• A violent clash between forest team and illegal poachers was reported from Bura Chapori Wildlife Sanctuary.

ABOUT BURA CHAPORI WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

• It is geographically located on southern bank of Brahmaputra in Sonitpur district of Assam.
• It is a part of Laokhowa wildlife sanctuary (centrally located Protected Area of Assam) and is a notified buffer of the Kazairanga Tiger reserve.
• Recent efforts to safeguard the Bura Chapori Wildlife Sanctuary have led to the recovery of around 16,000 bighas of land from illegal encroachers.
• Vegetation comprises of a mosaic of wet alluvial grassland, riparian and semi-evergreen forests dotted by wetland and river systems.
• Fauna include Great Indian one-horned rhinoceros, Tiger, Leopard, wild buffalo, hog deer, wild pigs, Bengal Florican, Black-necked Stork, Whistling Duck
• It is also considered an ideal habitat for the Bengal Florican (Houbaropsis bengalensis).

ABOUT BENGAL FLORICAN

• Restricted to tiny fragments of grassland scattered across South and Southeast Asia, the Bengal florican is the world’s rarest bustard.
• IUCN Red List- Critically Endangered

• The Universal Postal Union will evaluate UPI for integrating the unified payment interface with cross-border remittances using global postal network.

ABOUT UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION

• UPU aim is to establish international regulations for postal services and to promote cooperation in postal matters.
• HQ – Bern, Switzerland
• Established by Treaty of Bern in 1874, it is a specialized agency of UN with 192 member countries including India.
  • India joined the UPU in 1876.
• It is the second oldest international organization worldwide, after International Telecommunication Union (founded in 1864).
• The UPU contains four bodies consisting of-
  • The Congress.
  • The Council of Administration (CA).
  • The Postal Operations Council (POC) and
  • The International Bureau (IB).
• Any non-member country of United Nations may become a UPU member provided that such request is approved by at least two-thirds of the member countries of the UPU.

General Studies Paper 2

INTRODUCTION

• The Indus Waters Treaty (1960), or IWT, that regulates the Indus water courses between the two riparian states of India and Pakistan, is cited by many as an example of cooperation between two unfriendly neighbours for many reasons. These include the IWT having survived several wars and phases of bitter relations, and its laying down of detailed procedures and criteria for dispute resolution.

CURRENT STATUS

• In the last decade, exercising judicial recourse to settle the competing claims and objections arising out of the construction and design elements of the run-of-river hydroelectric projects that India is permitted under the IWT to construct on the tributaries of the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab before these rivers flow into Pakistan, has increased.
• In January this year, Pakistan initiated arbitration at the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration to address the interpretation and application of the IWT to certain design elements of two run-of-river hydroelectric projects — on the Kishanganga (a tributary of the Jhelum) and Ratle, a hydro-electric project on the Chenab.
• India raised objections as it views that the Court of Arbitration is not competent to consider the questions put to it by Pakistan and that such questions should instead be decided through the neutral expert process.
• On July 6, 2023, the court unanimously passed a decision (which is binding on both parties without appeal) rejecting each of India’s objections. The court determined that it is competent to consider and determine the disputes set forth in Pakistan’s request for arbitration.

FUTURE SUPPLY OF WATER

• In an atmosphere of a lack of trust, judicial recourse appears to be the only rational strategy by the IWT parties.
• But it is not likely to address the rapidly growing industrial needs of the two countries, apart from food and energy needs.
• The IWT provides only some element of predictability and certainty with regard to the future supplies of water to the riparian states, but it needs to incorporate mechanisms that allow flexibility to changes in the quantity of water available for allocation among the parties.
• Bilateral water agreements are vulnerable to climate change as most of them include fixed allocation of amounts of water use that are concluded under the assumption that future water availability will remain the same as today.
• Under the partitioning logic in the IWT, envisaging a vesting of proprietary rights does not take into account future water availability.

PRINCIPLES OF WATER COURSE

• The partitioning of the rivers goes against the logic of treating the entire river basin as one unit which is needed to build its resource capacity.
• The thrust of the IWT is optimal use of the waters which India believes to be the object and purpose of the IWT as opposed to Pakistan’s understanding to be the uninterrupted flow of water to its side.
• Reconciling this divergent approach can be sought with the help of two cardinal principles of international water courses law accompanying binding obligations, i.e., equitable and reasonable utilisation (ERU) and the principle not to cause significant harm or no harm rule (NHR).
• Although there is no universal definition of what ERU amounts to, the states need to be guided by the factors mentioned in the Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses 1997, including climate change.
• The NHR is a due diligence obligation which requires a riparian state undertaking a project on a shared watercourse having potential transboundary effect to take all appropriate measures relating to the prevention of harm to another riparian state, including carrying out a transboundary environmental impact assessment.
• In order to ensure rapid development, the states prioritise the ERU over the NHR.

