“National Party” in India

Paper 2 – Polity

Why You Should Know?

The ECI has laid down the technical criterion for a party to be recognised as a national party. A party may gain or lose national party status from time to time, depending on the fulfilment of these laid-down conditions.

In detail –

What is a national party?

• The name suggests that a national party would be one that has a presence ‘nationally’, as opposed to a regional party whose presence is restricted to only a particular state or region.
• National parties are usually India’s bigger parties, such as the Congress and BJP. However, some smaller parties, like the communist parties, are also recognised as national parties.
• A certain stature is sometimes associated with being a national party, but this does not necessarily translate into having a lot of national political clout.
• Some parties, despite being dominant in a major state — such as the DMK in Tamil Nadu, BJD in Odisha, YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh, RJD in Bihar, or TRS in Telangana — and having a major say in national affairs, remain regional parties.

How is a national party defined?

• The ECI has laid down the technical criterion for a party to be recognised as a national party.
• A party may gain or lose national party status from time to time, depending on the fulfilment of these laid-down conditions.
• As per the ECI’s Political Parties and Election Symbols, 2019 handbook, a political party would be considered a national party if:
• it is ‘recognised’ in four or more states; or
• if its candidates polled at least 6% of total valid votes in any four or more states in the last Lok Sabha or Assembly elections and has at least four MPs in the last Lok Sabha polls; or
• if it has won at least 2% of the total seats in the Lok Sabha from not less than three states.
• To be recognised as a state party, a party needs:
• at least 6% vote-share in the last Assembly election and have at least 2 MLAs; or
• have 6% vote-share in the last Lok Sabha elections from that state and at least one MP from that state; or
• at least 3% of the total number of seats or three seats, whichever is more, in the last Assembly elections; or
• at least one MP for every 25 members or any fraction allotted to the state in the Lok Sabha; or
• have at least 8% of the total valid votes in the last Assembly election or Lok Sabha election from the states.

Other national parties

• As of now, the ECI has recognised eight parties as national parties — the BJP, Congress, Trinamool Congress, CPI(M), CPI, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and Conrad Sangma’s National People’s Party (NPP), which was recognised in 2019.
• Once the official results of the Gujarat elections are announced, AAP will become the ninth party to be recognised as a national party.

Sources – IE

 

Election Deposit

Paper 2 – Polity

Why You Should Know?

The main purpose of lose an ‘election deposit’ for a candidate is to ensure only candidates with a genuine intention to contest end up filing the nomination.

In detail –

What is an election security deposit?

• An election security deposit is an amount that is to be deposited with the Returning Officer when a candidate files their nomination.
• This is to be submitted either in cash, or a receipt must be enclosed with the nomination paper, showing that the said sum has been deposited on the candidate’s behalf in the Reserve Bank of India or in a Government Treasury.
• The main purpose of this practice is to ensure that only genuinely intending candidates end up filing the nomination to be a part of the electoral process.

Amount for all elections

• The amount is not same for all elections, it depends on the particular election being conducted, and the Representation of the People Act of 1951 mentions different amounts depending on the level of election:
• In the case of an election from a Parliamentary constituency, meaning a Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seat, the amount is Rs 25,000 and Rs 12,500 for a Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidate.
• In the case of an election from an Assembly or Council constituency, meaning at the level of legislative bodies in the states, it is Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000 for an SC/ST candidate.
• Even in the case of Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections, a deposit of Rs 15,000 is to be made.

Losing of  security deposit

• As per the same Act, the deposit has to be forfeited at an election if the number of valid votes polled by the candidate is less than 1/6th of the total number of valid votes polled.
• Or, in the case of the election of more than one member, it would be 1/6th of the total number of valid votes so polled divided by the number of members to be elected.
• This refers to elections by proportional representation method, as is the case in Rajya Sabha.
• If the candidate does meet the threshold, “the deposit shall be returned as soon as practicable after the result of the election is declared.”
• If a candidate withdraws their nomination or passes away before the polls, the amount is returned.
• The Act adds that “if at a general election, the candidate is a contesting candidate in more than one parliamentary constituency or in more than one assembly constituency, not more than one of the deposits shall be returned, and the others shall be forfeited.”

