International Religious Freedom Report 2022
In its 2022 Annual report, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended that India be designated a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ (CPC) for the third time in a row.
- The ‘Country of Particular Concern’ (CPC) is the category of governments performing most poorly on religious freedom criteria.
- The CPCs are countries whose governments either engage in or tolerate “particularly severe violations” of religious freedom.
- [“Particularly severe violations” of religious freedom are defined as systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of the internationally recognized right to freedom of religion.]
- The other designation, for less serious violations, is Special Watch List (SWL).
- CPCs - For 2022, based on religious freedom conditions in 2021, 15 countries have been recommended for the CPC designation.
- They include India, Pakistan, Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Syria and Vietnam.
- SWLs - For 2022, countries recommended for a SWL designation include Algeria, Cuba, Nicaragua, Azerbaijan, Central African Republic, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Turkey, and Uzbekistan.
- Legality - The USCIRF’s decision is not binding on the US government.
- The USCIRF typically recommends more countries for a CPC label than the State Department will designate.
- This happens because the USCIRF is concerned solely with the state of religious freedom when it makes a recommendation.
- But the State Department and its Office of International Freedom (IRF), along with religious freedom, also takes into account other diplomatic, bilateral and strategic concerns before making a CPC designation.
USCIRF’s Designation of India as a CPC
- The USCIRF states that religious freedom conditions in India significantly worsened in 2021.
- It noted that India had its promotion and enforcement of policies - including those promoting a Hindu-nationalist agenda - that negatively affect Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, and other religious minorities.
- It highlighted the use of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against those documenting religious persecution and violence.
United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
- It is an independent bi-partisan US federal government commission that was created by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) 1998.
- It has a mandate to monitor religious freedom violations globally and make policy recommendations to the U.S. President, the Secretary of State, and the Congress.
- It is dedicated to defending the universal right to freedom of religion or belief abroad.
- It is a congressionally created entity and not an NGO or advocacy organisation.
- It is led by nine part-time commissioners appointed by the President and the leadership of both political parties in the House and the Senate.
- IRFA requires the USCIRF to annually identify countries that merit a CPC designation.
Reference
- https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/indias-designation-by-the-uscirf/article65357553.ece?homepage=true
- https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/uscirf-recommends-to-designate-india-14-others-as-country-of-particular-concern/articleshow/91082534.cms
- https://www.uscirf.gov/countries/india
Spotted Deer
A one-year-old male spotted deer was found dead in Ranipet district, Tamil Nadu.
- Spotted deer (Axis axis), or Axis Deer or chital, is the most common deer species in Indian forests.
- It lives in grasslands and forests in India and Sri Lanka.
- The deer’s golden-rufus coloring is speckled with white spots, and it has a white underbelly.
- Its curved, 3-pronged antlers extend nearly 3 feet and shed each year.
- Spotted deer has a prolonged mating season, as the perpetually warm climate allows females to remain fertile and to give birth to fawns any time of year.
- Due to these tropical conditions, males do not have synchronized antler cycles.
- Spotted deer most commonly occur in herds of 10 to 50 individuals, with one or two males and a number of females and young.
- They primarily eat grasses and vegetation but will also ingest their shed antlers as a source of nutrients.
- It is the State animal of Telangana.
- IUCN Status - Least Concern.
Reference
- https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/young-spotted-deer-found-dead-in-ranipet/article65358755.ece
- https://www.nathab.com/know-before-you-go/asia-the-pacific/india/wildlife-guide/spotted-deer/
- https://www.britannica.com/animal/chital
National Cyber Security Strategy
Amid a surge in cyber attacks on India’s networks, the Centre is yet to implement the National Cyber Security Strategy which has been in the works since 2020.
- National Cyber Security Strategy was conceptualized by the Data Security Council of India (DSCI), headed by Lt General Rajesh Pant.
- This report focuses on 21 areas to ensure a safe, secure, trusted, resilient, and vibrant cyberspace for India.
- The main sectors of focus of the report are,
- Large scale digitization of public services.
