Special Category Status, Pantanal Wetlands, Supreme Court Judgments Impacting Liberty of Accused Persons

Quantum Computing (QC)

• Computing with quantum systems was proposed by Richard Feynman in one of his lectures in 1982.
• Quantum computers use quantum bits, or qubits, instead of classical bits. 
• A qubit can take a 0 or 1 or a superposition of both.
• The “principle of superposition” is a fundamental property of the quantum scale. 
• Among Several paradigms and hardware implementations two common approaches are adiabatic quantum computation (AQC) and gate model QC.

• The United Nations has said 2025 will be designated the ‘International Year of Quantum Science and Technology’.
• The proclamation originated from a resolution led by Mexico in May 2023, gaining support from nearly 60 countries by November and adopted by the UNESCO General Conference. In May this year, Ghana submitted a draft resolution to the U.N. General Assembly, backed by over 70 countries, seeking an official proclamation
• Next year will be a century since the German physicist Werner Heisenberg published a famous paper laying the foundation stone of what would come to be called quantum mechanics.
• He was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics seven years later, roughly around the time he devised his famous uncertainty principle.
• According to the UN statement, the proclamation has also received the endorsements of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, the International Union of Crystallography, and the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology.
• While fully operational machines of this type don’t yet exist.
• The Government of India announced a ‘National Quantum Mission’ in April 2023 for Rs 6,000 crore, to be implemented from 2023 to 2031 by the Department of Science & Technology (DST).
• It will have four verticals: quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum sensing and metrology, and quantum materials and devices.

Heisenberg’s Uncertainty principle, 1927

It states that we cannot know both the position and speed of a particle, such as a photon or an electron, with perfect accuracy; the more we nail down the particle’s position, the less we know about its speed and vice versa.

Dig Deeper: What is LK99, and what is its role in implementing quantum computers?

Intent and Criteria of Special Category Status

• It was introduced in 1969 based on the recommendations of the Fifth Finance Commission.
• The intent was to help disadvantaged states regarding their geographic, social or economic status to improve their position on par with more developed Indian States.
• Criteria of having a hilly terrain and a sizable tribal population can entitle a State to be granted the special category status.

• Bihar Chief Minister has reiterated the State’s long-standing demand to be granted the special category status by the Centre. Notably, the Bihar Cabinet had passed a resolution late last year demanding special category status for the State.
• Benefits of Special Category status:
• A State would be able to claim more funds from the Centre than otherwise and can also enjoy various tax-related concessions.
• For example, a State with special category status would receive 90% of funds from the Centre when it comes to schemes sponsored by the Union government, as against other States which receive only around 60% to 80% of funds from the Centre.
• Initially, Jammu & Kashmir, Assam and Nagaland were granted the special category status to aid their economic development. Subsequently, eight other States including Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand were granted the special status.
• Thus, 11 out of 28 States, or more than a third of Indian States, already enjoy the special category status.
• Why is Bihar demanding the special category status?
• Bihar’s economic backwardness, Bihar’s per capita income of around ₹60,000 is among the lowest in the country and the State lags behind the national average in several human development indicators as well.
• Bihar has also noted that the State’s fiscal situation has been adversely affected by the bifurcation of the State that caused industries to move to Jharkhand, lack of sufficient water resources for irrigation, and frequent natural disasters.
• The most recent Bihar caste-based survey of 2022 indicates that nearly a third of the State’s people live under the poverty line.
• However, reluctance from the centre is due to financial stress.
• Greater devolution of taxes to the States from 32% of the total divisible pool to 42% based on the recommendation of the Fourteenth Finance Commission makes the demand for special category status redundant.
• The Centre may also fear that granting the special category status to certain States will encourage others to demand the same from the Centre.
• States with better political bargaining power with the Centre may manage to receive more funds either through a special status or by other means.
• Competitive populism of promising special category status to gain or stay in power can lead to a worsening of the Centre’s finances.
• In 2022-23, for instance, Bihar’s gross domestic product grew at 10.6% as against the national average of 7.2% while its per capita income level in real terms grew by 9.4% in the previous year.

Dig Deeper: Read the complete list of states with Special category status.

• Atomic clocks are the backbone of the Global Positioning System (GPS), crucial for navigating cities, responding to emergencies, and organizing military operations.
• Both atomic and optical atomic clocks are sophisticated yet bulky, power-hungry, fragile, and expensive, limiting their use to large research facilities.
• Strontium (Sr) and ytterbium ions are commonly used in Optimal Atomic clocks. Indian researchers are developing such clocks to enhance precision timekeeping in India.