Source – IE

 

The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill

Paper 3 – Biodiverstiy

Why You Should Know?

Recently Wildlife Protection (Amendment) Bill Passed In Rajya Sabha By Voice Vote.

In detail –

• The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2021 was introduced in Lok Sabha by the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on December 17, 2021. 
• The Bill amends the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.  The Act regulates the protection of wild animals, birds and plants.
• The Bill seeks to increase the species protected under the law, and implement the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). 

Key features

Key features of the Bill include:

CITES

• CITES is an international agreement between governments to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species. 
• Under CITES, plant and animal specimens are classified into three categories (Appendices) based on the threat to their extinction. 
• The Convention requires countries to regulate the trade of all listed specimens through permits. 
• It also seeks to regulate the possession of live animal specimens.The Bill seeks to implement these provisions of CITES. 

Rationalising schedules

• Currently, the Act has six schedules for specially protected plants (one), specially protected animals (four), and vermin species (one). 
• Vermin refers to small animals that carry disease and destroy food. 
• The Bill reduces the total number of schedules to four by:
• reducing the number of schedules for specially protected animals to two (one for greater protection level),
• removes the schedule for vermin species, and
• inserts a new schedule for specimens listed in the Appendices under CITES (scheduled specimens).

Obligations under CITES:  

• The Bill provides for the central government to designate a:
• Management Authority, which grants export or import permits for trade of specimens, and
• Scientific Authority, which gives advice on aspects related to impact on the survival of the specimens being traded. 
• Every person engaging in trade of a scheduled specimen must report the details of the transaction to the Management Authority. 
• As per CITES, the Management Authority may use an identification mark for a specimen. 
• The Bill prohibits any person from modifying or removing the identification mark of the specimen.
• Additionally, every person possessing live specimens of scheduled animals must obtain a registration certificate from the Management Authority.

Invasive alien species

• The Bills empowers the central government to regulate or prohibit the import, trade, possession or proliferation of invasive alien species. 
• Invasive alien species refers to plant or animal species which are not native to India and whose introduction may adversely impact wild life or its habitat. 
• The central government may authorise an officer to seize and dispose the invasive species.

Control of sanctuaries

• The Act entrusts the Chief Wild Life Warden to control, manage and maintain all sanctuaries in a state. 
• The Chief Wild Life Warden is appointed by the state government. 
• The Bill specifies that actions of the Chief Warden must be in accordance with the management plans for the sanctuary. 
• These plans will be prepared as per guidelines of the central government, and as approved by the Chief Warden. 
• For sanctuaries falling under special areas, the management plan must be prepared after due consultation with the concerned Gram Sabha. 
• Special areas include a Scheduled Area or areas where the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 is applicable. 
• Scheduled Areas are economically backward areas with a predominantly tribal population, notified under the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution.

Conservation reserves

• Under the Act, state governments may declare areas adjacent to national parks and sanctuaries as a conservation reserve, for protecting flora and fauna, and their habitat. 
• The Bill empowers the central government to also notify a conservation reserve.

Surrender of captive animals

• The Bill provides for any person to voluntarily surrender any captive animals or animal products to the Chief Wild Life Warden. 
• No compensation will be paid to the person for surrendering such items.  The surrendered items become property of the state government. 

Penalties

• The Act prescribes imprisonment terms and fines for violating the provisions of the Act.  The Bill increases these fines.

Source – IE

India & Central Asia

Paper 2 – International Relations

Why Should You Know?

NSA Ajit Doval’s meeting with his Central Asia counterparts this month is part of India’s push to widen and deepen ties with countries in the region. The outreach is aimed at ensuring security, and political and economic benefits from the engagement.

