New species of flying squirrel discovered
•Scientists have discovered a new species of flying squirrel in North America that had been hiding in plain sight for hundreds of years.
•Known as Humboldt’s flying squirrel, or Glaucomys oregonensis , the new flying squirrel species inhabits the Pacific Coast region of North America.
•Until now, these coastal populations were simply thought to be the already-known northern flying squirrel, researchers said.
•“For 200 years, we thought we had only had one species of flying squirrel in the Northwest — until we looked at the nuclear genome, in addition to mitochondrial DNA, for the first time,” said Jim Kenagy, professor at the University of Washington in the U.S.
•“It was a surprising discovery,” said Mr. Kenagy, co-author of the study published in the Journal of Mammalogy .
•The Humboldt’s flying squirrel is known as a “cryptic” species — a species that was previously thought to be another, known species because the two look similar.
•This new discovery is the 45th known species of flying squirrel in the world, researchers said.
India to join SCO in Astana
As PM goes to Kazakh city, plan to work with China, Pakistan to combat terror
•India says it is willing to join hands with Pakistan and China to combat terrorism.
•Announcing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s weekend visit to Astana, Kazakhstan, where India will be admitted as a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the External Affairs Ministry said the fight against terrorism was “incumbent” on all.
•“We are going to Astana to become full member [of SCO], and we know the obligations and functions of the member states,” said Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay explaining that counter-terror collaboration with members of the SCO, such as China and Pakistan, was also a possibility.
•“We participate with many countries, including Pakistan, in the U.N. peacekeeping operations, and terrorism is a fight which is incumbent on all countries,” Mr. Baglay said.
Trade and terrorism
•The comment is significant as full membership will require India to coordinate with member countries both on the trade front in the SCO headquarters in Beijing and at the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) based in Tashkent. Pakistan, which has been an observer of the SCO like India, will join as full member in this summit meeting.
•“All aspects of the SCO will be available for participation of all member countries. So if there is a partnership on counter-terror exercise, then it is unlikely that India will stay out of it. As a member, India will be invited ... and in fact, will have a right to participate. India will determine the conditions of that exercise as a member,” G.V. Srinivas, Joint Secretary in charge of the Eurasia division in the Ministry, said on Wednesday.
•The official said this cooperation was part of the obligation of membership.
•The spokesperson highlighted that the SCO would be an institutional forum where India would cooperate with the neighbours of Afghanistan to establish peace and stability and hold consultation on counter-terror.
•Under the framework of the SCO, an annual counter-terror exercise is hosted by a member country. Mr. Srinivas said that as a member country, India could consider participating in it.
Major point
•Cooperation on counter-terrorism is expected to emerge as a major point of India’s exchange with SCO. Mr. Srinivas said India hoped to benefit from both the wings of the SCO — trade and security.
•“SCO has broadly two legs of cooperation. One is trade, banking, connectivity, energy and the second is the fight against terrorism under RATS. Both are of relevance and great importance to us. Joint exercises, data bank of terrorists and a lot of coordination. We hope to benefit from these,” the official said
•The Joint Secretary said India’s engagement with SCO would be determined by the 38 documents that it had signed with the multilateral organisation on a whole range of issues.
SC to hear plea on cattle trade rules
Petition states notices by Centre would cast ‘huge economic burden’ on farmers and cattle traders
•The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a petition challenging the new notifications issued by the Centre banning sale and trade of cattle in livestock markets for the purposes of slaughter and religious animal sacrifices.
•The petition said the notifications issued by the Environment Ministry would cast a “huge economic burden” on farmers and cattle traders, exposing them to harassment by cow vigilantes and the police.
•A Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and Deepak Gupta listed the petition filed by Mohammed Abdul Faheem Qureshi, a Hyderabad-based lawyer and president of the All India Jamiatul Quresh Action Committee, on June 15 for hearing.
•The case was mentioned before the Bench by counsel Sanobar Qureshi, who submitted that provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Care and Maintenance of Case Property Animals) Rules, both issued on May 23, were unconstitutional.
