BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY ACT, 2002

• The Gupteswar forest in the Koraput district has been designated as the fourth Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS) by the Odisha government.

Context:

• According to Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act of 2002, the state governments designate the Biodiversity Heritage Sites (BHS) after consulting with local organizations.

About:- 

• A law known as the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, guarantees the equitable distribution of benefits resulting from the utilization of India’s diverse range of living organisms while also safeguarding them.
• India is a party to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, to which the law was passed in order to comply with its provisions.
• The goal of the Biological Diversity Act of 2002 (BD Act) is to carry out the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) requirements while working closely with the Nagoya Protocol.
• The goal of the Nagoya Protocol was to guarantee that the government and the society that protected genetic resources would share in the benefits of using genetic resources for research and commercial purposes.

Features of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002

• The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) at the federal level, State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) at the state level, and Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) at the local level comprise the three-tiered system it provides to control access to and use of biological resources.
• Without the prior consent of the NBA or the SBBs, it is illegal for any individual or organization, domestic or international, to access any biological resource found in India or knowledge related to it for scientific or commercial reasons.
• Additionally, it forbids sending research findings about biological resources or knowledge acquired from India to any individual or organization outside of India without the NBA’s consent.
• It also forbids, without NBA approval, the assertion of any intellectual property rights on any innovation derived from research conducted using biological resources or knowledge acquired from India.
• It offers provisions for the preservation and sustainable utilization of biological resources and related expertise, in addition to safeguarding and restoring endangered species and ecosystems.
• It allows for the designation of some places—which are special, ecologically vulnerable, and abundant in biodiversity—as Biodiversity Heritage Sites (BHS). After consulting with local authorities and the federal government, state administrations have the authority to warn certain areas.
• In addition to guaranteeing that the local communities receive a fair portion of the benefits resulting from their use, it allows for the local communities to be involved in the protection and management of the biological resources and related knowledge.
  
  
• It allows for the creation of organizations for the documenting and preservation of biological resources and related information, such as museums, gene banks, and repositories.

MULTILATERAL NAVAL EXERCISE (MILAN) – 2024

The 12th Multilateral Naval Exercise – 2024 (MILAN) will be held in the Indian Navy from February 19–27.

Context:

• In anticipation of this momentous occasion off Visakhapatnam, sailors from all over the world—including the US, Japan, Australia, France, Bangladesh, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia—are lining up to take part.
  
  About MILAN:
  
  
• The Indian Navy hosts the yearly Multilateral Naval Exercise (MILAN), a naval war game.
  1995 saw the first Milan exercise take place in Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
• The navy of Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand participated in the multilateral naval drill, which was organized and hosted by the Indian Navy.
• India’s Visakhapatnam is set to host the 12th MILAN edition.
• MILAN 2024 reflects India’s “Look East policy” and emphasizes regional security cooperation. The event’s theme is “Cohesion, Camaraderie and Collaboration,” and it aims to realize the G20 theme of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, which means “the world is one family.” MILAN 2024 also seeks to showcase India’s naval prowess and promote international maritime cooperation.

INSOLVENCY AND BANKRUPTCY BOARD OF INDIA (IBBI)

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has released a circular directing resolution professionals (RPs) to share copies of their findings with creditors and debtors involved in bankruptcy cases in order to ensure fairness in these cases.

Context:

• The circular identifies situations in which parties did not have equal access to information due to the actions of resolution professionals (RPs), resulting in a discrepancy in comprehension.
  
  About The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI):
  
  
• Overseeing bankruptcy processes and companies such as bankruptcy Professional Agencies (IPA), Insolvency Professionals (IP), and Information Utilities (IU) in India is the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI).
• It was founded on October 1st, 2016 in accordance with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, a statute designed to expeditiously and effectively settle insolvency and bankruptcy matters.
  Under the Companies (Registered Valuers and Valuation Rules), 2017, the IBBI also oversees the regulation of the valuer profession in India.
• Its three tiers of membership are as follows: a chairperson, three central government ex-officio members, one RBI ex-officio member, and five additional members selected by the central government.