In details –

About the Meeting

• National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval hosted a meeting of his counterparts from five Central Asian countries — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan — in New Delhi on December 6.
• All countries except Turkmenistan sent their NSAs; Ashgabat was represented by its ambassador in New Delhi.
• The meeting, which took place in the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the security situation in Afghanistan under the Taliban, flowed from the first India-Central Asia virtual summit of January 27 this year.
• The leaders of the Central Asian countries had been invited for the Republic Day celebrations, but their in-person participation was scuttled by the Omicron-led Covid surge in India.

India’s Engagement with Central Asia

• The Silk Route connected India with Central Asia from the 3rd century BC to the 15th century AD. From the export of Buddhism to the lasting influence of Bollywood, India has shared old and deep cultural ties with the region.
• In 1955, during a 16-day visit to the erstwhile Soviet Union, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru travelled to Almaty, Tashkent, and Ashgabat, all of which became capitals of newly-independent countries after the 1991 collapse of the USSR.
• Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao visited Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in 1992, and Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan in 1995. In 2003, Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the first Prime Minister to visit Tajikistan; he had travelled to Kazakhstan in the previous year. Manmohan Singh visited Uzbekistan in 2006, and the Kazakh capital Astana in 2011.
• Despite India’s focus on its other relationships — the US (nuclear deal), China (2003 border pact), and Pakistan (in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks — diplomatic parts continued to move on Central Asia.
• India also attended Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summits, which were attended by the Central Asian countries, and put in its request for membership.
• Focussed engagement began with the “Connect Central Asia policy” in 2012, which received a fillip with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to all five Central Asian countries in July 2015 — the first by an Indian Prime Minister.

Strategic Importance

• Central Asia has always been seen as Russia’s backyard — some 20-30% of the population is of Russian origin, and Russian is spoken widely.
• Central Asia is extremely rich in mineral and natural resources.
• Kazakhstan has one of the biggest reserves of uranium, besides stores of coal, lead, zinc, gold, and iron ore.
• The Kyryz Republic is rich in gold and hydro-power, and Turkmenistan has one of the world’s largest reserves of natural gas.
• Tajikistan has huge hydro-power potential and Uzbekistan has gold, uranium, and natural gas.
• That China’s President Xi Jinping chose to visit four Central Asian countries on his first overseas trip in September 2022 after two years of Covid-related disruption, underlines the strategic importance of this region.
• For India, engagement with the Central Asian countries is important because of a range of reasons — security cooperation after the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan; to counter China’s influence in the region; plans for connectivity with Europe including the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC); to meet its energy needs (Turkmenistan is part of the proposed TAPI gas pipeline); and for reasons of old cultural links and trade potential.

Recent activities

• The recent engagement began with the India-Central Asia foreign ministers’ meeting on December 19, 2021.
• That meeting was held against the backdrop of the fall of Kabul in mid-August last year, and a little more than a month after the NSAs of Central Asian countries, along with the NSAs of Russia and Iran, attended the Afghanistan-focussed Regional Security Dialogue in New Delhi.
• Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan share borders with Afghanistan.
• This was followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s January 27, 2022 virtual summit with the leaders of the Central Asian countries, in which he called for an integrated approach to regional cooperation and flagged Afghanistan as a common concern.
• Two days earlier, China had hosted these leaders at its own summit, which Beijing had swiftly organised after India’s announcement.
• Modi and the five Central Asian leaders decided, among other things,
• to hold a leaders’ summit every two years;
• regular meetings among their foreign and trade ministers;
• a joint working group on Afghanistan;
• joint counter-terrorism exercises between India and interested Central Asian countries;
• a group to operationalise the use of Chabahar port by all five countries.

