the demand for cooling shooting up, there will be a demand for a new air-conditioner every 15 seconds, according to the report.
    • This demand will lead to an expected rise of 435% in annual greenhouse gas emissions over the next two decades. 
  • Thus, there is a need to shift to a more energy-efficient pathway which could lead to a substantial reduction in expected CO2 levels.

What is Heat Wave?It is a period of abnormally high temperatures, more than the normal maximum temperature that occurs during the summer season.It typically occurs between March and June, and in some rare cases even extends till July. The extreme temperatures and resultant atmospheric conditions adversely affect people living in these regions as they cause physiological stress, sometimes resulting in death.Criterion for declaring heat waves in IndiaHeat wave is considered if the maximum temperature of a station reaches at least 40°C or more for Plains and at least 30°C or more for Hilly regions.Based on Departure from Normal Heat Wave: Departure from normal is 4.50°C to 6.40°C.Severe Heat Wave: Departure from normal is >6.40 degree C.Based on Actual Maximum Temperature Heat Wave: When actual maximum temperature ≥ 45 degree C. Severe Heat Wave: When actual maximum temperature ≥47 degree C.If the above criteria met at least in 2 stations in a Meteorological subdivision for at least two consecutive days and it was declared on the second day.Causes The prevalence of extreme temperatures around the world is the result of local factors and also global warming.Scientists have made clear how greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions exacerbate temperatures in the oceans, leading to soaring temperatures. Anthropogenic GHG emissions are culprit in the current plight from intense weather.Crucially, heatwaves and wildfires are ‘unimaginable’ without human-caused climate change.

Suggestions by the report

• India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) 2019:
  • The report proposes a roadmap to support India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) 2019, through new investments in three major sectors:
    • Building construction, 
    • Cold chains and 
    • Refrigerants.
• Climate-responsive cooling techniques:
  • Adopting climate-responsive cooling techniques as a norm in both private and government-funded constructions can ensure that those at the bottom of the economic ladder are not disproportionately affected by rising temperatures. 
  • The report suggests that India’s affordable housing program for the poor, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), can adopt such changes on scale.
• Policy for district cooling:
  • It also proposed enacting a policy for district cooling which could lead to the consumption of 20-30% less power than the most efficient conventional cooling solutions.
    • District cooling technologies generate chilled water in a central plant which is then distributed to multiple buildings via underground insulated pipes. 
    • This brings down the cost for providing cooling to individual buildings. 
  • Apart from this, guidelines for implementation of local and city-wide urban cooling measures such as cool-roofs should also be considered.
• Fixing gaps in cold chain distribution networks:
  • To minimise rising food and pharmaceutical wastage during transport due to higher temperatures, the report recommends fixing gaps in cold chain distribution networks. 
  • Investing in pre-cooling and refrigerated transport can help decrease food loss by about 76% and reduce carbon emissions by 16%.
• Lowering global warming footprint:
  • Improvements in servicing, maintenance and disposal of equipment that uses hydrochlorofluorocarbons, alongside a shift to alternative options with a lower global warming footprint, are also recommended. 
  • This can create two million jobs for trained technicians over the next two decades and reduce the demand for refrigerants by around 31%.

Way Ahead

• The right set of policy actions and public investments can help leverage large scale private investment in this sector.
• India’s cooling strategy can help save lives and livelihoods, reduce carbon emissions and simultaneously position India as a global hub for green cooling manufacturi

Delimitation exercise of J&K

In News

• Recently, the Supreme Court questioned petitioners about the reason for not challenging the constitutional validity of a specific provision in the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act.

