Electrocution deaths: Install safe, low-cost electric fences to save elephants... Shri Radhey Shri Radhey Shri Radhey Shri Radhey Shri Radhey

In India, nearly 80 elephants die every year due to human-elephant conflict. While poaching, poisoning and train hits are known reasons for elephant deaths, we must pay close attention to death by electrocution. 

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Since the impact of electrocution is not visible on an animal’s body, and because it is easy to remove potential evidence, including wires, posts and machines post-electrocution, even experienced veterinarians are unable to determine the exact cause of an animal’s death, and post-mortem results often declare cardiac arrest as the cause of death.

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When an elephant is electrocuted, we assume that the matter should be raised before the electricity department. However, except for a few cases, the department has a limited role in curtailing such incidents. One of the major causes of animal electrocution is live wire fencing by locals to protect their crops and property. They use power sources from the grid or captive sources such as a generator and/or batteries with inverters, and most of these are lethal.

Government data shows that electrocution kills more elephants than train accidents, poaching and poisoning. This is a nationwide problem. But it is acute in the Northeast, which is home to the second-largest population of Asian Elephant in the world. In Assam, more than 50% of the total number of elephant deaths is due to electrocution. 

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Lethal electric fences and transmission lines from power grids are the two major causes of electrocution. The former is a single live wire pegged to bamboo or wooden posts. Lethal AC current is used, instead of the non-lethal DC current, with low ampere value. Such fences are used by people because they do not know about the fatality of such fences. 

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We must educate and empower locals to use non-lethal means since these fences can be dangerous to humans too. Most deaths go unreported because people want to avoid subsequent legal hassles.

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The second cause of electrocution is sagging transmission lines in elephant habitats and areas frequented by them. This can be avoided by using insulated transmission lines. Guidelines for laying electric lines already exist; what we need is effective implementation.

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If we want to protect the animals and safeguard the interests of locals, it is important to install safe and low-cost electric fences. However, elephant movement paths should not be blocked while erecting fences. The idea is to replace the lethal power sources with an energizer with battery. To cut costs, a galvanised wire of 12 mm can be used at a height of about five feet so that adult elephants cannot cross.

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These low-cost fences cost about ₹50,000 per km— nearly five times cheaper than a conventional electric fence. With the cooperation of the local community and forest department, a six km fence in the fringe of Singlijan Reserve Forest was installed in 2015 to restrict the movement of wild elephants. There have been no HEC incidents in 30 villages under the Gohpur Circle in Biswanath district of Assam. Almost 110 km low-cost fence has been installed in various parts of Biswanath, Sonitpur, Nagaon, Golaghat, Baksa and Udalguri districts since then. The study undertaken by WWF-India revealed that well-maintained low-cost solar fences have a success rate of 80-95% in deterring elephants. 

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But one hurdle remains. Victims of HEC – most of whom are marginalised – cannot afford ₹5 lakh to install a 10-km fence. Ensuring peaceful human-animal coexistence requires partnerships that foster local empowerment, elephant conservation, and support to enforcement agencies like the forest department. A growing number of corporate are supporting initiatives to reduce negative human-wildlife conflict. There is immense scope for them to contribute to conflict management by empowering people..

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1971: When Delhi and Moscow came together.. Shri Radhey Shri Radhey.

On August 9, 1971, the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation was signed in New Delhi by the foreign ministers of both countries, Swaran Singh and Andrei Gromyko. The treaty was probably the most seminal foreign policy arrangement entered into by India in the 20th century. It undoubtedly had the most profound effect on the politics and geography of South Asia, cementing what many thought was the pre-eminence of India in the region.

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Given the tensions over East Pakistan in 1971 and the creation of Bangladesh by the end of that year, it is not surprising that many believe that India was primarily driven to sign the treaty by this crisis. But that is a superficial picture, countered through some superb research by Srinath Raghavan in his book 1971: A Global History of the Creation of Bangladesh. When supplemented with a reading of the relevant portions of Jairam Ramesh’s excellent book, Intertwined Lives: PN Haksar and Indira Gandhi, it should provide a comprehensive understanding of how the treaty came to be signed.

Don’t use public interest as an additional ground to restrict free speech .. Shri Radhey Shri Radhey Shri Radhey Shri Radhey..

In a recent decision, a division bench in the Bombay high court exercised a power that vests solely with the Parliament; it, in effect, amended the Constitution. Specifically, the judges introduced an additional restriction to the fundamental right to free speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a).

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The matter involved nine petitions that challenged Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) regulations in broadcasting (full disclosure — I work with broadcasters). The thrust of the petitioners’ argument was that TRAI’s economic regulations restrict the circulation of broadcaster programming, violating the broadcaster’s right to disseminate and consumer’s right to receive information, both of which are core components of the right to free speech.

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The Bombay high court, however, held that “public interest” serves as an additional ground on which the State may issue diktats to restrict free speech. This is problematic on three counts.