Imperatives now, for future

• China, which has a direct border with the region, has a bilateral trade of $50 billion with Central Asia, and has made major investments in these countries with its Belt and Road Initiative. India’s trade with the region is a paltry $2 billion.
• The lack of overland transport access — with Pakistan blocking the way — is a major challenge to India’s Central Asia plans.
• India wants to integrate the INSTC with Chabahar port in Iran to access the resource-rich region.
• The NSAs, who generally focus on security issues, discussed these connectivity corridors at the December 6 meeting.
• From the security perspective, the NSAs discussed the challenges of extremism, terrorism, and radicalisation in the region.
• Central Asia is seen as the northern boundary of the Islamic world, and with the Taliban’s return in Afghanistan, the threat of radicalism and possible regrouping of the Islamic State poses a serious security challenge for the countries in the region.
• India does not want the post-Soviet space to be captured by the Chinese, and the NSAs engagement is a key mechanism in Delhi’s toolkit.

Sources – IE

The Uttarakhand Public Services (Horizontal Reservation for Women) Bill, 2022

Paper 2 – Polity

Why You Should Know?

Uttarakhand passes Bill giving 30% job quota to women.

In detail –

• The Uttarakhand Assembly on November 30 passed a Bill to provide 30 per cent horizontal reservation to local women in state government services.
• This comes weeks after the Supreme Court lifted an Uttarakhand High Court stay on a 2006 order of the government, providing the same benefit.
• The Uttarakhand Public Services (Horizontal Reservation for Women) Bill, 2022 has now been sent for the Governor’s signature.

About the Bill

• In the Bill’s statement of objects and reasons, the government says that due to Uttarakhand’s geographical structure, people living in remote areas lead a difficult life, especially the women.
• Because of this, their standard of living is below the women of other states. Also, women have very little representation in the state’s public services.
• The Bill proposes to plug these gaps by providing women with 30 per cent horizontal reservation in public services and posts, in addition to the existing quotas applicable in the state.
• The beneficiaries need to be women with a domicile certificate of Uttarakhand.
• The reservation will be applicable for posts in –
• local authorities,
• Uttarakhand co-operative committees in which the holding of the state government is not less than 51 per cent of share capital,
• board or corporation or legal body established by any central or Uttarakhand State Act which is under the ownership or control of the state government, and
• any educational institution under the ownership and control of the state government or which receives grants in aid from the state government.
• If enough women are not available to fill the reserved seats, they wil be filled with qualified male candidates in the order of proficiency.

What is horizontal reservation?

• In December 2020, the Supreme Court clarified the position of the law on the interplay of vertical and horizontal reservations.
• A decision by a two-judge Bench in the case of Saurav Yadav versus State of Uttar Pradesh dealt with issues arising from the way different classes of reservation were to be applied in the selection process to fill posts of constables in the state.
• In simple terms, while a vertical reservation applies separately for each of the groups specified under the law, the horizontal quota is always applied separately to each vertical category, and not across the board.
• Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes is referred to as vertical reservation.
• Horizontal reservation refers to the equal opportunity provided to other categories of beneficiaries such as women, veterans, the transgender community, and individuals with disabilities, cutting through the vertical categories.
• For example, if women have 50 per cent horizontal quota, then half of the selected candidates will have to necessarily be women in each vertical quota category — i.e., half of all selected SC candidates will have to be women, half of the unreserved or general category will have to be women, and so on.

Issue in Court

• In July 2006, Uttarakhand issued a government order to provide 30 per cent horizontal reservation to women domiciled in the state, irrespective of their caste, creed, place of birth, place of origin, and social status.
• The order was in operation till this year before being challenged in the Uttarakhand High Court by Pavitra Chauhan, Ananya Attri and others.
• These were women from outside the state belonging to the unreserved category who had appeared for the state civil examination.
• They pleaded that despite securing higher marks in the preliminary tests than the cut-off for women candidates with state domicile, they were denied the chance to appear for the main examination.
• They challenged the GOs on the ground that they provide horizontal reservation in the examination conducted for the Uttarakhand Combined Service and Senior Service of the State Public Service Commission on the basis of women’s domicile status.
• The Uttarakhand High Court stayed the order and said the quota should be construed as a horizontal reservation for women irrespective of their domicile or place of residence.
• The matter then went to the apex court. Challenging the High Court, the state’s standing counsel pleaded that the state’s terrain and climate forced its youth to migrate elsewhere in search of livelihood, leaving the responsibility to run the household and raise children on women.
• The standing counsel defended the decision to provide quota in public employment to such women, and in November, a bench of Justices S Abdul Nazeer and V Ramasubramanian lifted the HC stay.

