Herpetofauna and the Impact of crop pesticides

The demand for land for food production always results in an uncomfortable trade-off between agricultural expansion and species conservation. One can see an example of this trade-off in paddy fields, whose unique combination of wet and drylands provide ideal habitats for amphibians and reptiles. However, Amphibians and reptiles are bearing the brunt of crop intensification.

Ecological services provided by herpetofauna

• Herpetofauna: Amphibians and reptiles are cold-blooded animals, together referred to as herpetofauna, provide immense ecological services.
• As biological control agents: Frogs and toads, for instance, act as biological control agents by feeding on crop pests. Several salamanders and tadpoles of frogs help in controlling mosquito and mosquito-borne diseases by feeding on the larvae.
• Efficient pollinators and improves soil quality: They also help improve soil quality and aeration, aid in dispersal of seeds and in pollination. There are almost 40 species of lizards including skinks and geckos that are efficient pollinators.

Threats faced by herpetofauna

• Increased use of pesticides and fertilizers: The diversity and abundance of these herpetofauna are rapidly declining with increased use of pesticides, fertilisers, land conversion, changes in cropping systems and the reduced proportion of natural vegetation.
• Threatened by agriculture and management practices: According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 1,532 species of Anurans (frogs) and 825 species of reptiles in the world are critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable due to agriculture and its management practices.
• Particularly threatened in India: They appear to be particularly threatened in India which has a high amphibian diversity most of them are endemic to the region and, as per the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, had the largest cropland area over the last decade, followed by the US and China.
• Being cold-blooded, amphibians and reptiles have unique physiological demands: They are extremely sensitive to microclimates (with a narrow range of soil humidity, moisture, light flux, acidity, air and soil temperature) and microhabitats (they have small habitats like grass cover and low dispersal range; maximum lifetime dispersal for frogs and toads is 12 km). This makes them particularly susceptible to agricultural intensification. However, the researchers find a distinct difference in the way it affects amphibians and reptiles.

Survey to understand the impact of crop intensification

• To understand the impact of crop intensification on the populations and diversity of herpetofauna, researchers from the University of Calcutta conducted a year-long survey of farm lands in Odisha’s Baleswar district.
• Almost 90 per cent of the 250,550 hectares of cultivable land in the district is under paddy.

Did you know?

• Baleswar district, of Odisha is known as “Rice bowl of the state”.

Comment if any place in your state is recognized as such

Findings of the Survey

• Low diversity in high cropping intensity: The abundance of amphibians was almost half and their diversity was low in areas with high cropping intensity, pesticide application and low natural vegetation when compared with areas where less-intensive farming is practised.
• Amphibians are more exposed to pesticides: The difference is because amphibians are more exposed to pesticide contamination than reptiles as their skin is highly permeable and performs both respiration and water uptake.
• Species are going through an extinction debt: The researchers suggest the species are rather going through an extinction debt wherein there is a lag between the impact of agricultural intensification on them and their response to it.
• Reptiles face a higher threat from conflicts with humans: The real impact of the current intensification of agriculture on reptiles would be felt much later. When compared with amphibians, reptiles like snakes face a higher threat from conflicts with humans. Encroachment of forest areas and misconceptions and myths result in the indiscriminate killing of snakes irrespective of them being venomous or harmless.
• Intraguild predation: The researchers also find that in areas where the diversity of the frog population is lesser, the numbers of beneficial arthropods have reduced due to intraguild predation. If this reduction in populations of both predators continues, it will disrupt the natural system of suppressing crop pest abundance.

What is mean by intraguild predation?

• A phenomenon where more than one species feed on the same prey and therefore competitors feed on each other.
• For example, when one predator, like a lion, hunts and kills another predator, like a hyena, for food.
• It’s when animals that are both hunters, compete against each other for the same prey.
• It is just like how two kids might fight over a candy bar.

Way ahead

• The study shows unless a threshold abundance of frogs is maintained, their impacts will be far from beneficial to agriculture.
• Semi-natural and natural vegetation and buffer strips such as ditches, provide chances to increase numbers of alternate prey, intermediate hosts of target pests and increase the availability of nutritional plant resources.
• Semi-natural patches are beneficial for arthropod communities and can raise their numbers to enhance crop pest regulation.

Conclusion

• To optimize the benefits from existing farmland, the researchers recommend that biodiversity research be holistic so more organisms get targeted ecological services.

India bright spot amid global crisis

Lauding Prime Minister Leadership in a fractured world, the World Economic Forum’s Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab said India is a bright spot amid the global crisis. Mr. Schwab said India is promoting a just and equitable growth for all in the world during its G20 presidency, while also making significant progress on the most pressing domestic challenges.