First, the high court overstepped its jurisdiction and stepped onto turf reserved for democratically elected legislators. A primary duty of the judiciary is to interpret laws, not create them.

Second, by reading in a vague notion such as public interest as a valid restriction on free speech in broadcasting, the court paved the way for greater State interference in television content, particularly news. As such, it failed to uphold the rights of citizens and operate as a check against abuses of State power.

Public interest is a fluid construct in Indian legal parlance, it is not defined, and it finds mention across a host of statutes, often justifying the more non-transparent elements of governance. For instance, Section 8 of the Right to Information Act uses public interest as a ground for the State to withhold information. Article 22 of the Constitution allows authorities issuing orders regarding preventive detention to maintain confidentiality about any facts related to such orders that it considers to be against the public interest.

The absence of a definition of public interest in legislation means that it falls to the judiciary to imbue it with meaning. However, courts tend to test public interest on a case by case basis. In Central Public Information Officer, Supreme Court Of India v Subhash Chandra Agarwal, related to RTI requests made to courts on the collegium process, judges’ asset declarations, and judicial elevations, the court held that information officers must determine what constitutes public interest. In addition, it reemphasised and cherrypicked wide statutory grounds for the State to withhold information from the public, including breach of confidentiality and fiduciary responsibilities. What follows is that the concept of public interest is often employed to protect the interests of powerful individuals and institutions..

Third, the Bombay high court did not adhere to the judicial precedent on the matter of reading public interest as an implicit restriction on free speech. The Supreme Court has remained mindful of the political dimensions of public interest and what might result if it allowed the State to restrict free speech on this ground. While the right to free speech in India is not absolute and comes with certain riders expressly listed under Article 19(2) of the Constitution, public interest never operated as a legitimate restriction on it. Article 19(2) does not mention it and the courts do not permit its entry as an implicit restriction on Article 19(1)(a).

In Indian Express Newspapers vs. Union of India, for instance, the Supreme Court observed that the framers of the Constitution purposefully omitted public interest from 19(2) to ensure that the State did not hold the right to free speech ransom when it wished to impose excessive burdens on the press.

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Rather than make a rational decision guided by constitutional principles, in this case, the Bombay high court, with due respect, usurped the jurisdiction of the legislature, failed to uphold press freedom on television, and disregarded for the precedent set down by higher courts. The order merits wider discussion and a review.

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In a first, drone research lab opens in Kerala tomorrow. Here's more on it Shri Radhey Shri Radhey Shri Radhey

The Kerala Police will launch a first-of-its-kind Drone Forensic Lab and Research Centre on Friday to address a rising security threat. The centre will be inaugurated by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, said Manoj Abraham, Additional Director General of Police, Thiruvananthapuram Range.

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Abraham, who has the additional charge of ADGP, State Crime Records Bureau and is the nodal officer of CyberDrome, said this lab-cum-research centre will look into both utility and threat aspects of a drone. Cyberdome is a technological research and development centre of the Kerala Police Department.

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Abraham said that “while analysing a drone at the research centre, we'll look into its origin, see its utility value such as using it for policing and devising anti-drone mechanisms to check its misuse as we saw in the case of drone activities at the border”.

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The court also took on record the submissions by Kapadia that Mira-Bhayander Municipal Corporation and Thane Municipal Corporation had also started home vaccination in their jurisdiction and said, “We encourage other corporations of this state to initiate measures for home vaccination of bedridden individuals following the same pattern adopted by BMC.” 

India needs a separate ministry to deal with the climate crisis.. Shri Radhey Shri Radhey Shri Radhey Shri Radhey..

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a body of the United Nations that collects and analyses data on the advancement of the climate change process. IPCC’s reports are assessed frequently and emerge in a broad cycle of five-seven years. The sixth assessment cycle is underway at present. IPCC will release its full report by 2022, eight years after the last report was published. Its first report on the physical science basis of climate crisis is just out after it cleared several rounds of negotiation.

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Second, the earth’s temperature is increasing at a rate that has not happened in the last 2000 years. Apart from CO2, methane is also pointed out as Green House Gases (GHGs) that is contributing to global warming. This pace and business as usual scenario mean that it would be extremely difficult to keep the earth’s temperature below 1.5°C by end of the century..

Third, this would be the last chance for humanity to keep the world’s temperature limited to 1.5°C since the pre-industrial age. Every fraction of the warming matters for us as global warming is contributing to glacial retreat, rising heat waves, and warming of oceans that feed into the increase in frequency and severity of cyclones..

The next 10 years are crucial for humanity. We must work collectively towards bringing down the emissions and reduce them slowly to make them net-zero by 2050.

Delhi: A feel good master plan isn’t enough..Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Hare Krishna..