•The petition contended that the Livestock Markets Rules ban sale or purchase of cattle for slaughter in animal markets.
•It said the rules extend the definition of “animal markets” to “any other premises or place” to which animals are brought for sale.
Food of choice
•“Therefore, the impugned provisions are imposing an absolute ban on slaughtering of animals in the country, directly affecting the employment of the butchers and depriving citizens to have the food of their choice,” the petition argued.
•It said the restriction on slaughter would force farmers to hold on to “useless” cattle. “Farmers who find it difficult to feed their children today would be required to feed the cattle,” the petition said.
•It quoted the Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench judgment in the M.H. Quareshi case that “maintenance of useless cattle involves a wasteful drain on the nation’s cattle feed”.
•The petition pointed to how vigilante attacks on cattle traders have increased and the notifications may vitiate the atmosphere.
•“There are a number of incidents where cows, bulls or bullocks transported are generally seized either by the police or some anti-social elements. The police are also helpless before such anti-social elements, who are violating the fundamental right of citizens to carry [on] the trade of purchasing and selling the cattle,” it said.
Right to trade
•The petitioner, whose organisation claims to work for the uplift of weaker sections including the butchers and cattle traders, said the fundamental right to carry on trade under Article 19 could be restricted only by the legislature and not through a delegated executive fiat which violates the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act of 1960 itself.
•The 1960 Act only intends to prevent the infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering on animals. It does not ban slaughter for food.
•The notifications, the petitioner argued, are an affront to the right to freely practise religion under Article 25 and to the cultural identity of communities protected under Article 29 (protection of interests of minorities) of the Constitution.
•“A right under Article 25 can be restricted on the grounds of public order morality and health,” the petitioner contended.
•The petition noted that Section 38 of the 1960 Act, under which the notifications were issued, only permits the Centre to make rules in furtherance of the purpose of the Act and not override or rewrite the Act.
Rule 22
•Zeroing in on Rule 22 of the Livestock Markets Rules, the petition said this provision creates “unconstitutional restrictions” on traders who use cattle markets – for many an ancestral and traditional occupation.
India denies Iran shutting it out of gasfield development
Russia signs MoU on field discovered by ONGC arm
•Indian officials have sought to downplay the significance of a memorandum of understanding signed between Iran and the Russian company Gazprom on the development of the Farzab B gasfield, saying they have not heard of a final deal and talks with Tehran were on as recently as last week.
•The 12.5-trillion-cubic feet gasfield was discovered by ONGC Videsh Ltd., the overseas arm of the State-run ONGC, but Tehran has delayed the award of right to develop the field to the company, reportedly disappointed with its commitment of $3 billion and the time it was taking to finalise the terms.
•Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh confirmed the signing of the agreement with Gazprom. However, Indian officials remain confident about OVL’s chances.
•“What has come out in the media is not our understanding,” said Sunjay Sudhir, Joint Secretary, International Cooperation Division in the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry. “ONGC Videsh has been in negotiations with the NIOC [National Iranian Oil Company] as late as last week in Tehran.”
•Negotiations between India and Iran have reportedly heated up, with India cutting oil imports from Iran and Iran retaliating by reducing the credit time limit it gives Indian companies from 90 to 60 days.
•The agreement was meant to be concluded last November, but the two countries mutually agreed to push it to February 2017.
•“It is only in the press that it has gone to Gazprom, but not our information since we are in touch with the Iranians closely,” an official in the Ministry said on condition of anonymity. “Three months ago, they had signed an MoU with Gazprom, but we have no word that the final deal was done. The procedure to award such blocks is not of just handing it over. A lot of calculations have to be made and processes have to be followed.”
No more delays
•External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj recently acknowledged the slow pace of movement on closing deals in Iran, which include the Farzan B gasfield and the Chabahar port.
WHO revises antibiotics protocol
•In an effort to curb antibiotic resistance, the World Health Organization (WHO) has divided the drugs into three categories — access, watch and reserve — specifying which are to be used for common ailments and which are to be kept for complicated diseases.