More about the news

1. The WEF also issued a statement and said it values its nearly 40-year collaborative history with India and looks forward to continued cooperation with the country during its G20 presidency.
2. The WEF said its annual meeting is taking place at a time when multiple crises have deepened divisions and fragmented the geopolitical landscape.
3. Governments and businesses must address people’s immediate, critical needs while also laying the groundwork for a more sustainable, resilient world by the end of the decade.
4. The WEF said the programme simultaneously addresses immediate crises and long-term future challenges and helps set the scene for India’s G20 presidency.
5. He commended the country’s decisive action on the climate case for renewables, its contribution to the global healthcare ecosystem, the focus on an economic model for women-led development, and its leadership on digital public infrastructure.
6. India remains a bright spot amid global geo-economics and geopolitical crises.

Flashback

1. The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland.
2. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab.
3. Its mission is “improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas”.
4. The WEF is mostly known for its annual meeting at the end of January in Davos, a mountain resort in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland.

China pivoting of ‘wolf-warrior diplomacy’

China launched a personnel reshuffle on the foreign policy front. Beijing appointed Qin Gang, former Chinese ambassador to the US, as the new foreign minister while former foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian was transferred to the department of boundary and ocean affairs.

More about the news:

1. Some political analysts view these changes as possible signs that China may be pivoting from the hardline “wolf-warrior diplomacy” that has characterized China’s foreign policy over the last few years.
2. Some experts also say the personnel’s reshuffling doesn’t necessarily change the trajectory of China’s diplomatic approach.
3. Qin, who has long been viewed as a trusted aide to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, wrote that the development of China-US relations will remain an important mission in his new position.
4. He said the door to China-US relations will remain open and cannot be closed and adding that relations shouldn’t be a zero – sum game and that the world is “wide enough for China and the United States to both develop and prosper.

A ‘more tactful’ diplomacy:

1. Despite the optimism expressed by Qin, tensions between China and the US remain high. Since former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last August, China has increased its military activities around the island.
2. The US is also seeking to strengthen security and military ties with countries like Japan and the Philippines.

Wolf warrior diplomacy:

1. Wolf warrior diplomacy is a style of coercive diplomacy adopted by Chinese diplomats during the Xi Jinping administration.
2. This approach is in contrast to the prior Chinese diplomatic practices of Deng Xiaoping, which had emphasized the use of cooperative rhetoric and the avoidance of controversy.
3. It is confrontational and combative, with its proponents loudly denouncing any perceived criticism of the Chinese government, its ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and associated policies on social media and in interviews, as well as using physical violence against protestors and dissidents.
4. As an attempt to gain “discourse power” in international politics, wolf warrior diplomacy forms one part of a new foreign policy strategy called Xi Jinping’s “Major Country Diplomacy”.

‘Hybrid immunity’ against severe Covid

A recent study in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases held that “hybrid immunity” provides better protection against severe Covid-19, while all immunity against a re-infection wanes within a few months. The study is based on a meta-analysis of 11 other studies on the protective effectiveness of previous SARS-CoV-2 (Covid) infection and 15 studies on the protective effectiveness of hybrid immunity.

What is hybrid immunity?

1. Hybrid immunity is gained from a previous infection plus vaccines – either the primary doses or both primary and booster doses.
2. The study said that a hybrid immunity offers a “higher magnitude and durability” of protection as compared to infection alone, emphasising the need for vaccination.
3. With the faster-spreading omicron variants leading to more infections and consequently more people developing this hybrid immunity, the study suggested that booster doses may be delayed.

What did the study find?

1. Protection against severe disease and hospitalisations from a Sars-CoV-2 infection alone was found to be 82.5% at three months after the last shot or infection.
2. This protection stood at 74.6% at 12 months and 71.6% at 15 months. Protection against reinfection declined faster, standing at 65.2% at three months and dropping to 24.7% at 12 months and 15.5% at 15 months.
3. In comparison, hybrid immunity with just the primary vaccine doses was found to be 96% at three months and 97.4% at 12 months. The same can offer 69% protection against reinfection at three months, dropping to 41.8% at 12 months.
4. The effectiveness of hybrid immunity gained from infection coupled with the primary as well as a booster dose stood at 97.2% at three months and 95.3% at six months. The same immunity was found to be 68.6% effective at three months and 46.5% at six months.

