CURRENT AFFAIRS
TOPICS:
India, Israel to enhance defence ties
(GS II – International Relations)
The National Green Tribunal (NGT)
(GSIII Biodiversity and Environment)
Do we need a law to compensate those implicated in false cases?
(GSII – Functioning of the judiciary)
Liquid mirror telescope in Devasthal sees first light
(GSIII – science and technology)
2 dead in fresh targeted killings in Valley
(GSIII- Internal security)
India, Israel to enhance defence ties
Context:
- India and Israel on Thursday signed a ‘vision Statement’ to deepen the longstanding defence cooperation.
- This was adopted at a meeting between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his visiting Israeli counterpart Benny Gantz.
India – Israel ties
- ? The two Ministers presented a joint declaration marking 30 years of Israel-India relations and reiterated their commitment to deepening defence ties.
- ? Israel opened its embassy in Delhi on February 1, 1992. The Indian Embassy in Tel Aviv opened on May 15 that year
Defence
- Nearly 40 % of Israel’s defence exports are to India.
- Israel’s advanced military technology is given to India.
- Barak 1 surface-to-air (SAM) missiles.
- Phalcon airborne warning and control systems (AWACS).
AGRICULTURE AND WATER
- To tackle problems of Indian agriculture like erratic rainfall andpoor agricultural productivity.
- Poor water use efficiency. (Israel helps in drip irrigation).
- Cooperation in water conservation.
- Waste-water treatment and its reuse for agriculture.
- Desalination plants.
Challenges:
- Pegasus is surveillance software made by the Israeli company NSO. Indian government criticized its use on Indian politicians, social workers …etc.
- Israel and Palestine issue.
- India voted against the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. (UNGA resolution)
The National Green Tribunal (NGT)
Context:
- The National Green Tribunal(NGT) imposed a penalty of 52 crore on Udupi Power Corporation Ltd. (UPCL), part of Adani Power, for violating environmental laws and polluting its surroundings at Nandikur near Padubidri in Udupi district of Karnataka.
- The Bench said 50% of the compensation should be utilized for improving environmental infrastructure.
ABOUT NGT
- The National Green Tribunal has been established on 18.10.2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010.
- New Delhi is the Principal Place of Sitting of the Tribunal and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata, and Chennai shall be the other four places of sitting of the Tribunal.
- It was established for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources.
- Enforcement of any legal right relating to the environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property …etc.
- The Tribunal shall not be bound by the procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, but shall be guided by principles of natural justice.
- The Tribunal’s dedicated jurisdiction in environmental matters shall provide speedy environmental justice and help reduce the burden of litigation in the higher courts.
- The Tribunal is mandated to make and endeavour for disposal of applications or appeals finally within 6 months of the filing of the same.
Important Landmark Judgements of NGT
- IT imposed 5 Crore penalty imposed on The Art of Living Festival which was conducted on Yamuna flood plains (this violated environmental norms).
- It imposed an interim ban on plastic bags of less than 50-micron thickness in Delhi because “they were causing animal deaths”
Challenges:
- NGT decisions are criticized that these are against economic growth and development.
- The absence of a formula-based mechanism in determining the compensation has been criticized.
- The lack of human and financial resources has led to high pendency of cases.
- Competition with other courts over (Supreme Court and High courts) NGT decisions challenged and sidelined.
Do we need a law to compensate those implicated in false cases?
Context:
- October 2021, Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan, was arrested in Mumbai by the Narcotics Control Bureau in a drug racket case.
- Now, after many twists and turns in the case, on May 28, he and five others were given a clean chit by a special investigation team from Delhi.
Raised issues
What about the emotional trauma suffered by him and his family?
- What about the countless victims of malicious prosecution, many of whom are resource less
- Reports of this issue circulate in the media for eternity, which can cause trauma for lifetime
- You have the financial, social and emotional burden of being involved in a crime, which in case you were falsely accused or maliciously prosecuted, you should be compensated for.
What are the reasons for wrongful and malicious prosecution, and the role of investigating officers?
- Political pressures
- TO get instant fame some police arrest innocent.
- False acquisitions should not be entertained just based on social media
- In the case of Aryan Khan, as it appears from the newspaper reports and some statements that have to arrest him and keep him in custody for almost a month.
Do we need a law to compensate those implicated in false cases?
- The Law Commission in its report number 277, titled ‘Wrongful Prosecution (Miscarriage of Justice): Legal Remedies’, has recommended enacting a specific legal provision for redressal such cases covering the substantive and procedural aspects.
- Law is used to calculate compensation based on certain principles.
- Any case of deliberate, intentional arrest or booking of an individual in a criminal case should be compensated.
A liquid mirror telescope in Devasthal sees
first light
Context:
- The four metre International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT) saw the first light recently, gazing out from its vantage on Devasthal, a hill in Uttarakhand, into the deep sky.
About the telescope:
- The telescope has been built by a collaboration of scientists from Canada, Belgium, and India
- It is located at an altitude of 2,450 metres on the Devasthal Observatory campus of the Aryabhata Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) in the Nainital district.
- It will survey the sky
- Obtain images that can help observe transient phenomena such as supernovae
- Record the presence of space debris or meteorites
- The first image made by the telescope consisted of several stars and a galaxy, NGC 4274, which is 45 million light-years away
How it works:
- A large pool of mercury placed in a vessel is spun around so fast that it curves into a parabolic shape
- Since mercury is reflective, this shape helps in focusing the reflected light.
- A thin sheet of mylar protects the mercury from the wind.
2 dead in fresh targeted killings in Valley
Context
- Amid continuing targeted killings, a bank manager from Rajasthan and a labourer from Bihar working in a brick kiln were killed in separate incidents in Kashmir on Thursday
Why militancy increased
Increased access to social media
- Mass radicalization
- Anti-India propaganda among Kashmir youth
- Social media helped to recruit Kashmir youth to Pakistan organizations like JEM, LeT..etc
- Eighteen Kashmiri Pandits and Hindus have been killed in the Valley after Article 370 granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir was written down by Parliament in August 2019.
- Officials estimate that the Valley has been flooded with small weapons in the past six months, pushed into India from Pakistan through drones and tunnels along the Jammu border.
- The terrorist groups have changed strategy and are resorting to killing minorities and non locals to make it appear as a war against changing the demography of the Muslim majority Valley
UPSC Civil Services Daily Current Affairs 3rd June 2022
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