Assam Rifles is the unique force

GS Paper - 3 (Internal Security)

For the past 18 days, about seven battalions of the Assam Rifles deployed in south Manipur have not received fresh ration with people in Meitei areas allegedly blocking supplies from reaching the camps of the force. The Meiteis have been accusing the Assam Rifles, the longest-serving paramilitary force in India, of being partisan and siding with the Kukis in the ongoing conflict.

The Assam Rifles

• Assam Rifles is one of the six central armed police forces (CAPFs) under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
• The other forces being the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Border Security Force (BSF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
• It is tasked with the maintenance of law and order in the North East along with the Indian Army and also guards the Indo-Myanmar border in the region.
• It has a sanctioned strength of over 63,000 personnel and has 46 battalions apart from administrative and training staff.

The dual control structure

• Its uniqueness lies in the fact that it is the only paramilitary force with a dual control structure.
• While the administrative control of the force is with the MHA, its operational control is with the Indian Army, which is under the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
• This means that salaries and infrastructure for the force is provided by the MHA, but the deployment, posting, transfer and deputation of the personnel is decided by the Army.
• All its senior ranks, from DG to IG and sector headquarters are manned by officers from the Army. The force is commanded by a Lieutenant General from the Indian Army.
• In some ways, the force is the only central paramilitary force (CPMF), as its operational duties and regimentation are on the lines of the Indian Army.
• However, being a Central Armed Police force under MHA, its recruitment, perks, promotion of its personnel and retirement policies are governed according to the rules framed by the MHA for CAPFs.
• This has created a rift within the personnel of the Assam Rifles, with some sections wanting singular control of the MoD while others preferring the MHA.
• Those arguing for administrative control of the MoD say that it would mean better perks and retirement benefits, which are far higher compared to CAPFs under MHA.
• However, Army personnel also retire early, at 35, while the retirement age in CAPF is 60 years.
• Also, CAPF officers have recently been grantednon-functional financial upgradation (NFFU) to at least financially address the issue of stagnation in their careers due to lack of avenues for promotion.
• On the other hand,Army personnel also get one rank one pension which is not available to CAPFs.

New chikungunya vaccine

GS Paper - 3 (Health and Diseases)

A Phase III human trial found the live chikungunya vaccine highly protective. Increased global spread of mosquito-borne illnesses due to climate change may render the shot necessary for wider populations. A new clinical study shows promising results of a Phase III chikungunya vaccine trial, the first time the shot has been tested in humans.

What is Chikungunya?

• First discovered in Tanzania in the 1950s, the viral disease has since spread to various parts of Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and South America. Symptoms include severe joint and muscle pain as well as high fever and skin rashes.
• There is currently no specific antiviral therapy. While symptoms usually improve within a week, joint pain (arthralgia) can persist for months. In some cases, lasting arthralgia can lead to debilitating chronic rheumatic arthritis disease.
• “Chikungunya is fatal in very few cases, but the disease is not pleasant. You can be sick for two weeks. In addition, in severe cases, you get very painful arthritis that can last for weeks.

Chikungunya virus found in equatorial countries

• Tropical regions currently see the highest rates of the virus, with Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia and Thailand most affected.
• Global cases are relatively low, with Paraguay experiencing the most at 82,240 cases and 43 deaths between January and March 2023. Thailand saw 259 cases and no deaths in the period.
• There are reports of chikungunya virus cases in African countries, but up-to-date infection data is difficult to verify. Outbreaks have been ongoing in Congo, Sudan and Kenya
• since 2018, but cases have been relatively low — Sudan, the most affected country in Africa, has only seen around 14,000 cumulative cases since 2018.
• However, a major 2013 outbreak of chikungunya in South America led to over 1 million infections in just a few months. While death rates were low, around 52% of infected people experienced severe joint pain lasting months.
• Studies suggest the disease caused the loss of 150,000 disability-adjusted life-years in 2014 alone. The measurement represents the loss of the equivalent of one year of full health.

Right to change one’s name is part of the right to life

GS Paper - 2 (Polity)

The right to change one’s name or surname is a part of the right to life under Article 21, the High Courts of Allahabad and Delhi recently said. Allowing a man called Shahnawaz to change his name to Md. Sameer Rao, the Allahabad HC said the fundamental right to keep or change one’s name is vested in every citizen under Articles 19(1)(a), 21, and 14 of the Constitution.

Why did the petitioners want to change their names?

