GS Analyst: Daily Current Affairs

Venice has responded to overtourism by implementing a 5€ fee for day trippers visiting the city, addressing the widespread issue exacerbated by the global pandemic.

1: Dimension- Impact of Overtourism

• Overtourism arises when destinations face an overwhelming influx of tourists, leading to adverse effects on the environment, infrastructure, and local communities.
• India is ranked 10th among 185 countries in terms of travel & tourism’s total contribution to GDP in 2019. However, it also brings social, economic, and environmental consequences.
• Challenges include disenchanted locals, degraded tourist experiences, strained infrastructure, and cultural threats.
• Social impact: It can cause difficulties for the locals as mentioned above overtourism affects their quality of life.
• Economic issue: Overcrowding results in congested public spaces, increased real estate prices, reduced residents' purchasing power.
• Environmental issue:Depletion of local natural resources and species as well as pollution and waste problems. Tourism contributes to more than 5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, with transportation accounting for 90 percent of this.

Addressing Overtourism

• Tourism degrowthhas long been posited as a remedy to overtourism.
• De-marketing destinations has been applied with varying degrees of success.
• Introducing entry fees and gates to over-tourist places like Venice is another deterrent.  

The frequency and intensity of forest fires are increasing day by day in India. The most recent victim is Uttarakhand, whose forests are witnessing massive fire.

1: Dimension- Frequency and Causes of Forest Fires in India

• Forest Fire Season Duration:November to June.
• Contributing Factors:Factors such as temperatures, precipitation, vegetation, and moisture contribute to the scale and frequency of these fires.
• Factors contributing to the spread of forest fires: fuel load, oxygen, and temperature.
• Humans’ role: Deliberate fires by locals (to promote growth of quality grass), carelessness, farming-related activities,agriculture and unchecked land-use patterns, concealing illegal tree cutting, or facilitating poaching and natural factors.
  • Friction between electricity cables and dry leaves, as well as lightning strikes, are additional triggers for wildfires.
• Extent of Vulnerability: As per Forest Survey of India (FSI) reports, nearly 36 per cent of India’s forests are prone to frequent fires.
• Seasonal Variation:Higher incidences of forest fires are typically reported in March, April, and May due to the abundance of dry biomass after winter and during the summer season.
• Regional Vulnerability:Specific forest types, such as dry deciduous forests, are more prone to severe fires compared to evergreen, semi-evergreen, and montane temperate forests.
  • Approximately 4% of the country's forest cover is classified as extremely prone to fire, while 6% is considered very highly fire-prone, according to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) in 2019.

2: Dimension-Impact on forest biodiversity

• Loss and displacement of species: Direct loss of trees and wildlife, displacement and subsequent colonisation of unwanted species.
• Forest fires can meddle with the life cycle of species and push many of the threatened and endemic species closer to extinction.By destroying the leaves and foliage, photosynthetic activity of surviving trees are reduced and thereby affect their growth.
• Impact on recovery rate:The loss of keystone organisms in forest ecosystems, such as invertebrates, pollinators, and decomposers, can significantly slow the recovery rate of the forest.
• Forest fires can also interfere with the reproduction and propagation of certain plants and animals.

3: Dimension- Management or Prevention of Forest Fire

• Methods Identified by MoEFCC:
  • Early Detection: Construction of watch towers for early detection and deployment of fire watchers.
  • Community Involvement: Engaging local communities in fire prevention and control efforts.
  • Creation of Fire Lines: Establishing and maintaining fire lines to prevent the spread of fires.
• Types of Fire Lines Recognized by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA):
  • Kachha Fire Lines: These are covered fire lines where undergrowth and shrubs are cleared while retaining trees to reduce fuel load.
  • Pucca Fire Lines: Open fire lines created by clear-cutting areas to separate forest compartments or blocks and control potential fire spread.
  • Other methods: Controlled burning, fire terracing, counter fire, rock walls, and others.

Recent tensions in the South China Sea have drawn attention due to longstanding territorial disputes involving countries like China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Brunei Darussalam, with Sierra Madre, a World War II-era ship, playing a significant role in the region's geopolitical dynamics.

What is the Sierra Madre?

• Constructed During World War II: The Sierra Madre, a 100 ft-long ship, was built in the US during World War II (1939-45) and commissioned in 1944 as a landing ship.
• Deployment to Vietnam: It was later deployed to Vietnam during the US involvement in the Vietnam War (1954-75).
• Transfer to the Philippines: In 1976, the ship was transferred to the Philippines, a US ally, where it served various purposes.
• Current Situation:
  • Position at Second Thomas Shoal: In 1999, the ship was deliberately grounded on the Second Thomas Shoal, part of the largely uninhabited Spratly Islands.
  • Philippines' Rejection of Removal: China has demanded the removal of the ship, but the Philippines has refused, fearing it would weaken its claims over the islands and allow Chinese presence to establish.

The financial intelligence unit (FIU) has issued a set of ‘alert indicators’ under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for capital markets, insurance companies, online payment gateway intermediaries and crypto currency service providers for effective checking of suspicious transactions in their channels as part of the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime.

About FIU

• Established in: 2004
• It is a specialised agency under the Ministry of Finance.
• Primary mandate:to serve as the central national agency responsible for receiving, processing, analysing and disseminating information related to suspicious financial transactions. These transactions could be indicative of money laundering, terrorist financing or other illegal activities.
• Under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), certain categories of organisations are required to register with FIU-IND as reporting entities.
  • These include banks and financial institutions, stockbrokers and depository participants, payment system operators, insurance companies, mutual funds and asset management companies, among others.

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) received the prestigious 'Navratna' status.

