Role of technology in conservation

 When we hear the word “conservation”, which professions comes to mind? If you answered ecologists and biologists, you are correct. However, what if we added engineers, data scientists and statisticians? Unlikely as it may seem, they all play a vital part in a multifaceted approach toward the mission of wildlife and landscape conservation.

These specialised roles allow conservation efforts to leverage the power of modern technology. With these, monitoring natural areas, making real-time observations, and managing field operations are possible. The result? We gain new, better and predictive insights into the health of an ecosystem

Improved understanding

One key factor in implementing a conservation solution through technology is understanding the “Where” of it. Our ecosystems are grounded in the fabric of geography, and one solution combining all of these roles is using the power of geospatial technology. This uses location information to create, manage, and analyse all types of data. It connects data to a place and provides a better foundation for understanding patterns, relationships and geographic relevance. This, in turn, improves our understanding of the complex threats, opportunities and challenges facing our natural world.

With the ongoing efforts for conservation, we can benefit from this technology as it the most basic process of gaining insights into the health of a landscape, using aerial imagery. Satellites or low-flying UAVs help gather information about the area’s physical characteristics. This process is known as remote sensing and is used widely in conservation efforts to access areas where physical contact is impossible. These images combined with location information for a place give us geospatial data, which help significantly widen conservation efforts' reach.

Forest fires have unfortunately become increasingly frequent in recent years. Satellites use a visible, infrared instrument onboard NASA’s and NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) to detect locations of fire incidents in near real-time. Combing this location information with areal images allows us to compute how much forestland has been damaged by fire incidents. Gauging the location of these incidents also helps establish the cause of such occurrences and helps establish if it was natural or man-made. This is geospatial technology at work!

Field observations

While satellite technology is very much an “Eye in the Sky”, it is always supported by technology on the ground through field observations. Today most ecologists use the power of the web and mobile devices like smartphones and tabs to collect ground information and update an interconnected database using the power of the internet. The GPS of a mobile device allows the ecologists to enrich their observations and have them stored in a centralised database allowing their teams to access the information as soon as it is collected. Integrating this helps managers plan their strategies better and coordinate their field workforce in real-time.

Environmentalists now enhance their on-ground observations with technologies such as camera traps and acoustic monitoring devices. These help measure wildlife activity and understand their connectivity, distribution and relationship with local and global biodiversity, immensely adding to the knowledge body.

Advancements in computing and remote technologies have provided conservation professionals with the tools to reveal insights with optimised software, algorithms, applications and scientific workflows. Indeed, conservation efforts today are data-driven, and these technologies allow us to augment and enrich our understanding of the interdependent factors that lead to a healthy ecosystem.

Are you excited by technology, yet love Nature enough to work actively in shaping a better environment? The conservation world needs youth who will constantly propel technological innovation, keeping their role in making conservation data science better and more meaningful. This sector invites youth from all backgrounds in ecology, engineering, data science, mathematics and statistics. As budding professionals, we must consider using our skillset to contribute to humanity’s efforts toward conservation.

The writer is the Director, IGCMC (Remote Sensing and GIS) and Coordinator- ENVIS (MoEF and CC)

Areendran Gopala

Source: The Hindu, 25/06/22

Fallout of policy failure: On the U.S. migrant tragedy

 

The U.S. must humanely manage the inflow of migrants across its southern border

In what appears to be the worst episode in recent times of migrant deaths associated with dangerous border crossings into the U.S., the bodies of at least 53 people were recovered from an abandoned tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas. Reports suggested that the migrants, hailing from Mexico, the Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, died from the extreme temperatures inside the truck, amidst a lethal heat wave. The grim episode highlights yet again the perils faced by those seeking asylum or better economic prospects in the U.S., who come up against the country’s immigration policies, which are yet very much a work-in-progress. On the one hand, the latest crisis underscores the serious lacunae in border policy enforcement. Despite the searing summer, border crossings in this region have remained stubbornly high over the past two years. In May 2020, the U.S. Border Patrol encountered 23,237 migrants, whereas in May 2022, that number was 2,39,146 — said to be more than in any single month in the past three years. Even worse, Mexican officials have confirmed that the truck passed through a federal immigration checkpoint within the territory of the U.S. and yet was not inspected. With approximately 20,000 trucks passing through the commercial corridor from Laredo to San Antonio every day, and even more across U.S.-Mexico crossing routes overall, there is a woeful shortage of manpower and surveillance systems.