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has published the draft Master Plan of Delhi (MPD) for 2041 for comments and suggestions. The draft MPD promises many elements to improve the quality of life for citizens on a sustainable basis: A 24-hour city, circular economy, blue-green networks, transfer of development rights, and transit-oriented development.

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The list is as long as a manifesto of a political party. But unlike manifestos, master plans are statutory documents with specific spatial proposals and realistic cost estimates that lead to their implementation. Yet, master plans are not implemented in Indian cities, because many of them are not feasible. Apart from weak institutional capacities and selective enforcement, there is one more reason why plans do not get implemented: Feel-good urban planning.

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This is the kind of planning where “feel-good” and fashionable terms are used, without any intention or commitment to do anything about it. If civil society groups put more pressure on the city authority, more terms or chapters will be added, and more promises will be made. This works perfectly well for the vested interests in a planning authority. They can continue to govern the city based on opaque regulations and ad hoc decisions, while ignoring or diluting the master plan. So, the modus operandi is to write what you like in the master plans, but circumvent the key proposals while detailing them out through rules and regulations.

We must have public, legally binding documents such as master plans to guide urban development in cities. They are one more instrument to ensure accountability from the otherwise opaque planning authorities. The “feel-good” urban planning in the master plans needs to be replaced with realistic and pragmatic urban planning.

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We must have public, legally binding documents such as master plans to guide urban development in cities. They are one more instrument to ensure accountability from the otherwise opaque planning authorities. The “feel-good” urban planning in the master plans needs to be replaced with realistic and pragmatic urban planning.

In the last 20 years, Delhi has seen a rapid expansion of its boundaries, development of the metro rail and the building of many flyovers and housing projects. Did MPD-2021 guide this development, or did the city develop despite the master plan? Or worse, did the master plan came in the way of taking some sensible decisions about the city? DDA must start by answering these uncomfortable questions, before finalising this new master plan..

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The sealing drive of 2007 should remind everyone about the fallacies of rigid norms, obsolete methods, and weak enforcement capacities. We do not learn from past failures in urban development and old practices with new names continue. MPD-2041 should make a start by acknowledging the implementation bottlenecks of the previous MPD-2021.

The draft MPD-2041 is comprehensive in terms of its coverage but not specific and at times, vague. It seems that depth is compromised on account of breadth. For example, DDA has been talking about “transit-oriented development” (TOD) for the last 20 years. It simply means ensuring that more people work and live next to transit lines with mix-use development and walkable neighbourhoods/work districts..

But the current draft of MPD-2041 does not have a single map indicating where these transit zones are planned. The TOD zones are to be identified and notified separately by DDA. Transit influence zones where new housing or workplaces will be proposed should be integral to the new master plan. Apart from a legally mandated land use plan, there are no other maps or specific spatial proposals as part of the current draft. This kind of vagueness is only helpful in remaining non-committal about the future of the city.

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Master plans around the country, at least the good ones, give broad cost estimates to implement the key proposals. Based on master plan estimates, the implementing agencies make their budgets. Any plan is implemented in India by breaking down the provisions through annual budgetary allocations. This is a major shortcoming in the draft of MPD-2041. There are no specific cost estimates given and the key proposals are not detailed.

Without the fiscal discipline of cost estimates and budgetary links, the “feel-good” urban planning has reduced the master plan draft to a wish list of sorts. Since the master plan of Delhi becomes a default planning manual for many cities and towns in north India, this is a terrible omission with its implications going beyond Delhi.

Without the fiscal discipline of cost estimates and budgetary links, the “feel-good” urban planning has reduced the master plan draft to a wish list of sorts. Since the master plan of Delhi becomes a default planning manual for many cities and towns in north India, this is a terrible omission with its implications going beyond Delhi.

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For the MPD-2021, a monitoring committee under the lieutenant-governor (L-G) used to meet once a year to remind every other agency that we have a master plan. What Delhi needs is an implementation committee — not only monitoring — under L-G (given the current structure) that oversees the progress of the master plan linked with a specific budget contributed by different agencies..

In absence of the clear implementation pathways, the master plan of Delhi may well remain a “feel-good” document. Eliminating implementation bottlenecks, developing specific proposals, making budgetary allocations, and assigning responsibilities are guaranteed ways of implementing a master plan. A good master plan is an implemented one.

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Pegasus: India needs urgent surveillance reform Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Hare Krishna..

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Information is power. A range of organisations — from private military firms such as NSO to various instruments of the State — collect information to empower governments. The quest for unbridled power and critical information often leads to using unprincipled and unlawful means..

Snooping is a grim reality since the days of Chanakya, or indeed, ever since human beings constituted themselves as political units and statecraft evolved. But while recognising the compelling circumstances that may make it necessary at times, it constitutes a grave threat to democracy..

In the case of Pegasus, the nature of the technology is additional cause for concern. The NSO Group co-founder is quoted as saying, “Pegasus is a Trojan horse that could be sent flying through the air to (break into) devices”.

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