Prelim Bits 25-02-2017

Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT)

• AFT is a military tribunal in India established under the Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007.
• It has the power for the adjudication of disputes with respect to commission, appointments, enrolments and conditions of service in respect of persons subject to the Army Act, 1950, The Navy Act, 1957 and the Air Force Act, 1950, thus leaving paramilitary forces, even the Assam Rifles and Coast Guard, outside the tribunal's purview.
• The Judicial Members are retired High Court Judges and Administrative Members are retired Members of the Armed Forces who have held rank of Major General for a period of three years or more or Judge Advocate General (JAG), who have held the appointment for at least one year.
• The post of JAG in India is held by a major general who is the legal and judicial chief of the Army.

Co-existence of Predators

• Usually, big cats and wild canids live in different locations to avoid each other.
• But in four relatively small reserves in Western Ghats region researchers have found that Tigers, leopards, and dholes (Asian wild dog)  co-exist, despite competing for much of the same prey i.e sambar deer, chital, and pigs.
• Each species has remarkably different adaptations to prey on different prey sizes, use different habitat types and be active at different times.
• Because of small and isolated nature of these high prey densities in these reserves, such adaptions are helpful for conservationists trying to save all three
• Dhole is listed as Endangered by the IUCN.

Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region

• The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region is responsible for the matters relating to the planning, execution and monitoring of development schemes and projects in the North Eastern Region.
• It was established in 2001.
• It includes 8 states i.e Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim & Tripura.
• Constitutional Provisions about NER include
  • Part IX – The Panchayats : Article 243M & Article 243ZC not to applicable to Certain Areas
  • Part X – The Scheduled And Tribal Areas : Article 244 for administration of Scheduled Areas and Tribal Areas &  Article 244A for the formation of an autonomous State comprising certain tribal areas in Assam and creation of local Legislature or Council of Ministers or both therefore
  • Part XXI – Temporary, Transitional And Special Provisions : Article 371 A, B, C, F, G, H i.e special provision for NE States Except Meghlaya and Tripura.
  • Sixth Schedule : For the Administration of Tribal Areas in the States of Assam,  Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram