Context:
50th anniversary of Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) commemorated.
Biological Weapons Convention (BWC):
- Officially called “The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction.”
- A landmark treaty banning an entire category of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
- Negotiated at the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland.
- Opened for signature in April 1972 and took effect on 26th March 1975.
- Key Provisions:
- Prohibits the development, production, transfer, acquisition, stockpiling, and use of biological and toxin weapons.
- Supplements the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which banned only the use of biological weapons.
- Biological and Toxin Weapons – These include microorganisms (e.g., viruses, bacteria, fungi) or toxins from living organisms, deliberately used to cause diseases in humans, animals, or plants.
- Examples – Anthrax, Botulinum toxin, and Plague.
- Potential Consequences – May lead to food shortages, environmental disasters, economic collapse, and widespread fear and public mistrust.
- Membership – Nearly universal, with 188 States Parties and 4 Signatory States (Egypt, Haiti, Somalia, and Syria).
- India is a member of the BWC.
Source: UN
Previous Year Question
India is an important member of the ‘International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor’. If this experiment succeeds, what is the immediate advantage for India?
[UPSC Civil Service Exam – 2016 Prelims]
(a) It can use thorium in place of uranium for power generation
(b) It can attain a global role in satellite navigation
(c) It can drastically improve the efficiency of its fission reactors in power generation
(d) It can build fusion reactors for power generation
Answer: (d)