Prelims Focus – 4th June 2024

KAZA Summit

In News: The KAZA 2024 Heads of State Summit ended in the Zambian resort town of Livingstone on May 31, with leaders of the five member countries agreeing to argue their case for lifting of the ban on ivory trade at the 20th meeting of the Conference of Parties (CoP20) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) due next year in Geneva, Switzerland.

• • The KAZA Summit is a significant event in the conservation of the Kavango-Zambezi Trans-Frontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA), which spans across five southern African nations. 
  • The summit aims to assess progress, review implementation, and seek renewed commitment for regional cooperation and development.

• Key Highlights:
• Progress Assessment: Evaluating progress since the establishment of KAZA TFCA.
• Elephant Management: Managing the largest elephant population in the world.
• Climate Change: Addressing the impact of climate change on the region.
• Ministerial and Presidential Meetings: Reaffirming commitment to the KAZA TFCA initiative.
• Theme and Issues: Leveraging natural capital and cultural heritage resources for inclusive socio-economic development.
• Significance: The KAZA Summit is crucial for the conservation of KAZA TFCA, emphasizing regional cooperation, sustainable conservation practices, and community-based initiatives to address regional challenges.

Postal Ballots

In News: The opposition recently urged the Election Commission to prioritize the counting of postal ballots before finalizing the counting of EVMs, citing concerns about a guideline change made in 2019.

• • Postal ballots are a crucial aspect of the electoral process, allowing eligible voters to cast their votes remotely. This system is beneficial for those who cannot physically attend polling stations due to various reasons.

• Types and Procedure

• • Service Voters: Postal ballots are issued to service voters, including those on election duty.
  • Special Voters: Postal ballots are also available for special voters, such as those who are ill or disabled.
  • Overseas Voters: Some countries offer postal ballots for voters living abroad.
• The procedure involves applying for a postal ballot, receiving the ballot papers, marking and returning them by post or in person, and verifying the returned ballots.
• Significance and Challenges:Postal ballots ensure inclusivity and increase voter turnout, particularly among groups that face barriers in accessing polling stations. However, they pose a risk of fraud, which is mitigated through strict verification procedures. Ensuring timely and secure delivery and return of ballots is crucial to maintain the integrity of the process.

Living will

In News: Justice M S Sonak, who serves on the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court, became the first person in Goa to register a “living will”.

• A ‘living will’ is a criminal record prepared in advance, detailing your preferences for hospital therapy or for the termination of clinical help in situations in which you are not capable of making those choices for yourself.
• Observations of Court : The Supreme Court ruled in 2018, that during precise conditions, a person has the right to decide against artificial existence-help by way of writing a living will.
  • It upheld the fundamental right to die peacefully and with dignity. 
  • It had allowed passive euthanasia while recognising the living wills of terminally-ill patients who could go into a permanent vegetative state and issued guidelines regulating the procedure.
• Guidelines: According to the changed hints, to make a residing will, one ought to be of legal age and sound mind.
  • The person must be privy to the conditions wherein curative remedies and existence help systems can be halted. 
  • The selection to put together a living will should be taken without any outside compulsion.
  • The signing of the desire ought to be witnessed via two humans and should in addition be attested by a gazetted officer or a notary. A copy should be handed over to the doctor and an assigned person (a close relative or buddy). Copies of the residing will ought to additionally be despatched to the secretary of the local self-authorities and the district magistrate.

Stromatolites

In News: In a study, an international team reported the discovery of living shallow-marine stromatolites on Sheybarah Island in the Red Sea, Saudi Arabia.

• Stromatolites are layered sedimentary formations (microbialite) that are created especially through photosynthetic microorganisms together with cyanobacteria, sulfate-lowering bacteria, and Pseudomonadota (previously proteobacteria).
• Characteristics: The microbes are lively on the surface layer of the Stromatolites, even as the underlying construct-up is a lithified remnant of former microbial floor groups that would be interpreted as a trace-fossil.
• Significance: Stromatolites are in part responsible for the Great Oxygenation Event, which notably modified the composition of our ecosystem by way of introducing oxygen.
  • Hamelin Pool is home to the most massive residing Stromatolite gadget inside the world.

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