Meghalayan Age — A New Phase in History

Recently, Geologists have ratified a new unit of the Geologic Time Scale, known as the Meghalayan Age.

• The Holocene Epoch reflects everything that has happened over the past 11,700 years –when warming started after the last ice age.
• Therefore, we are currently in the Holocene Epoch, Meghalayan Age.

Meghalayan Age

Mawmluh Cave Located at an elevation of 1,290 metres, Mawmluh cave is one of the longest and deepest caves in India. The conditions here were suitable for preserving chemical signs o02f the transition in ages which an analysis of the stalagmite has now highlighted.

• The Meghalayan, which runs from 4,200 years ago to the present, experienced an abrupt mega-drought and cooling around the globe.
• It is the youngest stage of the Holocene Epoch.
• The Meghalayan Age is unique among the many intervals of the Geologic Time Scale in that its beginning coincides with a cultural event produced by a global climatic event.
• After collecting sediments from a stalagmite from the  Mawmluh cave in Meghalaya, the smallest climatic event in Earth’s history was defined.

Classification

• Geologists divide the 4.6-billion-year existence of Earth into slices of time such as Eon, Era, System/Period, Series/Epoch, and Stage/Age.
• Eons are divided into Eras, Eras into Periods, Periods into Epochs, and Epochs into Ages.
• Each slice corresponds to significant happenings - such as the break-up of continents, dramatic shifts in climate, and even the emergence of particular types of animals and plant life.
• The Holocene itself is subdivided into three stages to denote the epoch's upper, middle and lower phases, according to the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS).

Methods of Classification

• Each subdivision of the Holocene Epoch is marked out by sediments accumulated on sea floors, lake bottoms, glacial ice and in stalactites and stalagmites across the world.
• Clues to the Greenlandian and Northgrippian stages were available at specific levels in Greenland’s ice cores (snow turns into ice, and preserves a record of the climate each year).
• However, the younger (newer) part of the Holocene, i.e. Meghalayan Age division was marked out by a deviation in the types, or isotopes, of oxygen atoms present in the layers of stalagmite rocks of Mawmluh Cave in Meghalaya.

Rajya Sabha Passes Amendments to Anti-Corruption Law

Rajya Sabha has passed the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2013. The Bill amends the archaic Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

Highlights of the Bill

• The Act covers the offence of giving a bribe to a public servant under abetment.  The Bill makes specific provisions related to giving a bribe to a public servant, and giving a bribe by a commercial organisation.
• A commercial organisation shall be guilty of an offence and shall be punishable with fine if any person associated with the commercial organisation, gives or promises to give, any undue advantage to a public servant. The Special Judge shall ensure the completion of the trials within a period of two years from the date of filing of the case.
• The Bill redefines criminal misconduct to only cover misappropriation of property and possession of disproportionate assets. Earlier, the Act also defined criminal misconduct to cover offences including abuse of position, use of illegal means and disregard of public interest.
• The Bill modifies the definitions and penalties for offences related to taking a bribe, being a habitual offender and abetting an offence. Bribe givers will be punished with imprisonment of up to a maximum of seven years.
• Powers and procedures for the attachment and forfeiture of property of public servants accused of corruption have been introduced in the Bill.
• The Act requires prior sanction to prosecute serving public officials. The Bill extends this protection to former officials. A police officer will have to take prior permission from appropriate authorities while pursuing cases.

Israel Adopts Jewish Nation Law

Israel has adopted a law defining the country as the nation-state of the Jewish people. The legislation becomes part of the country’s basic laws, which serve as a de facto constitution.

Key Highlights of the Legislation

• Lays down that Israel, with the ‘whole and united’ Jerusalem as its ‘capital’ is the historic homeland of the Jewish people and they have an exclusive right to national self-determination in it.
• Defines the promotion, encouragement, establishment and consolidation of Jewish communities as being in the national interest.
• Stripping Arabic, the first language of 1.8 million citizens, of its national language status  and only granting it a ‘special status’ while making Hebrew the country’s national language.

Why the Need for this Legislation?

• Since the time of Israel’s independence, it has sought Jewishness as the ethnic religious character of the state and hence this law sets the stage for this transition.
• Supporters of the bill say it is aimed to boost Israel’s Jewish identity and will not discriminate against minorities.

