10 December 2023

• Human Rights Day: The 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was observed. India's representatives including Hansa Mehta shaped the document's language.
• Nobel Prize ceremony: The 2023 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi in Oslo. The Nobel Prizes in other categories were presented in Stockholm.
• COP28 midpoint: Negotiations in Dubai entered their final stretch on the Global Stocktake text with the UAE Consensus expected by 12 December.

GS area: Polity, International Relations

10 December 1948 was the date the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The 75th anniversary was observed on 10 December 2023:

• Structure: The UDHR comprises a preamble and 30 articles. Articles 1-21 cover civil and political rights; Articles 22-30 cover economic, social, and cultural rights.
• Legal status: The UDHR is not a treaty. It is a resolution of the General Assembly and is not legally binding in itself, but its principles have been incorporated into binding treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
• India's role in drafting: Three Indian representatives contributed to the drafting committee. Hansa Mehta proposed changing the phrase "all men are born free" to "all human beings are born free," removing the gendered language. M.R. Masani and Lakshmi Menon also participated.
• Influence: The UDHR inspired more than 70 international human rights treaties and is cited in over 90 national constitutions.
• Eleanor Roosevelt: Chaired the drafting committee as the first chairperson of the UN Commission on Human Rights.

Static linkage: Human rights, international law, India's contributions to international bodies.

GS area: International Relations, Society

The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize to Narges Mohammadi of Iran:

• Citation: Awarded "for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all."
• Context: Mohammadi has been repeatedly imprisoned by the Iranian government. She leads the campaign against mandatory hijab law following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini in 2022, which sparked the Woman, Life, Freedom protest movement in Iran.
• Award ceremony: The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway, while all other Nobel prizes are presented in Stockholm, Sweden. This division dates to Alfred Nobel's will.
• In absentia: Mohammadi was unable to attend the ceremony as she remained imprisoned in Iran.

Static linkage: International relations, human rights, West Asia.

GS area: International Relations, Culture

The 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Norwegian playwright and author Jon Fosse:

• Citation: "For his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable."
• Significance: Fosse is one of the most widely translated Norwegian authors. His works are performed extensively in European theatres.
• Oslo/Stockholm split: The Peace Prize goes to Oslo because of Norway's historical tradition and Alfred Nobel's will. The scientific and literature prizes are awarded by Swedish institutions in Stockholm.

Static linkage: International organisations, Nobel Prizes.

GS area: Environment, International Relations

As COP28 entered its final phase in Dubai, the outstanding issues in the Global Stocktake text were:

• Fossil fuel language: A core contest between "phase out" (favoured by the European Union, vulnerable island nations, and the United States) and "transition away" (favoured by India, China, and oil-producing nations). The two phrases have very different legal and political implications.
• Climate finance: The New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) to replace the $100 billion annual promise made in 2009. Developing nations argued the replacement must be in the hundreds of billions.
• Loss and Damage Fund adequacy: The $450 million committed at COP28's opening was seen as insufficient given the scale of need.
• India's stated position: Equity must be the organising principle. Historical emitters must take on differentiated obligations before asking developing economies to accelerate transitions.

Static linkage: Climate change, Paris Agreement, UNFCCC negotiations.

GS area: Polity

The UDHR's influence on India's Constitution (adopted January 1950) is direct and documented:

• Fundamental Rights: Part III of the Constitution mirrors many UDHR civil and political rights including equality before law (Article 14), prohibition of discrimination (Article 15), and freedom of speech (Article 19).
• Directive Principles: Part IV reflects UDHR's economic and social rights. Articles 38, 41, and 43 on social security, work, and living wages echo UDHR Articles 22-24.
• Common timeline: Both documents were drafted in the same years (1947-49). Many drafters, including B.R. Ambedkar, were aware of the parallel processes.

Static linkage: Indian Constitution, fundamental rights, directive principles.

GS area: Environment, Geography

The Banni Grassland in Gujarat's Rann of Kutch region drew attention in ecological analysis:

• Location: Near the Great Rann of Kutch in Gujarat.
• Area: About 2,618 square kilometres, described as Asia's largest tropical grassland.
• Governance: Notified as a reserve forest in 1955 and upgraded to national park status in 2008.
• Biodiversity: 192 plant species, 262 bird species. Home to the Indian Bison (gaur) and the Maldhari pastoral community which has historically grazed livestock there.
• Threat: Invasive shrubs including Prosopis juliflora are converting grassland to scrubland, reducing pasture available to both wildlife and the Maldhari community.

Static linkage: Biodiversity, Indian geography, ecology.

• IUCN Red List update at COP28: The 2023 IUCN Red List found that 25 per cent of all freshwater fish species face extinction risk. At least 17 per cent of assessed species are affected by climate change. Conservation successes noted: the scimitar-horned oryx and saiga antelope have recovered from near extinction.
• Operation Storm Makers II: An Interpol operation arrested 281 people across multiple countries for human trafficking and cyber fraud. The operation revealed victims being coerced into running cyber fraud operations from camps in Southeast Asia.