Boko Haram

Context:

• Boko Haram militants kill at least 40 farmers in northeast Nigeria

More info:

• Boko Haram, Nigeria’s homegrown jihadis, took up arms in 2009 to fight Western education and impose their radical version of Islamic law.
• The conflict, now Africa’s longest struggle with militancy, has spilled into Nigeria’s northern neighbors.
• Some 35,000 civilians have been killed and more than 2 million have been displaced in the northeastern region, according to the U.N.
• The 2014 kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls by Boko Haram in the village of Chibok in Borno state – the epicentre of the conflict – captured the attention of the world.

About Boko Haram:

• Boko Haram is a Group of the Sunni People for the Calling and Jihad) and “Nigerian Taliban” – other translations and variants are used – is a Nigeria-based group that seeks to overthrow the current Nigerian Government and replace it with a regime based on Islamic law.
• It is popularly known in Nigerian and Western media as “Boko Haram,” which means “Western education is forbidden”.
• Boko Haram conducting attacks in neighboring Cameroon, Chad, Niger, as well as Nigeria, emphasizing the threat it poses to Western and regional interests.

Interpol’s ‘Silver Notice’

The International Criminal Police Organization, commonly known as Interpol.

Context:

• Interpol’s ‘Silver Notice’ pilot project to trace and recover criminal assets

News:

• The Interpol has launched ‘Silver Notice’, the newest addition to the organisation’s list of colour-coded notices and diffusions, as part of a pilot project involving 52 countries and territories.
• It’s aimed at helping trace and recover criminal assets for combating transnational organised crime through enhanced international police cooperation.

More info:

• The pilot project will run at least till November 2025.
• India is one of the participating countries.
• Through Silver Notices and Diffusions, member countries can request information on assets linked to a person’s criminal activities such as fraud, corruption, drug trafficking, environmental crime and other serious offences.
• It will facilitate locating, identifying, and obtaining information about laundered assets including properties, vehicles, financial accounts and businesses.
• Countries can use such inputs for bilateral engagement, including bilateral requests for seizure, confiscation, or recovery of assets, subject to the respective national laws.
• Stripping criminals and their networks of illegal profits is one of the most powerful ways to fight transnational organised crime, especially considering that 99% of criminal assets remain unrecovered.
• By targeting their financial gains, Interpol is working to disrupt criminal networks and reduce their harmful impact on communities worldwide.
• The Interpol said in 2023, its 91st General Assembly held in Vienna, Austria had outlined the development and implementation of the Silver Notice and Diffusion pilot through a resolution.
• The Expert Working Group on Asset Tracing and Recovery, in collaboration with the General Secretariat, was given the task of designing the pilot’s scope, format, conditions, and safeguard measures.
• The General Secretariat will review every Silver Notice and Diffusion for compliance with the Organisation’s rules prior to its publication or circulation.
• This includes ensuring they are not used for political purposes, in contravention of Article 3 of Interpol’s Constitution.
• During the pilot phase, extracts of Silver Notices will not be published on Interpol’s website.
• The participating countries during the pilot project will be able to collectively request up to 500 Silver Notices and Silver Diffusions, with the total divided equally amongst all of them.
• Red Notice is a request to law enforcement agencies the world over to locate and provisionally arrest a wanted person pending extradition or similar legal action.
• The Interpol’s notices and diffusions circulated among its member countries include the Red Notice, a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.
• The Yellow Notice is for tracking a missing person; Blue Notice for seeking additional information; Black Notice for unidentified bodies; Green Notice for warnings and intelligence; Orange Notice for imminent threats; and Purple Notice for seeking information related to the modus operandi of criminals.
• Besides these, in 2005, the Interpol had launched the United Nations Security Council Special Notice for groups and individuals under UN sanctions.
• It is issued for individuals and entities that are subject to sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council.
• Its principal function is to alert national law enforcement authorities that at least one of these forms of sanctions apply — assets freeze [there is no requirement to seize or confiscate assets]; travel ban: preventing an individual from entering or transiting through territories [there is no requirement to arrest or prosecute these individuals]; arms embargo: preventing the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of arms and related materials.
• The Special Notice contains identification details of the individual or entity concerned, and explains the related sanctions, thereby assisting law enforcement agencies to take appropriate legal action.

About Interpol:

• It is an inter-governmental organization.
• It has 196 member countries, and helps police in all of them to work together to make the world a safer place.
• To do this, it enables them to share and access data on crimes and criminals, and offers a range of technical and operational support.
• The General Secretariat coordinates day-to-day activities to fight a range of crimes.
• Run by the Secretary General, it is staffed by both police and civilians and comprises a headquarters in Lyon.
• In each country, an INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) provides the central point of contact for the General Secretariat and other NCBs.
• The General Assembly is its governing body and it brings all countries together once a year to take decisions.
• It connects all its countries via a communications system called I-24/7.
• It offers investigative support such as forensics, analysis, and assistance in locating fugitives around the world.
• It supports national efforts in combating crimes across four global areas considered as the most pressing today: terrorism; cybercrime; organized crime; and financial crime and anti-corruption.
• It enables police to work directly with their counterparts, even between countries which do not have diplomatic relations.