More about the news

• Delimitation exercise in question:
  • A provision in the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 that confers the Delimitation Commission with the power to “carry out” the re-adjustment of constituencies in the Union Territory formed after the abrogation of Article 370 in the erstwhile State was in question.
• Issue:
  • Authority to conduct delimitation:
    • The petitioners alleged that Sections 60 and 61 of the 2019 Act, which defined the role of the Election Commission of India (ECI) in the process of delimitation of constituencies, were in contradiction to Section 62.
    • The petitioners argued that only the ECI, under Section 60 of the J&K Reorganisation Act, was empowered to conduct the delimitation exercise. 
  • Census in consideration:
    • They further argued before the Bench that Article 170 of the Constitution barred delimitation exercise on the basis of the 2011 census. 
    • It had to either happen on the basis of 2001 census or await the first census after the year 2026.
• Government’s response:
  • The government has countered that there were two alternative mechanisms to carry out delimitation for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. 
  • By virtue of Sections 60-61, while the power to determine delimitation was conferred on the ECI, Section 62(2) and 62(3) conferred powers to carry out delimitation on the Delimitation Commission.

About Delimitation of J&K

• Delimitation Meaning:
  • Delimitation is the act of redrawing boundaries of an Assembly or Lok Sabha seat to represent changes in population over time.
• Role of Delimitation Commission:
  • This exercise is carried out by a Delimitation Commission, whose orders have the force of law and cannot be questioned before any court. 
• Delimitation Exercises in J&K:
  • Before J&K Reorganization Act:
    • The erstwhile J&K state had 111 seats.
      • 46 in Kashmir, 37 in Jammu, and four in Ladakh — plus 24 seats reserved for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
    • When Ladakh was carved out as a Union Territory, J&K was left with 107 seats, including the 24 for PoK.
      • The Reorganisation Act increased the seats to 114 — 90 for Jammu & Kashmir, besides the 24 reserved for PoK.
    • In the erstwhile state, delimitation of parliamentary constituencies was governed by the Constitution of India and that of Assembly seats was carried out by the then state government under the Jammu and Kashmir Representation of the People Act, 1957. 
  • After enactment of J&K Reorganization Act:
    • After the abrogation of J&K’s special status in 2019, the delimitation of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in the newly-created Union Territory would be as per the provisions of the Indian Constitution. 
    • On March 6, 2020, the government set up the Delimitation Commission, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, which was tasked with winding up delimitation in J&K in a year. 
    • As per the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, the number of Assembly seats in J&K would increase from 107 to 114, which is expected to benefit the Jammu region.

Recommendation of Delimitation Commission for J&K:

• Constituencies redrawal:
  • Delimitation Commission has recommended seven additional constituencies:
    • 6 for Jammu
    • 1 for Kashmir
    • Jammu Division will now have 43 seats compared to 37 earlier
    • While Kashmir Valley will have 47 seats compared to 46 earlier.
• Major Recommendations:
  • Reorganisation of the Parliamentary constituencies so that 5 Lok Sabha seats constitute 18 Assembly constituencies each, taking the total number of assembly constituencies to 90.
  • Reserving 9 Assembly seats for Scheduled Tribes, 6 in Jammu while 3 in Kashmir.
  • Doing away with regional distinction between Jammu and Kashmir and treating it as one.
    • The Anantnag region in Kashmir has been combined with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu to carve out Anantnag-Rajouri as one Parliamentary constituency.
• Kashmiri Migrants:
  • The Commission has recommended provision of at least two members from the community of Kashmiri Migrants (Kashmiri Hindus) in the Legislative Assembly.
  • It has also recommended that Centre should consider giving representation in the J&K Legislative Assembly to the displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, who migrated to Jammu after Partition.
• Schedule Tribes:
  • The Commission has reserved nine Assembly seats for Scheduled Tribes. Six of these are in the redrwan Anantnag parliamentary seat, including in Poonch and Rajouri, which has the highest ST population.