WAY FORWARD

• In an atmosphere of a lack of trust between the two neighbours, the World Bank, a party to the IWT, may use its forum to forge a transnational alliance of epistemic communities (who share a common interest and knowledge to the use of the Indus waters), to build convergent state policies, resulting in the ultimate inclusion of these two principles in the IWT. Thus, revisiting the IWT is a much-needed step.

• A large number of Gaddi shepherds are stranded in higher reaches of the Bara Bhangal valley that extends over Kangra, Kullu and Lahaul and Spiti districts.
• Bara Bhangal is a remote village that is situated 15 km from Thamsar Pass in Kangra district.
• Flashfloods in the Ravi, bridges constructed over it were destroyed.

• Noted mathematician and scientist Dr. Mangala Narlikar, wife of renowned astrophysicist Dr. Jayant Narlikar, passed away recently.
• Narlikar completed her graduation and post-graduation from Mumbai University.
• She was an associate researcher in the Mathematics School of the Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai between 1964 to 1966.
• Between 1967 and 1969, she taught mathematics at Cambridge University in England.
• Author of several books in English and Marathi, Mangala Narlikar was adept at demystifying mathematics to children.

• An exhibition, a walk and a talk was held in Kolkata to mark the bicentenary year of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah.
• The events will all take place in Metiabruz, where the exiled Wajid Ali Shah spent the last part of his life.
• He was the eleventh and final King of Awadh, reigning from 13 February 1847 to 11 February 1856.
• He is remembered as a poet, playwright, dancer, and patron of the arts who made significant contributions during his rule.

• According to the Henley Passport Index, Singapore now holds the title of the world’s most powerful passport.
• It grants visa-free access to 192 out of 227 global travel destinations.
• Germany, Italy, and Spain share the second position, with visa-free access to 190 destinations.
• Japan now ranks third, with its passport providing visa-free access to 189 destinations.
• India currently shares the 80th position on the index with Togo and Senegal.
• Indian passport holders now enjoy visa-free access to 57 countries.

• Recently, a ‘foreign’ cicada that is commonly found in several parts of South India has assumed an Indian identity.
• The insect species that has now been christened Purana cheeveeda (after its Malayalam name Cheeveedu) used to be mistaken for Purana tigrina, a species that was first described in Malaysia in 1850.
• Cicadas are hemipteran insects known for their loud, complex and species-specific acoustic signals or songs.
  • Hemipteran insects, also called true bugs, have mouthparts used for piercing and sucking and have two pairs of wings.
• The generic diversity of cicadas in India and Bangladesh ranks the highest in the world, followed by China.
• Most cicadas are canopy dwellers and are found in natural forests with large trees.
• Two types of cicadas commonly exist: annual cicadas and periodical cicadas.
• They act as indicators of a healthy forest ecosystem.
• Environmental benefits of Cicadas – valuable food source for birds, aerate lawns and improve water filtration into the ground, add nutrients to the soil etc.

• The Andhra Pradesh government has released approximately 10 million Gambusia fish into the state’s water bodies to combat mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and dengue.
• Gambusia affinis is native to south-eastern United States.
• Fish, also known as mosquitofish, is widely used as a biological agent for controlling mosquito larvae.
• A single full grown fish eats about 100 to 300 mosquito larvae per day.
• Multiple countries, including India have listed Gambusia as invasive species.
• Fish has a high breeding capacity. A single female may produce between 900 and 1,200 offsprings during its lifespan.
• They are known to eat the eggs of competing fishes and frog tadpoles.
• Its high adaptability has allowed the fish to survive on six out of seven continents and has made the International Union for Conservation of Nature declare Gambusia one of the 100 worst invasive alien species in the world.

• European heatwaves are being caused by an anticyclone named Cerberus.
• Cerberus was a three-headed dog in ancient Greek mythology who guarded the gates to the underworld.
• While heatwaves are not officially named like cyclones and hurricanes, recently monikers have emerged to describe the abnormally high temperatures.

ABOUT ANTICYCLONES

• These are areas of sinking air (diverges at the surface) which result in high pressure.
• In an anticyclone, winds move out from a high-pressure area with wind direction clockwise in northern hemisphere, anti-clockwise in the southern hemisphere.
• High pressure systems have small pressure differences.
• As the air sinks, it warms up, leading to warm and dry weather.
• The track is highly variable and unpredictable. They move very sluggishly and sometimes they become stationary over a particular place.