Implications of the findings

1. The study said these results provide information that can be used to tailor guidance on the number and timing of SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations.
2. It said that in regions with high Sars-CoV-2 sero-prevalence, the primary vaccination – focused mainly on those at the highest risk of severe disease such as the old or co-morbid – can offer high protection against severe disease and hospitalisation for at least one year.
3. As per the World Health Organisation, the global sero-prevalence – presence of antibodies against Sars-CoV-2 whether because of infection or vaccination – stood at 67% as of October 2021.
4. The other key recommendation is to roll out booster vaccine drives whenever an increase in the number of infections is expected.

National Export Co-Operative Society

Nano fertilizers produced by IFFCO and dairy products from Amul will be among the first few products that are expected to beexported by the first-ever National Export Co-operative Society that was approved by the Union Cabinet. All these Society and contribute ₹100 crore each. The society will have an authorised share capital of ₹2,000 crore with the area of operation all over the country.

Major Cooperatives

1. Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO),
2. KrishakBharati Cooperative Limited (KRIBHCO),
3. National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED),
4. Gujrat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), better known as Amul and
5. National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC)

Exporting Countries

1. Amul and IFFCO currently export products to countries such as Brazil, Philippines, Kenya and Canada, the proposed Society is expected to enhance the scale and volume of exports.

Cooperatives share in Various Industry

2. Cooperatives contribute 28.80% in fertilizer production,35% in fertilizer distribution,30.60% in sugar production and 17.50% in the procurement of marketable surplus milk in the national economy but their contribution to exports is negligible.
3. The Society will benefit the smallest farmer or artisan who has a good product.
4. These Societies will get access to the international market and good returns too. Once the product has been tested for international standards, the packaging and export will be done by the Society.

Society’s Role

1. The Society will be different from the Export Promotion Council under the Ministry of Commerce that only acts as a facilitator and provides information about the potential markets that can be tapped for a particular product.
2. This Society will provide end-to-end services to the cooperatives. It will open foreign bank accounts and complete all the formalities, including necessary permissions for exporting a product.
3. The icing on the cake is that dividends will be shared with the manufacturer instantly and without any brokerage fee.
4. The proposed Society will hire consultants in foreign countries who will help expand its footprint across continents.
5. The Society will work as an export house for handicrafts, handlooms, khadi and other products, ensuring enhancement of income of the cooperative member entrepreneurs.

A decade of the POCSO Act

• The Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act, 2012, enacted in response to India’s ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1992, went into effect on November 14, 2012.
• The purpose of this special law is to address offenses of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children that have either not been specifically defined or have not been adequately penalized.
• In the midst of the debate over POCSO’s low conviction rate and lowering the age of consent from 18 to 16 years (which the Central government has rejected), it is worth assessing its impact on the ground.

About POCSO Act

• The POCSO Act was enacted in 2012 to provide a strong legal framework for the protection of children from sexual assault, sexual harassment, and pornography offenses, while also protecting children’s interests at all stages of the judicial process.
• To make the punishment for child abuse more severe, the government has notified the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Rules, 2020, which allows the implementation of recent amendments to the Act.
• Ministry: Ministry of Women and Child Development

Features of the POCSO Act

• Gender-neutral law: The POCSO Act establishes a gender-neutral tone for the legal framework available to child sexual abuse victims by defining a child as “any person” under the age of 18.
• No time limit for reporting abuse: A victim may report an offense at any time, even years after the abuse has occurred.
• Mandatory reporting: The Act also makes it a legal obligation for anyone who is aware of the offense to report the sexual abuse. If he or she fails to do so, the person may face six months in prison or a fine.
• Safeguards to victims: The Act,in addition to providing punishment for sexual offences against children, gave certain safeguards to make children’s interaction with the criminal justice system ‘child-friendly’.

What are the concerns?

• The gender-neutral nature of the POCSO Act is a significant feature. Despite the fact that the National Crime Records Bureau has not published data on male and female victims separately, male child victims accounted for approximately eight out of every 1,000 POCSO cases (0.8%) in Chhattisgarh.
• Though the reported number is small, it confirms society’s concern that sexual exploitation of male children is a serious issue that has gone largely unreported.
• There is now sufficient public awareness to report cases of child sexual exploitation not only by individuals but also by institutions, as non-reporting has been made a specific offense under the POCSO Act. This has made it more difficult to conceal offenses against children.
• Storage of child pornography material has been designated as a new crime. Furthermore, unlike an abstract definition of ‘outraging the modesty of a woman’ in the Indian Penal Code, the offence of’sexual assault’ has been defined in explicit terms (with increased minimum punishment).

