18th May 2022 CURRENT AFFAIRS
Deaths caused by pollution
(upsc GS 3 Environmental pollution and degradation) Context:
- According to a report published in The Lancet Planetary Health. Pollution caused nearly nine million deaths in 2019, or about one in six deaths worldwide( This number had effectively unchanged since the last such analysis in 2015 )
Magnitude of the problem:
- This report analysed using recent Global Burden of Disease Study 2019
- Nine million pollution-attributable deaths in 2019,in which air pollution (both household and ambient) remains responsible for the greatest number of deaths at 6.67 million worldwide. (74% of total deaths)
- Water pollution was responsible for 1.36 million premature
- Lead contributed 900,000 premature deaths, followed by toxic occupational hazards at 870,000 deaths.
- Deaths due to pollution have led to economic losses totalling $4.6 trillion in 2019, equating to 6.2% of global economic
- Magnitude of the problem is very high in low-income and middle income countries.
India :
- This report analysed using recent Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.
- This report said that noxious air killed 1.67 million Indians in 2019, accounting for 18% of all fatalities. Over ten times more than the country’s Covid-19 death toll so far.
- In India the biggest killer-pollutant is air, water pollution killed 0.5 million while occupational pollution related deaths were 16 million and lead exposure possibly killed 0.23 million Indians
- Pollution causing economic losses of nearly $36.8 billion
Bright side for India;
- The overall pollution death tally has dropped from an estimated 2.5 million in 2015 to 2.35 million in 2019.
- Indian ranking based on death rate is 16 with 169.5 deaths per lakh population.
Causes:
- Industrial pollution (such as ambient air pollution and chemical pollution)
- Extreme poverty (such as indoor air pollution and water pollution)
- Despite its enormous health, social and economic impacts, pollution prevention is largely overlooked in the international and national development agenda.
Report suggested some remedies
- Strong air quality standards needs to be implemented and away from all fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy.
- Increase funding for pollution control from governments, independent, and philanthropic donors Stronger government systems regulating industry and cars.
- Improved pollution monitoring, better reporting and data collection stronger government systems regulating industry and vehicles
- This report calls for an independent, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC)-style science/policy panel on pollution.
Role of public health engineering in waste water and solid waste management:
(upsc syllabus : conservation , environmental pollution and degradation)
Context:
- Globally, around 80% of wastewater flows back into the ecosystem without being treated or reused, according to the United Nations
Magnitude of the problem:
- In india about 70% of sewage is discharged untreated into India’s water bodies.
- According to world bank, in India 21% of diseases are caused by contaminated water.
- According to Startup India, one in five children die before their fifth birthday because of poor sanitation and hygiene conditions.
- Majority of water-related diseases are transmitted through consumption of contaminated water, vectors breeding in stagnated water, or lack of adequate quantity of good quality water for proper personal hygiene
How this specialised cadre will solve the problem:
- Due to population explosion and unplanned urbanisation leads to increasing demands for water consumption and preservation of both surface water bodies and groundwater resources
- India aims to supply 55 litres of water per person per day by 2024 under its Jal Jeevan Mission to install functional household tap connections.
- The clear development of nexus between wastewater and solid waste management and public health issues is needed.
- The specialised cadre of public health engineers, also known as sanitation engineers is best suited to provide the growing urban and rural water supply and to manage solid waste and wastewater
- Civil engineers do not have adequate skills to address public health problems. And public health professionals do not have adequate engineering skills
- In the absence of cost-effective, sustainable, disruptive water management solutions this cadre becomes pivotal.
- This cadre will helpful in identification of sustainable sources of water which have water available year-round, installation of online systems for monitoring the quantity and quality of supply, and collection and treatment of wastewater become increasingly important.
Conclusion:
- In Europe to manage a wastewater treatment plant, a candidate must specialise in wastewater engineering.
- India needed a public health engineering as a two-year structured master’s degree programme or through diploma
- Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) is considering initiating public health engineering as a separate discipline.
- Training our young minds towards creating sustainable water management systems would be the first step
Concerns over Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021
GS – III Environment & Ecology
PM visit to Lumbini
GS – II International Relations
GatiShakti Sanchar portal
GS – III Infrastructure
Concerns over Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021
Context: Recently, Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has expressed concern over the Biological
Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021
- The act has a distinction between a registered AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) practitioner and a company, and exempting the former from the Act.
