GS Analyst
Daily Current Affairs

The rock art estimated to be 20,000 years old and classified as protected monuments by the state archaeology department and the Archaeological Survey of India, is citing damages by the oil refinery project proposed in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra.

Background:

• The initial discovery of these sites was done in 2012, though the locals had known about some of these petroglyphs as something cultural left by their ancestors.
• Now these Konkan petroglyphs find themselves in the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The issue:

• The site proposed for a mega oil refinery in Barsu village of Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district is at the centre of a row over whether it might damage ancient rock carvings found in the area.
• The rock art, or petroglyphs, estimated to be 20,000 years old and classified as protected monuments and have been added to the tentative list of UNESCO’s world heritage sites.
• More than 250 petroglyphs have been identified in the area where the petrochemical refinery will be built. 
• If the project starts at Barsu, the rock carvings will get destroyed due to construction and chemical reaction at the site.

• A committee of experts appointed by the Union Ministry of Science and Technology visited Ratnagiri to inspect and study the petroglyphs scattered across several villages, and propose measures for conserving them.

What are Petroglyphs?

• Petroglyphs are rock carvings (rock paintings are called pictographs) made by pecking directly on the rock surface using a stone chisel and a hammerstone.
• When the desert varnish on the surface of the rock was chipped off, the lighter rock underneath was exposed, creating the petroglyph. Archaeologists have estimated there may be over 25,000 petroglyph images along the 17 miles of escarpment within the monument boundary.

The Petroglyphs found in the region:

• They are also called katal shilpa, spread across 70 sites in Ratnagiri district.
• The carvings are in the shape of human figures, birds, animals and geometric forms, though they vary in shape and size from site to site.
• Seven sites in Ratnagiri district (Ukshi, Jambharun, Kasheli, Rundhe Tali, Devihsol, Barsu and Devache Gothane), Kudopi village in Sindhudurg district, and nine sites at Pansoimol in Goa have been added to the tentative list of UNESCO’s world heritage sites.

How they are made?

• Petroglyphs are drawn by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving or abrading.

Suggestions:

• The petroglyphs can be saved if the project is shifted 5-6 kilometres away from the sites.
• Maharashtra State government is planning to create a project for conservation of all petroglyphs in the Konkan region and get their carbon and geological dating done.

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has detected large-scale anomalies in the updating of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.

Background:

• The Supreme Court-monitored NRC exercise was started in October 2013.
• Over 19 lakhs were excluded from Assam’s final NRC.
• The CAG submitted its report to the 126-member Assam assembly on December 24^th,

Key Points from the report:

• Lack of proper planning: 215 software utilities were added haphazardly to the core software used for the updating exercise.
  • These were done without following the due process of either software development or selection of vendors through eligibility assessment following a national tendering.
  • Highly secure and reliable software was required for such an exercise.
• Risk of data tampering" in the NRC for Assam:
  • It is due to “improper" software development.
  • The process hasn’t left any audit trail.
  • The intended objective of preparing a valid and error-free NRC was not met.
• Increased Cost: The project cost for the NRC escalated from Rs 288.18 crore to Rs 1,602.66 crore due to the time taken to undertake the exercise.

Recommendations:

• Penal Action: The CAG sought penal measures against system integrator Wipro Limited for violation of the Minimum Wages Act:
  • The payment was made to operators at a rate less than the minimum wage.
  • The number of wages paid to the outsourced staff was 45.59-64.27% less than the rate approved by the NRC coordination committee.
• The difference in wages allowed the undue benefit of Rs 155.83 crores to the system integrator and the labour contractor.

What is the National Register of Citizens?

• NRC is a register prepared in respect of each village, showing the houses or holdings in a serial order and indicating against each house or holding the number and names of persons staying therein.
• The register was first prepared after the 1951 Census of India and since then it has not been updated until recently.
  • It has been updated in Assam only for now and the government plans to update it nationally as well.
• Purpose: To separate “illegal” immigrants from “legitimate” residents.
• Nodal Agency: Registrar General and Census Commissioner India.

Status of the NRC elsewhere in the Northeast:

• Assam is the only State in the region that undertook an exercise to update the NRC of 1951 with 24th March 1971, as the cut-off date for citizenship of a person.
• Nagaland attempted a similar exercise called RIIN (Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland) in June 2019 to primarily sift the indigenous Nagas from the non-indigenous Nagas.

About the Comptroller and Auditor General:

• Constitutional Body: Article 148 provides for an independent office of the CAG. It is the supreme audit institution of India.
• Other Provisions Related to CAG include:
  • Articles 149-151 (Duties & Powers, Form of Accounts of the Union and the States, and Audit Reports)
  • Article 279 (calculation of net proceeds, etc.)
• Not eligible for further office, either under the Government of India or of any state, after he ceases to hold his office.
• Salary and other service conditions are determined by the Parliament.
• No minister can represent the CAG in Parliament.
• The administrative expenses of the office of the CAG, including all salaries, allowances, and pensions of persons serving in that office are charged to the Consolidated Fund of India.