Atomic Clocks

• Atomic clocks use atoms to keep time. A popular design employs caesium-133 (Cs-133) atoms, first used in 1967 to define the second. Cs-133 is highly stable and naturally occurring.
• Atomic clocks exploit the atom’s ability to jump between energy levels, with Cs-133 absorbing microwave radiation at 9,192,631,770 Hz to measure one second.
• The feedback mechanism maintains accuracy, with caesium atomic clocks losing or gaining a second every 1.4 million years.

• A study in Nature introduced a portable optical atomic clock for use onboard ships, trading some accuracy for size and robustness, but still outperforming other vessel-borne timekeeping options.
• Portable Optimal Atomic Clock:
• The study developed a portable optical atomic clock using molecular iodine as the frequency standard.
• Researchers miniaturized the clock’s components.

Principle of Atomic Clock

An atomic clock operates like a conventional clock but uses the precise frequency of atoms transitioning between energy states as its time base. When an atom is excited by an external energy source, it moves to a higher energy state and then returns to a lower state, emitting energy at a specific frequency characteristic of that atom, which is detected and used as an input to a counter, ensuring highly accurate timekeeping.

• Initial tests at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) showed these clocks outperformed traditional hydrogen and rubidium atomic clocks in accuracy and stability.

Dig Deeper: Which type of atomic clock is used in the NavIC system?

• Firefighters are battling wildfires in Brazil’s Pantanal, the world’s largest tropical wetland.
• Close to 32,000 hectares have already been destroyed by the fires in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul.
• At more than 42 million acres, the Pantanal is the largest tropical wetland. The Pantanal comprises about 3% of the entire world’s wetlands.

Wetlands

• These are places where the land is covered by water, either salt, fresh or somewhere in between—covering just over 6% of the Earth’s land surface.
• Sprinkled throughout every continent except Antarctica, they provide food, clean drinking water, and refuge for countless people and animals around the world.
• Despite their global significance, an estimated one-half of all wetlands on the planet have disappeared.

• It sprawls across three South American countries Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay—and supports millions of people there, as well as communities in the lower Rio de la Plata Basin.
• This massive wetland has the largest concentration of crocodiles in the world, with approximately 10 million caimans.
• Jaguars, the largest feline in America have one of the highest densities in Pantanal compared to anywhere in the world.
• The Pantanal is also home to the biggest parrot on the planet, the hyacinth macaw.
• Less than 5% of the Pantanal is protected. The areas that are protected are globally significant, with parts that fall under an agreement called Ramsar.
• Around 95% of the Pantanal is under private ownership, the majority of which is used for cattle grazing.

Dig Deeper: What is the Amazon Fund?

• In May 2024, the Supreme Court reiterated its earlier stand in the context of the liberty of individuals accused of criminal offences.
• Custody Not Necessary for Charge Sheet Filing:
• The Supreme Court ruled that custody of an accused is not necessary before filing the charge sheet in certain criminal cases.
• In Siddharth v. State of Uttar Pradesh and Another (2021), it was held that if the accused is cooperating and the investigation can be completed without arrest, the investigating officer (IO) need not present the accused in custody when filing the charge sheet.
• Section 170 of the CrPC does not mandate the IO to arrest every accused while filing the charge sheet. The court should not refuse to accept the charge sheet without the accused being present.
• This ruling aims to relieve investigating agencies and facilitate smoother court proceedings, especially in cases with many accused individuals.
• Need to Provide Grounds of Arrest in Writing:
• The Supreme Court emphasized that informing the accused of the grounds of arrest in writing is a fundamental right under Article 22 of the Constitution.
• In Pankaj Bansal v. Union of India and Others (2023), it was ruled that under the PMLA, 2002, the grounds of arrest must be provided in writing to the accused.
• In Prabir Purkayastha v. State (NCT of Delhi), the Court reiterated that this applies equally under the UAPA, 1967.
• Section 50(1) of the CrPC requires police officers to communicate the grounds of arrest and particulars of the offence to the accused, even for IPC offences.
• The arrest memo, containing details of the offence and grounds of arrest, should be provided to the accused to allow them to seek legal counsel and bail.
• The Supreme Court highlighted the need to amend the law to ensure the constitutional mandate is fulfilled, suggesting that a copy of the arrest memo should be provided to the accused.

Dig Deeper: Which provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 go against the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code?