30 August 2024

• Environment: the 8th cheetah died at Kuno National Park in August 2024, named Pavan, a South African male. The total death count since the 2022 reintroduction rose to 24, prompting calls for a formal mortality review.
• Economy: the government's Voluntary Vehicle Modernisation Programme (vehicle scrapping policy) was in its third year. Commercial vehicles above 15 years and personal vehicles above 20 years must be scrapped.
• Governance: CGWB data showed Jaisalmer district has the highest groundwater fluoride concentration in Rajasthan; permissible limit is 1.50 mg per litre and India has 20 crore people at risk of fluorosis.
• Space: the quasar J0529-4351 was confirmed as the brightest known object in the universe, 500 trillion times brighter than the Sun and located 12 billion light-years away.

GS area: Biodiversity, Environment

The 8th cheetah death in August 2024 at Kuno National Park (Madhya Pradesh) raised questions about the long-term viability of India's cheetah reintroduction programme:

• Name and origin: the cheetah was named Pavan, a South African male. The suspected cause was drowning in a flooded area of Kuno. Carcass found with no external injuries.
• Background: Project Cheetah began on 17 September 2022 when 8 Namibian cheetahs were brought to Kuno. A second batch of 12 South African cheetahs arrived in February 2023, bringing the total to 20 adults.
• Deaths since reintroduction: 24 cheetahs have died since 2022, which includes adults and cubs born at Kuno. The deaths include injuries from inter-cheetah fights, radio collar infections, kidney disease and now drowning.
• Radio collar criticism: experts raised concerns that narrow, tight-fitting radio collars caused fatal neck infections in several cheetahs. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) oversee the project.
• Comparison: India's last cheetahs were declared extinct in 1952. Cheetahs are the only large carnivore to go locally extinct in India. They were not habitat-lost but hunted to extinction. The African cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus jubatus) was brought as a substitute for the Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus), which is critically endangered in Iran.
• Scale challenge: the Kuno area is approximately 748 sq km. Cheetahs in the wild need up to 1,500 sq km of territory per individual. Overcrowding contributes to inter-animal conflict.

Static linkage: Project Cheetah, NTCA, biodiversity, large carnivore conservation.

GS area: Economy, Governance, Environment

The Voluntary Vehicle Modernisation Programme (VVMP) was introduced as India's vehicle scrapping policy:

• Policy basis: launched in 2021 under the Vehicle Scrapping Policy. Formal VVMP rules notified under the Motor Vehicles Act 1988.
• Age limits: commercial vehicles older than 15 years and personal vehicles older than 20 years must undergo a fitness test. Failure to pass means mandatory scrapping.
• Fitness test centres: the government has set up Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities (RVSFs) and Automated Testing Stations (ATS) for fitness certification. Owners need certificates to re-register old vehicles.
• Incentives for scrapping: owners who scrap a vehicle receive a Scrapping Certificate. This provides: a rebate of up to 25 per cent on motor vehicle tax for a new commercial vehicle; a 3 per cent concession on a new commercial vehicle; waiver of registration fees for the new vehicle.
• Government investment target: Rs 10,000 crore investment in the RVFS sector.
• Environmental benefit: old vehicles disproportionately contribute to air pollution. Replacing them with new BS-VI compliant vehicles is expected to cut particulate matter emissions significantly.
• For prelims: VVMP falls under Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The Motor Vehicles Act 1988 is the governing legislation.

Static linkage: environment and development, motor vehicle regulation, green economy.

GS area: Environment, Public Health, Governance

The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) published data on groundwater fluoride contamination in Rajasthan:

• Jaisalmer: highest fluoride concentration in Rajasthan. Some wells exceed 5 mg per litre against the BIS permissible limit of 1.50 mg per litre.
• Fluoride sources: natural fluoride leaches from fluorite-bearing rocks (fluorapatite, fluorspar) in arid geology. Rajasthan's geology, particularly in the Thar Desert, has high fluoride potential. Over-extraction of groundwater deepens wells into fluoride-rich strata.
• Fluorosis: the disease caused by excess fluoride intake. Dental fluorosis (mottling of teeth) occurs first. Skeletal fluorosis (bone damage, deformity) occurs at higher or prolonged exposure. Crippling skeletal fluorosis is irreversible.
• Vulnerable population: India has approximately 20 crore (200 million) people at risk of fluoride exposure above the limit. The most affected states include Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and West Bengal.
• Mitigation: Defluoridation using activated alumina, Nalgonda technique (alum plus lime treatment) or reverse osmosis. Safe water supply through Jal Jeevan Mission is the primary policy response.
• BIS standard: Bureau of Indian Standards (IS 10500) sets maximum permissible fluoride in drinking water at 1.50 mg/L, with a maximum allowable limit of 1.50 mg/L and a relaxation limit of 1.50 mg/L in absence of alternate source.

Static linkage: groundwater, public health, Jal Jeevan Mission, environmental chemistry.

• Quasar J0529-4351: confirmed as the brightest known object in the universe. Located approximately 12 billion light-years away. Powered by a supermassive black hole accreting (consuming) mass at a rate of one solar mass per day, releasing energy equivalent to 500 trillion Suns. First catalogued in 1980 but its extraordinary brightness was confirmed by a 2024 study using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope.
• Chandipura virus: continued to affect Gujarat and Rajasthan in August 2024. A total of 245 Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) cases were linked to the virus. Chandipura vesiculovirus is transmitted by sandflies (Phlebotomus spp.). It primarily affects children under 15. Named after the Chandipura village in Nagpur where it was first isolated in 1965. There is no specific antiviral treatment.
• Copper from recycled solar panels: as solar panels installed in the 2010s approach end-of-life, a second economy of recycled copper, silicon and silver is emerging. India's solar waste management rules under the E-waste (Management) Rules 2022 include solar cells and panels. Recycling solar waste is expected to be a significant industry by 2030.
• Marine heat waves: the Indian Ocean experienced prolonged marine heat waves in August 2024, with surface temperatures 1 to 2 degrees Celsius above average in the Arabian Sea. Marine heat waves bleach coral reefs, disrupt fisheries and intensify cyclones. They are tracked by INCOIS (Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services).