Suresh’ IAS Academy

09-08-2023
The number of elephants increased to 2961
 A census of elephant movement is taken every five years
 An integrated elephant census was conducted in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka
 An elephant census was conducted in an area of 3496 square kilometers across Tamil Nadu
 In this study it was found that there are 2961 elephants. The number of elephants has increased to
200 from 2761 in 2017 census. The male to female ratio is 1: 2.17
 1855 elephants in Western Ghats and 1105 in Eastern Ghats
Logo release
 A special control unit has been set up to prevent forest and wildlife crime at Panagal House in
Saidapet, Chennai.
 Chief Minister Stalin unveiled the logo for this department yesterday at the Chief Secretariat
1669 elephants in three reserves
Reserve Forest Number
Mudumalai Ooty 444
Mudumalai Masinagudi 346
Sathiyamangalam Sathiyamangalam 396
Sathiyamangalam Aasanoor 272
Aanaimalai Tiruppur 211
Total 1669

20 Forest status
Ooty 444 Hosur 105
Sathiyamangalam 396 Srivilliputur 80
Masinagudi 346 Koodalur 80
Aasanoor 272 Kalakadu 71
Tiruppur 211 Meghamalai 62
Coimbatore 190 Kanniyakumari 49
Erode 158 Tirunelveli 37
Dharmapuri 144 Dindugal 28
Pollachi 126 Kodaikanal 25
Ambasamudram 116 Nilgiris 21
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67 year-old Apsara nuclear reactor to Tamil Nadu Forest

become museum in Mumbai and Wildlife Crime
 The Baba Atomic Research Center is located in Trombay, a suburb of Mumbai, Control Unit
Maharashtra
 Chief Minister MK Stalin
 It was established in 1954 as the country’s pioneer nuclear research institute launched the Tamil Nadu
 Apsara nuclear reactor was commissioned on 4th August 1956 i.e. 67 years Forest and Wildlife Crime
ago Control Unit and unveiled
its logo.
 It is the first nuclear reactor not only in India but also in Asia
 Apsara Reactor, which has served researchers with dedication for over 50  The Tamil Nadu Forest and
years, was shut down in 2009 to undergo renovation works. Wildlife Crime Control Unit
was established at the
 An upgraded reactor named Apsara-U became operational in September Panagal Maligai in Saidapet,
2018 Chennai.
 Scientists used it for basic research in fields including nuclear physics, medical
applications, materials science, radiation protection  Specially established to
prevent organized forest
and wildlife crime
Continued farm crisis
 This section collects
 It is true that India has become self-sufficient in food production and has information and
advanced to the point of exporting grains intelligence on wildlife
 On the other hand, Indian farmers continue to live in poverty, remain in debt crime, prevention of illegal
and commit suicide sale of wildlife and wildlife
products.
 This contradiction in the agricultural sector needs to be removed
Government Schemes  It works with the main
objectives of working
 Agricultural Insurance Scheme for Farmers together with global
 6000 rupees per annum direct subsidy to micro and small farmers through organizations
Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Niti Yojana, Minimum Support Price for
Guidelines
specified crops
 It is true that various assistances like subsidized fertilizers, seeds and inputs  Establishing consistent
are provided to the farmers by the State Agriculture Ministries. guidelines on wildlife crime
 But the situation of Indian farmers who mostly depend on monsoon rains is  Improving information
getting worse day by day and does not seem to be improving structure among people in
 Middlemen and traders prey on the labor of farmers and the poverty they forest-adjacent areas
face
 The main functions of the
 Zamindars and landlords have been eliminated, but the exploitation of department are to collect
farmers has not diminished data on wildlife crime and
 The failure of the cooperative farming system and the division of arable land to map the areas where
from generation to generation is the main reason why agriculture is not wildlife crime has occurred.
profitable.
Maharashtra
 A recent survey report released in the state of Maharashtra is shocking. In
the 10 years from 2012 to 2022, 8,719 farmers committed suicide in
Aurangabad.
 Due to debt problems, drought, unexpected monsoon rains, inability to carry
on daily life, inability to marry off their daughters, suicides are high.
 1929 farmers killed themselves because they cannot repay their loans.

