World Malaria Report 2020: WHO

Why in News

Recently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has released the World Malaria Report (WMR) 2020.

• The report provides a comprehensive update on global and regional malaria data and trends including prevention, diagnosis, treatment, elimination and surveillance.
• It indicates that India has made considerable progress in reducing its malaria burden.

Key Points

• Global Analysis:
  
  • Malaria cases globally numbered about 229 million, an annual estimate that has remained virtually unchanged over the last four years.
    
    • In 2019, it claimed about 4,09,000 lives, compared to 4,11,000 in 2018.
  • The report noted that the 11 highest-burden countries viz. Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, India, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania, account for 70% of the global estimated case burden and 71% of global estimated deaths from malaria.
  • Countries in South-East Asia made particularly strong progress, with reductions in cases and deaths of 73% and 74%, respectively.
• Indian Analysis:
  
  • India is the only high endemic country which has reported a decline of 17.6% in 2019 as compared to 2018.
  • The Annual Parasite Incidence (API, the number of new infections per year per 1000 population) reduced by 18.4% in 2019 as compared to 2018.
    
    • India has sustained API less than one since the year 2012.
  • India has also contributed to the largest drop in cases region-wide, from approximately 20 million to about 6 million.
    
    • The percentage drop in the malaria cases was 71.8% and deaths were 73.9% between 2000 to 2019.
  • India achieved a reduction of 83.34% in malaria morbidity and 92% in malaria mortality between the year 2000 and 2019, thereby achieving Goal 6 of the Millennium Development Goals.
    
    • MDG 6 aimed to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, which have a direct and indirect impact on rural development, agricultural productivity and food and nutrition security.
    • The Sustainable Development Goals have replaced the MDGs.
  • States of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Meghalaya and Madhya Pradesh (high endemic states) disproportionately accounted for nearly 45.47% of malaria cases in 2019.
    
    • 63.64% of malaria deaths were also reported from these states.
  • The figures and trends between the last two decades clearly show the drastic decline in malaria, hence the malaria elimination target of 2030 looks achievable.
• Initiatives to Curb Malaria:
  
  • In India, malaria elimination efforts were initiated in 2015 and were intensified after the launch of the National Framework for Malaria Elimination (NFME) in 2016 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
    
    • NFME is in line with WHO’s Global Technical Strategy for Malaria, 2016-2030, which guides the WHO Global Malaria Programme (GMP), responsible for coordinating WHO's global efforts to control and eliminate malaria.
  • The National Strategic Plan for Malaria Elimination (2017-22) was launched in July 2017 which laid down strategies for the following five years.
    
    • It gives year wise elimination targets in various parts of the country depending upon the endemicity of malaria.
  • Implementation of High Burden to High Impact (HBHI) initiative was started in four states (West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh) in July 2019.
    
    • In 2018, the WHO and the RBM Partnership initiated the HBHI initiative in 11 high malaria burden countries, including India to end malaria.
    • It has continued to make impressive gains in India, with 18% reductions in cases and 20% reductions in death, over the last 2 years.
  • Due to the efforts made by the Government of India in the provision of microscopes, rapid diagnostics Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs) to high burden areas has led to a reduction in endemicity in these otherwise very high endemic states.
    
    • LLINs are nets treated in the factory with an insecticide incorporated into the net fabric which makes the insecticide last at least 20 washes in standard laboratory testing and three years of recommended use under field conditions.
    • Use of LLINs has been accepted by the community at large and has been one of the main contributors to the drastic malaria decline in the country.

Source: PIB

Gender Gap and Sensitisation in Judiciary

Why in News

Recently, the Attorney General (AG) K K Venugopal, in his written submission to the Supreme Court (SC), has emphasised the need for greater gender sensitisation among members of the judiciary.

• He also highlighted that the figure of female judges has been consistently low across the Higher Judiciary.

Key Points

• Background:
  
  • The SC had asked AG and others to recommend ways to improve gender sensitivity towards victims while laying down bail conditions for sex crime offenders.
  • The Bench had sought view on a plea about courts imposing bail conditions for sex crime offenders which end up further harassing, objectifying their victims.
    
    • The Madhya Pradesh (MP) High Court (HC) asked a man (accused in a case of attempting to outrage the modesty of a woman) to visit the home of the alleged victim and request her to tie a rakhi.
• Data on Gender Gap in Judiciary:
  
  • The SC only has 2 women judges, as against the 34 seats reserved for women judges and there has never been a female Chief Justice of India (CJI).
  • There are only 80 women judges out of the total sanctioned strength of 1,113 judges in the SC and the HCs.
    
