This year, saffron fields to spice up tourists'' reel life in Kashmir

• The unique characteristics of Kashmir saffron are its longer and thicker stigmas, natural deep-red colour, high aroma, bitter flavour, chemical-free processing, and high quantity of crocin (colouring strength), safranal (flavour) and picrocrocin (bitterness).
• It is the only saffron in the world grown at an altitude of 1,600 m to 1,800 m AMSL (above mean sea level).
• Pampore region, in India, commonly known as Saffron bowl of Kashmir, is the main contributor to saffron production, followed by Budgam, Srinagar, and Kishtiwar districts.
• Kashmir saffron is a very precious and costly product.
• Kashmir saffron is renowned globally as a spice.
• It rejuvenates health and is used in cosmetics and for medicinal purposes. It has been associated with traditional Kashmiri cuisine.
• In 2020, Union Government has issued a certificate of Geographical Indication (GI) registration for Saffron grown in the Kashmir Valley.
• National Mission on Saffron is focused on several measures to improve its farming.

Commerce Minister applauds the Gujarat Government for spearheading several wide-ranging initiatives to promote the Lab Grown Diamonds Sector

• The government had brought in is that it has permitted 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the sector under the automatic route.
• Gujarat Government is offering 100% exemption on electricity duty for 5 years under the provisions of the electricity act.
• According to Budget 2019-20, the GST rate has been reduced from 18 per cent to 5 per cent.
• Interest subsidy and net SGST reimbursement upto a 100% is also being offered to MSMEs, large and mega players.

Lab-made diamonds:

• Lab-made diamonds are developed from a carbon seed placed in a microwave chamber and superheated into a glowing plasma ball.
• The process creates particles that crystallize into diamonds in weeks.
• The only difference between lab-grown diamond and natural diamond is that instead of digging the earth, it is created in a lab under a machine.
• This tech-based manufacturing directly cuts down the capital and labour-intensive factors of the mined diamond chain and so lab-grown diamonds cost 30-40 per cent cheaper than mined despite being 100 per cent diamond.
• There are two types of lab-grown diamonds –
  • CVD and
  • HPHT
• India particularly specialises and leads in the chemical vapour decomposition (CVD) technology that is certified as the purest type of diamonds.
• According to the report, the Gemological Institute of America predicted the total annual sales of laboratory diamonds will be well over $100 billion in the not too distant future, from about $20 billion today.
• This segment of the diamond is growing at an annual growth rate of 15-20 per cent.
• Nine out of 10 diamonds in the world are estimated to be polished in Surat.
• Currently, 25-30 per cent of diamond polishing units in Surat service lab-grown diamonds, with 15 per cent of units dealing only in the lab-created commodity.

Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) celebrates 70th Foundation Day

• It was established in 1952.
• It is under the administrative control of the Union Ministry of Labor and Employment.
• Mandate:
  • It is tasked to assist the Central Board of Trustees in implementing the following three schemes for the workforce engaged in the organized sector in India:
    • EPF Scheme 1952;
    • Pension scheme 1995 (EPS); and
    • Insurance scheme (EDLI).
  • It is also the nodal agency for implementing Bilateral Social Security Agreements with other countries on a reciprocal basis.
  • In 2014, union government launched Universal Account Number (UAN) for Employees covered by EPFO to enable PF number portability.

Centre restricts use of common weedicide glyphosate citing health hazards

• Glyphosate is a widely used herbicide that can kill certain weeds and grasses.
• Glyphosate works by blocking an enzyme essential for plant growth.
• In India, glyphosate use was approved only for tea crop and non-crop areas for control of weeds.
  • Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are the major tea plantation states in India.
• But glyphosate consumption is higher in states that do not have tea crops.
• It is being widely and indiscriminately used in paddy fields by farmers.
• The surface casting activity of vertically burrowing earthworms almost ceased after three weeks and reproduction of soil dwellers reduced by 56 per cent within three months after herbicide application.
• There are long-term negative consequences for honey bee navigation, contamination of water bodies and serious health hazards.

SCO Member states re-affirm commitment to multipolar world order based on international law and multilateralism

• The SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation. It is a Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance and has been the primary security pillar of the region.
• History:
  • It was established in 2001. It was preceded by the Shanghai Five mechanism.
  • The Heads of State Council (HSC) is the supreme decision-making body in the SCO.
  • It meets once a year and adopts decisions and guidelines on all important matters of the organisation.
• The organisation has two permanent bodies:
  • the SCO Secretariat based in Beijing.
  • the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) based in Tashkent.
• Membership:
  • Eight member states: India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
  • India and Pakistan joined as full members in 2017.
  • Four observer states: Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia.

President of india inaugurates 7th india water week

• It was conceptualized and organized for the first time in 2012.
• It is an initiative of Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of lndia
• The theme of the 7th India Water Week is ‘Water Security for Sustainable Development and Equity’.
• The function is organised by the ministry of water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation in an effort to raise awareness and conserve and use water resources in an integrated manner.
• The event will address the issues of sustainability of water resources development and management in line with the sustainable development goals.
• Denmark, Singapore and Finland are the partner countries for IWW 2022.