Nevertheless, it is the bigger questions behind cross-border migration into the U.S. and its fallout, as shown above, that are troubling. Democrats and Republicans have locked horns over comprehensive immigration reform in a multitude of negotiations and across hundreds of bills proposed in Congress. Yet there is a fundamental unwillingness to find bipartisan solutions for immigration policy, in the way that the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act came out of a collaborative effort and now offers a glimmer of hope towards containing gun violence. While Democrats have dug in their heels on subjects such as a path to citizenship for law-abiding undocumented workers in the U.S. who meet certain conditions, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, Republicans have tended to focus more on keeping undocumented migrants out at the border. The problem with their refusing to hammer out compromise solutions is that the resultant failure to evolve a well-funded yet enlightened immigration policy leads to avoidable deaths of the kind seen in San Antonio. Whatever they cede or do not cede politically to liberals, conservatives must realise that there is no resisting the “melting pot” effect coterminous with the U.S.’s social and economic progress, and for that process to work smoothly, the U.S. must rationally and humanely manage the inflow of migrants across its southern border.

Quote of the Day June 29, 2022

 

“The greatest mistake you can make in this life is to continually fear you will make one.”
Elbert Hubbard

“आप इस जीवन में सबसे बड़ी गलती यह कर सकते हैं कि आप निरन्तर इस बात को लेकर डरते रहें कि आप कोई गलती कर देंगे।”
एल्बर्ट हुब्बार्ड

Current Affairs-June 28, 2022

 

INDIA

– Maharashtra: SC asks Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) govt not to disqualify rebel Shiv Sena MLAs till July 11

– PM Modi meets President of Argentina Alberto Fernandez in Munich

– Noted Malayalam lyricist, author and journalist, Chowalloor Krishnankutty dies at 86

ECONOMY & CORPORATE

– Rajasthan becomes 3rd state after Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh to foray into uranium mining; issues a letter of intent (LoI) to Uranium Corporation of India

– Govt appoints Indian Revenue Services officer Nitin Gupta new CBDT chairman

– Former BHEL Chairman V. Krishnamurthy dies at 91

WORLD

– Russia defaults on foreign-currency sovereign debt for 1st time since 1918 as western sanctions had shut down payment routes to overseas creditors

– Saudi Arabia confers Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa with King Abdulaziz Medal

– Iran launches a solid-fuelled rocket Zuljanah into space

– Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSME) Day observed on June 27

– G7 proposes $600-bn global infra plan called ‘Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment’ to rival China

SPORTS

– US athlete Sydney McLaughlin sets new world record in women’s 400m hurdles at 51.41 seconds

Current Affairs- June 29, 2022

 

INDIA

– Ramdarash Mishra gets Saraswati Samman for his Hindi poetry collection ‘Mein to Yahan Hun’; award given by KK Birla Foundation

– PM Modi holds bilateral talks with President of UAE Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan at Abu Dhabi

– In first Punjab budget, AAP govt announces 300 units of free electricity to every household every month from July

– Govt launches e-learning portal ‘Dak Karmayogi’ to enhance competency of Dak Sevaks and dept employees

– 3 ONGC employees among 4 dead in Pawan Hans helicopter crash in Arabian Sea

ECONOMY & CORPORATE

– National Highways Excellence Awards-2021 given away in nine categories by Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi

– Gig economy workers will triple to 2.35 crore by 2030: Niti Aayog report titled ‘India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy: Perspectives and Recommendations on Future of Work’

– A gig worker as a person who engages in income-earning activities outside of a traditional employer-employee relationship, as well as in the informal sector

– National Insurance Awareness Day observed on June 28

– Industrialist Pallonji Mistry, the owner of Shapoorji Pallonji Group, dies at 93 in Mumbai

WORLD

– 2022 UN Ocean Conference being organised at Lisbon, Portugal from June 27 to July 1; Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh leading the Indian delegation

– At least 50 people found dead in an abandoned truck in San Antonio (US) which is 250 kms away from US-Mexico border and is known as a major transit route for people smugglers

What is a ‘zero-Covid’ strategy?

 A notice, attributed to a high-ranking Chinese Communist Party official, created a flutter among Beijing’s residents as it claimed that China’s straining and unpopular zero-Covid curbs — mass testing, targeted lockdowns, and travel restrictions — might extend for another five years.

According to The Guardian, the original text of the notice, attributed to Communist Party’s Beijing secretary, said: “In the next five years, Beijing will unremittingly grasp the normalisation of epidemic prevention and control.”