Delimitation Commission: About:The Delimitation Commission in India is a high-power body whose orders have the force of law.Its orders cannot be called in question before any court.These orders come into force on a date to be specified by the President of India on this behalf.The copies of its orders are laid before the House of the People and the State Legislative Assembly concerned, but no modifications are permissible therein by them.Constitutional Provisions:Article 82: This provides the Parliament with the authority to enact a Delimitation Act after every Census.Article 170: This provides for the  States to get divided into territorial constituencies as per the Delimitation Act after every Census.Functions:To determine the number and boundaries of constituencies in a way that the population of all seats, so far as practicable, is the same.Identifying seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes wherever their population is relatively large.In case of difference of opinion among members of the Commission, the will of majority prevails.Composition:The Delimitation Commission is appointed by the President of India includes following members:Retired Supreme Court judgeChief Election CommissionerRespective State Election Commissioners.Frequency:In India, such Delimitation Commissions have been constituted 4 times:In 1952 under the Delimitation Commission Act, 1952In 1963 under Delimitation Commission Act, 1962In 1973 under Delimitation Act, 1972In 2002 under Delimitation Act, 2002.

Rising Cyber Attacks in India

In News

• Recently, the premier medical institute in the country, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences New Delhi (AIIMS) was crippled by a major cyberattack.

More about the news

• Most of its servers stopped working as also the eHospital network managed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC). 
• AIIMS servers had the critical health data of several individuals at the helm of the country’s government.

More about the Cyberattacks

• Definition:
  • Cyberattacks are unwelcome attempts to steal, expose, alter, disable or destroy information through unauthorized access to computer systems.
  • Typically such forms of attacks to keep networks from functioning after encrypting data, are carried out by ransomware-seeking entities and organisations are sent demands which are often negotiated and paid without informing law enforcement.
• Cyberterrorism:
  • Cyberterrorism is often defined as any premeditated, politically motivated attack against information systems, programs and data that threatens violence or results in violence. 

• Significance of Cyberattack on medical institutes:
  • Cyber attacks on medical institutes are getting common and the pandemic has been a turning point. 
  • During the pandemic, hackers and criminal syndicates have realised the dependence of these institutes on digital systems to optimally manage medical functioning as well as store and handle large volumes of patient data, including their reports.
  • It is a natural target for cyber attackers and ransom seekers because the data available here is very precious. 
• What are the reasons for increasing Cyberattacks?
  • Increasing dependency on technology: 
    • As we grow faster, more and more systems are being shifted to virtual space to promote access and ease of use. 
    • However, the downside to this trend is the increased vulnerability of such systems to cyber-attacks. 
  • Asymmetric and covert warfare: 
    • Unlike conventional warfare with loss of lives and eyeball-to-eyeball situations, cyber warfare is covert warfare with the scope of plausible deniability, i.e. the governments can deny their involvement even when they are caught. 
    • Therefore, cyber warfare has increasingly become the chosen space for conflict between nations.

Challenges

• Health not categorised as Critical information (CI) infrastructure:
  • Most countries define the health and medical sector as critical information (CI) infrastructure. 
  • An organisation like AIIMS New Delhi could be counted as a “strategic and public enterprise”, health is not specified directly as a CI infrastructure.
• Lack of skill set:  
  • Nearly two-thirds would find it challenging to respond to a cybersecurity incident due to the shortage of skills within their team.
  • The survey found that 50% of all respondents would find it challenging to respond and recover from a cyberattack due to the shortage of skills within their team, and less than 25% of companies with 5,000 to 50,000 employees, have the people and skills they need today.
  • The dearth of staff security positions is a major threat to business continuity and even to national defence. 
• Poor Prioritisation: 
  • The survey indicates that whereas about 85% of cyber leaders agree that cyber resilience is a business priority for their organization, one of their most prominent challenges is to gain decision-makers’ support when prioritising cyber risks, against a plurality of other risks. 
  • These discordant results indicate that highlighting cyber resilience as a business priority alone is necessary but insufficient.

Way ahead

• Need of the national cyber security strategy:
  • This incident is a wake-up call for organisations across sectors to shore up cyber security measures, it is also important to push and announce the national cyber security strategy.
  • Cyber readiness:
    • That strategy will be a guiding document to motivate and monitor the preparedness of cyber readiness of institutes and also enhance capacity on many fronts including forensics, accurate attribution and cooperation. 
• Budgetary preference:
  • Significant budgets have to be allocated by various ministries to ensure that cyber security measures don’t remain the last priority. 
• Capacity enhancement: 
  • The capacity enhancement for the National Critical Information Infrastructure Centre (NCIIPC) and CERTIn has to be undertaken to address the emerging sophisticated nature of threats and attacks and sectoral CERTs have to be set up for many areas including health. 
• International cooperation:
  • International cooperation on countering cyber attacks has to gain more teeth beyond the Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) meetings and the US-led Counter Ransomware Initiative (CRI) of 37 countries and the European Union.