Some of the key functions and features of the IBBI are:

• It provides registration to valuers, IUs (information utilities), IPAs (insolvency professional agency), and IPs (insolvency professionals). It also establishes the curriculum for the IPs’ qualifying exam prior to enrollment.
• It creates rules and recommendations for how the Code and the Rules should be implemented and then uses sanctions, investigations, and inspections to enforce them.
• It gathers and preserves documents about cases of insolvency and bankruptcy and distributes data about them.
• The organization fosters understanding and investigation of insolvency and bankruptcy issues and interacts with a range of stakeholders, including the government, courts, business community, and academic institutions.

Human Wildlife Conflict

With a wild elephant chasing and trampling a 47-year-old man to death, Wayanad is in a state of upheaval.

Context:
Conflicts between people and wildlife have been happening more frequently in India.People who are impacted by the problem have frequently confronted the state directly and asked it to take more action to protect their property and lives.

Why does human-wildlife conflict occur?

• When human endeavors like resource extraction, infrastructure construction, or agriculture clash with wild animals, it can have detrimental effects on both people and animals. This is known as human-wildlife conflict.
  
  Reasons/ factors causing human-wildlife conflict:
• Urbanization and Development
• Lack of Protected areas
• Population explosion
• Deforestation
• Agricultural expansion
• Climate change
• Invasive species
• Increase in eco-tourism
• Substantial increase in the population of prolific breeders like wild boars and peacocks.

Consequences/Implications of human-wildlife conflict:

• Financial hardship can result from wild animals destroying crops, damaging infrastructure, and killing livestock.
• The safety of humans may be at risk from wild animals, particularly in places where people and wildlife cohabit. Large predators like tigers, bears, and lions can attack and cause severe injuries or even death.
• It might harm the environment in some way. Ecological imbalances can result from human actions such as killing predators, which can raise prey populations.
• It may also create unfavorable attitudes toward wildlife and make it more difficult to put conservation measures into action, which can be a barrier to conservation efforts.

Radioactive Discharge

After examining radiological data from six nuclear power stations in India over a 20-year period (2000-2020), researchers from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) concluded that there haven’t been many radioactive releases from Indian nuclear reactors.

Context:

Protests against nuclear power facilities have been commonplace.The low levels of radiation exposed to the public highlight how safely Indian nuclear power stations operate.The study’s conclusions have the power to refute false assumptions and strengthen India’s resolve to move forward with its nuclear power program.

Radioactive discharge: what is it?

• It describes the accidental discharge of radioactive materials into the environment by humans, usually from nuclear plants, research reactors, or other industrial processes that use radioactive elements.
  
  Key findings of the analysis:
  
  
• It was discovered that the environmental effects of the nuclear facilities’ radioactive discharges were negligible. Fission product concentrations outside of a 5-kilometer radius have been found to be below the sensors’ minimum detectable activity, suggesting that the values being observed are “insignificant.”
• While liquid discharge is made up of fission product radionuclides, radioiodine, tritium, strontium-90, caesium-137, and activation products like cobalt-60, gaseous waste is released into the atmosphere along with noble gases, Argon 41, radioiodine, and particulate radionuclides (cobalt-60, strontium-90, caesium-137, and tritium). Dilution and dispersion are used to carry out radioactive discharges while adhering to stringent environmental and radiological regulatory frameworks.
• At all seven nuclear reactors, the mean gross alpha activity in air particles was less than 0.1 mega becquerel (mBq) per cubic meter.
• All sites had average air particle concentrations of radionuclides (iodine-131, caesium-137, and strontium-90) less than 1 mBq per cubic meter. In rivers, lakes, and saltwater close to the nuclear facilities, the concentrations of strontium-90 and caesium-137 were below predetermined limits.
• Without exhibiting any trend of deposition or accumulation, the amounts of caesium-137 and strontium-90 in the sediments fell within the statistical range of values found in natural sediments.
  With the exception of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Station, tritium was detectable at all sites above the minimum detectable activity.