•Commonly used antibiotics will be available under ‘access’ category; the second line of antibiotics, slightly more potent have been categorised under “watch” and potent drugs to be used only as a “last resort” now fall under the ‘reserve’ category.
•This is the biggest revision of the antibiotics section in the 40-year history of the essential medicines list (EML).
•“The rise in antibiotic resistance stems from how we are using — and misusing — these medicines,” said Dr. Suzanne Hill, Director of Essential Medicines and Health Products. “The new WHO list should help health system planners and prescribers ensure that people who need antibiotics have access to them, and ensure they get the right one, so that the problem of resistance doesn’t get worse.”
RBI’s decision to hold interest rates reveals rift with Centre
MPC declined Finance Ministry invite; CEA counters central bank’s inflation view
•The decision by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to keep the policy repo rate unchanged, shrugging off a sharp deceleration in retail inflation, brought to the fore clear signs that the Centre and RBI are not seeing eye-to-eye on interest rates.
•Addressing a customary post-monetary policy press conference on Wednesday, RBI Governor Urjit Patel told the media that the members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) had declined an invitation to meet with Finance Ministry officials ahead of the policy review.
•“The meeting did not take place,” Mr. Patel said, when asked whether such meetings could undermine the central bank’s autonomy and hurt the credibility of the MPC. “All the MPC members declined the request of the finance ministry for that meeting,” he said.
•The six-member MPC’s decision to hold rates and retain a “neutral” stance was also the panel’s first to lack unanimity, with one member, Ravindra H. Dholakia, dissenting. However, the RBI did not specify whether Mr. Dholakia was in favour of cutting or raising interest rates.
Views on inflation
•Tension had been brewing between the central bank and the Centre for some time over several issues, but the most important disagreement was over the RBI’s views on inflation. The RBI had, in February, changed its policy stance from ‘accommodative’ to ‘neutral’ due to inflation concerns, surprising many.
•While Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released last month showed retail inflation slowed to 2.99% in April, the MPC opined that the question as to whether the unusually low momentum in the reading for April would endure was something that needed to be still assessed. However, after citing a couple of caveats relating to food and fuel prices, and core inflation, the RBI projected headline inflation to be in the 2.0-3.5% range for the first half of the current fiscal year and 3.5-4.5% in the second half.
•The MPC highlighted the risk of ‘premature action’ at this stage and said it would be wise to remain watchful of incoming data, thus avoiding disruptive policy reversals at a later stage. The RBI also pared its projection for GVA growth for FY18 by 10 basis points to 7.3%.
Centre counters
•The Centre, however, differed sharply with the RBI on inflation. “In recent times, seldom have economic conditions and the outlook warranted substantial monetary policy easing,” Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian told reporters, slamming the RBI’s position on inflation. He termed real policy rates as “tight and rising” at a time of low inflation and slowing growth.
•“I think there is a plausible alternative macro-economic arrangement,” Mr. Subramanian said. “In this view, not just the headline inflation has been running well below the target and so far in advance, but core (which does not include transitory elements) inflation has also declined sharply,” he said. The inflation outlook had also been rendered benign by an appreciating exchange rate and a good monsoon.
•Not all economists see a rate cut in the near future.
•“Rate cut not a done deal!,” wrote HDFC Bank chief economist Abheek Barua in a note to clients. “It could also be the case that the RBI is reluctant to change its stance too-fast too-soon. Therefore, if the monthly inflation momentum moves closer to the lower end of the RBI’s projected path, then a rate cut cannot be ruled out.”
•Mr. Patel, who has been critical of farm loan waivers announced by some States, cited the risk of fiscal slippages that could entail inflationary spillovers. The RBI also took steps to boost credit demand. The risk weight and standard asset provision requirement for home loans were pared.
•Banks’ statutory liquidity ratio requirement was also cut by 50 bps to 20%, freeing resources.
‘GST may not raise paint prices much’
•The imminent roll-out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is unlikely to bring in either higher prices for consumers or result in any major supply disruption, said Abhijit Roy, the new president of the Indian Paint Association.