Major Government Initiatives for Cyber SecurityCERT-In: It is an organisation of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology with the objective of securing Indian cyberspace.Cyber Surakshit Bharat Initiative: It is an initiative from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) that aims at creating a robust cybersecurity ecosystem in India. This program was in association with the National e-Governance Division (NeGD).National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre:   NCIIPC is a central government establishment, formed to protect critical information of our country, which has an enormous impact on national security, economic growth, or public healthcare. Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C): The MHA launched this I4C Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre program to combat cybercrime in the country, through a coordinated and efficient method. Cyber Swachhta Kendra (Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre):It is an installation under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). Information Technology Act, 2000: IT Act of 2000 came into effect in India on 09 June 2000. IT Act states in its preamble that the purpose of the legislation is to provide legal recognition to electronic transactions.

RBI’s Modified Digital Lending Norms comes into Effect

In News

• The modified guidelines on digital lending by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have come into effect from 1st December, 2022.
  • Its new regulations are based on recommendations from a working group set up in 2021 on Digital lending including lending through online platforms and mobile apps (WGDL).

Who are digital lenders?

• RBI has categorised digital lenders into three groups:
  • Entities which are regulated by the RBI and are allowed to carry out lending business.
  • Entities that are authorised to carry out lending as per other statutory or regulatory provisions but are not regulated by the RBI.
  • Entities lending outside the purview of any statutory or regulatory provisions.

India’s digital lending

• Digital lending involves giving and recovering loans through web platforms or mobile apps. 
• It facilitates speedy disbursal and helps lower costs.
• Lending Service Providers (LSPs) operate in collaboration with Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) who disburse credit to customers using the LSPs platform.
  • These platforms often resort to reckless practices by lending beyond a borrower’s repayment capacity.

What are the new guidelines?

• Objective:
  • The digital lending modified guidelines aim to protect customers from exorbitant interest rates and keep a check on unethical loan recovery practices.
  • The regulatory framework is basically focussed on the digital lending ecosystem of RBI-regulated entities and the lending service providers. 
• Loan disbursals and repayments:
  • These are to be executed only between the bank accounts of the borrowers and the regulated entities such as the banks and the NBFCs.
  • There will be no pass-through/pool account of the Lending Service Providers (LSPs). 
• Fees and Charges:
  • Any fees or charges payable to Lending Service Providers (LSPs) in the credit intermediation process shall be paid directly by Regulated Entities and not by the borrower.
• Applicability:
  • Instructions are only applicable for the existing customers availing fresh loans and to new customers getting onboarded.
• Data collection:
  • Data collected by digital lending apps must be need-based, with the borrower’s prior consent, and can be audited if required.
• Increase in credit limit:
  • Borrower’s consent on the increase in the credit limit is must. 
  • An automatic credit increase without the consent would be prohibited.
• Grievance redressal officer: 
  • A nodal grievance redressal officer will also be deployed.
  • Such grievance redressal officers shall also deal with complaints against their respective Digital Lending Apps (DLAs).
    • Digital Lending Apps (DLAs) are mobile and web-based applications with user interfaces that allow a borrower to borrow from a digital lender.  
• Ombudsman: 
  • The borrower can complain to the Integrated Ombudsman Scheme of the RBI if their grievance is not resolved by the bank within 30 days.
• Credit Information Companies (CICs):
  • Regulated Entities are required to ensure that any lending carried out through digital lending apps has to be reported to Credit Information Companies (CICs).
  • Lending through the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) mode also needs to be reported to the CICs.