- Monitoring and mapping of the supply chain of the Integrated circuits (ICT) and electronics products, scaling up product testing and certification, etc
- Critical information infrastructure protection - Integrating Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) security with enterprise security, monitoring digitisation of devices, etc
- Digital payments - Mapping and modeling of devices and platform deployed, supply chain, transacting entities, payment flows, interfaces and data exchange, etc
- Developing state-level cybersecurity policies, allocation of dedicated funds, critical scrutiny of digitization plans, guidelines for security architecture, operations, and governance
- Policy intervention in cyber security of small & medium businesses granting incentives for higher level of cybersecurity preparedness, frameworks, architectures for adopting IoT & industrialization.
- To implement cybersecurity in the above-listed focus areas, the report lists the following recommendations:
- Minimum allocation of 0.25% of the annual budget, which can be raised up to 1% for cyber security.
- Research, innovation, skill-building and technology development
- Crisis management by holding cybersecurity drills which include real-life scenarios with their ramifications.
- Cyber insurance - DSCI recommends developing cyber insurance products for critical information infrastructure and quantify the risks involving them.
- Cyber diplomacy - DSCI suggests that the government should promote brand India as a responsible player in cyber security and also create ‘Cyber envoys’ for the key countries/regions.
- For a robust internet infrastructure, DSCI suggests keeping critical infrastructure, root server of programs controlling and governing India, inside India.
- Cybercrime investigation - DSCI suggests charting a 5-year roadmap under section 79A of IT act.
Reference
- https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/indias-national-cyber-security-strategy-features-implementation/article65317407.ece?homepage=true
- https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/a-year-on-cyber-security-strategy-pending-with-government-101645555771206.html#:~:text=The%20country's%20cyber%20security%20strategy,familiar%20with%20the%20matter%20said.
Gravitational Lensing
Recently, scientists imaged a star that is extremely far away, at a distance of about 12.8 billion light years away, using Gravitational Lensing.
- Despite being the fastest moving object in our universe, even light is diverted from its straight path when it passes near a massive object, like a very massive black hole.
- When we observe the light from a star that passes near an intervening galaxy, again it can get “lensed”.
- Gravitational Lensing is a term that implies that the gravity of the galaxy causes it to act like a lens and distort and magnify the light from the star.
- Gravitational lens can occur when a huge amount of matter, like a cluster of galaxies, creates a gravitational field that distorts and magnifies the light from distant galaxies that are behind it but in the same line of sight.
- Effects - Gravitational lensing can magnify the image of the star as we see it.
- So, it allows researchers to study the details of early galaxies too far away to be seen with current technology and telescopes.
- If the star we are observing is exactly behind the intervening large galaxy, there are four images of the star produced around the galaxy’s image - a phenomenon known as Einstein cross.
- If it is slightly away from the line joining us on earth and the galaxy, but behind the galaxy, the image we capture will be like an arc of light.
- Gravitational lensing is the key in discovering many celestial objects today.
Reference
- https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/what-is-gravitational-lensing/article65338095.ece
- https://hubblesite.org/contents/articles/gravitational-lensing#:~:text=A%20gravitational%20lens%20can%20occur,through%20a%20giant%20magnifying%20glass.
Pranahita River
The mega river festival dedicated to worshipping the Pranahita river drew to a close on a grand note with hordes of devotees swarming Kaleshwaram.
- Pranahita River is the largest tributary of the Godavari.
- This river acts as border between Telangana and Maharashtra.
- Origin - Thumbidihatti, Asifabad, Telangana.
- It begins at the confluence of 2 rivers - Wardha and Wainganga.
- Outflow - Godavari River near Kaleshwaram
- States - Maharashtra, Telangana
- Kaleshwaram irrigation project, one of the two components of the redesigned Pranahita-Chevella project, was proposed across the Godavari after the tributaries - Pranahita and Indravati.
Reference
- https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/pranahita-river-festival-concludes/article6535166ece
- https://www.telangana360.com/2016/11/pranhita-river.html
- https://indiawris.gov.in/wiki/doku.php?id=pranhita_basin
