Today's Headlines

Today's Headlines - 05 June 2023

World Environment Day 2023

GS Paper - 3 (Environment)

The World Environment Day, hosted under the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), marks a day to raise awareness and action about the environmental catastrophes of the modern world. A major initiative of this day is to encourage people to live sustainable lifestyles. Held on 5 June each year, World Environment Day has a specific host country and a theme.

Theme for 2023

  1. For 2023, the host is the West African country of Côte d’Ivoire, in partnership with the Netherlands; while the theme is preventing plastic pollution.
  2. The 45th World Environment Day with the same theme was also held under the leadership of India.
  3. This theme is an initiative to raise awareness about the production, use, disposal, and effects of plastic.

Importance of the day

  1. From raising awareness about environmental issues to making significant changes in global environmental policies – UNEP’s World Environment Day has seen historic importance.
  2. With our depleting natural resourceshighly politicised environmental approaches, and slow impactful plans, our world is on the verge of ecological collapse.
  3. In the face of these environmental disasters, World Environment Day stands as a mouthpiece for several environmentalists.
  4. It is a day marking and reminding global citizens of the continuous negative impact of global warming and climate change. Loss of lifepropertybiodiversity, and even resources are just some of the effects of climate change as a result of environmental ignorance.
  5. World Environment Day, for over 50 years, has served as a platform for environmental activists to help common people understand and help our nature.

Flashback

  1. In 1972, a conference held by the United Nations in Stockholm was the first UN conference which had the environment as its major agenda. It also recognised the right to live in a healthy environment as the basic right of any human being.
  2. The conference became a historic global effort to protect and conserve the environment, leading to the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme.
  3. Moreover, this event also marked the formal declaration of a universal day for the environment – 5 June. The UNEP, since then, has undertaken several global efforts in their endeavour to protect our natural world.
  4. The first World Environment Day was celebrated in 1973 with the theme “Only One Earth”. Since then, several pressing environmental themes have been undertaken.
  5. Some of these themes are ’Only One Future for Our Children’ (1979), ‘A Tree for Peace’ (1986), ‘For Life on Earth – Save Our Seas’ (1998), ‘Connect with the World Wide Web of Life’ (2001), among many others.

 

KAVACH and the Odisha train tragedy

GS Paper - 2 (Infrastructure)

KAVACH is supposed to be a state-of-the-art electronic system which was designed to help the Indian Railways achieve Zero Accidents. It is an Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system which has been indigenously developed by the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) in collaboration with the Indian industry with trials facilitated by South Central Railway to achieve the corporate objective of safety in train operations across Indian Railways.

More about KAVACH

  1. It activates the train braking system automatically if the driver fails to control the train as per the speed restrictions. In addition, it prevents collision between two Locomotives equipped with a functional KAVACH system.
  2. It is a Safety Integrity Level 4 (SIL-4) certified technology with the probability of error being one in 10,000 years.
  3. Once implemented, KAVACH will be the world’s cheapest automatic train collision protection system, costing ₹50 lakh per kilometre to operate compared to about ₹2 crore worldwide. It also opens avenues of export of this indigenous technology for Railways.

When was it first tested? 

  1. On 4 March 2022, the successful trial of KAVACH was conducted between Gullaguda–Chitgidda Railway stations of South Central Railway.
  2. Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw inspected the trial, during which a head-on-collision situation was created with two locomotives moving towards each other.
  3. The KAVACH system initiated the automatic braking system and halted the locomotives 380 metres apart.
  4. Crossing of the red signal was also tested wherein the locomotive did not cross the red signal as KAVACH necessitated the application of brakes automatically. Automatic whistle sound was loud and clear when gate signal approached. Further, KAVACH automatically reduced the speed to 30 kmph from 60 kmph as the locomotive entered the loop line.

What are the highlighted features of KAVACH? 