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Suresh’ IAS Academy

 Farm crisis has been and continues to be present not only in Maharashtra What did the Forest
but also in the important agricultural states of India
Rights Act achieve?
 Globalization policies and economic reforms in India have widened the
gap between farmers’ labor and wages  The United Nations declared
August 9 as Indigenous Peoples’
 Farmer suicides have started increasing to this extent only after 1995 Rights Day in 2007.
 Politicians, bureaucrats, traders and industrialists do not seem to be worried  Since then, every year around
about the increasing migration from villages to cities. the world, all sections of tribal
people have been celebrating
 The percentage of people engaged in agriculture in the total population is this day in various forms like
rapidly decreasing. About half of those who persist in agriculture will not rallies, seminars, meetings,
be villagers in the next generation cultural celebrations to assert
their rights.
 In 1951, 23 percent of India’s total population was engaged in agriculture,
Forest Rights Act 2006
which had already declined to 17 percent by 1991.
 An Act was passed in Parliament
 A survey has not been conducted recently. We must not forget that farmers
on 15 December 2006 to
are the producers of food not only for the people living in the village but for recognize forest rights of
the entire nation and mechanization is not as easy in India as in western tribals and other forest-
countries. dependent communities.

 Farmer suicides are more common in states where micro and small farmers  These rules came into effect
from 1st January 2008. Even
are present
after 15 years of
 The number of small farmers cultivating one to two hectares was 20.4 implementation of the Act, it
percent in 2003. has not fully reached the
people
 At the same time, the proportion of small and medium farmers has
decreased to 14.7 percent. The main reason for this is family fragmentation Rights denied
 43,64,312 applications
 More than half of Indian farmers are indebted. 90% of farmers in Andhra
received across the country till
& Telangana carry an average debt of Rs 2.45 lakh 31st March 2023 claiming land
 60% of farmers in Rajasthan and 100% of farmers in Jharkhand are debted. ownership under the Forest
Rights Act. The number of
Small and marginal farmers in Punjab and Haryana each have about 2 lakh
applications claiming social
loans rights is 1,80,574
 According to the National Sample Survey Report the average monthly  Out of which 21,99,012
income of agricultural families is Rs 3795.Rs 2959 has already been spent individual families were given
on cultivation and agriculture ownership certificates.
1,09,700 granted social rights
 So the average monthly income of that family is only 839 rupees. That’s
 In Tamil Nadu, 34,877
why Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Niti
applications were received
Yojana, which pays micro and small farmers directly into their bank accounts claiming separate rights. 2584
in three installments of Rs 6,000, is appealing to them. applications claiming social
rights. 10,536 individual
Co-operative farms
families were given ownership
 Subsidies and minimum support prices do not seem to make any difference certificates. Social rights
in the situation of marginal and small farmers. recognized 531
 In Tamil Nadu, there are more
 Only the large farmers who get income tax exemption are making huge
dismissed petitions than
profits like the zamindars, farmers and landlords of India. granted rights (13,841)
 There will be no major change in the condition of the marginal and small  1008 applications dismissed
farmers unless cooperative farms come into being. There is an urgent claiming social rights. Doing so
need for a public debate on this at the national level. is against the intent of the law

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Delay in Digital money transaction Will tribal life get

