DNA 30 July

NIA unearths new Kashmir terror funding channels

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is focussing on a hawala racket relating to the annual Haj pilgrimage and trade fraud along the Line of Control (LoC) as two funding channels being used by separatists and terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir

As part of its probe, which recently led to the arrest of seven Kashmiri separatists, the NIA is examining what it regards as a ‘deep conspiracy’ to ‘keep the Valley burning’, and not just individual acts of terror.

According to the NIA, some travel agents who send Indians on the Haj pilgrimage are hand in glove with associates of separatists based in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. 

A part of the money collected from pilgrims is diverted for terror and separatist activities, while the cost of accommodation and food are borne by these associates 

Rare birds return to safer, better managed Seshachalam

Black-hooded Oriole (Oriolus xanthornus which belongs to the corvidae family), a common resident bird of Seshachalam forest in the Eastern Ghats, went missing over three years ago. But a few of them were captured in a bunch

Besides India, the Blackhooded Oriole is seen in Srilanka and Indonesia. 

The Oriole, along with other species such as Golden Oriole, Black-naped Monarch and Indian Nightjar, had gone away from the region about three years ago due to increased red sanders felling and smuggling, and hostile weather conditions, 

“Many avian species disappeared a few years ago due to increased human activity, smuggling and fast changing weather conditions in the reserve forest. 

But, of late, we have seen the birds coming back due to favourable weather and ecological conditions. 

To our surprise, we see a bunch of Brahminy kites (Haliastur indus, called Tella Garuda Pakshi in Telugu) in the Kalyani Dam area. This species is specific to the Western Ghats but has been sighted here, perhaps due to the improving habitat.

On the scent of dead big cats 

NTCA data show 46% of the tiger deaths so far this year took place outside the reserves

Despite the success of tiger conservation in the country over the past decade, protection of the big cat remains a concern, data of tiger deaths and seizure of body parts show

Till July 29, International Tiger Day, in 2017, 62 tigers died of natural or unnatural causes and 14 cases of seizure of body parts had been reported from across the country, show the official database of the National Tiger Conservation Authority

 46%, of the deaths occurred outside tiger reserves. The remaining 33 deaths are inside the reserves. In 2016, of the 100 deaths, 37 occurred outside the reserves.

  An increase in the deaths recorded outside the reserves poses a question on the tiger conservation

Since more tiger deaths in 2017 occured outside the Tiger Reserves, there was a need for “intensifying the protection mechanism outside tiger reserves

When the population increased, chances of a spill-over effect were likely. Other than poaching for gains, tigers were killed in retaliation for attack on humans.

“The real concern is whether these deaths are due to poaching and if they are being killed inside protected zones where the breeding is taking place

 But if the target killings exceed natural deaths, it is a cause of concern 

A two-in-one solution

Hepatitis C, a disease that closely mimics the deadly HIV infection, has been ignored for long, say medical experts. The chronic liver infection caused by the blood-borne hepatitis C virus (HCV) kills nearly 96,000 people in India annually. This, despite the fact that the availability of a range of new drugs has drastically improved its cure rate to over 95%. 

Solution :Testing for two

Experts also point to the threat of HCV co-infection with HIV, given that both diseases have same routes of transmission.

The need of the hour is to integrate HCV testing and treatment as a component in the already existing national programme for HIV

Instead of designing a new programme that may take years, tweaking an existing programme would be simpler and faster

Just like HIV, that now has a ‘test and treat’ policy as a part of the Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) guidelines, a revised version could add a similar approach for HCV.

Modes of Transmission of HCV:

Like HIV, HCV can be transmitted through injectable drug use through the sharing of needles, reuse or inadequate sterilisation of medical equipment such as syringes and needles, and transfusion of unscreened blood and blood products. 

Though very uncommon, it can also be transmitted sexually and can be passed from an infected mother to her baby.

Co-infection cases 

Approximately 12 million people in India are chronically infected with hepatitis C. 

Globally, 2.3 million people living HIV are co-infected with HCV of which nearly 1.3 million are injectable drug users. While India lacks data on co-infections, rough estimates state that 60,000 people with HIV also have HCV

Challenge :The disease often presents no symptoms and hence is diagnosed very late.

India’s first ever U.S. crude purchase to arrive in Sept. 

• India’s first ever purchase of crude oil from the U.S. will be delivered in September,the company’s deal with the U.S. resulted in cheaper oil for India than even Basra Light because the U.S. could sell at highly competitive rates, and the company transporting the shipment — PetroChina — had provided ‘very favourable’ terms of trade. 

• Why U.S. Oil ?

          [I]High-sulfur grade:IOC reportedly bought 1.6 million barrels of high-sulfur grade U.S. Mars             crude oil and 400,000 barrels of Western Canadian Select.

          [II]This deal has PetroChina as the trader, which will transport the oil to India and the price of             transport is also very low

          [III]The deal with the U.S., signed earlier this month, comes at a time when India’s oil imports           from Iran have fallen to their lowest levels in more than a year due to tensions between the two           countries over the awarding of the Iranian Farzab B gas field

          [IV] Iran has also cut short the credit period it offers Indian companies for oil they buy, from               90 days to 60 days

• Bharat Petroleum Corporation also announced in July that it had become the second Indian company to buy oil from the U.S.