Major Issues

• LSPs often resort to reckless lending practices by endowing credit beyond a borrower’s repayment capacity. The risk is mitigated by spreading it to all users by charging higher interest rates. 
• There is absence of standardised disclosure and regulatory norms which made it cumbersome to assess a participant’s operational legitimacy.
• Unregulated apps: There were about 1,100 lending apps available for Indian android users of which about 600 were illegal. They were either unregulated by the RBI or had NBFC partners with an asset size of less than 1,000 crore, prompting doubts on its operability.
• The space is largely dominated by NBFCs: Its customers particularly include small borrowers without a documented credit history and thus, not served by traditional financial institutions.
• Others: The concerns primarily relate to unbridled engagement of third parties, mis-selling, breach of data privacy, unfair business conduct, charging of exorbitant interest rates, and unethical recovery practices. 

Significance

• Tackling concerns: The guidelines aim to tackle concerns like unscrupulous lending practices and involvement of third parties, mis-selling and data privacy. 
• Regulated market: Licensed and compliant players will have an advantage over fintech’s with other NBFC partnerships and are likely to see rising market share in the future.
• Financial inclusion: with new innovations underway, digital lending has enabled many Financial Service Providers a way to offer much better products to the masses at a much faster rate which is even more cost-efficient.
• Reaching to the remotest area: Digital lending can prove to be a tool acting towards the growth of higher quality financial services to underserved businesses and people.
• Avoiding delay: Online lending has played a pivotal role in evading cumbersome red-tapism usually involved while availing loans offline in a traditional setting.

Way forward

• The need of the hour is competent systems and processes that would further strengthen data privacy and security of confidential information shared between customers and regulated entities.
• This regulation would also address concerns emanating from TechFin which are companies that are primarily tech-based service providers, say e-commerce, and also offer financial services. 

Enhanced Access and Service Excellence (EASE) ProgramIt was launched in 2018.It is driven by Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).EASE aims to foster new-age reforms in Public Sector Banks (PSBs) to improve profitability, asset quality, customer service and digital capabilities. The EASE programme sets a common reforms agenda for public-sector banks every year. It stresses on data analytics, automation, and digitization.The fourth edition of EASE was focussed on technology-enabled simplified and collaborative banking.EASE 5.0 will continue to focus on driving an enhanced digital experience along with data-driven, integrated, and inclusive banking across all banks.

SC moots idea of ‘Project Great Indian Bustard’

In News

• Recently, the Supreme Court (SC) sought Centre’s review on the idea of ‘Project Great Indian Bustard (GIB)’ to save endangered birds.

Key Points

• About: 
  • The Supreme Court had set up a three-member committee to assess the feasibility of laying high-voltage underground power cables.
  • SC directed the committee to submit an updated status report on steps to safeguard the GIB.
  • Project GIB is on the lines of ‘Project Tiger’, which was started in 1973 to save the big cats.
• SC’s Demands: 
  • It sought reports from the chief secretaries of Rajasthan and Gujarat on:
    • Installation of bird diverters in priority areas
    • All bird diverters shall be in compliance with the quality required by the committee appointed by this court
    • Assess the total length of transmission lines in the two states where under-grounding of electric wires have to be done to ensure the birds do not die of electrocution.