Criticism of the Law

• The new law will deepen a sense of alienation within the Arab minority.
• An exclusive right to national self-determination only to the Jewish people and by downgrading Arabic’s status - challenging the basic concepts of equality, which even Israel’s declaration of independence promised to all its inhabitants.
• This law could add up to the discrimination that the Arab community, which makes up a fifth of Israel’s population, faces when it comes to opportunities and rights.
• The emphasis on Jerusalem (as it remains a disputed territory; and the promise to promote settlements) pose a direct threat to any peace process with the Palestinians.
• The promotion of Jewish settlements would question Israel’s commitment to the ‘Two-State Solution’ and would also erode its professed support for an independent Palestinian state.

3rd BRICS Media Forum

The third BRICS Media Forum running under the theme of “BRICS Media Cooperation – Fostering an Inclusive, Just World Order” was held in Cape Town, South Africa.

Key Highlights

• The forum, which opened on former South African President Nelson Mandela’s 100th birth anniversary on July 18, unanimously agreed to adopt the ‘Cape Town Declaration 2018.’

• The declaration called for striving to learn from each other and to create pathways for sharing of content, news and upholding the principles of responsible journalism and put measures in place to limit the spread of fake news.
• To establish a BRICS Media Academy and a BRICS news portal was among the other decisions taken.
• The forum concluded with mainstream media organizations agreeing on an action plan to promote media cooperation during 2018-2019.
• The action plan included the media's role and responsibility in strengthening the enhancing cooperation among new media in BRICS countries, as well as media cooperation between BRICS and Africa.

Lok Sabha passes Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill

The Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018 was passed by Lok Sabha without any amendments proposed by the Opposition to replace the ordinance on the same subject.

• The Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018 seeks to confiscate properties of economic offenders who have left the country to avoid facing criminal prosecution.
• Offences involving amounts of Rs. 100 crore or more fall under the purview of this law.

• Some of the offences listed in the schedule of the bill are-counterfeiting government stamps or currency, cheque dishonour for insufficiency of funds, money laundering, transactions defrauding creditors etc.
• The Bill allows the central government to amend the schedule through a notification.

Reasons to bring Economic Offenders Bill

• There have been several instances of economic offenders fleeing the jurisdiction of Indian courts, anticipating the commencement, or during the pendency of criminal proceedings.
• The absence of such offenders from Indian courts has several deleterious consequences like:
  • It hampers investigation in criminal cases,
  • It wastes precious time of courts of law,
  • It undermines the rule of law in India,
  • Non-repayment of bank loans worsens the financial health of the banking sector in India.
• The existing civil and criminal provisions in law are not entirely adequate to deal with the severity of the problem. It was therefore, felt necessary to provide an effective, expeditious and constitutionally permissible deterrent to ensure that such actions are curbed.
• Non conviction based asset confiscation for corruption related cases are enabled under provisions of United Nations Convention against Corruption which India ratified in 2011. The Bill adopts this principle.

Salient features of the Bill

• To declare a person an FEO, an application will be filed in a Special Court (designated under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002) containing details of the properties to be confiscated, and any information about the person’s whereabouts.  
• The Special Court will require the person to appear at a specified place at least six weeks from issue of notice.  Proceedings will be terminated if the person appears.
• Attachment of the property of a fugitive economic offender.
• Confiscation of the property of an individual declared as a fugitive economic offender resulting from the proceeds of crime.
• Confiscation of other property belonging to such offender in India and abroad including benami property.
• Disentitlement of the fugitive economic offender from defending any civil claim.
• All cases under the proposed law will be tried under the Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) Act and the administrator will sell the fugitive's properties to pay off the lenders.
• The proposed law will have an overriding effect over all other pieces of legislation.

Impact

• The Bill is expected to re-establish the rule of law with respect to the fugitive economic offenders as they would be forced to return to India to face trial for scheduled offences.
• This would also help the banks and other financial institutions to achieve higher recovery from financial defaults committed by such fugitive economic offenders, improving the financial health of such institutions.
• It is expected that the special forum to be created for expeditious confiscation of the proceeds of crime, in India or abroad, which would coerce the fugitive to return to India to submit to the jurisdiction of courts in India to face the law in respect of scheduled offences.

