Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs
A parliamentary committee, set up to examine the controversial proposed amendments to the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, has endorsed the amendment Bill in its entirety.
The report prepared by the 31-member joint committee on the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023, which is expected to be tabled in Parliament during the Monsoon Session starting on July 20.
The Bill seeks to amend the pivotal 1980 law which was enacted to ensure that India’s forest land is not wantonly usurped for non-forestry purposes.
The Act empowers the Centre to require that any forest land diverted for non-forestry purposes be duly compensated. It also extends its remit to land which is not officially classified as “forest” in State or Union government records.
The proposed amendments “diluted” the Supreme Court’s 1996 judgment in the Godavarman case that extended protection to wide tracts of forests, even if they were not recorded as forests.
Forest Bill goes to Parliament unchanged
The Environment Ministry denied this point, and argued that provisions in the Bill guarded against such situations. Construction of highways, hydel power projects and other such projects in geographically sensitive areas within 100 km of International Borders or the Line of Control will no longer require a forest clearance.
There were even objection to the proposal to change the name of the 1980 law from the Forest (Conservation) Act to the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, which translates to Forest (Conservation and Augmentation) Act.
‘Removing ambiguities’
While the Act has been amended several times in the past few decades — mostly in the spirit of bringing larger tracts of forest-like land under State protection — the latest set of amendments are different. According to the Centre, these amendments are necessary to “…remove ambiguities and bring clarity about the applicability of the Act in various lands”.
Some of the proposed amendments specify where the Act does not apply. Other amendments specifically encourage the practice of cultivating plantations on non-forest land that could, over time, increase tree cover, act as a carbon sink, and aid India’s ambition of being ‘net zero’ in terms of emissions by 2070.
The amendments would also remove the 1980 Act’s restrictions on creating infrastructure that would aid national security and create livelihood opportunities for those living on the periphery of forests.
The amendments were only introduced in the Lok Sabha in March, but a draft copy has been in the public domain, for comment, since June 2022.
The Lok Sabha moved a motion to refer the Bill to a Joint Committee, which was seconded by the Rajya Sabha. Congress spokesperson and chair of the Standing Committee on Science, Environment and Forests, had objected to the Bill being moved to a Joint Committee instead of the Standing Committee.
Aquaculture scientists have decoded the genome of an indigenous variety of white shrimp P. indicus that will not only make India self-reliant but also improve the country’s export income.
India’s seafood exports are estimated at ₹42,000 crore and the farming sector relies on an exotic, genetically improved, imported Pacific white shrimp called Vannamei. Globally, this variety is the dominant species used for export.
Farmed shrimp contribute to as much as 70% of the country’s sea food export market. The mother shrimp, P. Vannamei is imported and cultivated on farms and then, exported. To make the country self-reliant under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana.
“To break this single species dependence and to promote our indigenous species vis-à-vis exotic species for the benefit of Indian shrimp industry and shrimp farmers.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Central Institute for Brackishwater Aquaculture (ICAR-CIBA) has taken Indian white shrimp, P. indicus as a national priority species under the Make in India flagship programme”
Supplying to the world
The new species would make India a pioneer in raising a parent stock of selectively bred Indian white shrimp and supplying to the world.
The scientists say the potential of the genetically improved shrimp strain would improve incrementally with the adoption of modern smart farming systems.
“We have created a nuclear breeding centre and all the scientific back up required for genetic selection has been completed. We have mapped the genetic parameters of shrimps from across the world,”
The need for self-reliance was enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic when the fish farmers could not access mother shrimp to farm, and it affected their livelihood.
Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana
The Kerala government may have to conduct a socio-economic caste census (SECC) to decide on the inclusion of Nair, Brahmin, Kshatriya, and Ambalavasi castes on the Other Backward Classes (OBC) list in the State.
The inclusion on the OBC list would entitle the community members to reservation in employment and admissions to educational institutions.
However, revision of the SECC would be a cumbersome and socially volatile exercise. Currently, there are 84 castes in Other Backward Classes in the State including Ezhava, Dheevara,Viswakarma, Latin Catholic, and Muslim.
Manava Aikyavedi, an organisation, had moved the High Court in 2017 to include Nair, Brahmin, Kshatriya, and Ambalavasi castes on the OBC list. The organisation argued that the communities had been getting the benefit of reservation from 1934, but it was taken away in 1957. It also argued that there were sufficient reasons for giving reservation to those castes.
At the same time, the Minority Indians Planning and Vigilance Commission Trust moved the court for updating the OBC list.
In a common judgment, the High Court had asked the Centre and the State governments to decide on the finalisation of socio-economic study for the identification of socially and educationally backward classes in Kerala and submit a report to the Kerala State Commission for Backward Classes.
The commission can decide on the backwardness of the four castes based only on an SECC. The commission is awaiting the government’s decision on holding the SECC to decide its future course of action.
Union Commerce Minister is heading for a two-day visit to London, to take forward negotiations for bilateral trade pacts with the United Kingdom and the four-nation European Free Trade Association (EFTA) bloc. (Read Pg:08 and 09 to improve your comprehension and logical reasoning skill)
