46 million girls went missing in India, says UNFPA report
Paper:
Mains: General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Why in News:
- The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has released its State of the World Population 2020 report.
- UNFPA stands for United Nations Fund for Population Activities. Its name was later changed to the United Nations Population Fund in 1987.
- It is a subsidiary organ of the UN General Assembly.
Key Details:
- The report examines the issue of missing women by studying sex ratio imbalances at birth as a result of gender-biased sex selection as well as excess female mortality due to deliberate neglect of girls because of a culture of son preference.
- Sex ratio measures the number of females born for every 1,000 males.
- Excess female mortality is the difference between observed and expected mortality of the girl child or avoidable death of girls during childhood. It is calculated as a difference between observed and expected mortality rates for girls below age 5.
Key findings:
- The figure shows that the number of missing women has more than doubled over the past 50 years, who were at 61 million in 1970.
- With the advent of technology and increased access to ultrasound imaging, the number of girls missing due to female foeticide has exceeded those that were missing because of postnatal sex selection.
- Gender-biased sex selection tends to be higher among wealthy families but percolates down to lower-income families over time, as sex selection technologies become more accessible and affordable.
- According to estimates averaged over a five-year period (2013-17), annually, there were 1.2 million missing female births, at a global level.
- These skewed numbers translate into long-term shifts in the proportions of women and men in the population of some countries, the report points out.
- In many countries, this results in a “marriage squeeze” as prospective grooms far outnumber prospective brides, which further results in human trafficking for marriage as well as child marriages.
- Globally, roughly one in five (21%) of women are subjected to child marriage.
- The report said that the drivers of child marriage are poverty, insecurity and limited access to quality education and work opportunities. These factors mean that child marriage is often seen as the best option for girls, or as a means to reduce the economic burden on the family.
- At least 19 harmful practices, ranging from breast ironing to virginity testing, are considered human rights violations, according to the UNFPA report, which focuses on the three most prevalent ones: female genital mutilation, child marriage, and extreme bias against daughters in favor of sons.
Key findings with respect to India:
- One in three girls missing globally due to sex selection, both pre- and post-natal, is from India — 46 million out of the total 142 million.
- The report cites a 2014 study to state that India has the highest rate of excess female deaths at 13.5 per 1,000 female births or one in nine deaths of females below the age of 5 due to postnatal sex selection.
- The same study shows that in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, excess female mortality of girls below 5 years of age was under 3%.
- Also, as per the 2011 Census, the latest to take place in the country, the sex ratio for all Indians was 940 females to 1,000 males.
- The State of World Population Report added that 32% of Indian women who had been married before the age of 18 had experienced physical abuse from their husbands, compared to 17% for those who married as adults.
- This is based on a survey of more than 8,000 women in five states where child marriage is most prevalent – Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
- However, there is a silver lining. According to the report, advances in India have contributed to a 50% decline in child marriages in South Asia.
Impact of COVID-19:
- The major concern is that, while progress has been made in ending some harmful practices worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to reverse gains.
- A recent analysis revealed that if services and programmed remain shuttered for six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an additional 13 million girls may be forced into marriage and 2 million more girls may be subjected to female genital mutilation between now and 2030.
PM extends free food grains scheme till November
Paper:
Mains: General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Why in News:
The Prime Minister has announced that the free grain distribution scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) will be extended by five months till the end of November 2020, with an additional estimated outlay of ₹90,000 crore.
Key Details:
- Under this scheme, for the next five months, 5 kg of free food grains (rice or wheat) to each member of a family, and 1 kg of pulses (china) to each family per month, will be provided free of cost.
- Prime Minister also underlined that the country is moving towards the institution of ‘one nation, one ration card’, which will be of immense benefit to the poor who travel to other states in search of work.
Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY):
- PMGKAY was announced as part of the first relief package during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The scheme was announced for a three-month period ending June 30, 2020. The scheme has now been extended till November 2020.
- The scheme covers 80 crore ration card holders (2/3rdof India’s population).
Sharp fall in reporting of non-COVID diseases
Paper:
Mains: General Studies-III: Technology, Economic Development, Bio diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management
Why in News:
- The ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic has led to India’s disease surveillance system recording unusually fewer instances of diseases other than COVID-19, according to information on weekly outbreaks available on the website of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), a Health Ministry body.
- The IDSP issues weekly reports on disease outbreaks across the country based on its surveillance network that spans at least 600 districts
Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP):
- It is a disease surveillance scheme under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in India, assisted by the World Bank.
- It is a unit under the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
- A large amount of data on disease reports are collected in order to be able to identify the outbreak of a disease, identify its causes and take corresponding preventive and responsive measures.
- An early warning system has been put into place in order to take timely preventive steps.
Objectives of IDSP:
- To strengthen/maintain a decentralized laboratory based IT enabled disease surveillance system for epidemic-prone diseases.
- To monitor disease trends.
- To detect and respond to outbreaks in the early rising phase through trained Rapid Response Teams (RRTs).
Key Details:
- The IDSP issues weekly reports on disease outbreaks across the country based on its surveillance network that spans at least 600 districts.
- In the week of March 16-22, the most updated report that is available, there were only six outbreaks/disease alerts reported.
- The six alerts in Week 12 of the year included a case of Crimean-Congo Haemorraghic Fever from Gujarat, three cases of chickenpox from Bihar, and a case each of dengue and food poisoning from Karnataka and West Bengal respectively.
- An alert is when a sizeable number of cases from a region are reported.
- In the same week in 2019, there were 17 alerts; in 2018, there were 28, and in 2017, there were 45.
Reasons for fall in reporting on non-COVID diseases:
- Officials said the under-reporting was due to the lockdown and the behavioural change that actually depressed instances of disease spread.