Challenges

• The Rs. 100 crore threshold would allow many other offenders to go scot-free.
• The blanket ban on offenders contesting the confiscation of their properties through civil suits may not survive the judicial review. An absolute ban is contrary to the basic tenets of justice and fair play, besides being in violation of the Indian Constitution.
• Sale of property of a fugitive economic offender without adjudicating after a proper trial would amount to violation of the settled principle under the Constitution that one is considered innocent unless proven guilty.
• Deterioration in value of seized assets and finding suitable buyers are some other concerns around the proposed law.

Way forward

• The Bill should provide for time limits for disposal and encashment of confiscated property, separate limits for movable-immovable property and running business.
• Any property which would be subject to valuation loss over a period of time must be disposed of quickly.

One More Way to Fight Global Warming

Scientists are on a mission to fight global warming by making livestock less gassy because livestock is responsible for about 14.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

• Cattle, buffalo, sheep and goats produce nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide and methane, which are released through belching.
• Although less prevalent than carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, methane is more potent because it traps 28 times more heat.

Current Developments

• Scientists are working on ways to reduce the emissions, including by breeding animals that burp less, adjusting their diets so they produce less methane and planting trees in pastures.
• New Zealand’s AgResearch has bred sheep to produce 10 percent less methane;  the low-methane sheep are leaner and also grow more wool.
• Some companies are working on a type of probiotic - helpful bacteria or yeasts in the digestive system - which has shown a 50 percent reduction of methane emissions in cattle during research.
• Latin American large farm holders’ are experimenting with silvopastoralism - planting trees in pastures where they absorb greenhouse gases and offset emissions, while restoring degraded soil and improving biodiversity.  

Indian Scenario

• In India, a national program to boost the milk production of cows and buffalos by improving their diet is also helping the environment.
• The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) uses software to assess the ideal diet for an animal, based on its physical profile and environment.
• The tailored diet means that each animal produces 12 to 15 percent less methane.
• Over the past five years, the program has reached about 2.6 million of the nearly 300 million cows and buffalos recorded in India’s 2014 livestock census.

India to Expand Polar Research to Arctic

The Government of India has renamed the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), Goa to National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa.

Why the need to rename?

• India is refocusing priorities to the other pole — the Arctic — because of opportunities and challenges posed by climate change.
• Climate change was a decisive factor in India rethinking its priorities. Sea ice at the Arctic has been melting rapidly — the fastest in this century impacting even the monsoons in India.
• The rapid ice-melt in the Arctic is leading to large quantities of fresh water into the seas around the poles and this impedes the release of heat from the water and directs warm water into the seas around India, eventually weakening the movement of the monsoon breeze into India.
• On the other hand, the melting of Arctic means several spots, rich in hydrocarbon reserves, will be more accessible throughout the year via alternative shipping routes.
• India also views the Himalayas as a “third pole” because of the large quantities of snow and ice it holds, and proposes to increase research spends towards understanding the impact of climate change in the Himalayas.
• Established a high-altitude research station in the Himalayas, called HIMANSH, at Spiti, Himachal Pradesh.

Other Measures

• India has one Arctic observation station, set up in 2015, halfway between Norway and the North Pole called IndARC and India is in talks with Canada and Russia, key countries with a presence in the Arctic Circle, to establish new observation systems.
• India is already an observer at the Arctic Council — a forum of countries that decides on managing the region’s resources and popular livelihood.

Details of 2015 Naga Agreement

A report on the security situation in the Northeastern states was tabled by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs in the Rajya Sabha. The report contained the details of the framework agreement signed between the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) and the Union government.

• The framework agreement was signed in August 2015, after NSCN-IM agreed on a settlement within the Indian federation with a “special status.”
• An inclusive settlement will be within the Indian federation due to regards to the uniqueness of Naga history.

