Rare imperial eagle spotted in Kole fields

Context:

• A rare imperial eagle has been spotted in Pulluzhi kole wetlands.

News:

• A birdwatcher spotted the rare eagle, scientifically known as Aquila heliaca, from the kole fields.
• According to data from the birdwatching website eBird, the Imperial Eagle was last reported in Kannur in 2003.

About Imperial Eagle:

• The Imperial Eagle primarily breeds in southeastern Europe, and west and central Asia.
• During the winter season, they migrate to regions in northeastern Africa, the West Asia, and parts of Southeast Asia.
• The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the Imperial Eagle as a species with a potential risk of extinction, highlighting the urgency of its conservation.

About Thrissur-Ponnani kole fields:

• The Thrissur-Ponnani kole fields has been a hub for birdwatching activities.
• It is a wetland lying in Thrissur and Malappuram districts in Kerala, India.
• The Kole Wetlands is one of largest, highly productive and threatened wetlands in Kerala and lie on the Central Asian Flyway of migratory birds.
• It has been recognised as one of India’s Important Bird Areas by BirdLife International.
• The main threat to Kole Wetlands is expansion of cities and towns like city of Thrissur.
• Several species of eagles, including the greater spotted eagle, Indian spotted eagle as well as the steppe eagle, have been spotted in Kole fields this season.
• All of these species are considered to be at risk of extinction or near extinction, according to the IUCN Red List.
• This sighting emphasises the importance of preserving and monitoring the Kole fields, which is a Ramsar-protected area.
• The ongoing conservation and observation efforts in these regions are critical for the protection of migratory birds and their habitats.

Media and information literacy (MIL)

Context:

• The complex digital environment poses governance challenges, making it important to create an ‘Internet of Trust’ for a safe digital world

Introduction:

• Media and information literacy (MIL) has become an essential skill in the 21st century as we navigate digital landscapes where the production, dissemination, and consumption of public-interest information is rapidly changing.
• Not long ago, COVID-19, the first pandemic in the age of social media, highlighted the dangers of unverified or outrightly incorrect information.
• This ‘infodemic’ became a greater threat than the virus itself, resulting in real consequences such as racial discrimination, social boycotts, and attacks on health-care workers.
• More recently, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has raised many concerns, which include deepfakes, algorithmic biases, targeted misinformation campaigns, and data privacy violations – all of which pose risks to public trust, security, and social cohesion.
• These challenges underscore the urgency of creating an Internet of Trust to ensure digital spaces are safe, reliable and inclusive.
• The transformative impact of digital platforms and new content creators on how we create and consume information highlights both opportunities and risks.
• This year’s Global Media and Information Literacy Week (October 24-31, 2024) highlighted the need for MIL skills to help individuals identify, assess, and engage with public-interest information online.

The two sides to digital reach:

• Digital platforms have become vital hubs for public discourse and cultural expression.
• With an estimated 4.75 billion people – 60% of the global population – engaged on social networks in 2023, these spaces have transformed how we communicate and connect like never before, allowing us to have connections on a speed and scale never seen before in the history of humanity.
• The rapid growth of digital technologies and AI has further opened up endless opportunities for connectivity and information sharing.
• While they democratise access to information and promote a diversity of thought, they are also the breeding grounds for spreading misinformation, disinformation, hate speech, and conspiracy theories.
• This complex environment poses significant governance challenges that impact both democracy and social cohesion.
• The unchecked spread of false narratives undermines trust in information systems, widens social divisions, and ultimately impedes collective efforts to tackle global crises.
• This is why MIL is no longer a privilege but an essential skill, equipping individuals to critically assess information and navigate digital spaces responsibly.
• For example, MIL encourages an awareness of algorithmic biases and helps develop skills such as resisting misinformation and fact-checking as a reflex.
• UNESCO has a long-standing commitment to MIL, whether in education or within the communication and information space.
• In line with this mandate, in February 2024, UNESCO launched Global Citizenship Education in a Digital Age: Teacher Guidelines, which aim to equip educators with the tools to navigate digital spaces ethically and contribute to peaceful societies, both online and offline.

The implications of AI risks:

• The risks posed by AI are not merely technical; they have broad societal implications, urging immediate governance measures.
• In 2023, UNESCO launched Guidelines for the Governance of Digital Platforms outlining five key principles to create safer and more ethical digital spaces.
• These guidelines rest on five core principles to create a digital ecosystem rooted in trust and inclusivity.

1. ‘Human Rights Due Diligence’ calls for regular risk assessments by platforms to mitigate potential human rights impacts, especially during critical times such as elections.
2. ‘Adherence to International Standards’ ensures that content design and moderation align with global human rights norms to safeguard equality and non-discrimination.
3. ‘Transparency’ emphasises clear communication on policies and practices, so that users can make informed choices.
4. ‘User Empowerment’ encourages platforms to offer accessible tools and information in local languages, enabling everyone, especially vulnerable groups, to engage meaningfully.
5. ‘Accountability to Stakeholders’ lays stress on the need for platforms to be answerable to a broad array of stakeholders, including independent regulators, and to stay true to their promises of safety and openness.