- Mr. Ramesh argues that it is an artificial distinction since the registered AYUSH practitioner may well be having informal links with a collective [family or otherwise], which may or may not have a company structure.
- He also pointed that the distinction made in the law between cultivated biodiversity and forest-based biodiversity as it is not clear on what the basis for this distinction will be and whether it can be sustained in practice.
Other issues in the bill
- The term codified traditional knowledge has not been defined. A broad interpretation might exempt all local traditional knowledge from benefit sharing requirements.
- The Bill removes the direct role of local communities in determining benefit sharing provisions.
- The Bill decriminalizes offences under the Act and instead provides for a wide range of penalties. Further, the Bill empowers government officials to hold inquiries and determine penalties. It may be questioned whether it is appropriate to confer such discretion to government officials.
Highlights of the bill
- Under the bill users of codified traditional knowledge and AYUSH practitioners will be exempted from sharing benefits with local communities.
- The Bill removes research and bio-survey activities from the purview of benefit sharing requirements.
- Benefit sharing will be based on terms agreed between the user and the local management committee represented by the National Authority.
- The Bill decriminalizes all offences under the Act.
- National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) and State Biodiversity Boards (SBB)
PM visit to Lumbini
Context:
Recently, the Prime Minister has visited Lumbini (in Nepal) the birthplace of Lord Buddha, on the occasion of Buddha Jayanti.
- Key Highlights of his speech at the Buddha Jayanti event in Lumbini:
- He said that India and Nepal’s ever-strengthening friendship will benefit the entire humanity in the emerging global situation.
- Our ties with Nepal are unparalleled. The civilizational and people-to-people contacts between India and Nepal form the enduring edifice of our close relationship
- PM Modi and Nepalese PM Sher Bahadur Deuba laid foundation stone of the India International Centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage.
- The Centre will play a role in challenging the preponderance of the Chinese sponsorship and patronage of the Buddhist festivals and institutions in the area.
- He said he is looking forward to continue to expand India-Nepal cooperation in multiple areas, including in hydropower, development and connectivity.
About Lumbini
- Lumbini, in Buddhist site in the Rupandehi District of Lumbini Province in Nepal. It is the birthplace of Gautama Buddha
- Lumbini was made a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997
- Lumbini has a number of older temples, including the Mayadevi Temple, and various new temples, funded by Buddhist organisations from various countries, have been completed or are still under construction.
GatiShakti Sanchar portal
Context: In a bid to facilitate universal and equitable access to broadband services across India, especially in the rural areas, the Central government on Saturday (14 May) launched the “GatiShakti Sanchar” portal for centralised Right of Way (RoW) approvals.
GatiShakti Sanchar Portal:
- “GatiShakti Sanchar Portal” is a collaborative institutional mechanism between all stakeholders including Central and State/UT Government(s), Local bodies, and Service Providers to facilitate the Right of Way (RoW) Application Process through a single interface.
- This portal envisages bringing transparency, accountability and responsiveness to all stakeholders while processing the application.
- GatiShakti Sanchar Portal will enable applicants from Telecom Services Providers (TSPs), Infrastructure Providers (IPs), Internet Services Providers (ISPs) etc. to apply for RoW approvals for laying Optical Fiber Cables (OFC) and erecting Telecom infrastructures like Towers etc. to submit their applications to various agencies of State/UT Governments and local bodies.
- The GatiShakti Sanchar Portal will be integrated with Central ROW Portals of central Ministries/departments like M/o Defence; M/o Environment Forests and Climate Change; M/o Road Transport and Highways; M/o Railways; M/o Petroleum and Natural Gas; M/o Housing and Urban Affairs; Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways; M/o Civil Aviation; Department of posts.
According to the ministry, the portal will smoothen the RoW approval process, which will lead to:
- Fast laying of more Optical Fiber Cable and thus will accelerate fiberization
- Increased tower density which will enhance connectivity and improve the quality of various telecom services
- Increased fiberization of telecom towers, thus ensuring better Broadband speed, across the country
UPSC Civil Services Daily Current Affairs 18th May 2022
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