Stress on non-tariff issues by the developed nations on India is shrinking the time window for free trade agreements (FTAs) with the UK, European Union, and Australia.

What are Free Trade Agreements?

• It is a pact between two or more nations to reduce barriers to imports and exports among them.
• Under a free trade policy, goods and services can be bought and sold across international borders with little or no government tariffs, quotas, subsidies, or prohibitions to inhibit their exchange.
• The concept of free trade is the opposite of trade protectionism or economic isolationism.
• FTAs can be categorized as Preferential Trade Agreements, CECA, and Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPA).

Why the time is running out?

• Issues like climate action, carbon emissions, and labour issues are taking precedence over pure trade issues due to trade negotiations.
• There are chances that the focus might get shifted to a series of events linked to the G20 presidency, so India needs to act fast.
• The political lobbying from influential lobby groups such as farmer unions and the auto sector could intensify in the run-up to the 2024 national elections.

Differences between the old (FTAs negotiated before 2015) and the new FTAs

• Earlier there used to be about a dozen chapters.
• Now in the new FTAs, the number of chapters has doubled with non-trade issues dominating these FTAs.

What is the concern?

• India needs to be cautious in the FTA negotiation, in the future we may benefit from the GSP (Generalised System of Preferences), but if the developed nations put in a non-tariff barrier by citing labour or environment, then it becomes an issue.
• Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM): European Union has purposed CBAM to tax carbon-intensive products, from 2026. Many developing countries including India are expected to challenge this levy.
• An interim Trade Agreement or early harvest trade agreement is used to liberalize tariffs on the trade of certain goods between two countries or trading blocs before a comprehensive FTA (Free Trade Agreement) is concluded.
• The problem is that these early harvest schemes potentially target the low-hanging fruits, leaving the tougher goods and services for later.
• Recession in the developed world also stokes protectionist tendencies there, to which they respond by erecting walls — not necessarily based on tariffs — to stall imports from other countries.

A report by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) says that the number of polluted stretches in India’s rivers has fallen, but the number of most polluted stretches is practically unchanged.

Key Findings:

• The decline in polluted Stretches: The number of polluted stretches in India’s rivers has fallen from 351 in 2018 to 311 in 2022.
• Unchanged polluted stretches: The number of polluted river stretches categorized in ‘Priority I & II’ is almost unchanged.
• Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) exceeding 3.0 mg/L (milligram per litre) is identified as a polluted location.
• Two or more polluted locations identified on a river in a continuous sequence are considered a “polluted river stretch.”
• A BOD less than 3 mg/L means the river stretch is fit for ‘Outdoor Bathing.’

Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD):

• Biological Oxygen Demand is the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by microorganisms to decompose organic matter (waste or pollutants) under aerobic reaction (in the presence of oxygen).
• The more organic matter there is (e.g., in sewage and polluted bodies of water), the greater the BOD.
• Greater the BOD, the lower the amount of dissolved oxygen available for higher animals such as fish.
• The BOD is therefore a reliable gauge of the organic pollution of a water body.
• One of the main reasons for treating wastewater prior to its discharge into a water resource is to lower its BODe., to reduce its need for oxygen and thereby lessen its demand from the streams, lakes, rivers, or estuaries into which it is released.

About Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB):

• CPCB is a statutory organization that was constituted in September 1974 under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
• It was also entrusted with the powers and functions under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
• It serves as a field formation and also provides technical services to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
• The CPCB network monitors water quality at 4,484 locations in 28 States and seven Union Territories including rivers, lakes, creeks, drains, and canals.
• Principal Functions of the CPCB:
  • CPCB is monitoring the water quality in India under National Water Quality Monitoring Programme.
  • To promote the cleanliness of streams and wells in different areas of the States by prevention, control, and abatement of water pollution.
  • To improve the quality of air and to prevent, control, or abate air pollution in the country.

Identification Of Polluted River Stretches:

• CPCB is monitoring the water quality in India under National Water Quality Monitoring Programme. The water quality data is analyzed and monitoring locations exceeding the water quality criteria are identified as polluted locations with respect to risk. Priority levels of polluted stretch are based on the risk.

Reasons for Polluted Rivers:

• Urbanization
• Industries
• Agricultural Runoff and Improper Agricultural Practices
• Amount of Flow of Rivers:
• Religious and Social Practices

Government Initiatives to Tackle Water Pollution:

• National River Rejuvenation Mechanism
• National Water Policy (2012)
• National Water Mission (2010)
• National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)
• Namami Gange Project