    • Out of these 80 women judges, there are only two in the SC, and the other 78 are in various HCs, comprising only 7.2% of the total number of judges.
    • Of the 26 courts whose data was accessed, including the SC, the Punjab and Haryana HCs has the maximum strength of women judges (11 out of 85 judges) in the country, followed by the Madras HC (9 out of 75 judges). Both Delhi and Bombay HCs have 8 women judges.
    • The HCs of Manipur, Meghalaya, Patna, Tripura, Telangana, and Uttarakhand, do not have any women in the sitting judges.
  • Currently, no data is centrally maintained on the number of women in tribunals or lower courts.
  • In the senior designation of lawyers, there are only 17 women senior counsel designates in the SC as opposed to 403 men.
    
    • The Delhi HC has 8 women and 229 men designates. Similarly, in the Bombay HC, there are 6 women and 157 men designates.
• Importance of Women in Judiciary:
  
  • The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 5 and SDG 16 in particular), address the global responsibility of having gender equality and women’s representation in public institutions such as the judiciary.
  • Achieving equality for women judges is important not only because it is a right for women, but also because it is right for the achievement of a more just rule of law. Women judges strengthen the judiciary and help to gain the public's trust.
  • The entry of women judges is a positive step in the direction of judiciaries being perceived as being more transparent, inclusive, and representative of the people whose lives they affect.
  • Women judges enhance the legitimacy of courts, sending a powerful signal that they are open and accessible to those who seek recourse to justice.
  • Women judges bring those lived experiences to their judicial actions, experiences that tend toward a more comprehensive and empathetic perspective.
  • Adjudication is enhanced by the presence of women who bring to the fore considerations that would not have been taken into account in their absence and the scope of the discussion is hence enlarged, possibly preventing ill-considered or improper decisions.
  • By elucidating how laws and rulings can be based on gender stereotypes, or how they might have a different impact on women and men, a gender perspective enhances the fairness of adjudication, which ultimately benefits both men and women.
• Suggestions:
  
  • Courts should declare that such remarks (MP HC issue) are unacceptable which can potentially cause harm to the victim and to society at large.
  • Judicial orders should conform to certain judicial standards and necessary steps have to be taken to ensure that this does not happen in the future.
  • The SC must direct the collection of data to determine the number of women judges in the lower judiciary and tribunals and also to determine the year-wise number of senior designates by all HCs.
  • Greater representation of women should be ensured at all levels of the judiciary, including the SC and this initiative must come from the SC itself, considering that the power of appointment rests almost exclusively with the SC Collegium.
    
    • The judges of the SC are appointed by the President. The CJI is appointed by the President after consultation with such judges of the SC and HCs as (s)he deems necessary.
    • The other judges are appointed by the President after consultation with the CJI and such other judges of the SC and the HCs as (s)he deems necessary. The consultation with the CJI is obligatory in the case of appointment of a judge other than CJI.
  • The goal must be to achieve at least 50% representation of women in all leadership positions and there should be a mandatory training of all lawyers on gender sensitisation.
    
    • Judges, who might belong to the “old school” and are maybe “patriarchal” in outlook, should be sensitised to deal with cases of sexual violence so that they do not pass orders objectifying women in such cases.

Way Forward

• The wide prevalence of orders like the one from the MP HC and other similar instances makes it clear that there is a need for urgent intervention from the Courts. Improving the representation of women in the judiciary is of crucial importance and have to go a long way towards a more balanced and empathetic approach in cases involving sexual violence.
• Changing the long-established demographics of a court can make the institution more amenable to consider itself in a new light, and potentially lead to further modernisation and reform. As a court's composition becomes more diverse, its customary practices become less entrenched; consequently, the old methods, often based on unstated codes of behavior, or simply inertia, are no longer adequate.

Source: IE

Initiatives to Eliminate Manual Scavenging

Why in News

Recently, the government has announced two major initiatives for ending the hazardous practice of manual cleaning of septic tanks and sewer lines and making the mechanised cleaning must.

• The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment will amend the law for making machine cleaning mandatory, whereas the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has launched the Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge.

Key Points

• Amending the Law: Introduction of ‘The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (Amendment) Bill, 2020’ as a part of Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry’s National Action Plan.
  
  • The Plan aims to modernise existing sewage system and coverage of non-sewered areas; setting up of faecal sludge and septage management system for mechanised cleaning of septic tanks, transportation and treatment of faecal sludge; equipping the municipalities, and setting up of Sanitation Response Units with help lines.
  • The Bill makes following important changes:
    
    • Mechanised Cleaning: The Bill proposes to completely mechanise sewer cleaning and provide better protection at work and compensation in case of accidents.
    • Penalty: The Bill proposes to make the law banning manual scavenging more stringent by increasing the imprisonment term and the fine amount.
      