• In ‘Sadanand & Anr. vs CBSE & Ors’, a plea was filed by two brothers before the Delhi HC seeking to set aside a letter issued by the CBSE on 1 June 2017, refusing to change their father’s last name from ‘Mochi’ to ‘Nayak’ in their 10th and 12th Board certificates.
• Owing to caste atrocities suffered by him, the father had earlier changed his surname and published it in the newspaper and the Gazette of India as required.
• His surname was changed across various public documents, such as Aadhaar, PAN, and Voter ID. However, CBSE refused to update the brothers’ certificates with the father’s new surname.
• In ‘Md. Sameer Rao vs. State of U.P.’ the Allahabad HC dealt with a petition filed against an order dated December 12, 2020, passed by the Regional Secretary, Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad, Regional Office, Rai Bareli, rejecting Shahnawaz’s application to change his name to “Md. Sameer Rao” in his High School and Intermediate certificates, seemingly “for a higher sense of self-worth”.

What did the courts say about Article 21?

• In both the Delhi and Allahabad High Court cases, a common thread of Article 21 was found running.
• As it allowed Shahnawaz to become “Md. Sameer Rao”, the Allahabad HC observed that the “right to keep a name of choice or change the name according to personal preference comes within the mighty sweep of the right to life guaranteed under Article 21.”
• The court relied on the Kerala HC ruling in “Kashish Gupta vs. Central Board of Secondary Education” (2020), stating, “To have a name and to express the same in the manner he wishes, is certainly a part of the right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19 (1)(a) as well as a part of the right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. State or its instrumentalities cannot stand in the way of the use of any name preferred by an individual or for any change of name into one of his choices except to the extent prescribed under Article 19(2) or by a law which is just, fair and reasonable.”

What are some restrictions on the right to change names?

• Although the right to change or keep one’s name is a fundamental right “by virtue of Article 19(1)(a) and Article 21”, it is not an absolute right and is subject to various reasonable restrictions, as the Allahabad High Court clarified in Sameed Rao’s case.
• However, the restrictions imposed by law on fundamental rights have to be fair, just, and reasonable, the court said, citing the 2017 SC ruling in “K. S. Puttaswamy vs. Union of India,” saying, “The inter-relationship between the guarantee against arbitrariness and the protection of life and personal liberty operates in a multi-faceted plane.”
• The value of human dignity has an important role in determining the proportionality of a statute limiting a constitutional right, the court said, citing the test of reasonableness in the 2016 SC ruling in “Jeeja Ghosh vs. Union of India.”

Harder to forecast cyclones in Arabian Sea

GS Paper - 1 (Geography)

The Department (IMD) has over the years been largely accurate in forecasting the direction and intensity of cyclones into the country, data suggest that it takes more time for the agency to accurately forecast the trajectory of storms that originate in the Arabian Sea, than those in the Bay of Bengal.

Background

• Historically, most cyclones around India tend to originate in the Bay of Bengal but global warming, as scientists have been pointing out for a while now, is causing the Arabian Sea to be heating up more than average and whetting greater — and increasingly stronger — cyclones like Biparjoy, which barrelled into Gujarat.
• Historically, cyclones in the Bay of Bengal have been more frequent, allowing for better understanding and prediction.
• Cyclones like Mocha, Sitrang, Yaas, Mandous, and Gulab followed paths predicted by the IMD at least four or more days in advance.

Challenge of Cyclone Forecasts in Arabian Sea

• IMD takes more time to accurately forecast the trajectory of cyclones in the Arabian Sea compared to those in the Bay of Bengal.
• Global warming has caused the Arabian Sea to heat up more than average, leading to the formation of stronger cyclones like Biparjoy.
• The steering winds, which are the upper-level winds in the atmosphere, determine the direction and recurrence of cyclones.
• The heat within the ocean layers determines the strength and duration of cyclones.
• While prediction models are generally better at capturing the influence of oceanic heat on cyclones, they often struggle to fully capture the complex wind patterns in the upper atmosphere. As a result, accurately predicting these wind patterns beyond a five-day timeframe is challenging –whether in the Arabian Sea or Bay of Bengal.
• The Arabian Sea has seen fewer cyclones historically because of relatively colder sea surface temperatures, but now it is heating up more than average.
• Nearly 48% of cyclones here never reached land, as opposed to only 13% in the Bay of Bengal.
• The Arabian Sea has a much deeper - up to 40 meters – layer of warm water compared to that in the Bay of Bengal.

What is a Cyclone?

• Cyclones are caused by atmospheric disturbances around a low-pressure area distinguished by swift and often destructive air circulation. 
• The word Cyclone is derived from the Greek word Cyclos meaning the coils of a snake.
• It was coined by Henry Peddington because the tropical storms in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea appear like coiled serpents of the sea.
• Cyclones are given many names in different regions of the world – They are known as
• Typhoons in the China Sea and Pacific Ocean;
• Hurricanes in the West Indian islands in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean;
• Tornados in the Guinea lands of West Africa and southern USA.;
• Willy-willies in north-western Australia and tropical cyclones in the Indian Ocean.