Endosulfan
Why in News: The Supreme Court has slammed the Kerala government for doing “virtually nothing” for endosulfan pesticide exposure victims.
What is Endosulfan?
• It is a widely-banned pesticide with hazardous effect.
• It’s a Persistent Organic Pollutant.
• It is primarily used as an insecticide in agriculture
• It is also used as a wood preservative.
Use:
• Sprayed on crops like cotton, cashew, fruits, tea, paddy, tobacco etc. for control of pests in agriculture such as whiteflies, aphids, beetles, worms etc.
HAZARDOUS EFFECTS:
• Autism
• Sensory Loss
• Bioaccumulation
• Delayed reproductive development
• Long-range contamination
• Bioaccumulation (substance does not leave body)
• Endocrine disruption (stunting of hormones)
• Neurotoxic
o Endosulfan blocks the inhibitory receptors of the Centra Nervous System
KASARGOD DISASTER
o From the mid-70s, Kerala villages used aerial spraying of endosulfan on cashew nut plantation. Locals reportedly experienced illnesses, palsies and deformities
Ban on Endosulfan:
• India was one of the biggest producers & consumers of endosulfan.
• After the toxicity of the pesticide came into limelight in 2001 in Kasargod District, Kerala banned it.
• In 2011, SC banned the production, distribution & use of endosulfan in India.
• Globally, the use of endosulfan is banned under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.
o
Stockholm Convention:
Convetntion on Bioaccumulants/Persistant organic pollutants
Signed in 2001 & came into force in 2004
Deals with banning the Pollutants known as Dirty Dozens:
• DDT
• Hexa Chloro Benzene
• Aldrine
• Dieldrin
• Endrin
• Poly Chlorinated Biphenyl
• MIREX
• Heptachlor
• Endosulfan (added into the list in 2011)
India’s efforts towards meeting the aims of the Stockholm Convention:
• Promotion of non-POP alternatives
• Insecticide Act, 1968 – Banning of use, manufacture and import of most of the listed POPs under Stockholm Convention into India Insecticide Act, 1968
• Toxicity labelling
Consider the following statements regarding Endosulfan:
1. Endosulfan is a Bioaccumulant
2. Supreme Court had banned its use and distribution
3. It’s banned under Paris agreement.
Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
A. 1 and 2 only
B. 1 only
C. 2 and 3 only
D. 1, 2 and 3
Chief of defense staff
The Chief of Defence Staff is the highest-ranking uniformed officer on active duty in the Indian military and chief military adviser to the Minister of Defence.
What is the role of the Chief of Defence Staff?
The Government’s decision in 2019 to create the post of a CDS, a long-pending demand to bring in tri-service synergy and integration, is the biggest top-level military reform since independence.
Rank of a four-star General with salary and perquisites equivalent to a Service Chief would be appointed as CDS
The CDS would be also the Principal Military Adviser to the Defence Minister on all tri-Services matters and Permanent Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CoSC).
In addition, the DMA was created as the fifth department in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) with the CDS functioning as its Secretary.
The broad mandate of the CDS includes bringing about jointness in “operations, logistics, transport, training, support services, communications, repairs and maintenance of the three Services, within three years of the first CDS assuming office.”
CDS will not exercise any military command, including over the three Service Chiefs.
The CDS will also evaluate plans “for ‘Out of Area Contingencies’, as well other contingencies such as Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR),”
Practice Questions:
Consider the following statements regarding Chief of defense staff:
1. The CDS would be also the Principal Military Adviser to the Defence Minister
2. CDS will not exercise any military command
Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
A. 1 only
B. 2 only
C. Both 1 and 2 only
D. None
Consider the following statements regarding Endosulfan:
1. Endosulfan is a Bioaccumulant
2. Supreme Court had banned its use and distribution
3. It’s banned under Paris agreement.
Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
A. 1 and 2 only
B. 1 only
C. 2 and 3 only
D. 1, 2 and 3