      • Currently, engaging any person for hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks by any person or agency is punishable with imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to Rs. 5 lakh or both.
    • Funds: The funds will be provided directly to the sanitation workers and not to the municipalities or contractors to purchase the machinery.
• Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge:
  
  • Launch: The challenge has been launched among 243 major cities on the World Toilet Day (19^th November).
  • Aim: To prevent hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks and promote their mechanized cleaning.
    
    • The Government launched this “challenge” for all states to make sewer-cleaning mechanised by April 2021 — if any human needs to enter a sewer line in case of unavoidable emergency, proper gear and oxygen tanks, etc., are to be provided.
  • Eligibility: The state capitals, urban local bodies and smart cities will be eligible to participate.
  • Prize: Cities will be awarded in three sub-categories – with a population of more than 10 lakhs, 3-10 lakhs and upto 3 lakhs, with a total prize money of Rs. 52 crores to be given to winning cities across all categories.

Manual Scavenging

• Definition: Manual scavenging is defined as “the removal of human excrement from public streets and dry latrines, cleaning septic tanks, gutters and sewers”.
• Concerns:
  
  • As per the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK), a total of 631 people have died in the country while cleaning sewers and septic tanks in the last 10 years.
    
    • 2019 saw the highest number of manual scavenging deaths in the past five years. 110 workers were killed while cleaning sewers and septic tanks.
    • This is a 61% increase as compared to 2018, which saw 68 cases of such similar deaths.
  • Despite the introduction of several mechanised systems for sewage cleaning, human intervention in the process still continues.
  • As per data collected in 2018, 29,923 people are engaged in manual scavenging in Uttar Pradesh, making it the highest in any State in India.
• Reasons for the Prevalence of Manual Scavenging:
  
  • Indifferent Attitude: A number of independent surveys have talked about the continued reluctance on the part of state governments to admit that the practice prevails under their watch.
  • Issue due to Outsourcing: Many times local bodies outsource sewer cleaning tasks to private contractors. However, many of them fly-by-night operators, do not maintain proper rolls of sanitation workers.
    
    • In case after case of workers being asphyxiated to death, these contractors have denied any association with the deceased.
  • Social Issue: The practice is driven by caste, class and income divides.
    
    • It is linked to India’s caste system where so-called lower castes are expected to perform this job.
    • The law has ended manual scavenging as a form of employment, however, the stigma and discrimination associated with it still linger on.
      
      • The stigma and discrimination associated with manual scavenging makes it difficult for liberated manual scavengers to secure alternative livelihoods.
• Related Initiatives:
  
  • The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 prohibits construction or maintenance of insanitary latrines, and employment of any person for manual scavenging or hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks.
    
    • It also provides measures for rehabilitation of persons identified as manual scavengers by a Municipality.
  • In 2014, a Supreme Court order made it mandatory for the government to identify all those who died in sewage work since 1993 and provide Rs. 10 lakh each as compensation to their families.
  • In 1993, the Government of India enacted the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act which prohibited the employment of manual scavengers for manually cleaning dry latrines and also the construction of dry toilets (that do not operate with a flush).
  • In 1989, the Prevention of Atrocities Act became an integrated guard for sanitation workers; more than 90% people employed as manual scavengers belonged to the Scheduled Caste. This became an important landmark to free manual scavengers from designated traditional occupations.
  • Article 21 of the Constitution guarantees ‘Right to Life’ and that also with dignity.

Way Forward

• Proper Identification: States need to accurately enumerate the workers engaged in cleaning toxic sludge.
• Empowering Local Administration: With Swachh Bharat Mission identified as a top priority area by the 15^th Finance Commission, and funds available for smart cities and urban development providing for a strong case to address the problem of manual scavenging.
• Social Sentisitation: To address the social sanction behind manual scavenging, it is required first to acknowledge and then understand how and why manual scavenging continues to be embedded in the caste system.
• Need For a Stringent Law: If a law creates a statutory obligation to provide sanitation services on the part of state agencies, it will create a situation in which the rights of these workers will not hang in the air.

Source:IE

Technical Education in Mother Tongue

Why in News

Recently, the Union Education Minister has set up a task force for preparing a roadmap on imparting technical education in the mother tongue of students.

Key Points

• The Task force:
  
  • Chairmanship: It will be set-up under the chairmanship of the secretary, higher education, Amit Khare.
  • Objective: To achieve the Prime Minister’s vision that students may pursue the professional courses such as medicine, engineering, law, etc in their mother tongue.
    