• Together, these principles foster a collaborative approach across governments, civil society, and tech entities, paving the way for freedom of expression and access to reliable information, all while preserving the integrity of our shared digital world.
• UNESCO also promotes the ethical use of AI, highlighting the importance of MIL to ensure that individuals can critically understand and engage with AI technologies.
• Its Readiness Assessment Methodology (RAM) is part of the Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence – the first global regulatory instrument on AI, adopted in 2021.
• This methodology guides UNESCO member-states in implementing ethical AI standards, equipping citizens with the skills to discern and responsibly use AI-driven information.
• UNESCO is working with over 50 countries, including India, where it partners with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to assess AI capacities.
• In India, RAM helps policymakers identify needed regulatory and institutional changes to leverage AI’s benefits while mitigating its risks.

Awareness as the first line of defence:

• The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, in his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ broadcast in October 2024, highlighted the alarming rise in ‘digital’ scams, urging citizens to adopt a ‘stop, think, and take action’ approach.
• This call underscores the vital role of MIL in empowering individuals to recognise digital threats and respond responsibly.
• As technological advancements leap-frog, strengthening MIL skills in every community becomes essential.
• Raising awareness is the first line of defence against digital deception, misinformation, disinformation and creating an ‘internet of trust’.

Glacial lakes rise as glaciers retreat

Introduction:

• Glaciers are enormous bodies of dense ice on mountains.
• They move under the influence of gravity and their own weight, in the process eroding the land beneath.
• The grinding action pulverises the rock underneath, reducing it to a mixture called moraine: material ranging in size from room-sized boulders to extremely fine ‘rock flour’.
• Moraine gets deposited on the sides and at the terminus of the glacier.
• When the melting of ice causes a glacier to retreat, the cavernous hole left behind fills with water.
• The rocky material piled at the terminus of the glacier often serves as a natural dam for creating a lake.
• Glacial lakes are hydrological buffers – they check the natural flow of water from melting ice.
• This can cause occasional hardships to communities that live downstream of the lakes.

Bluer than sky:

• The blue color of glacier lakes can be quite startling.
• A pale comparison is swimming pools with painted bottoms.
• The effect is due to the scattering of light by ultra-fine particles of rock flour that are suspended in lake water.
• Our Himalayas have some stunning examples of turquoise-colored glacial lakes.
• The serene Gurudongmar lake is located in Northern Sikkim, and at 5,430 mean sea level (msl) is one of the highest lakes in the world.
• A moraine-dammed lake, the outlet stream of the lake feeds into water bodies that go on to form the river Teesta.
• The Pangong Tso, a 134-km chain of lakes, is part of the disputed buffer zone between Ladakh and China.
• The much-photographed Samiti Lake, at around 4,300 msl in Sikkim, lies en route to Kanchenjunga.

Outburst floods:

• A noticeable consequence of global warming is the retreat of glaciers, which adds to the water accumulating in glacial lakes.
• This leads to an increase in the chances of the breaching of the moraine barriers that help create these lakes.
• The results of such outcomes can be catastrophic.
• One of Sikkim’s glacial lakes, the moraine-dammed South Lhonak lake, has shown what the consequences of rising temperatures can be.
• Fed by three glaciers, the lake’s volume has risen at an unusually high rate.
• The lake is of very recent origin – it first appeared in satellite images in 1962.
• Covering a mere 17 hectares in 1977 and growing, the lake was regarded as a potential hazard.
• By 2017, three eight-inch diameter pipes were installed to continuously pump water out of the lake.
• They proved to be quite inadequate.
• The lake had grown to 167 hectares by 2023.
• Rains last year caused the moraine dam to give way.
• The resulting glacial lake outburst caused water levels in the Teesta River to rise by six meters, leading to the collapse of the Teesta III dam, and widespread destruction.
• Modeling of a future outburst from this lake, by scientists at IIT-Roorkee and others, has led to the prediction that a major breach could lead to a discharge of over 12,000 cubic meters of water per second – a very scary prospect for human settlements located downstream.
• Such monitoring will help in disaster mitigation, and an understanding of these mystical blue wonders of nature.

Baltic Sea

Context:

• Second Baltic Sea telecom cable damaged: Sweden
• Internet traffic has been redirected to other international links

News:

• A Swedish government minister said that the country was investigating a damaged telecommunications undersea cable linking Lithuania and Sweden, a day after the announcement that a cable linking Finland and Germany was cut in what Berlin considers “sabotage”.

About Baltic Sea:

• The Baltic Sea is one of the seas of the Atlantic Ocean.
• The Baltic Sea is often cited as the world’s largest brackish inland water body.
• Its water salinity levels are lower than that of the World Oceans due to the inflow of fresh water from the surrounding land and the sea’s shallowness.
• The Baltic Sea is part of the North Atlantic Ocean, situated in Northern Europe.
• It has a coastline shared by several countries, including Sweden, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland, Estonia, Germany, Denmark, and Russia.
• The Baltic countries share the southeast coastline while the North European Plains are on the southwest.
• Denmark and Sweden border the sea to the west, while Finland is on the northeast.
• It drains into the Kattegat via the Danish Strait.
• The Baltic Sea is subdivided into several regions.
• The Gulf of Bothnia (including the Bothnia Bay) is on the northern part.
• The Bothnia Sea forms the gulf’s southern basin.
• Below the Bothnia Sea is the Aland Sea, connecting the Bothnia Sea to the Baltic Sea proper.
• The Baltic Sea is connected to St. Petersburg by the Gulf of Finland.
• The Gulf of Riga is located between Estonia and Latvia.
• On the South of the Baltic Sea are the Bay of Gdansk, Arkona Basin, and the Bornholm Basin.
• Gotland, located off the coast of Sweden, is the largest island in the Baltic Sea.