Great Indian Bustard

Image Courtesy: Britannica 

• About: 
  • It is considered India’s most critically endangered bird species.
  • It is especially found in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
  • One of the heaviest flying birds endemic to the Indian subcontinent.
  • State Bird of Rajasthan
• Extinction: 
  • As per the 2021 report of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), they are on the verge of extinction with hardly 50 to 249 of them alive.
• Scientific Name: Ardeotis nigriceps
• Features:
  • It is a large bird with brown-and-white feathers with black crown and wing markings. It is one of the heaviest birds in the world.
  • Males have whitish necks and underparts with narrow black breast-bands. 
  • Females are smaller, with a greyer neck and typically no or incomplete breast-band.
• Habitat: 
  • Untamed, Arid grasslands.
  • A Maximum number of GIBs were found in Jaisalmer and the Indian Army-controlled field firing range near Pokhran, Rajasthan.
  • Other areas: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
  • The species occurs in the Indian Subcontinent, with former strongholds in the Thar desert in the north-west and the Deccan tableland of the Peninsula.
  • This species inhabits arid and semi-arid grasslands with scattered short scrub, bushes and low intensity cultivation in flat or gently undulating terrain. 
• Population:
  • As per the studies conducted by Wildlife Institute of India, there are around 150 Great Indian Bustards left across the country which includes about 128 birds in Rajasthan and less than 10 birds each in the States of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
  • Bustard deaths have reached a total of seven this year (2022).
• Protection Status:
  • IUCN Status: Critically Endangered.
  • Listed in Wildlife Protection Act’s Schedule 1.
• Threats to the Bird:
  • Hunting, Intensification of agriculture, Power lines.
  • It has an extremely small population that has undergone an extremely rapid decline.
  • Widespread hunting for sport and food precipitated its decline, accelerated by vehicular access to remote areas.
  • High intensity poaching still continues in Pakistan and egg-collecting was rampant in many states during the early 19^th century.
  • However, the current threats are mostly from habitat loss and degradation, caused by
    • Widespread agricultural expansion and mechanization of farming.
    • Infrastructural development such as irrigation, roads, electricity pylons, wind turbines and constructions.
    • Mining and industrialization.
    • Well intended but ill-informed habitat management.
    • Lack of community support.
  • Power companies’ high tension wires are major threat factors, leading to death of about 15 percent of GIB population due to collisions with power lines, according to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

Indian Initiatives for Protection of GIB

• ‘Habitat Improvement and Conservation Breeding of Great Indian Bustard-an integrated approach’:
  • The Ministry with financial support from National Authority for Compensatory Afforestation Funds has sanctioned an outlay of Rs. 33.85 crores for the duration of five years for the programme titled ‘Habitat Improvement and Conservation Breeding of Great Indian Bustard-an integrated approach’. 
  • The objective :
    • to build up the captive population of Great Indian Bustard and to release the chicks in the wild for increasing the population and also to promote in-situ conservation of the species.
• Task Force:
  • The Ministry has also constituted a Task Force for suggesting Eco- friendly measures to mitigate impacts of power transmission lines and other power transmission infrastructures on wildlife including the Great Indian Bustard.
• The Great Indian Bustard has been included in the Appendix I of Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) on the basis of a proposal submitted by India.
  • It was also the mascot of the prestigious 13th CMS Conference of Parties held in Gandhinagar giving wider publicity for the conservation of the species.
• Important habitats of Great Indian Bustards are designated as National Parks/Sanctuaries for their better protection.
• The species has been identified for conservation efforts under the component ‘Species Recovery Programme’ of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS)-Development of Wildlife Habitat. 
• Directions of the National Green Tribunal (NGT):
  • NGT ordered a time-bound action plan for the implementation of mitigation measures such as installation of bird diverters and their regular maintenance and monitoring by power agencies.
• A Bustard conservation breeding centre in Rajasthan has been set up in Jaisalmer.
• Conservation Reserves: Great Indian Bustard habitats to be declared as conservation reserves.

Way Ahead

• The bird diverters should be expeditiously installed in priority areas.
• It now requires an urgent acceleration in targeted conservation actions in order to prevent it from becoming functionally extinct within a few decades.
• Formulate landscape conservation strategies in priority areas.
• Consolidate core breeding areas identified across the species’ range by creating strict refuges during prime breeding months (March–September).
• Assess the efficacy of these conservation actions by systematic, country-wide population monitoring on alternate years for the next 10 years.
• Commencing an ex-situ conservation breeding programme as an insurance against extinction.
• The local people and their active participation are central to conserving the species. 
• Community outreach and linking local livelihoods with bustard conservation in priority areas by subsidy/incentive-driven agro-environmental schemes that promote bustard-friendly practices.
• Regulate and control eco-tourism to minimise disturbance to the species.

World AIDS Day

In News

• Every year December 1st is observed as World AIDS Day.