    • This is part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 which suggests teaching in regional language till class 8 and enabling teaching the curriculum in a language which a student is comfortable in.
  • Function: It will take into consideration the suggestions made by various stakeholders and will submit a report in a month.
• Reasons for imparting technical education in regional languages:
  
  • Enhances formative learning: It has been observed that the human mind is more receptive to communication in the language in which it is accustomed to thinking from childhood.
    
    • When explained in regional languages, especially mother tongue, grabbing the concepts or expression of the ideas by the students becomes fairly easy.
  • Practiced by Many Countries: Across the globe, classroom teaching is pursued in a variety of regional languages, be it France or Germany or Russia or a country like China, which has over 300 languages and dialects with 8 of them being the major ones.
  • Creates Inclusion: It will help in social inclusiveness, improving literacy rates, reduction in poverty and international cooperation. Language can become a catalyst for inclusive development. Removal of the existing linguistic barriers will help in realizing the goal of inclusive governance.
• Challenges: Providing technical education in regional languages requires teachers proficient in undertaking classes in the vernacular medium along with English, textbooks and reference materials in regional languages, besides technological assistance such as audio translation aids.
• Government Initiatives to Promote Regional Languages:
  
  • The recently announced National Education Policy 2020 promotes education in regional languages.
  • The Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology (CSTT) is providing publication grants towards the publications of University Level Books in regional languages.
    
    • It was established in 1961 to evolve technical terminology in all Indian Languages.
  • The National Translation Mission (NTM) is being implemented through the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysore under which the text books of various subjects prescribed in Universities and Colleges are being translated in all languages of the Eighth Schedule.
    
    • CIIL was established in 1969 under the administrative control of the Ministry of Education.
  • The Government of India is running a scheme known as “Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages” for conservation of threatened languages.
  • The University Grants Commission (UGC) also promotes regional languages in higher education courses in the country and supports nine Central Universities under the scheme “Establishment of Centre for Endangered Languages in Central Universities”.
  • Recently, an initiative Namath Basai by Kerala State Government has proved to be very beneficial in educating children from tribal areas by adopting vernacular languages as medium of instruction.
• Global Efforts:
  
  • The Yuelu Proclamation made by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at Changsha, China, in 2018 plays a central role in guiding the efforts of countries and regions around the world to protect linguistic resources and diversity.
  • The United Nations General Assembly had proclaimed 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous Languages (IYIL).
    
    • The IYIL 2019 aimed to preserve, support and promote indigenous languages at the national, regional and international levels.

Constitutional and Legal Provisions Safeguarding Regional Languages

• Article 29 (Protection of interests of minorities) gives all citizens right to conserve their language and prohibits discrimination on the basis of language.
• Article 120 (Language to be used in Parliament) provides for use of Hindi or English for transactions of Parliament but gives the right to members of Parliament to express themselves in their mother tongue.
• Part XVII of the Indian Constitution deals with the official languages in Articles 343 to 351.
  • Article 350A (Facilities for instruction in mother-tongue at primary stage) provides that it shall be the endeavour of every State and of every local authority within the State to provide adequate facilities for instruction in the mother-tongue at the primary stage of education to children belonging to linguistic minority groups.
  • Article 350B (Special Officer for linguistic minorities): The President should appoint a special officer for linguistic minorities to investigate all matters relating to the constitutional safeguards for linguistic minorities and to report to him. The President should place all such reports before the Parliament and send to the state government concerned.
  • Article 351 (Directive for development of the Hindi language) provides that it shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language.
• The Eighth Schedule recognises following 22 languages: Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bodo, Santhali, Maithili and Dogri.
• Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009 says that the medium of instruction shall, as far as practicable, be in a child’s mother tongue.

Way Forward

• Countries around the world have successfully substituted english with their mother tongues and have been able to produce world-class scientists, researchers, technicians and thinkers. The barrier of language is only as long as there is lack of proper encouragement to the generation of knowledge in the respective language. The government should encourage original scientific writing, publication of books in regional languages to help this transition.
• Also, studies around the world have shown that children are able to learn multiple languages if they are taught from an early age. One can actively promote regional languages without compromising knowledge of English language which can be taught as an extra subject. It is important to remember that English is one of many skills which one can equip the children with in order for them to fully participate in and experience the world.

Source:PIB

Tobacco Ban in Jharkhand

Why in News

The Jharkhand Government, in a recent order, has banned consumption of any form of tobacco products for all State Government employees.

