Current Affairs 23-FEB-2024 (The Hindu)

Guinea-Worm Disease

D => (Pg-22)

Guinea-Worm Disease

• Also known as: Dracunculiasis.
• Type: Parasitic disease.
• Neglected Tropical Disease: One of the neglected tropical diseases, a group of 20 diseases mainly found in tropical areas.

Causes

• Caused by drinking water contaminated by water fleas infected with guinea-worm.
• One year after infection, a painful blister forms, and one or more worms emerge.
• Rarely fatal, but infected people become non-functional for weeks and months.
• Affects people in rural, deprived, and isolated communities.

Prevention Measures

• No vaccine available for prevention.
• Preventable by water filtration.
• Treating ponds with larvicide.
• An eradication program has been able to reduce prevalence.
• Endemic to four countries: Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, and South Sudan.

Practice Question – Prelims

Which of the following measures has been pivotal in the global efforts to eradicate Guinea worm disease?

(a) Bed net distribution

(b) Mass vaccination campaigns

(c) Water filtration and sanitation initiatives

(d) Antibiotic treatment programs

Purple Frogs

C => (Pg-5)

Purple Frogs

• Endemic to: Western Ghats.
• Prime Habitat: Anaimalai hills.
• Discovered: 2003.
• Other Name: Mahabali frog.

Significance

• Evolutionary history of 120 million years.
• One of the oldest lineages among all living frogs on Earth.
• Called as ‘living fossil’.

Conservation Status

• IUCN Status: Endangered.
• Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection (Amendment) Act, 2022.

Threats

• Rapid deforestation and conversion of forest land into cropland.
• Increase in Human settlements.
• Road networks lie close to their breeding grounds and hundreds of cases of road-kills go unreported every year.

Practice Question – Prelims

Purple frog, which is an endangered frog species, inhabits which of the following regions?

(a) Eastern Ghats.

(b) Western Himalayas.

(c) Thar Desert.

(d) Western Ghats.

Regional Bench of Supreme Court

D => (Pg-13)

Regional Bench of Supreme Court

• Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law & Justice: Law Ministry accepted recommendation to establish regional benches of the Supreme Court.

Constitutional Stand

• Delhi - Seat of the Supreme Court: Authorizes the Chief Justice of India to appoint another place as the seat of the Supreme Court.

Arguments Supporting Regional Benches

• Increase in Education & Standard of living: People can approach the courts of law more easily, reducing pendency.
• Reduction of Pendency: Currently, 80,000 cases are pending in court, out of which 60,000 cases are civil. Establishing regional benches can increase the number of judges & lawyers.
• Democratization of the Bar: Regional benches provide greater opportunities & democratization of the Bar, offering more chances to excel in the legal career.

Arguments Opposing Regional Benches

• Questionable Solution for Pendency: Majority of cases filed in the Supreme Court come from high courts closer to Delhi. Easier access to justice may lead to numerous frivolous or petty petitions.
• Divergent Views: Formation of regional benches may create many divergent views.

Steps to be Taken

• Virtual Proceedings: Allow preliminary hearings to take place virtually, with final hearings conducted physically.
• Inspiration from France Model: Implement a system with separate courts of appeal and courts of cassation, as recommended by the Law Commission in its 95th and 229th reports.

Practice Question – Mains GS – II

Courts are sitting on a pendency bomb and it has never been more urgent to strengthen the Indian judiciary. Discuss. (250 words, 15 marks)