Key Findings of the Report

• The Nagas have now reached a common understanding with the government that boundaries of the States will not be touched. Initially, the Nagas had stuck to the idea of unification of Naga inhabited areas resolutely maintaining their stand of ‘no integration, no solution.’ The NSCN-IM has been fighting for ‘Greater Nagaland’ or Nagalim — it wants to extend Nagaland's borders by including Naga-dominated areas in neighbouring Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, to unite 1.2 million Nagas. 
• Article 371A, which guarantees special constitutional status to Nagaland, could also be extended to Naga-inhabited areas in neighbouring Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
• The “contours” had not been spelt out in the framework agreement. The government of India has always recognised the uniqueness of the Naga history. Historically, Nagas do not consider themselves as Indians and stress upon their sovereignty. They have emphasized on the fact that any settlement could be reached only on the basis of the fact that this is a settlement between two sovereigns.
• The report has also noted that Naga Peace Talks will have to be expedited to ensure peace in the region as Naga groups and Tribal bodies are getting restless.

Background

• The British annexed Assam in 1826, and in 1881, the Naga Hills too became part of British India. In 1946 the Naga National Council (NNC) was formed, which declared Nagaland an independent state on August 14, 1947. The NNC resolved to establish a sovereign Naga state and conducted a referendum in 1951, in which 99% people supported an independent Nagaland.
• In March 1952, the underground Naga Federal Government (NFG) and the Naga Federal Army (NFA) was formed. The Government of India sent in the Army to crush the insurgency and, in 1958, enacted the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.
• In November 1975, the government got a section of NNC leaders to sign the Shillong Accord, under which the section of NNC and NFG agreed to give up arms.
• A group of about 140 members led by Thuingaleng Muivah, who was in China at that time, refused to accept the Shillong Accord, and formed the National Socialist Council of Nagaland in 1980.
• In 1988, the NSCN split into NSCN (IM) and NSCN (K) after a violent clash.

Important Facts for Prelims (20th July, 2018)

Dhole: Asiatic Wild Dog

A team of scientists from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) track down a pack of 14 dholes in the Mukki range of the Kanha National Park (Madhya Pradesh)

• The dhole (also known as the Asiatic Wild Dog, Indian Wild Dog and the Red Dog) is an endangered category(EN).
• Relatively high populations of Dholes are found in the Western Ghats and central Indian forests, due to high prey numbers and extent of protected forests, whereas lower numbers of Dholes are found in the Eastern Ghats, northeastern states, Terai region in northern India, Sikkim, Ladakh etc.
• Populations are declining in most areas due to several main threats which include depletion of prey base, habitat loss, persecution due to livestock predation, disease transmission from domestic dogs, and possibly interspecific competition.
• Scientists do not know a lot of aspects of their ecology, which makes conserving dholes far more difficult than tigers.

Jaintia Tribesmen Festival: Behdienkhlam

• Behdienkhlam is a traditional festival of the Pnars celebrated after sowing is done seeking a good harvest and to drive away plague and diseases.
• It is the most important festival in the socio-economic life of the Jaintias and it is celebrated in the month of June-July.
• The Khasis inhabit the eastern part of Meghalaya, in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills. Khasis residing in Jaintia hills are known as Jaintias. They are also called Pnars.

New Rs. 100 Note

• The latest variant features Gujarat's 'Rani Ki Vav' (queen's stepwell) along with the Swachh Bharat logo and slogan on its reverse. Gandhiji's placement remains the same.
• In 2014, UNESCO had recognised Gujarat's 'Rani ki Vav', the 11th-century wonder in Patan, Gujarat as a World Heritage Site.

Delhi Dialogue X

• India hosted the 10th edition of the Delhi Dialogue (DD X) in New Delhi.
• The Delhi Dialogue is a premier annual track 1.5 event to discuss politico-security, the economic and socio-cultural engagement between India and ASEAN.
• The theme of DD X is "Strengthening India-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation”.
• The Delhi Dialogue is being organized by the MEA in collaboration with Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS)

Exercise Pitch Black

• Exercise Pitch Black is a biennial three-week multinational large force employment exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
• The Indian Air Force is all set to participate for the first time ever in Exercise Pitch Black 2018 (PB-18).
• Exercise Pitch Black ensures that the "training and integration of forces that occur during this exercise directly supports Air Force's ability to conduct operations.