World AIDS Day 2022

• About:
  • The World Health Organization (WHO) founded World AIDS Day on December 1 in 1988.
  • It aims to promote information sharing between local and national authorities, international organisations, and private citizens.
  • “Equalize” is this year’s World AIDS Day theme.
• Importance:
  • Approximately 38 million individuals globally carry the HIV virus.
    • Despite the virus being discovered in 1984, it has claimed the lives of almost 35 million people. 

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)

• Meaning:
  • Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
• Transmission:
  • It can be transmitted through the use of contaminated syringe for medical purposes or shared activities such as injecting drugs into the bloodstream, sexual intercourse which is not protected or from an infected mother to child during pregnancy, birth or through breastfeeding.
• Prevention: 
  • There is no cure for HIV/AIDS.
  • Prevention is the best way to safeguard oneself against AIDS.
  • Health experts insist upon using protection during sex and getting tested for HIV before planning a family.
  • Effective antiretroviral treatment (ART) prevents HIV transmission from mother to child during pregnancy, delivery and breastfeeding.
    • ART does not cure HIV but reduces its replication in the blood, thereby reducing the viral load to an undetectable level. 

Steps taken by Government of IndiaNational AIDS Control Programme (NACP) (Central Sector Scheme) India has achieved the 6th Millennium Development Goal (MDG 6) of halting and reversing the HIV epidemic.Prevention from Parent to Child Transmission (PPTCT) programmeHIV/AIDS Act 2017 (prohibits discrimination or unfair treatment of HIV-infected people on any grounds)PALS (PPTCT ART Linkages Software) System (Repository of HIV positive pregnant women)90:90:90 strategy as adopted by UNAIDS (90% (diagnosed, treatment (by anti-retroviral treatment (ART)) & suppression)) by 2020.Extended by 10 years with the goal post of 95-95-95.Social Awareness through workshops.Viral Load Testing Facilities: They have been scaled up, and HIV counselling, testing and community-based screening for early diagnosis have been ramped up to achieve the target of Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV. Project Sunrise: It was launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (2016) to tackle the rising HIV prevalence in north-eastern states.

Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU)

In News

• Prasar Bharati, India’s Public Service Broadcaster, is hosting the 59th Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) General Assembly 2022.

About ABU

• It was established in 1964 as a not-for-profit, non-government, non-political, professional association with a mandate to assist the development of broadcasting in the region. 
• It is the biggest broadcasting union in the world. 
• It works closely with the regional broadcasting unions in other parts of the world on matters of common concern.
• Members: ABU’s membership footprint covers around 70 countries and regions on five continents.
  •  The Union serves its diverse 250 members with tailored capacity-building in news, sports, programming, and technology.
• Functions: It promotes the collective interests of television and radio broadcasters as well as key industry players and facilitates regional and international media cooperation.
  • It provides rights-free content acquisition for developing countries, negotiates rights for major sports events, and organises coverage for the region. 
  • It facilitates high-quality co-productions between members bringing together the talent of Asia and the Pacific.

Nagaland Statehood Day

In News

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his wishes to the people of Nagaland on their Statehood day.

About Nagaland Statehood day

• Nagaland is celebrating its 60th statehood day. 
• It became the 16th State of the Union of India on 1st December 1963. 
• It is bounded by Assam in the West, Myanmar (Burma) in the east, Arunachal Pradesh and part of Assam in the North, and Manipur in the South.
• The State consists of 16 (Sixteen) Administrative Districts, inhabited by 17 major tribes along with other sub-tribes.
  • Each tribe is distinct in character from the others in terms of customs, language, and dress.
• Its people belong to the Indo-Mongoloid stock, whose ancestors lived off nature’s abundant gifts, blessed with sturdy formidable dispositions.
• The State is replete with festivities throughout the year, as all tribes celebrate their own festivals with a pageantry of colour, music, and dance.
  • A common feature is that the festivals revolve around agriculture, the mainstay of the Naga economy. These festivals hark back to times prior to the advent of Christianity.