- They also denied the possibility that fewer outbreaks were reported because COVID-19 was prioritised over all else and monitors ignored other diseases.
- Distancing and lack of contact may have seen a decline in contagious diseases as well as say, waterborne infectious diseases.
Despite opposition, China passes Hong Kong security law
Paper:
Mains: General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Why in News:
Hong Kong media are reporting that China has approved a contentious law that would allow authorities to crack down on subversive and secessionist activity in Hong Kong, sparking fears that it would be used to curb opposition voices in the semi-autonomous territory.
Key Details:
- The legislation sets the stage for the most radical changes to Hong Kong’s (former British colony) way of life since it returned to Chinese rule 23 years ago.
- The law comes in response to last year’s often-violent pro-democracy protests in the city and aims to tackle subversion, terrorism, separatism and collusion with foreign forces.
- Details of the law are yet to be released.
Global reaction:
- Britain, the EU, Japan, Taiwan and others have also criticised the law. However, China has hit back at the outcry, denouncing interference in its internal affairs.
- The legislation pushes Beijing further along a collision course with the U.S., Britain and other Western governments, which have said it erodes the high degree of autonomy the city was granted at its July 1, 1997 handover.
- The U.S., already in dispute with China over trade, the South China Sea and the coronavirus, began eliminating Hong Kong’s special status under U.S. law, halting defence exports and restricting technology access.
Gas leak in Vizag pharma plant kills two
Paper:
Mains: General Studies-III: Technology, Economic Development, Bio diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management
Why in News:
A team constituted by the govt has been formed to investigate the mishap. A gas leak at Sainor Life Sciences Pvt Ltd, Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City, Parawada, Visakhapatnam has claimed two lives and injured four people.
Details:
- Hydrogen sulphide vapours leaked from the reactor of a pharmaceutical company’s plant.
- According to the Commissioner of Police, the leak has been brought under control.
- This is the second incident in the Sainor Life Sciences plant since it began operations at JNPC.
- In September 2015, two workers were charred to death and five others injured in a reactor blast.
- There have been about 40 industrial accidents in Visakhapatnam district, over 20 in pharma and chemical units alone, since 1997. About 130 lives have been lost and hundreds injured.
Hydrogen Sulfide:
- Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a colourless chalcogen hydride gas with a characteristic foul odour.
- It is very poisonous, corrosive, and flammable.
- The gas can irritate the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs.
- Too much H2S can halt the breathing centre in the brain, which can cause death.
- It dissolves in water and oil, and it may be released when these liquids are heated, depressurized, or agitated. Because it is heavier than air, it may settle in low spots.
- It occurs in volcanic gases, natural gas, and in some sources of well water.
Uses:
- Hydrogen sulfide is used primarily to produce sulfuric acid and sulfur.
- It is also used to create a variety of inorganic sulfides used to create pesticides, leather, dyes, and pharmaceuticals.
- Hydrogen sulfide is used to produce heavy water for nuclear power plants.
World Bank okays funds for Namami Gange
Paper:
Mains: General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations.
Why in News:
The World Bank has approved a five-year loan to the Namami Gange project worth ₹3,000 crore ($400 million) to develop and improve infrastructure projects to abate pollution in the river basin.
Details:
- The Second National Ganga River Basin Project (SNGRBP), approved by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors, will support the government’s Namami Gange programme and its long-term vision for controlling pollution in the river and restoring its water quality.
- The World Bank has been supporting the government’s efforts since 2011 through the ongoing National Ganga River Basin Project, which helped set up the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) as the nodal agency to manage the river, and financed sewage treatment infrastructure in several riverside towns and cities.
- NMCG has already received ₹4,535 crore ($600 million) from the World Bank until December 2021 as part of the first phase of the National Ganga River Basin Project.
- So far, 313 projects worth ₹25,000 crore have been sanctioned under the mission.
Projects under the second phase:
- The Project will help NMCG develop state-of-the-art tools to help manage the river basin more effectively.
- Spillover projects from the first phase of the mission as well as cleaning projects in tributaries such as the Yamuna and Kali.
- In the second phase, the loan would fund $150 million for three new ‘Hybrid Annuity Projects’ in Agra, Meerut and Saharanpur for the tributaries of the Ganga.
- Other heads of distribution would include ‘Institutional Development’; ‘Improving Investments Resilience to COVID-19 Like Emergency Situations’; Performance-Based Incentive for Urban Local Bodies and Programme Communication and Management.
External debt rises $15.4 billion to $558.5 billion in March
Paper:
Mains: General Studies-III: Technology, Economic Development, Bio diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management
Why in News:
According to RBI data, India’s external debt stood at $558.5 billion in March 2020, an increase of $15.4 billion compared with the year-ago period.
Key Details:
- Commercial borrowings remained the largest component of the external debt, with a share of 39.4%, followed by non-resident deposits at 23.4% and short-term trade credit at 18.2%.
- The data showed valuation gains due to the appreciation of the U.S. dollar against the Indian rupee and other major currencies were at $16.6 billion.
- Excluding the valuation effect, the increase in external debt would have been $32 billion instead of $15.4 billion.
- At the end of March, long-term debt, with an original maturity of above one year, saw a rise of $17 billion over the level recorded in March 2019.
- S. dollar-denominated debt continued to be the largest component of India’s external debt, with a share of 53.7% at end-March 2020, followed by the Indian rupee (31.9%), yen (5.6%), SDR (4.5%) and the euro (3.5%).
- The RBI also said debt service (principal repayments plus interest payments) increased marginally to 6.5% of current receipts at the end of March compared to 6.4% in the same period a year ago. This reflects higher interest payments on commercial borrowings and lower current receipts.