Sources – IE

Climate change and new lakes

Paper 3–Envrionment

Why You Should Know?

Recently, researchers told in one of their research that due to climate change and human activities, new lakes are being created all over the world.

In detail –

• Globally, the total area of lakes has increased by 46,278 square kilometers during the last 35 years.
• Research done on 34 lakh lakes around the world has revealed that 56 percent of this increase has been recorded in the form of artificial reservoirs and not in natural lakes.
• The study, carried out with the help of the University of Copenhagen, showed that there has been a particularly large increase in the number of small lakes, which unfortunately emit large amounts of greenhouse gases.
• However, despite this, these lakes are very important for the environment. It not only plays an important role in maintaining the global ecosystem, but also fulfills the water resource needs of humans.
• Scientists have given information about how such a large amount of greenhouse gases are being emitted from these lakes that bacteria and fungi thrive to get food on the dead plants and organisms at the bottom of a lake, which can store large amounts of carbondioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide along with other gases.
• Some of these gases end up in the atmosphere itself. That is, this system turns lakes into factories of greenhouse gases.
• In fact, the amount of greenhouse gases potentially being emitted from freshwater lakes is equal to about 20 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels into the Earth’s atmosphere.
• It is estimated that due to climate change in the coming times, these lakes will emit a large portion of greenhouse gases.
• In this study, researchers have also created a more accurate and detailed map of 3.4 million lakes around the world using artificial intelligence and high-resolution imagery obtained from satellites.
• The results of this research, published in the journal Nature Communications, revealed that in the last few decades, the area of these lakes has increased by 46,278 square kilometers, which is slightly more than the total area of Denmark.

Annual carbon emissions from lakes

• In this regard, researcher Jing Tang has informed that in recent decades, there have been increasingly widespread changes in lakes globally, which, along with the emissions of greenhouse gases, have also affected the ecosystem and access to water resources.
• According to research, the annual carbon emissions from the lakes have increased by 4.8 teragrams during this period.
• According to the researchers, since 1984 there has been a significant increase in small lakes, which are less than one square kilometer in area. The number of small lakes is particularly important, as they emit far more than their size.
• Research has shown that small lakes cover only 15 percent of the total area of lakes on Earth, but they are responsible for about 25 percent of carbon dioxide emissions from them. Similarly, their share in methane emissions is about 37 percent.
• Another research recently published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences has shown that about 42 million tonnes of methane are being emitted from lakes globally every year. Which is also responsible for the changes in the climate.
• Significantly, methane is responsible for about 25 percent of the increase in global temperature so far.

Climate change is also responsible for the change

• Not only this, these small lakes are responsible for 45 percent of the increase in carbon dioxide emissions from global lakes between 1984 and 2019.
• Similarly, these small lakes account for 59 per cent of the methane emissions from lakes during this period.
• According to the researchers, smaller lakes usually store higher amounts of organic matter, so they emit more greenhouse gases in comparison.
• Research has shown that 8 percent of the total lakes and about 23 percent of their area are located at 60 degrees north.
• Similarly, lakes formed by the melting of glaciers or permafrost make up 30 per cent of the total area of the world’s lakes.
• Hotspots of these types of lakes include Greenland, the Tibetan Plateau and the Rocky Mountains.
• It was also observed during this period that small lakes are more vulnerable to human interference with climate and weather changes. As a result, their size and water chemistry fluctuate greatly.
• The mapping also showed that climate change and human activities are the two major factors affecting the formation of new lakes on Earth.
• Of the increase in the size of lakes, more than half of them are reservoirs ie artificial lakes. Whereas the other half of the lakes are formed due to the melting of glaciers or permafrost.