No change in the investigation

• However, the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) still governs a large portion of the investigation of offenses under the Act.
• The investigation of penetrative sexual assault cases generally entails recording the prosecutrix’s statement, a medical and forensic science laboratory (FSL) examination, and determining the child’s age.
• The POCSO Act requires a woman sub-inspector to record the affected child’s statement at the child’s residence or preferred location.
• However, complying with this provision is practically impossible given that women make up only 10% of the police force and that many police stations have few female officers.
• In 2015, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced a plan to establish an Investigation Unit on Crime Against Women (IUCAW) in each district, comprised of 15 police officers (at least one-third of whom would be female officers) and led by an additional superintendent of police.
• Its goal was to ensure quality investigation of crimes against women on a 50:50 expenditure sharing basis; states’ response to the scheme has been lukewarm.
• Similarly, despite funds provided by the Centre to strengthen mahila desks, many police stations still lack even a single female officer.

Provisions to record statements using audio-video means

• While there is a provision to record statements using audio-video means, and a Supreme Court judgment, Shafhi Mohammad vs The State of Himachal Pradesh (2018), on capturing and preserving the scene of heinous crimes using audio-video means (followed by standardization of technical specifications by the Bureau of Police Research and Development for uniformity), the pilot project has yet to be implemented across States.
• In the absence of proper infrastructure to ensure the integrity of electronic evidence, the admissibility of evidence recorded using any audio-video means will always be a challenge.
• A judicial magistrate is also required to record the statement of the prosecutrix. Though such statements are recorded in most cases, judicial magistrates are not called for cross-examination during trial, nor are those who retract their statements punished. In this case, such statements are rendered null and void.

Medical Examination

• The prosecutrix undergoes a medical examination in accordance with the provisions of the CrPC. A female doctor, on the other hand, conducts the medical examination of a girl child (as specified in the POCSO Act).
• Even so, as the Supreme Court of India noted, the banned two-finger test is still in use in some cases.
• Furthermore, no efforts have been made to upgrade the FSLs in states in order to speed up the examination of exhibits. In reality, many cases have a charge sheet without an accompanying FSL report, which is then decided by courts.

Issue of Age Determination

• Though the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act guides the age determination of a juvenile delinquent, no such provision exists under the POCSO Act for juvenile victims.
• In Jarnail Singh vs. State of Haryana (2013), the Supreme Court held that the given statutory provision should also be used to help determine age even for a child who is a victim of crime.
• In the absence of any change in the law or even specific directions, investigating officers (IOs) continue to rely on the date of birth recorded in school admission-withdrawal registers — which, in most cases, parents are unable to defend in court (in the absence of hospital or any other authentic records).
• Age estimation based on medical opinion is generally so broad that minors are frequently proven to be majors.
• Once a minor is proven to be a major, the likelihood of acquittal increases based on other factors such as consent or no injury to private parts.
• As a result, the POCSO Act has made no difference in investigations when it comes to proving juvenility.

Period of Investigation

• Furthermore, the time limit for completing a rape investigation (as in the CrPC, but without a similar provision in the POCSO Act) is two months.
• Though the goal is to expedite the investigation, it has resulted in two significant changes on the field.
• One, there is considerable pressure on the investigating officers (IOs) to submit a charge sheet within two months, regardless of the stage of the investigation.
• The IOs do not want to invite internal punishment because the Ministry of Home Affairs oversees POCSO cases through the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) and State police headquarters.
• Unfortunately, the emphasis is largely on completing the investigation in two months regardless of quality.
• If no charge sheet was filed within 90 days of the accused’s arrest, he or she was granted bail.
• When a charge sheet is filed within 60 days of the FIR (rather than arrest), the accused may now seek bail immediately.
• As a result, it is the accused, not the victim, who benefits from a faster investigation.

What is the way forward?

• The POCSO Act states that the court must presume that the accused committed the offense.
• The POCSO Act contains no conditions whatsoever, in contrast to the Indian Evidence Act (Section 114(b)), which clearly requires the prosecution to prove recent intercourse and the prosecutrix to state in court that she did not consent.
• However, even after the minor age of the victim is proved, no such presumption (however small a relevance it may have) is raised by the court during trial.
• Under these conditions, the expected increase in the conviction rate is unlikely to be realized.
• As a result, it is time to review how the POCSO Act is being implemented to determine how far it has helped victims of sexual exploitation and what more needs to be done to ensure justice.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that children are vulnerable and must be protected from forced attempts to sexually assault or groom them for exploitation. However, the realities of adolescent attraction and the determination of consent, at the age of 16 or older, must be considered relevant to investigation and prosecution. It should be noted that the Justice J.S Verma Committee on Criminal Law Amendments also recommended that the age of consent be reduced to 16, and that the POCSO Act be amended accordingly. The Law Commission must now focus its efforts on the Act’s actual implementation and ensure that the POCSO Act stays true to its broad intent which is the protection of children.