•Addressing a press meet here, he said that while the industry pitched for 18%, the rate had been pegged at 28% for the paints industry, except for powder coatings (a speciality paint used on household appliances, gadgets and also automobiles), which would attract 18%. The present taxation rates are a tad higher, he said.
•It would be a loss to all if some States failed to roll out the new indirect tax system in tandem, he said. “It will be a loss for everyone... consumers, companies..,” he observed. Pointing out that bigger paint dealers were likely to be better prepared for the rollout, he said no supply disruption was expected beyond 45 days. On the impact of GST on the unorganised paints industry, Mr. Roy said that eventually every one would have to “fall in line.”
•Nearly 30% of the Rs. 40,000-crore paint industry was with the unorganised sector, which did not pay most of the taxes, he claimed. “There may be some teething problems, but everyone should realise that the benefits of the reform were linked with compliance,” he observed.
•Outgoing president Jalaj Dani said that the paints and coatings sector was still being considered a discretionary sector which depended on consumers’ spending propensity. Mr. Roy projected a 10% volume growth in the current fiscal year.
‘India will remain among top 3 investment destinations till ’19’
Business heads confident of Asia’s performance: UN report
•India will remain among the top three investment destinations globally till 2019, according to a survey by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
•UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2017 also said India ranked 10th in terms of FDI inflows in 2016, with $44 billion coming in, as in 2015. Over the next two years, India will be behind only the U.S. and China in terms of investment attractiveness, the report added.
•“In terms of projections for the future, the United States of America, China and India are the top prospective destinations for FDI,” the report said.
•“Business executives surveyed by UNCTAD say that they maintain their confidence in developing Asia’s economic performance.”
•Global foreign direct investment (FDI) is expected to rise by 5%, to almost $1.8 trillion in 2017.
Higher growth
•“After FDI flows retreated marginally in 2016 – by 2%, to $1.75 trillion – the new, more optimistic projections for 2017 are attributed to higher economic growth expectations across major regions, a resumption of growth in trade and a recovery in corporate profits,” the report added.
•Regarding India, the report noted that although FDI flows had remained the same in 2016 as they were in 2015, there was global interest in mergers and acquisitions in the Indian market.
•“Flows to India were stagnant at $44 billion. Cross-border mergers and acquisitions deals have become increasingly important for foreign multinational enterprises to enter the rapidly-growing Indian market,” the report said. “In 2016, there were a number of significant deals, including the $13 billion acquisition of Essar Oil by Rosneft.”
Declare instant triple talaq invalid
Social boycotts and no-triple-talaq conditions in prenuptial contracts will not bring gender justice
•Ever since the Attorney General told the Supreme Court that the government will bring in a comprehensive divorce law for Muslims if the court outlaws triple talaq, some commentators have been arguing that the wider and more liberal right of divorce of Muslim women should not be taken away for the sake of judicial oversight of divorces.
Some of the options
•Before we go into the necessity for judicial oversight of divorces, the question that needs to be answered is: Do Muslim women really have equal right to divorce in India? Let’s examine some of the options that are spoken of as liberal rights of Muslim women.
•Faskh: This is not the equivalent of talaq-e-bid’a (instant triple divorce) where women can unilaterally divorce their husbands in one go without judicial intervention. In faskh , the woman approaches the Qazi and it is he who annuls the marriage on her behalf provided he finds merit in her petition. Therefore, unless the husband’s unadjudicated unilateral right to talaq-e-bid’a is withdrawn, faskh cannot cannot be counted as an equal or reasonable option for Muslim women to dissolve their marriage.
•Talaq-e-tafweez: Under the prevailing Muslim law in India, a husband can either pronounce talaq himself or give this power to an agent. If the agent happens to be his wife, the delegated right is called talaq-e-tafweez . It is obvious here that insofar as the wife is concerned, this right is not her own. It flows from her husband. If he refuses to devolve it to her, she will not be able to divorce him. Moreover, even after granting talaq-e-tafweez the husband retains the right to talaq-e-bid’a which hangs over the wife’s head like the proverbial sword of Damocles.
