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The Tamil Nadu Assembly ‘unanimously’ adopted two resolutions against the Union government’s ‘One nation, One Election’ proposal and the proposed delimitation after 2026.
The resolution against the proposed delimitation reads, “This august House urges the Union government that the delimitation process, to be carried out after 2026 on the basis of Census, should not be implemented.
Owing to unavoidable reasons, if the number of seats on the basis of population is to increase, it shall be maintained at the present ratio of the constituencies between the States in the Assemblies and both Houses of Parliament fixed on the basis of the population of 1971.”
Kerala House requests Central govt. to amend wildlife Act to tackle human-animal conflict (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The Kerala Assembly adopted a unanimous resolution urging the Centre to suitably amend the Wildlife Protection Act to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts.
Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran tabled the resolution for discussion as per rule 118 of the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business.
Members across the aisle supported the resolution aimed at eliminating wildlife that trespass on human habitations, imperilling the life and property of citizens, destroying crops and preying on livestock. UDF MLAs Manjilamkuzhi Ali, T. Siddique, Sunny Joseph and I.C. Balakrishnan suggested certain amendments.
Wildlife intrusions in habitations abutting forests and lethal attacks on residents had impelled the government to request the Centre to make the law more contemporary.
The resolution demanded that the Central law empower Chief Forest Conservators to use lethal force to liquidate wild animals that trespass on residential localities and pose an imminent threat to human life. It also requested the Centre to initiate scientific and humane measures to control the wildlife population.
Editorial
Rescuing grace from disgrace (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Constitution)
The words ‘customary’, ‘ceremonial’ and ‘ritual’ are employed to describe the addresses of the President of India to our Parliament at its opening sessions each year and, likewise, to characterise those of Governors when they address the Legislative Assemblies in their State capitals.
India being the land of largely unquestioned custom, ceremonials and rituals, these addresses of the Head of State have also become part of the life of our polity.
The President of India and Governor arrive with ‘due’ fanfare, perform the ceremony of which the officiating ‘priest’ is the Speaker or Chairman, and depart feeling greatly relieved that it is over.
The speeches or addresses of the Head of State for these occasions, following British practice, are drafted by the government of the day. They are not written by the President of India or Governor, but only read out by them.
The drafts for these are received in their offices generally very close to the event and require them to be gone through against a tight time frame. This in itself makes the suggesting of changes by them difficult.
News
Centre uses British-era Act to block Internet in Punjab (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
As Punjab farmer groups prepared for a protest march to Delhi, the Union government invoked its powers under a British-era law to suspend mobile Internet in certain districts of the State last week, citing public emergency and public safety.
This is the first time the Union government has issued such orders to block the Internet, outside of the national capital.
Given that law and order is a State subject, the more usual procedure is for a State government to issue such orders, as was done in Haryana, which is governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Punjab, however, is ruled by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
In a departure from norms, the Union Home Ministry issued two orders, on February 10 and February 12, under the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules, 2017 of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885.
The orders, issued following a reference by the Intelligence Bureau, resulted in the Internet being suspended within the jurisdiction of 20 police stations in seven districts of Punjab — Patiala, SAS Nagar, Bathinda, Sri Mukhtsar Sahib, Mansa, Sangrur, and Fatehgarh Sahib — till February 16.
PM inaugurates Abu Dhabi’s first Hindu stone temple (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 1, Culture)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Abu Dhabi’s first Hindu stone temple, describing it as a symbol of the shared heritage of humanity and thanking the UAE for scripting a new golden chapter of human history.
Speaking at the inauguration of the temple built by the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), the Prime Minister profusely thanked the President of UAE, Sheikh Mohammad Zayed Al Nahyan, for making the grand temple in Abu Dhabi a reality and said he has not only won the hearts of Indians living in the Gulf nation but also of 140 crore Indians.
I hope that the BAPS Mandir will become a symbol of communal harmony and global unity for the whole world,” addressing a gathering that included UAE Tolerance Minister Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan and spiritual leaders from all faiths.
World
Israel forces ‘begin series’ of air strikes in Lebanon (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
The Israeli military said on Wednesday its fighter jets “began a series of strikes in Lebanon”, raising fears of a war between the two countries after months of cross-border fire.
The strikes came hours after fire from Lebanon wounded multiple people in northern Israel, according to medics.
Seven persons were wounded, five of them in the town of Safed, the Magen David Adom emergency service said.
Fighter jets struck a series of “Hezbollah terror targets” in the areas of Jabal El Braij, Houneh, Dunin, Adchit and Sawwaneh, the military said.
Lebanese media reported air raids on southern villages including Adchit, Sawwaneh and Shihabiyeh.
An AFP photographer saw medics and troops evacuating a wounded person by military helicopter from Safed’s Ziv hospital.
Business
‘MSP guarantee across crops can raise income and demand’ (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Guaranteeing a Minimum Support Price (MSP) across crops would support farm incomes and spur consumption demand, CRISIL Market Intelligence & Analytics said, estimating the “real cost” of such a guarantee at around ₹21,000 crore, based on Marketing Year (MY) 2023 trends.
While MSP-based procurement is done in only a few States, the firm said a guarantee will percolate its benefit to other regions. CRISIL’s analysis focused on 16 of the 23 crops for whom MSPs are announced, which account for over 90% of India’s farm output.
Our calculations show it will need a working capital of around ₹6 lakh crore in Marketing Year (MY) 2023. The real cost to the government, though, will be the difference between MSP and mandi prices.
In MY 2023, when half the 16 crops traded above MSP and half below it, that would add up to ₹21,000 crore. The cost could be higher if the government offloads the commodities in mandis because then prices could fall further than what was seen in those markets in 2022-23.
Science
Does updating COVID-19 vaccines frequently have any benefits? (Page no. 20)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Researchers update the composition of influenza vaccines every six monthsto match the strains of the virus that are circulating in the wild, so that the shots may provide protective immunity against the flu.
But despite their best efforts, researchers rarely perfectly match the strains loaded in the vaccine with the strains circulating by the time the vaccines reach the market.
The reason for this is the long gestation period — usually at least six months — between identifying the circulating strain and the development, manufacturing, and distribution of the vaccines.
By the time the updated flu vaccine is available, the circulating strain may have drifted from the one contained in the vaccine, thanks to the high mutational rates of influenza viruses.
The ‘match’ between strains included in the vaccine and strains in circulation is the most important factor controlling the vaccine effectiveness (VE) of flu vaccines.
The VE increases by more than 25%when there is a match with the circulating strains but can be as low as 10% in seasons when there is no match.
Another issue with flu vaccines is the durability of protection. According to a recent study, the VE declines by 7% for H3N2 to 11% for H1N1 viruses per month, and could vanish as soon as90 days after vaccination.
Scientists seek more protections for ‘living fossil’ (Page no. 20)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Environmental groups petitioned the U.S. government seeking endangered species protection for the American horseshoe crab, a “living fossil” under threat from commercial harvests for bait and biomedical use as well as from habitat loss and climate change.
These spine-tailed sea creatures, named for the shape of their body shells, were once a familiar sight to summer beachgoers along the U.S. mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coasts.
But populations have crashed in recent decades, with spawning numbers down two-thirds from 1990 in the Delaware Bay estuary that was once their biggest stronghold, according to conservation groups. Research also shows their egg densities falling more than 80% in the past four decades.
Those trends are tied to stress on other marine species that feed on their larvae and eggs, including the rufa red knot, a migratory shorebird whose own 2014 threatened-species listing cited horseshoe crab harvests as a contributing factor.