Ban use of aceclofenac on cattle to save vultures, demands vet researchers

• Aceclofenac is the prodrug of the non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drug (NSAID) diclofenac.
• Aceclofenac in water buffaloes poses the same threat to vultures as it is a pro-drug of diclofenac.
• Aceclofenac turns into diclofenac soon after it enters the livestock.
• Vulture Action Plan 2020-2025 also mentions the aceclofenac as ‘toxic’, along with other drugs like nimesulide and ketoprofen.
• Diclofenac is an anti-inflammatory drug.
• It was banned for veterinary use by the Government of India in 2006.
• It was found to be the main cause of a dramatic decline (99 per cent) of the vulture population across Asia.
• The drug caused accidental poisoning in raptors after they fed on carcasses of cattle injected with it.

Supreme Court puts sedition law on hold, asks govts not to register cases

• View of Constitution: The Constitution of India does not define the word sedition.
• View of Indian Penal Code (IPC): Section 124-A of the IPC defines the offence of ‘Sedition’ –
  • Whoever, by words (or by signs or visible representation) attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the Government shall be punished with life imprisonment.
  • The word ‘disaffection’ in this section includes disloyalty and feelings of enmity.
  • However, Comments expressing disapproval of the ''Government action without attempting to excite disaffection, do not constitute an offense under this section’.
• View of judiciary on sedition:
  • In Kedar Nath Singh’s Case, the Constitution bench of the Supreme Court made it clear that allegedly seditious speech and expression may be punished only if the speech is an ‘incitement’ to ‘violence’, or ‘public disorder’.
  • In Indra Das v. State of Assam and Arup Bhuyan v. State of Assam, the Supreme Court unambiguously stated that only speech that amounts to “incitement to imminent lawless action” can be criminalised.
  • In Shreya Singhal v. Union of India, the famous 66A judgment, the Supreme Court drew a clear distinction between “advocacy” and “incitement”, stating that only the latter could be punished.
  • Thus, words and speech can be criminalised and punished only in situations where it is being used to incite mobs or crowds to violent action. Mere words and phrases by themselves, no matter how distasteful, do not amount to a criminal offence unless this condition is met.
    • Sedition was not a part of original IPC in the 1860s and was even dropped from the law. It was introduced in the IPC in the year 1870.
    • British used the sedition law to quell the Indian freedom struggle and retain imperial power.
    • The first known use of Sedition law was against Jogendra Chandra Bose, was charged in 1891 for his criticism of the “Age of Consent Bill”. Many Indian freedom fighters, including Mahatma Gandhi and Bal Gangadhar Tilak, were charged with sedition.

Are there anti-superstition laws in India?

• As per the 2021 report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), six deaths were linked to human sacrifices, while witchcraft was the motive for 68 killings in the country.
• The maximum number of witchcraft cases were reported from Chhattisgarh (20), followed by Madhya Pradesh (18) and Telangana (11). Kerala saw two cases of human sacrifice.
• In 2020, India saw 88 deaths due to witchcraft and 11 died as part of ‘human sacrifices’, the NCRB report states.
• In India, there is no central law that exclusively deals with crimes related to witchcraft, superstition, or occult-inspired activities.
• In the absence of a nationwide legislation, a few States have enacted laws to counter witchcraft and protect women from deadly ‘witch-hunting’.
• Bihar: Bihar was the first State to enact a law to prevent witchcraft, identification of a woman as a witch and “eliminate torture, humiliation and killing of women.” The Prevention of Witch (Daain) Practices Act came into force in October 1999.
  • Anyone who identifies a person as a “witch” and acts to aid this identification can face a jail term of up to three months, or a fine of ₹1,000, or both.
• Jharkhand: A similar law was passed in Jharkhand in 2001 — the Prevention of Witch (Daain) Practices Act.
• Chhattisgarh: The State enacted the Chhattisgarh Tonahi (witch) Pratadna Nivaran Act in 2005.
• Odisha: The Odisha Prevention of Witch-Hunting Bill was passed by the Assembly in 2013. The bill provides penalties for a witch doctor, or a person claiming to be a black magician.
• Maharashtra: In Maharashtra, the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013 was passed after the murder of anti-superstition activist Dr. Narendra Dabholkar.
• Rajasthan: Rajasthan enacted the Rajasthan Prevention of Witch-Hunting Act in 2015 to “provide for effective measures to tackle the menace of witch-hunting and prevent the practice of witchcraft.”
• Assam: The Assam Witch Hunting (Prohibition, Prevention and Protection) Act, 2015, which received the President’s assent in 2018, prohibits witch hunting completely.
• Karnataka: The latest law was passed in Karnataka where the Karnataka Prevention and Eradication of Inhuman Evil Practices and Black Magic Act, 2017 came into effect in January 2020.
  • The law bans several practices related to black magic and superstition, like forcing a person to walk on fire at religious festivals and the practice of piercing rods from one side of the jaw to the other.

DECENTRALISE MGNREGS FOR BETTER IMPLEMENTATION, SAYS STUDY

• There should be a greater diversification of permissible works instead of listing the types of permissible works, broad categories of works may be listed out and flexibility should be given at ground level to select the type of works as per broad categories,
• The study also flagged the frequent delay in fund disbursal, and to deal with it suggested a “revolving fund that can be utilised whenever there is a delay in the Central funds”.
• The MGNREGS wages were far below the market rate in many States, defeating the purpose of acting as a safety net.
  • At present, the minimum wage of a farm labourer in Gujarat is ₹324.20, but the MGNREGS wage is ₹229.
• The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was enacted on August 25, 2005.
• It provides a legal guarantee for one hundred days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do public work-related unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wage.
• The Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) is monitoring the entire implementation of this scheme in association with state governments.
• This act was introduced with an aim of improving the purchasing power of the rural people, primarily semi or un-skilled work to people living below poverty line in rural India.