Topics
- National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill
- Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP)
- Space Hurricanes
- Philippines deploys aircraft
National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill
Context:Recently, the Lok Sabha has passed the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Bill
Key Provisions
The Bill defines ‘allied health professional’ as an associate, technician, or technologist trained to support the diagnosis and treatment of any illness, disease, injury, or impairment.
- Such a professional should have obtained a diploma or degree under this Bill.
- The duration of the degree /diploma should be at least 2,000 hours (over a period of two to four years).
A ‘healthcare professional’ includes a scientist, therapist, or any other professional who studies, advises, researches, supervises, or provides preventive, curative, rehabilitative, therapeutic, or promotional health services.
- Such a professional should have obtained a degree under this Bill.
- The duration of the degree should be at least 3,600 hours (over a period of three to six years).
Composition of Commission
The Commission will consist of:
- Chairperson,
- Vice-Chairperson,
- Five members (at the level of Joint Secretary) representing various Departments/ Ministries of the central government,
- One representative from the Directorate General of Health Services,
- Three Deputy Directors or Medical Superintendents appointed on a rotational basis from amongst medical institutions including the AIIMS, Delhi and AIIPMR, Mumbai, and
- 12 part-time members representing State Councils, among others
Significance
- It seeks to regulate and standardise the education and practice of allied and healthcare professionals in the country.
- It is aimed at fulfilling long-pending demands of the sector, and enhances employment opportunities for professionals.
- The group of allied professionals is large and the bill is trying to regulate this field, by providing dignity to their roles.
- It is expected to benefit an estimated 9 lakhs allied and healthcare-related professionals and thousands of other professionals joining the workforce annually.
Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP)
Context:There has been a strong demand for national project status for the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP).
- The Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project aims to harvest surplus water available during the rainy season in rivers in southern Rajasthan such as Chambal and its tributaries including Kunnu, Parvati, Kalisindh.
- Besides supplying drinking water in 13 districts, the mega project will also provide irrigation water to an additional 2 lakh hectares of land.
- It will also supply water to the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and take care of the flood and drought situation in the area.
- According to the state Water Resources Department, Rajasthan, the largest state of India with a geographical area of 342.52 lakh hectares which amount to 10.4 per cent of the entire country, holds only 1.16 per cent of India’s surface water and 1.72 per cent of groundwater.
- Among the state’s water bodies, only the Chambal river basin has surplus water. But, this water cannot be tapped directly because the area around the Kota barrage is designated as a crocodile sanctuary.
- Therefore, the ERCP aims to create a network of water channels that will cover 23.67 percent area of Rajasthan along with a 41.13 percent population of the state.
Space Hurricanes
Context:Scientists Confirm Existence of Space Hurricanes for The First Time In Earth’s Atmosphere
- A ‘space hurricane’ is a swirling mass of plasma. The space hurricane has been spotted in Earth’s ionosphere.
Features of space hurricane:
- The event was a whirling pattern not in the air, but in plasma, ionized gas that is found throughout the Solar System, including in Earth’s upper atmosphere.
- The hurricane was spinning in a counter-clockwise direction (like hurricanes do in the Northern Hemisphere), had multiple spiral arms.
- Like its more mundane counterparts, the space hurricane had a quiet center and widespread circulation.
- It also featured precipitation, but of energetic electrons rather than water droplets.
Difference and similarities to earth hurricanes
Difference
- Electrons instead of water: Unlike other hurricanes, however, the space hurricane rained electrons into the ionosphere. This had a stunning effect: a huge, cyclone-shaped aurora below the hurricane.
Similarity
- The space hurricane — which took place during a period of low geomagnetic activity — had many similar features with that of hurricanes of the Earth that form in Earth’s lower atmosphere.
- However, in many ways, this space hurricane resembles the hurricanes that occur in the Earth’s lower atmosphere.
- Tropical storms are associated with huge amounts of energy, and these space hurricanes must be created by unusually large and rapid transfer of solar wind energy and charged particles into the Earth’s upper atmosphere.
Philippines deploys aircraft
- The Philippines has started deploying its Air Force to carry out daily patrols over a flotilla of Chinese vessels that has sparked fresh tensions in the South China Sea.
- The latest dispute was triggered by what it described as a swarm of more than 200 Chinese fishing vessels that have refused to withdraw from waters off the Whitsun Reef, near the disputed Spratly Islands, in an area located within Manila‟s Exclusive Economic Zone.
- The stand-off follows a similar incident in 2019 triggered by Chinese fishing vessels near another disputed island in the Spratlys.
- As it did then, Manila has called on Beijing to acknowledge the 2016 arbitration case which recognised many of its claims.
- Philippines President mentioned the ruling in a meeting with the Chinese envoy in Manila this week.
- Beijing has rejected the arbitration, emphasising its sovereignty over the South China Sea