About Classification of India’s Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs)

• India's central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) are classified into three major categories - Miniratna, Navratna and Maharatna CPSEs.
• Aim to assign ratna statuses to CPSEs:to give operational freedom and decision-making power to the state-run entities.
• Numbers: There are 57 Miniratna, 17 Navratna and 13 Maharatna companies. IREDA become the 17th Navratna company.

Miniratna Status

• There are two sub-categories under the Miniratna status - Miniratna-I and Miniratna - II.
  • Miniratna Category-I: CPSEs which reported profits in three consecutive years, have a pre-tax profit of Rs 30 crore or more in at least one of the three years, and have a positive net worth.
  • Miniratna Category-II: PSUs with a profit for the last three successive years and have a positive net worth.
• Other requirements:
  • A CPSE should have not defaulted on repayment of loans or interest due to the government.
• Miniratna entities need not depend upon budgetary support or government guarantees.

Navratna status

• Eligibility:PSUs that have a Miniratna-I status and have obtained an "Excellent" or "Very Good" MoU rating in three out of the last five years and have a composite score of 60 or more in six selected performance indicators (including net profit to net worth, manpower cost to total cost of production, etc).
• Important PSUs: IREDA, BEL, CONCOR, Hindustan Aeronautics, NALCO, NBCC, NMDC, PFC

Maharatna status

• Eligibility:
  • Should have a "Navratna" status
  • Should be listed on the Indian stock exchanges
  • Should be compliant with minimum shareholding norms
  • Average annual turnover of more than Rs 25,000 crore and average annual net worth of over Rs 15,000 crore in the last three years
  • Average annual net profit of over Rs 5,000 crore in the last three years along with significant global presence.
• Important PSUs: BHEL, BPCL, Coal India, GAIL, HPCL, Indian Oil, NTPC, ONGC

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released a draft Master Direction for Electronic Trading Platforms (ETPs) in the wake of increased integration of the onshore forex market with offshore markets.

Key Highlights of the Draft Master Direction - RBI (Electronic Trading Platform Directions, 2024)

Need for Regulation: The RBI's move comes in response to concerns raised about unauthorized entities offering forex trading facilities with promises of high returns.

• Minimum Net-Worth Requirement:Entities applying for authorization as Electronic Trading Platform (ETP) operators must maintain a minimum net worth of Rs 5 crore. This requirement is to be upheld continuously to ensure financial stability and resilience.
• Incorporation in India: The entity seeking authorization as an ETP operator must be a company incorporated in India.
• Shareholding Compliance: Any shareholding by non-residents in the entity must comply with all relevant laws and regulations, including the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.
• Technology Infrastructure: ETP operators are required to maintain robust technology infrastructure characterized by high reliability, availability, scalability, and security.

The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) recently uploaded various State Expert Committee (SEC) reports on its website in compliance with a Supreme Court order. This interim order was issued in response to a public interest litigation challenging the constitutionality of the Forest (Conservation) Act Amendment (FCAA) 2023, which raised concerns about the protection of unclassed forests.

About Unclassed Forests:

• Unclassed forests, also known as deemed forests, lack formal notification but hold legal protection under the N. Godavarman Thirumalpad judgement.
• These forests may belong to various government entities, communities, or private owners but remain unnotified.

The three-day synchronised Nilgiri tahr survey began recently, with the focus on identifying small isolated populations, which are on the verge of local extinction.

• The Nilgiri tahr is the only mountain ungulate in southern India amongst the 12 species present in India. It is also the state animal of Tamil Nadu.
• Habitat: A few scattered habitat patches within Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Historically they were present in much of the Western Ghats.
  • The Eravikulam National Park in Anamalai hills, Kerala, is home to the largest population of the species.
• Conservation Status: Endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of India, 1972.

The United States has reportedly refused almost a third of shipments from MDH since October 2023 due to salmonella contamination.

About Salmonella

• Salmonella is a group of bacteria that can cause gastrointestinal illness and fever called
• Spread:Salmonella naturally lives in animals' intestines and can be found in their feces. The bacteria then spread to humans if they come in contact with salmonella-infected animals or items in their environment.
• Symptoms: Diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has inducted Rampage long-range supersonic air-to-ground missiles.

• Type: Long-range air to ground missile
• Range: 250 km
• The missile, also known as as ROCKS or Crystal Maze 2, is originated from Israel.
• The Israeli missiles have been inducted into the IAF's Su-30, MiG-29 and Jaguar fighter aircraft, while the Navy is using them on the MiG-29K fighter jets.
• The IAF is planning to mass produce the Rampage missiles in India under the Make in India initiative.

This year marks the 104th death anniversary of Indian mathematical genius, Srinivasa Ramanujan.

• Early Life and Background:Srinivasa Ramanujan was born on December 22, 1887, in Erode, India, to a Tamil Brahmin Iyengar family.
• Mathematical Genius:Ramanujan is renowned for his contributions to the analytical theory of numbers, elliptic functions, continued fractions, and infinite series.
• Contributions to Mathematics:Ramanujan explored diverse mathematical concepts, including Riemann series, elliptic integrals, hypergeometric series, and functional equations of the zeta function.
  • He formulated his own theory of divergent series, known as Ramanujan summation, and made significant advances in the partition of numbers.
• Recognition and Achievements:Ramanujan was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1918 for his groundbreaking work in elliptic functions and the Theory of Numbers.
  • He became the first Indian to be elected a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, in October 1918, further solidifying his academic stature.
• Legacy and Mathematical Contributions:Ramanujan's legacy includes numerous mathematical concepts and theorems named after him, such as the Landau–Ramanujan constant, Ramanujan prime, and Mock theta functions.
• National Mathematics Day is observed on December 22nd annually in India to commemorate Srinivasa Ramanujan's birth anniversary.