 Digital money transactions in India have grown significantly in recent years. renewed?
It is so widely used that today there is hardly any grocery store without a QR
code scanner  The United Nations celebrates
the 9th of August every year
 UPI, the unified payment interface in particular, has revolutionized the way as the International Day of
we conduct monetary transactions Indigenous Peoples with the
high aim of protecting the
 The welcome and simple process of UPI transactions has made the process rights of indigenous peoples,
of making or receiving payments easier across India. However, where does their language, culture,
India stand in comparison to other countries? lifestyle and livelihood.
Introduction of UPI In the population
 UPI was introduced in 2016. Since then UPI transactions have grown in value  There are 370 million of them
and volume worldwide
 Although it is a very small (5%)
 Demonetization implemented without warning in November 2016 and the
of the world’s population,
general shutdown caused by the Covid pandemic in 2020 were major factors there are more than 7000
in the widespread adoption of digital money transfers. languages and more than
5000 cultural practices.
Growth
 There are 702 races living in
 Monthly growth of UPI transactions during June 2021 to April 2023 averaged India, in dense mountains,
6 percent forests, plains and islands,
living unchanged as ancient
 The growth of NEFT, IMPS and Debitcard transactions during the same period
times.
was 3%, 3% and 1.5% respectively.
 In 1961 census there were
 This data shows that UPI transactions have grown faster than all other 1100 languages in the country.
transactions By 2001 it had dropped to 850
and more than 250 languages
Growing UPI declining NEFT had disappeared.
 Taking the country’s retail sector, the share of UPI transactions in the total Languages
value of its digital transactions was less than 20 percent by mid-2021.
 Various tribal languages are on
 It increased to about 27% by March 2023. In contrast, the share of NEFT the verge of extinction. The
transactions saw a decline of around 10 per cent during the same period destruction of their traditional
(from 64% to 54%) language is also due to the fact
that many tribals have
 The stock of IMPS remained relatively stable. The share of debit card and abandoned their mother
credit card transactions has also declined tongue and resorted to the
common language in search of
 However their combined share does not exceed 2.5 percent of the value of
survival
overall digital retail transactions. So the exponential growth in UPI
 There are 36 types of tribes
transactions is one derived from the decline in NEFT transactions
living in Tamil Nadu namely
Bank account Toda, Kothar, Irula, Kasavar,
M u l l u k u r u m b a ,
 The first step for UPI based transactions is to have a bank account. At a Pottakurumba, Paniyar,
glance India seems to have made significant progress in keeping bank kattunaicker, Paliyar, Kuravar,
accounts Malaimalasar, malaivedar,
kaanikarar, Kadar, Muthuvar.
 According to the World Bank’s Global Findex survey, 53% of India’s population
There are seven types of tribes
had bank accounts in 2014. By 2021, 80 percent of the population have bank in the Nilgiris alone
accounts
 Recently Narikuravar were
 However, a closer look at the data shows that 38 percent of those who have included in the list as 37 th
bank accounts have inactive accounts tribes.

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Suresh’ IAS Academy
 India has the highest number of inactive bank accounts in the world compared to any other country in the world

 More women (32%)than men(23%) have inactive accounts

 31% of people in rural areas have inactive accounts

 The share of those in urban areas is 23 percent. Similarly 35 percent of the poor have inactive bank accounts & rich
22%

Is progress enough?
 The usage of UPI transaction has increased significantly in recent years. However, in 2021 only 35 percent of people
reported having made a digital transaction

 This is higher than in previous years but lower compared to other developing countries (22% in 2014, 29% in 2017)

 An average of 54 percent of people in the world’s developing countries use digital transactions

 An average of 64 percent of the global population uses digital transactions

 From this we can understand the condition of our country. India is said to have made great strides in digital
transactions. However, the reality is that we still have a long way to go to become a digital India.

Organ transplant
 Three lakh patients are waiting for an organ transplant. 20 people die every day
 A person joins the waiting list every 10 minutes
 Number of organ donors - 6,916 (2014) to 16,041 (2022)
 Deceased body donation is very rare
National Organ Transplant Guidelines
 Human Organ Transplantation Act 1994
 Deregulation, storage, transplantation of human organs and
prevention of commercial sale of human organs
Maximum Age (65)
 Maximum age for registration for organ
transplant is 65
 There are guidelines for transfers
between different states within the
country under the one-country-one
policy
 No registration fee
 In the states of Gujarat, Telangana,
Maharashtra and Kerala, a fee is
charged for joining the waiting list.
 Rules for mercy killing
 Adequate transportation facility for translocation of organs across the country
 Special leave is given to organ donors
 The number organ donors has declined. Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra
 The number of living organ donors is increasing - Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, West Bengal
 Number of posthumous donors - Increase in Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

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