Sources – DE

 

Cactus Plantation and its Economic Usage

Paper 3–Envrionment

Why You Should Know?

Recently Union Minister of Rural Development, Shri Giriraj Singh holds a meeting on ‘Cactus Plantation and its Economic Usage’.

In detail –

• The meeting was attended by Ambassadors of Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Morocco, and Fourteen experts of various countries like, Chile, Mexico, Brazil, Morocco, Tunisia, Italy, South Africa and India also attended the meeting through VC.
• India has approximately 30% of its geographical area under the category of degraded land. 
• DoLR has been mandated to restore degraded lands through its Watershed Development Component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (WDC-PMKSY). 
• Plantations of various kinds constitute one of the activities which help in restoration of degraded lands.
• Union Minister of Rural Development Shri Singh desired that various options for taking up Cactus plantation on degraded land should be explored for realising the benefits of its usage for bio-fuel, food, fodder and bio-fertiliser production for the larger benefit of the country. 
• The Minister is of the view that bio-fuel production will reduce the fuel import burden of the country apart from contributing towards employment and income generation for the poor farmers of these areas.
• Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Land Areas (ICARDA) are being roped in for setting up a pilot project in Amlaha Farm of ICARDA in Madhya Pradesh. 
• Ministry of Petroleum has been requested to provide necessary technical assistance in this venture.

AboutCactus

• Cactus is a Xerophytic Plant which though grows relatively at a slower pace has an immense potential as stated above. 
• Moreover, it will help in achieving Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the country as well.
• The Department is of the view that cactus plantation will be picked up by the farmers of degraded land areas, if the benefits outweigh their existing level of incomes. 
• Experiences of countries like Chile, Mexico, Brazil, Morocco and various others are being explored which will be of great help for realisation of the objective.

About Indian Council of Agricultural Research

• The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is an autonomous body under the Department of Agricultural Research and Education in the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India.
• Registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, in pursuance of the Report on Agriculture of the Royal Commission, it was established on 16 July 1929.
• It is headquartered in New Delhi. The first name of this society was the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research.
• The objective is to promote and educate science and technology programmes in the field of agricultural research.

Function

• The Council is directly involved in the research activities in the traditional and marginal area to address the problems related to conservation and management of resources in the agricultural sector, crops, animals and fish and related areas etc.
• It plays an important role in developing new technology in the agriculture sector
• The Council is the apex body for coordination,  guidance and research management and education in the field of agriculture including horticulture, fisheries and animal sciences in the country.
• Under this, 103 ICAR institutes and 73 agricultural universities are spread all over the country and thus it is one of the largest national agricultural systems of the world. 

Sources – PIB

 

Adventure Tourism

Paper 3–Tourism

Why You Should Know?

Indian Army is stressing on increasing adventure tourism in border areas.

In detail –

• India’s North-East region has immense and so-far largely untapped potential for tourism especially the adventure tourism, a sector which can generate much needed local employment and sustain the local economy through an eco-system of tourism associated economic activities.
• While there are number of initiatives undertaken by the separate state governments of each state in this regard, a concerted, synergised and integrated effort was recently made by the Indian Army through a series of adventure activities across most of the border regions from Sikkim to nearly the Eastern most tip of Arunachal Pradesh.
• Indian Army and its formations along Northern frontiers apart from their primary role have a stellar record in their nation building initiatives as were.
• The trans-theatre adventure activity along the line of actual control (LAC) this year was one such initiative in which adventure activities such as Mountaineering Expeditions, White Water Rafting, Mountain Biking and Trekking were conducted with very active participation from civilian enthusiasts and local talent from the region.
• The most heartening aspect of this was the unique Civil-Military cooperation in actively promoting the adventure tourism across Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh in challenging places which were not very well known thus far.
• This roughly three-month long series of expeditions started in last week of August and included six mountaineering expeditions, seven treks of more than 700 kms (up to an altitude of 16,500 feet), six cycling expeditions over 1,000 km on non-existent roads in six valleys, and three white water-rafting expeditions covering 132 kms along three rivers.
• Most of these routes along the LAC have never been explored by civilians, due to inaccessibility of these areas.
• 11 points along the LAC were contacted during the initiative, with the most prominent being the summit of Mt Jonsong, situated at the tri junction of India – Nepal & Tibet, for the third time in history.