Rat-hole mining

Context:

• An oral question from the Supreme Court to the Union government continues to remain unanswered even as rescue workers recover bodies of workers who died trapped in a flooded rat-hole coal mine at Dima Hasao district in Assam.
• Nearly six years ago, the top court had asked whether rat-hole mines could possibly operate in the northeast hills without the “connivance” of officials.

More info:

• A report submitted by a monitoring committee set up by the NGT had said that, despite the ban, the demand for a huge quantity of illegally mined coal from cement manufacturing and thermal power plants in the northeast had sustained and supported rat-hole coal mining.
• In its July 2019 judgment on an appeal filed by the State of Meghalaya against the ban, the Supreme Court agreed with the NGT’s conclusion that “illegal and unscientific mining neither can be held to be in the interest of people of the area, the people working in the mines nor in the interest of environment”.
• The apex court had held that although private owners of the land had rights in the minerals, no unregulated and unscientific mining could be carried out.
• It had said the mining policy of the State had to be consistent with and regulated by the provisions of laws, including the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act of 1957, the Environment (Protection) Act of 1986, and the Mineral Concession Rules of 1960.
• Even mining by the landowner was required to be regulated under the statutory scheme.
• The apex court judgment had referred to the view that rat-hole mining was a “primitive” method.
• In this method the land is first cleared by cutting and removing the ground vegetation and then digging pits ranging from five to 100 m2 into the ground to reach the coal seam.
• Thereafter, tunnels are made into the seam sideways to extract the coal which is brought into the pit by using a conical basket or a wheelbarrow manually.
• Coal seams are reached by excavating the side edge of the hill slopes and then coal is extracted through a horizontal tunnel.
• The coal from the tunnel or pit is taken out and dumped on nearby un-mined area, from where it is carried to the larger dumping places near highways for its trade and transportation.

Maha Kumbh

Context:

• Maha Kumbh begins

News:

• The Maha Kumbh, a 45-day event, began in Prayagraj with the Shahi Snan on the occasion of Paush Purnima at the Sangam, the confluence of the Ganga, the Yamuna, and the mystical Saraswati.

About Maha Kumbh:

• The Maha Kumbh Mela, a sacred pilgrimage that is celebrated four times over a course of 12 years, stands as a unique embodiment of such power.
• Kumbh Mela, the world’s largest peaceful gathering, draws millions of pilgrims who bathe in sacred rivers seeking to purify themselves from sins and attain spiritual liberation.
• As pilgrims prepare for their journey to Prayagraj from January 13 to February 26, they will not only engage in a series of spiritual rituals but also embark on an odyssey that transcends physical, cultural, and even spiritual boundaries.
• The Maha Kumbh Mela is deeply embedded in Hindu mythology and represents one of the most significant gatherings of faith in the world.
• This sacred event rotates between four locations in India-Haridwar, Ujjain, Nashik, and Prayagraj- each situated by a holy river, from the Ganges to the Shipra, the Godavari, and the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and the mythical Sarasvati in Prayagraj.
• The timing of each Kumbh Mela is determined by the astrological positions of the Sun, Moon, and Jupiter, believed to signal an auspicious period for spiritual cleansing and self-enlightenment.
• Rooted in the rich soils of Indian mythology and culture, the Maha Kumbh Mela is a profound representation of humanity’s timeless quest for inner peace, self-realization, and spiritual unity.
• The Kumbh Mela is an event that intrinsically encapsulates the science of astronomy, astrology, spirituality, ritualistic traditions, and socio-cultural customs and practices, making it extremely rich in knowledge.
• This event is celebrated by a broad spectrum of pilgrims from the Hindu faith.
• Participants include ascetics, such as Sadhus and Naga Sadhus, who practice intense spiritual discipline, hermits who emerge from seclusion to join the Mela, seekers of spiritual wisdom, and everyday practitioners of Hinduism.
• This vast gathering embodies a unique convergence of faith, wisdom, and cultural heritage.

Tracing the History: A Journey through Time

• The roots of the Kumbh Mela stretch back thousands of years, finding early references during the Maurya and Gupta periods (4th century BCE to 6th century CE).
• The initial gatherings, although not as large as the modern Kumbh Mela, drew pilgrims from across the Indian subcontinent.
• Over time, the Mela’s significance grew alongside Hinduism’s rise, with rulers like the Guptas further elevating its status as a revered religious congregation.
• During the medieval period, the Kumbh Mela received patronage from various royal dynasties, including the Chola and Vijayanagar empires in the south, and the Delhi Sultanate and Mughals in the north.
• Even Mughal emperors such as Akbar are noted to have participated in the celebrations, illustrating a spirit of religious tolerance.
• Historical accounts reveal that in 1565, Akbar granted the Naga Sadhus the honor of leading the royal entry into the Mela, an act symbolizing unity across religious and cultural lines.
• In the colonial period, British administrators observed and documented the festival, intrigued by its massive scale and the diverse congregations it drew.
• Figures such as British colonial administrator James Prinsep chronicled the Kumbh Mela in the 19th century, detailing its ritualistic practices, the vast congregations, and the socio-religious dynamics at play.
• These accounts contributed valuable insights into the Kumbh’s evolution and its resilience through time.
• Post-independence, the Maha Kumbh Mela gained even greater significance, symbolizing national unity and India’s rich cultural heritage.
• Recognized by UNESCO in 2017 as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity, the Kumbh Mela stands as a testament to the survival and evolution of ancient traditions in an era of modernization.