• On September 25, Karnataka Forest Minister Anand Singh announced in the Assembly that the state government would soon declassify 6.64 lakh hectares of the 9.94 lakh hectares of deemed forests in the state (nearly 67%) and hand it over to Revenue authorities.
• The move has been taken after a study of the actual extent of deemed forest areas by local committees headed by officials from the Revenue, Forest and Land Records Departments in every district.
• The issue of deemed forests is a contentious one in Karnataka, with legislators across party lines often alleging that large amounts of agriculture and non-forest land are “unscientifically” classified as such.

Deemed Forests

• The concept of deemed forests has not been clearly defined in any law including the Forest Conservation Act of 1980.
• The Supreme Court in the case of T N Godavarman Thirumalpad (1996) accepted a wide definition of forests under the Act. 
• It has been 23 years since the Supreme Court asked all states in the country to identify deemed forests, but their status in several states is still unclear.
• The SC, in a December 12, 1996 judgement, had broadened the definition of forest to include not just land classified as forest under forest or revenue departments, but also those that are forests according to the definition of a forest.
• It had then also asked states to form committees to identify forests, irrespective of the nature of land ownership or whether they are notified, recognised or classified in a time-bound manner.
• There are forests that are notified either with the forest department or revenue department. Then there are those areas that are like forests but are neither recorded, nor notified.
• The Supreme Court had ordered that the states identify and classify these as deemed forests.

• The Indian Army has recently dismissed reports that China had used ‘microwave weapons‘ in eastern Ladakh, where Indian and Chinese soldiers are locked in a border standoff for the last six months.

Microwave weapons

• They are electromagnetic weapons and are called so because they have a similar effect like an oven.
• The weapon works by heating the water molecules under the skin, in the same way as the kitchen appliance, to painful temperatures, forcing people out of the area.
• The weapon, also used for crowd control, can be used to target up to 0.6 miles away.
• According to The Daily Mail, China had first put on display its microwave weapon, called Poly WB-1, at an air show in 2014.
• Besides China, the United States has also developed microwave-style weapons, called the Active Denial System.
• It was apparently deployed to Afghanistan but was withdrawn without ever being used against human targets.
• The Pentagon has touted it as “the first non-lethal, directed-energy, counter-personnel system with an extended range greater than currently fielded non-lethal weapons.

• In a rare complication, some patients infected with Covid-19 have been found suffering from Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS).
• In India, such cases have been reported since August.
• A group of neurologists in Mumbai is now mapping these cases and their symptoms. So far, 24 cases have been added to the study.

Guillain Barre Syndrome

• It is a very rare autoimmune disorder.

• GBS is caused by bacteria or viral infection.
• In the past, patients of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome showed GBS symptoms, as did those infected with Zika, HIV, Herpes virus and Campylobacter jejuni.
• The immune system, in an attempt to kill the coronavirus, accidentally starts attacking the peripheral nervous system.
• The peripheral nervous system is a network of nerves that lead from the brain and spinal cord to different parts of the body.
• Attacking them can affect limb functions.
• The syndrome’s first symptoms are a tingling or itching sensation in the skin, followed by muscle weakness, pain and numbness.
• The symptoms may emerge first in feet and hands.
• A person then starts experiencing reflex loss and paralysis, which may be temporary, but can last for 6-12 months or longer.
• With Covid-19 a year old, it is still difficult to assess the nature of permanency GBS in such cases may present.

• Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar has recently sparked a controversy, when he called the incorporation of Belgaum (Belagavi), Karwar and Nipani areas of Karnataka into Maharashtra a “dream” of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray, as he paid tributes to the leader on his eighth death anniversary.
• Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa condemned the statement as an attempt to “incite fire”.
• He also states that the whole world knows that the Mahajan Commission report is final. 

Background

• The erstwhile Bombay Presidency, a multilingual province, included the present-day Karnataka districts of Vijayapura, Belagavi, Dharwad and Uttara-Kannada.
• In 1948, the Belgaum municipality requested that the district, having a predominantly Marathi-speaking population, be incorporated into the proposed Maharashtra state.
• However, the States Reorganisation Act of 1956, which divided states on linguistic and administrative lines, made Belgaum and 10 talukas of Bombay State a part of the then Mysore State (which was renamed Karnataka in 1973).

The Mahajan Commission report

• While demarcating borders, the Reorganisation of States Commission sought to include talukas with a Kannada-speaking population of more than 50 per cent in Mysore.
• Opponents of the region’s inclusion in Mysore argued, and continue to argue, that Marathi-speakers outnumbered Kannadigas who lived there in 1956.
• In September 1957, the Bombay government echoed their demand and lodged a protest with the Centre, leading to the formation of the Mahajan Commission under former Chief Justice Mehr Chand Mahajan in October 1966.
• The Commission, which submitted its report in August 1967, recommended that 264 villages be transferred to Maharashtra (which formed in 1960) and that Belgaum and 247 villages remain with Karnataka.
• Maharashtra rejected the report, calling it biased and illogical, and demanded another review.
• Karnataka welcomed the report, and has ever since continued to press for implementation, although this has not been formally done by the Centre.

• Union Minister of Education has recently launched the Lilavati Award-2020: AICTE's Innovative education program to empower women virtually.
• The objective of the award is to create awareness about issues like sanitation, hygiene, health, nutrition, literacy, employment, technology, credit, marketing, innovation, skill development, natural resources and rights among women.

AICTE Lilavati Award-2020

• All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has established the Lilavati Award.
• The award covers multidisciplinary areas such as women's health, self-defence, sanitation, literacy, entrepreneurship and legal awareness.
• The program will ensure the participation of women and enable them to hold higher positions in educational institutions.