The notice was first put out by Beijing Daily and later by several state media outlets. After some time, the “five year” reference was taken off by most publications. But by then, it had triggered a wave of anger and confusion online among residents of Beijing, with a hashtag linked to the five-year notice getting 1 million hits before being removed.

What is the ‘zero-Covid’ strategy?

It is a strategy that aims to drive down the number of Covid-19 cases by imposing strict lockdowns, closing borders and imposing travel bans. Initially, when the pandemic started, Western countries adopted a mitigation approach that involved trying to flatten the curve while strengthening healthcare capacity to deal with possible flare ups.

But soon another strategy — the elimination approach — started to find acceptance. This strategy eventually evolved into a Covid-elimination or zero-Covid plan. As part of the plan, governments tried to stamp out outbreaks down to the last case, at any cost.

Australia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong and several other Asia Pacific countries applied the approach, involving highly restrictive measures, for different lengths of time, with varying degrees of severity in their Covid curbs.

Why did countries move away from zero-Covid?

By the middle of 2021, healthcare authorities started questioning the zero-Covid approach to fight the disease.

When vaccines started being rolled out worldwide, some countries also simultaneously started a gradual shift towards fewer lockdowns and more freedoms for citizens.

As the UK lifted restrictions putting its faith in the vaccination drive, France started issuing health passes to the vaccinated to enter public spaces. Around the same time, Australia, after battling the record Delta wave surge, too started talking about “living with the virus” with focus shifting from number of cases to total hospitalisations.

However, New Zealand and China were among the countries that stuck to the elimination response. New Zealand ultimately transitioned away from a hard elimination approach in October 2021, but China has refused to pivot.

Why has China’s approach been criticised?

While the virus has evolved, China’s response to tackling it has been rooted in zero-tolerance for Covid cases. While this has helped the country stamp out every flare-up, a hard-to-lock-out Omicron variant has made the outbreaks frequent.

Beijing’s harsh countermeasures to tackle Covid have imposed immense hardships on the lifestyle and livelihoods of citizens, making the curbs unpopular. But the country has refused to budge on most elements of its policy, despite the WHO saying that its Covid response was “unsustainable”. It continues to be the last big economic power still wedded to the zero-Covid policy.

Only recently, Shanghai faced a months-long lockdown amid the Omicron spread, while Beijing closed schools and offices for weeks over a separate surge. On Sunday, Shanghai recorded zero Covid cases for the first time since March.

Source: Indian Express, 28/06/22

What is the GST Council, what does it do?

 The 47th meeting of the Goods and Services Tax Council began in Chandigarh Tuesday, almost marking five years of the tax system coming into effect on July 1, 2017.

Over these five years, the GST setup has gone through numerous changes, and the ongoing two-day meeting is expected to look at matters such as the GST compensation to states, and the imposition of taxes on some currently-exempt goods and services.

What is the GST Council?

The Goods and Services Tax regime came into force after the Constitutional (122nd Amendment) Bill was passed by both Houses of Parliament in 2016. More than 15 Indian states then ratified it in their state Assemblies, after which the President gave his assent. The GST Council – a joint forum of the Centre and the states — was set up by the President as per Article 279A (1) of the amended Constitution.

The members of the Council include the Union Finance Minister (chairperson), the Union Minister of State (Finance) from the Centre. Each state can nominate a minister in-charge of finance or taxation or any other minister as a member.

Why was the Council set up?

The Council, according to Article 279, is meant to “make recommendations to the Union and the states on important issues related to GST, like the goods and services that may be subjected or exempted from GST, model GST Laws”.

It also decides on various rate slabs of GST.

For instance, an interim report by a panel of ministers has suggested imposing 28 per cent GST on casinos, online gaming and horse racing. A decision on this will be taken at the Council meeting on Wednesday. What has changed this time?

The ongoing meeting is the first since a decision of the Supreme Court in May this year, which stated recommendations of the GST Council are not binding.

The court said Article 246A of the Constitution gives both Parliament and state legislatures “simultaneous” power to legislate on GST and recommendations of the Council “are the product of a collaborative dialogue involving the Union and States”. This was hailed by some states, such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu, who believe states can be more flexible in accepting the recommendations as suited to them. The council’s meeting is also likely to focus on the issue of extension of the GST compensation regime beyond June 2022. This was a special mechanism by which states were assured that their revenues would not be affected by the new GST system. Some states are already demanding that the compensation be continued.

Earlier, the Council had agreed to extend the levy of compensation cess till 2026, but only for repayment of the borrowings made in the aftermath of the pandemic to provide compensation to states.

Written by Rishika Singh 

Source: Indian Express, 28/06/22