•In the Koran-based Islamic law the question of the husband delegating to his wife the power to divorce does not arise. She enjoys rights on a par with her husband under the dictum wala hunna mislul lazi alai hinna bil ma’aroof (Koran 2:228). In other words, asking women to secure their right to divorce throughtafweez would amount to forcing them to concede the legal superiority of their husbands as males, and their own inferiority as females. Talaq-e-tafweez finds no mention in the Koran or any Prophetic hadees .
•Khula and mubarah: Under the present Muslim law, divorce at the instance of the wife is called khula . It cannot be described as an unconditional or absolute right of the wife because it violates the legal parity given to Muslim women in the Koran by laying down the conditions that for the offer of khula to be valid, a) it must be accompanied by a consideration (usually monetary) known as eva z, and b) the offer must be accepted by the husband.
•This interpretation is supported by the Compendium of Islamic Laws (CIL) published by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) in 2001. It states: “Termination of marital relation by the husband in consideration for a return agreed upon by the parties is khula, whether it is through the word khula’, or by mubara’at, or by the word talaq or any other of its synonyms.” (p.93)
•It may be pointed out here that mubarah is the only form of divorce in which the wife enjoys legal equality with her husband. But the AIMPLB, by equating it with khula and talaq, has made even mubarah contingent on the husband’s consent.
•Lian: As per the Koranic definition (in 24:6-9) lian is not a form of divorce. It is a kind of mutual swearing that averts punishment for adultery. According to the Koran, a husband who does not have any witnesses, except himself, to prove his wife’s adultery must swear by God four times that he is speaking the truth, and again for a fifth time invoking the curse of God on himself if his accusation is proved to be a lie. However, if the accused wife too goes through the same process of swearing to counter her husband, the punishment for adultery shall not be imposed on her.
•The Koran does not elaborate on the effect of lian on the marriage. But the CIL states that after the mutual swearing, “the qazi will effect separation between the parties, and it will amount to an irrevocable divorce”. (p. 88).
•This clearly shows that lian is not a divorce at the instance of wife. Even if it is considered so, it not unilateral or instant like talaq-e-bid’a and is limited to cases involving accusations of adultery.
•Khiyar al buloogh: This anachronistic doctrine is actually a tacit justification of child marriage and hence cannot be accepted as an option available to an adult Muslim woman to dissolve her marriage.
•According to the Hanafi law treatise Fataawa al-Hindiya , the marriage contracted on behalf of a minor by any guardian other than the father and paternal grandfather can be revoked by the minor on attaining the age of puberty through khiyar al-buloogh or, the Option of Puberty.
•It is sad to see Muslim theologians trumpeting khiyar-al-buloogh as a progressive provision in Islamic shariah even while justifying the marriage of minors and declaring that a minor girl’s marriage subsists till she invalidates it.They conveniently ignore the fact that marriage being a contract in Islam, a contract signed by a minor girl is legally invalid and hence not binding on her.
•Strangely, the concept of Option of Puberty continues to find a place in The Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939. Section 2 (vii) of this Act states that “a woman married under Muslim law shall be entitled to obtain a decree for dissolution of her marriage” on the ground “that, she having been given in marriage by her father or other guardian before she attained the age of fifteen years, repudiated the marriage before attaining the age of eighteen years, provided that the marriage has not been consummated.” It would be interesting to examine the reconcilability of Section 2 (vii) with The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.
Restoring legal equality
•It is unbelievable that doctrines that deny equality to Muslim women and seek to perpetuate their legal inferiority are being presented as liberal out-of-court divorce provisions. Certainly, our courts should not be further burdened with the additional load of Muslim divorces. But what gets adjudicated in Alternative Dispute Resolution centres too cannot be based on gender-discriminatory provisions of the AIMPLB-endorsed law. Any law that violates the egalitarian principles of the Koran or the humane teachings of the Prophet cannot be termed “Muslim” law.
