Prelim Bits 21-09-2022 | UPSC Daily Current Affairs | Current Affairs

Joymala’s Case

The ongoing dispute between the Tamil Nadu and Assam has brought into focus the prevailing lacunae over private ownership of elephants in India.

Joymala, an elephant leased by Assam to Tamil Nadu, was reported to be mistreated and legal battles are underway at Madras and Gauhati High Courts.
India has about 2,675 captive elephants according to an RTI filed in 2019.
A majority of these elephants, about 1,821, are under private ownership and are used for entertainment, tourism and religious purpose.
The ownership of at least one out of every four captive elephants held by private individuals was not supported by the relevant documentation.
It is illegal to buy or sell elephants in India and the rules only allow for elephants to be exchanged or donated to temples or between private individuals.

Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Assam, Tripura and Madhya Pradesh account for 96% of elephants in captivity without ownership certificates

Assam is home to the highest number of elephants without any ownership certificates, with 335 out of 905 captive elephants not having any documents to prove ownership.
Also, in many cases, one ownership certificate is used multiple times for different animals when they are transported within the country.
DNA profiling of the captive elephants needed to be undertaken so that they could be identified and tracked.

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Super Earths

Super-Earths are bigger, more common and more habitable than Earth itself

They are more massive than Earth yet lighter than ice giants like Neptune and Uranus.
It can be made of gas, rock or a combination of both.
They are between twice the size of Earth and up to 10 times its mass.
Most Super Earths’ orbit cool dwarf stars, which are lower in mass and live much longer than the Sun.
Based on current projections, about a third of all exoplanets are super-Earths, making them the most common type of exoplanet in the Milky Way.
They are much easier to detect and study than Earth-sized planets and are ideal targets in the search for life.
To detect life on distant exoplanets, astronomers will look for biosignatures, byproducts of biology that are detectable in a planet’s atmosphere.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is not optimised for exoplanet research.
But the best chances for finding signs of life in exoplanet atmospheres will come with the next generation of giant, ground-based telescopes including
- The 39-meter Extremely Large Telescope
- The Thirty Meter Telescope
- the 24.5-meter Giant Magellan Telescope
These telescopes are all under construction and set to start collecting data by the end of the decade.

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Bench Strength and binding nature of judgments

A Constitution Bench has recently decided that a decision delivered by a Bench of largest strength is binding on any subsequent Bench of lesser or coequal strength.
The Supreme court stated that the majority decision of a bench of larger strength would prevail over the decision of a bench of lesser strength, irrespective of the number of judges constituting the majority.
It is the strength of the Bench and not number of Judges who have taken a particular view which is said to be relevant.
However, a Bench of lesser quorum cannot disagree or dissent from the view of law taken by a Bench of larger quorum.
Quorum means the bench strength which was hearing the matter.

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National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC)

The NAAC is an autonomous body under the University Grants Commission (UGC).
It assesses and certifies Higher-level Educational Institutions (HEIs) with gradings as part of accreditation.
Only higher education institutions that are at least six years old, or from where at least two batches of students have graduated, can apply for NAAC accreditation.
The accreditation is valid for five years.
The ratings of institutions range from A++ to C.
If an institution is graded D, it means it is not accredited.
The major problem with the ratings is the current approach of assessment is “input-based”.
In other words, NAAC relies heavily on self-assessment reports of applicant institutions.
The data is then validated by NAAC expert teams, followed by peer team visits to the institutions.
It is alleged that the education institutions influence the peer review teams.

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Child Welfare Committee Norms

Union Government introduces new rules for Child Welfare Committee panel members and Chairpersons.

Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection Amendment) Model Amendment Rules 2022 was implemented recently.
It bars a person associated with an organisation receiving foreign funds to be a Chairperson or member of the Child Welfare Committees (CWC).
The rules also says that any person working in the implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 in any NGO or organisation will also be ineligible to be on a CWC.
It adds that those who have “any family member” or “close relation” working for an NGO will also be disqualified to be on a CWC.
A person representing someone running a child care institution or member of the Board or Trust of any NGO can also not be on a CWC.
Retired judicial officers have also been omitted from the category of persons who can be considered for appointment to a CWC.

Child Welfare Committees

CWCs are constituted by the State government under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.
It was tasked with giving necessary directions for care and protection of children who are abused, exploited, abandoned or orphaned.
It can also order an inquiry to ensure their safety and well-being and give an order for their rehabilitation either in family-based care such as through restoration to family or guardian, adoption, foster care or send them to child care institutions.
According to the JJ Act, 2015, the CWC will function as a Bench.
It shall have the powers conferred by the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 on a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate of First Class.
But, experts opined that these rules will reduce the pool of human resource available for appointments to CWC.

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Prelim Bits 21-09-2022 | UPSC Daily Current Affairs