10 February 2024

• Budget Session ends: The 15th (and final) Session of the 17th Lok Sabha adjourned sine die on 10 February 2024. Total sittings of the 17th Lok Sabha: 274.
• Disaster data: The 2023 Climate and Catastrophe Insight report recorded 398 natural disasters globally with 380 billion US dollars in economic losses.
• Polity: Ladakh's demands for statehood and Sixth Schedule protection were debated at several public forums.
• Food safety: FSSAI proposed a "One Nation, One Commodity, One Regulator" vision to consolidate food certification.

GS area: Polity (Parliament, Legislative Process)

The Budget Session 2024 of Parliament adjourned on 10 February 2024. It was the final session of the 17th Lok Sabha before the general election. The session record:

• Total sittings of 17th Lok Sabha: 274 across five years. This is the fewest sittings for any full-term Lok Sabha in Indian parliamentary history.
• Bills passed in this session: Seven (including the Public Examinations Bill, Water Pollution Amendment Bill, and the Appropriation/Vote on Account Bill for the Interim Budget).
• Deputy Speaker vacancy: The 17th Lok Sabha completed its term without electing a Deputy Speaker, the first time this has happened. Article 93 mandates that the House shall choose two members as Speaker and Deputy Speaker.

The significance for prelims: Article 93 requires a Deputy Speaker. The convention of the opposition nominating the Deputy Speaker has been a contested point in recent sessions.

Static linkage: Polity (Parliament, Lok Sabha, Articles 93 and 94, legislative sittings).

GS area: Disaster Management, Environment

The global insurance firm Aon released its 2023 Climate and Catastrophe Insight Report. Key figures:

• Total natural disasters: 398 notable events in 2023.
• Economic losses: 380 billion US dollars globally.
• Insured losses: 118 billion US dollars (approximately 31 per cent of total losses). The remaining 69 per cent was uninsured, a figure known as the "protection gap."
• Asia-Pacific gap: The protection gap is widest in Asia-Pacific at approximately 91 per cent. Most losses in Asia are uninsured.
• Top events: Turkey-Syria earthquake (February 2023), Hurricane Otis in Mexico, and flooding in China and New Zealand were among the most costly.
• Weather-related share: 95 per cent of events causing over one billion dollars in damage were weather-related, reinforcing the climate-disaster link.
• Sendai Framework: International disaster risk reduction is coordinated under the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, which has four priority areas: understanding risk, strengthening governance, investing in resilience, and enhancing preparedness for effective response.

Static linkage: Disaster Management (international frameworks, risk financing, Sendai Framework).

GS area: Polity (Union Territories, Tribal Rights, Constitutional Provisions)

Ladakh's civil society and political groups continued to press for:

1. Full statehood: Restoration of legislative assembly status (Ladakh currently has no legislature as a UT without legislature).
2. Sixth Schedule: Extension of Sixth Schedule protections to Ladakh's tribal communities. The Sixth Schedule provides for autonomous district and regional councils in tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram with legislative and judicial powers.
3. Job reservations: Reservation of government jobs for domicile residents of Ladakh.

Constitutional context:

• Article 370 abrogation: Effective 5 August 2019, the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019 bifurcated J&K into two UTs: J&K (with legislature) and Ladakh (without legislature).
• Article 3: Parliament can alter the area, boundary, or name of a state or UT, and create new states or UTs. This is the mechanism through which Ladakh was created.
• Sixth Schedule (Article 244(2)): Currently applies to the Northeast. Tribal communities in Ladakh (including the Changpa, Brokpa, and other groups) are not covered by it.

Static linkage: Polity (Union Territories, Sixth Schedule, tribal rights, Article 370).

GS area: Environment (Marine Biodiversity, Conservation)

Olive Ridley sea turtles returned to nest on beaches at Sasihithlu and Tannerbavi near Mangaluru in Karnataka for the first time in approximately 40 years.

• Species profile: Smallest and most abundant of the sea turtles. Named for the olive-green colour of their carapace.
• Nesting behaviour: Female lays approximately 100 to 150 eggs per nest. Females often return to the same beach where they were born (natal beach fidelity).
• Arribada: Mass synchronised nesting events involving thousands of females, unique to Olive Ridley and Kemp's Ridley turtles. The word is Spanish for "arrival." Major arribada sites in India are at Gahirmatha, Devi River mouth, and Rushikulya in Odisha.
• IUCN status: Vulnerable.
• Legal protection: Listed in Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 (highest protection category). Listed under Appendix I of CITES.
• Threats: Fishing nets (bycatch), coastal development, artificial lighting, and beach erosion.

Static linkage: Environment (sea turtles, marine biodiversity, Odisha coast, WPA Schedule I).

GS area: Art and Culture (Festivals, Northeast India)

The revival of traditional buffalo fights and bulbul bird fights during Magh Bihu (the Assamese harvest festival) faced legal challenge from PETA and animal rights activists.

• Magh Bihu: Also called Bhogali Bihu. Celebrated in mid-January (when the sun transits Capricorn in the Assamese calendar). It marks the end of the winter harvest season. Celebrated with community feasts (bhelaghar), bonfires (meji), and traditional sports.
• Legal status: A 2014 Supreme Court ruling had banned bullock cart races and similar animal sports. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 prohibits animal fighting. Amendments in 2023 allowed state-permitted revival of traditional sports.
• PETA: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an international advocacy organisation.

Static linkage: Culture (Northeast festivals, Assam, animal rights law).

• FSSAI "One Nation, One Commodity, One Regulator": FSSAI proposed consolidating food product certification under a single authority, eliminating the current dual certification requirements (BIS standards and AGMARK) for certain categories. The Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 establishes FSSAI as the apex food safety regulator under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• Zero Hour context: The adjourning of the 17th Lok Sabha without a Deputy Speaker election highlighted the convention of Zero Hour as an institution of Indian parliamentary practice distinct from formal rules. Both conventions and written rules govern parliamentary functioning.