Significance

• The campaign has generated a buzz in the adventure tourism circuit and has improved awareness about the potential of adventure tourism in North-East India.
• This event while showcasing the importance of Civil-Military synergy, also helped in highlighting the beautiful pristine landscape, flora, fauna, culture and traditions of these remote untouched border areas and will boost tourism into these locations.
• Inclusion of the local youth and the experience they have gained here is likely to encourage them in becoming entrepreneurs in the field, raising hopes of creating a sustainable eco-system of such tourism start-ups.
• Another important facet was inclusion of women in the activities. As a boost to Nari Shakti, approximate fifteen female members took part in these activities.
• Active participation and cooperation between state governments and the Indian Army and the inclusivity shown in this initiative, wherein both men and women, local talent as well as the enthusiasts from varied places took part for a worthy cause; is a sign of the changing times and a bright future for the North-East.

Sources – PIB

World Ayurveda Congress

Paper 2 – Health

Why You Should Know?

On December 8, 2022 the 9th World Ayurveda Congress and Arogya Expo 2022 inaugurated in Goa.

In detail –

• The 9th WAC aims to showcase the efficacy and strength of the AYUSH systems of medicine at the Global level. 
• The third edition of the ‘Ayushman’ comic book series was also released on this occasion. 
• A MoU was signed between All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) and Rosenberg’s European Academy of Ayurveda, Germany to facilitate advanced studies in traditional Indian medicine systems.

Organizing

• 9th World Ayurveda Congress & Arogya Expo 2022 is being organized in Goa from 8 to 11 December

Theme

• “AYURVEDA FOR ONE HEALTH”
• 9th edition of the World Ayurveda Congress has this very important overarching theme ‘Ayurveda for One Health’ to provide a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary forum working at the local, regional, national, and global levels to address the health issues spanning the entire spectrum of Humans-Animals- Plants and their Shared Environment.

Objective

• providing a global platform for all the stakeholders,including industry leaders, practitioners, traditional healers, educationists, students, medicine manufacturers, growers of medicinal plants and marketing strategists, for networking and engaging in intellectual exchange to strengthen the Ayurveda sector, envision its future, and facilitate interaction between professionals and consumers to boost Ayurveda commerce.

Growing AYUSH sector

• The market size of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) sector in the country has grown from USD 3 billion in 2014 to over USD 18 billion now, clocking a phenomenal growth of six times.
• During 2014-2020, the AYUSH industry grew 17 per cent year-on-year while the Ayurveda market is predicted to grow at 15 per cent CAGR from 2021-2026.

Participation

• Over 4500 participants from all over the world including 400 foreign delegates from 53 countries are participating in the 9th World Ayurveda Congress & Arogya Expo.
• The Arogya Expo is set to witness participation of more than 215 companies, leading Ayurveda brands, medicine manufactures and Ayurveda related educational and Research & Development institutions.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to attend the valedictory function of WAC on 11 December.

About The World Ayurveda Congress (WAC)

• The World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) is a platform established by World Ayurveda Foundation to propagate Ayurveda globally in its true sense.
• The first World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) was held in 2002 at Kochi as an outreach programme,to create greater awareness and opportunities in the practice, science, and trade of Ayurveda.
• Thesubsequent Congresses organised at Pune, Jaipur, Bangalore, Bhopal, Delhi, Kolkata & Ahmedabadnot only helped in promoting Ayurveda within the country but also had a huge impact in propagatingAyurveda globally.

Sources – AIR