Key Points

• The State Government has made it mandatory for all state government employees to submit an affidavit stating that they will abstain from consuming any form of tobacco.
• Tobacco products include any cigarettes, bidi, khaini, gutkha, pan masala, zarda or supari as well as hukka, e-hookah, e-cigarettes and tobacco products being used by any name - smoking and smokeless.
• The decision was taken at a meeting of the National Tobacco Control Programme's state chapter, with an aim to implement the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 (COTPA).
• The decision will be implemented from 1^st April, 2021.
• There has been no clarity over penal provision in case of violation of the order.
• The government is also taking measures for bringing behavioural change by using panchayat level institutions.
  
  • Zila Parishads, Panchayat Samitis and Gram Panchayats are asked to organise tobacco control discussions in every gram sabha meeting.
• The Police have been ordered to increase vigil at checkposts to stop entry of banned tobacco products.
• Previously in April 2020, Jharkhand had banned sale and consumption of tobacco products in public places, including online sales, in view of an increase in chances of Covid-19 infection.

Tobacco Control in India

• International Convention:
  
  • India ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) in 2004.
• Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003:
  
  • Replaced the Cigarettes Act of 1975 (largely limited to statutory warnings- ‘Cigarette Smoking is Injurious to Health’ to be displayed on cigarette packs and advertisements. It did not include non-cigarettes).
  • The 2003 Act also included cigars, bidis, cheroots, pipe tobacco, hookah, chewing tobacco, pan masala, and gutka.
• National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP), 2008:
  
  • Objective: To control tobacco consumption and minimize tobacco consumption related deaths.
  • Implementation: NTCP is implemented through a three-tier structure, i.e. (i) National Tobacco Control Cell (NTCC) at Central level (ii) State Tobacco Control Cell (STCC) at State level & (iii) District Tobacco Control Cell (DTCC) at District level.
• Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Amendment Rules, 2020:
  
  • These provide for new sets of specified health warnings with enhanced pictorial images to be printed on all tobacco products.
• mCessation Programme:
  
  • It is an initiative using mobile technology for tobacco cessation.
  • India launched mCessation using text messages in 2016 as part of the government’s Digital India initiative.
• Prevention and Control of Pollution Act of 1981:
  
  • Recognized smoking as an air pollutant.
• Cable Television Networks Amendment Act of 2000:
  
  • Prohibited the transmission of advertisements on tobacco and liquor in India.
• The Government of India has issued regulations under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 which lay down that tobacco or nicotine cannot be used as ingredients in food products.

Source:IE

Honey Adulteration

Why in News

As per an investigation carried out by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), honey sold by several major brands in India has been found adulterated with sugar syrup.

• CSE is a not-for-profit public interest research and advocacy organisation.

Key Points

• Findings:
  
  • Samples of 10 out of 13 brands, which were examined, failed to clear the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) test.
    
    • Honey samples from brands such as Dabur, Patanjali, Baidyanath, Zandu, Hitkari and Apis Himalaya, all failed the internationally accepted NMR test.
  • Indian companies in the business of honey are importing synthetic sugar syrups from China for adulterating with honey.
    
    • CSE tracked down Chinese trade portals which were advertising fructose syrup that can bypass tests to check adulteration.
    • Chinese companies informed CSE that even if 50-80% of the honey is adulterated with syrup, they would pass all stipulated tests as per Indian standards.
      
      • Tests employed as per Indian regulations check whether the honey is adulterated with C4 sugar (cane sugar) or C3 sugar (rice sugar).
  • Adulteration also destroyed the livelihoods of bee-keepers who found it unprofitable to make pure honey because sugar-syrup honey was often available at half the price.
• Impact:
  
  • Households consume more honey because of its intrinsic goodness (antimicrobial and antiinflammatory properties).
  • As per this investigation, most of the honey sold in the market is adulterated with sugar syrup. Therefore, instead of honey, people are eating more sugar, which will add to the risk of Covid-19 and increase the risk of Obesity.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Test

• It is a test that can ascertain the composition of a product at the molecular level.
• It is an analytical chemistry technique used in quality control and research for determining the content and purity of a sample as well as its molecular structure.
• The NMR test is not required by Indian law for honey that is being marketed locally but is needed for export.
• Recent NMR tests, while being able to detect additives, were not able to detect the quantity of adulteration.

Way Forward

• There is a need to strengthen enforcement in India through tightened standards, testing, and also traceability.
• The government should get samples tested using advanced technologies and make this information public so that consumers are aware and their health is not compromised.
• Stop import of syrups and honey from China and do not allow this to come through other countries (syrup laundering).
• Companies need to trace back the origins of the honey from the beekeeper to the hive.

Source:TH