  1. Some features which were highlighted by the Ministry include:
  2. Prevention of Signal Passing at Danger (SPAD)
  3. Continuous update of Movement Authority with display of signal aspects in Driver
  4. Machine Interface (DMI) / Loco Pilot operation cum Indication Panel (LPOCIP)
  5. Automatic Braking for Prevention of Over Speeding
  6. Auto Whistling while approaching Level Crossing Gates
  7. Prevention of collision between two Locomotives equipped with functional KAVACH
  8. SoS Messages during emergency situations
  9. Centralised live monitoring of Train movements through Network Monitor System

Could KAVACH have prevented the Odisha accident?

  1. Kavach hit the news after an incident in Balasore district of Odisha. Three trains collided in a sequence of events, resulting in at least 238 deaths and injuries to over 900 individuals. Amid the aftermath of the incident, many are now arguing that Kavach would have prevented the accident.
  2. However, as per a statement of the Railways, KAVACH was not available on this route.

 

Maternity leave for university Student

GS Paper - 2 (Health)

Allowing relief to a university student who was denied maternity leave, the Delhi High Court has said that citizens cannot be forced to choose between their right to education and their right to exercise reproductive autonomy. A Bench of Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav said that in case the student is fulfilling the minimum 80 per cent attendance criteria in theory classes after taking a 59-day maternity leave, “let the appropriate steps to allow the petitioner to appear in the examination be taken” by the university without delay.

Can university students get maternity leave?

  1. In “Renuka v. University Grants Commission and Anr,” a student of Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut, approached the Delhi High Court for relaxation of attendance to complete her Master of Education (MEd) course. For this, she requested a 59-day maternity leave, adding that if her leave is considered under “theory classes”, she could still fulfil the 80 per cent attendance criteria.
  2. Asserting that “citizens could not be forced to choose between their right to education and their right to exercise reproductive autonomy,” the court highlighted the dichotomy that exists where a man can “enjoy parenthood while pursuing his higher education”, while a woman “necessarily has to undergo pre and post pregnancy care” not by her choice but by the “will of nature”.
  3. However, the court made it clear that under Article 226 of the Constitution, it “cannot create a different compartment” for relaxation of attendance while indicating the need to balance the fulfilment of attendance requirements with the interests of candidates seeking maternity leave.
  4. Adding that the Constitution is a pledge to “disassociate ourselves from the parochial notions of society that prevented the ushering of equality”, the court directed the university to reconsider the student’s application “in view of the observation made in this order to consider her 59 days of maternity leave application against theory classes.”
  5. The court also said that if the student missed any practical classes during her leave, they could always be rearranged “as a special case.

What does the Constitution say?

  1. In September 1949, Dr BR Ambedkar moved an amendment to substitute the existing Entry 26 of the concurrent list in the Constitution, which deals with “legal, medical, and other professions”.
  2. The amended entry, adopted by the Constituent Assembly and now part of the Constitution, reads, “Welfare of labour, including conditions of work, provident funds, employers, liability, workmen’s compensation, invalidity and old age pensions, and maternity benefits.”
  3. Similarly, Article 42 of the Constitution, forming part of the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSPs), provides that the “State shall make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief.” Besides this, the court also relied on multiple top-court rulings on reproductive rights.

What has the Supreme Court held?

  1. In the 2009 case of “Suchita Srivastava v. Chandigarh Admn,” the top court held that reproductive choices are inherent to a woman’s right to privacy, dignity, and bodily integrity, which are covered under Article 21 of the Constitution.
  2. In its ruling, the then Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan, had said, “There is no doubt that a woman’s right to make reproductive choices is also a dimension of ‘personal liberty’ as understood under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.”
  3. Highlighting the crucial consideration that a woman’s right to privacy, dignity, and bodily integrity should be respected, the court said that “there should be no restriction whatsoever on the exercise of reproductive choices”.
  4. It also interpreted reproductive rights to “include a woman’s entitlement to carry a pregnancy to its full term, to give birth, and to subsequently raise children.”
  5. Similarly, in the 2017 case of “KS Puttaswamy v. Union of India,” the top court held that the state must safeguard the citizen’s ability to make decisions.
  6. Life within the meaning of Article 21 is “not confined to the integrity of the physical body” and “comprehends one’s being in its fullest sense,” which facilitates the fulfilment of life within the protection of the guarantee of life, the court stated.