•Therefore, the only way to restore the legal equality of Muslim women and pre-empt the state’s legislative interference in the Muslim Personal Law is for the AIMPLB to declare instant triple talaq invalid with immediate effect, and make the Koranic procedure of talaq gender-neutral. Social boycotts and no-triple-talaq conditions in nikahnamas (prenuptial contracts) will not remedy the legal inferiority of women under the prevailing Muslim law.
The neutrino opportunity
Setbacks to the Neutrino Observatory show the need to garner public support for scientific research
•India’s wait to join the elite club of countries undertaking neutrino research suffered a procedural delay in March this year when the National Green Tribunal (NGT) suspended the environmental clearance (EC) granted to the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO), and ordered it to file a fresh application for clearance.
•The proposed INO project primarily aims to study atmospheric neutrinos in a 1,300-m deep cavern in the Bodi West Hills in Theni district, Tamil Nadu. If completed, the INO would house the largest magnet in the world, four times more massive than the European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN’s Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector’s magnet. Neutrinos are tiny particles, almost massless, that travel at near light speeds. Born from violent astrophysical events such as exploding stars and gamma ray bursts, they are abundant in the universe, and can move as easily through matter as we move through air. They are notoriously difficult to track down. If you hold your hand towards the sunlight for one second, about a billion neutrinos from the sun will pass through it; this is because they are the by-products of nuclear fusion in the sun. These little wisps hold the blueprint of nature, which the INO project aims to use to understand some of the unsolved mysteries of the universe.
•While the suspension of INO’s environmental clearance is a setback, the scientific community hopes these procedural lapses will be addressed in an earnest and time-bound manner. The NGT’s March 2017 order further delays the start of the project. Now the earliest conceivable completion date is projected as 2022. The INO will fall further behind other facilities including China’s Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO), expected to open in 2019.
What it involves
•The INO project also has its critics. Many argue, among other things, that the explosives used in construction are a threat to the highly sensitive ecology of the Western Ghats, and that the relevant radiation safety studies for carrying out the long baseline neutrino experiment in the second phase of INO have not been done. The proposed excavation is planned to be carried out by a controlled blast, limiting the impact of vibrations with the help of computer simulations. Additionally, building the INO involves constructing an underground lab accessed by a 2 km-long horizontal access tunnel, resembling a road tunnel. Such tunnels have been built extensively in India and the relevant studies show that the environmental impact (mainly dust and noise in the initial phase) have been managed. In the second phase, the INO project initially had planned to be set up as a far detector for the Neutrino Factory, which is a proposed particle accelerator. This may not be necessary because of the discoveries already being
made in the field. Even if you build it, the radiation from the neutrino beam alone on an average would be one in 100 millionth of the natural radiation, which is negligible.
•The procedural lapses and assumptions about the project’s agenda have made a project of this scale hard to bear fruit in India. Further, allegations such as neutrinos being radioactive particles and that the INO will double up the storage of nuclear waste have damaged the collaboration’s many years of outreach efforts. Any further delays could defeat the purpose of the project because similar projects elsewhere could undermine India’s efforts. For those who argue that Rs. 1,500 crore is a waste of money, it might be instructive to look back at the enormous achievements 20th century has brought in on the pillars of relativity and quantum mechanics.
Long history of research
•Neutrino research has a long history in India. In the 1960s and 1970s, a group of scientists led by the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research detected some unusual experimental observations, the so-called Kolar events in the Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) in Karnataka. Half a century later, however, these events remain as science fiction, yet to be explained and unravelled. From the 1980s, neutrino enthusiasts discussed the possibility of a neutrino observatory located in India. In 2002, a document was presented to the Department of Atomic Energy which laid out an ambitious plan to establish the INO. Since then, fast-paced developments have taken place in neutrino physics. Consider this: more than half the Nobel Prizes in physics in the past 50 years have been awarded to basic research in particle physics; this includes the 2015 Prize for the discovery of neutrino oscillations. On January 5, 2015, the Union cabinet gave its approval to establish the INO at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,500 crore, the most expensive basic science project in India.
•While public apprehensions in such projects are understandable, they also demonstrate that communication between the scientific community and the public needs to be more basic and democratic. For a country of young minds, we should generate sufficient public support for such high technology and science projects.
