In News:

• India has ranked 132 out of 191 in the recently released UNDP's Human Development Index (HDI) 2021 which is the second dip in its score over two consecutive years for the first time in three decades.

Key Findings from the Report

India Specific

• Lower than its rating of 0.645 in the 2020 report, India's most recent HDI score of 633 places the nation in the medium human development category.
• According to the research, the decline in India's life expectancy from 69.7 years to 67.2 years over the survey period is what caused the HDI to dip from 0.645 in 2019 to 0.633 in 2021.

• India's projected years of schooling currently stand at 9, down from 12.2 in the 2020 report, however, the mean years of schooling have increased to 6.7 from 6.5.
• Despite maintaining its 132nd place in the Gender Development Index, India, the average female life expectancy fell from 71 years in the 2020 report to 68.8 years in the 2021 report.
• In a similar era, the mean number of years that females spent in school dropped from 12.6 to 11.9 years.
• India had a headcount ratio of 27.9% and a multidimensional poverty rate of 8.8%, giving it a score of 0.123 on the Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index (MPI).
• The report revealed that India has helped an astounding 271 million people escape multidimensional poverty during the past ten years.
• Gross National Income:The gross national income per capita stood at USD 6,590.
• Gender Inequality Index:India has been ranked 122 on the Gender Inequality Index.

Global Scenario

• Sri Lanka (ranked 73rd), China (ranked 79th), Bangladesh (ranked 129th), and Bhutan (ranked 127th) are among India's neighbours who are ranked higher than it, while Pakistan (161st), Nepal (143rd), and Myanmar (149th) are ranked lower.
• According to the research, the HDI score of over 90% of the countries decreased in 2020 or 2021.
• A significant factor in the recent dip in the Human Development Index is a decrease in life expectancy over the world, which went from 8 years in 2019 to 71.4 years in 2021.

Other Insights from the Report

• Lack of Preparedness for Climate Change: It claimed that the Anthropocene's recent planetary-scale changes had left mankind unprepared for a future with climate crises like fires and storms as well as other alterations.
• Decrease in Insect Population: Without a large number of insect pollinators, people confront the impossible problem of producing large quantities of food and other agricultural items.
  • Because of their diversity, ecological significance, and impact on agriculture, human health, and natural resources, insects are significant.
  • All terrestrial ecosystems are biologically supported by them, and they also cycle nutrients, pollinate plants, disseminate seeds, maintain soil structure and fertility, regulate the populations of other species, and provide a significant source of food for other taxa.
• Plastic Pollution: Plastic is now present in all areas of the world, including protected forests, far-off mountaintops, country-sized waste patches in the ocean, and people's lungs and blood.

Content Source Link:

•  https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/variety/india-ranks-132-out-of-191-in-human-development-index/article65866022.ece,
• https://www.fortuneindia.com/macro/india-slips-to-132-on-undps-human-development-index/109589#:~:text=India%20slipped%20one%20rank%20to,rank%20in%20around%2030%20years,

Image Source Link:

• https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-slips-two-places-on-hdi-as-covid-19-reverses-global-gains-8139750/

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In news

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has recently voted to hold a summit of heads of state in 2023 to find fair, long-lasting solutions for global inequities and inadequate responses highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

About the News:

• The body is also expected to hold negotiations towards a Global Pandemic Treaty (GPT).
• In 2021, the World Health Assembly (WHA) agreed to start a global process to draft the pandemic treaty.

About Global Pandemic Treaty (GPT):

• A GPT would aim to foster an all-of-government and all-of-society approach, strengthening national, regional and global capacities and resilience to future pandemics.
• These include equitable distribution of vaccines & drugs and health services among and within countries, knowledge and data sharing as well as realising capability-based responsibilities of various economies.
• It is expected to also cover aspects like genome sequencing of emerging viruses, and related research throughout the world.
• The WHA established an International Negotiating Body (INB)to formulate a ‘WHO convention, agreement or other international instruments’ for the world to unitedly respond to and recover from infectious disease crises in the future.

Background

• World Health Assembly in December 2021 agreed to start a global process to draft the pandemic treaty. 
• It was felt after the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the shortcomings of global health systems. 
• For this, at a special session, The Health Assembly adopted “The World Together” as the title for its initiative of drafting a global pandemic treaty.
• This resulted in the World Health Organisation establishing an intergovernmental negotiating body (INB) to draft and negotiate the contents of the pandemic treaty in compliance with Article 19 of the WHO Constitution.

• This was felt necessary as solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic have seen an inequitable distribution of vaccines so far, with poorer countries at the mercy of others to receive preventive medication.

Need for the Treaty:

• Most countries have followed the “me-first” approach which is not an effective way to deal with a global pandemic.
• A widely-accepted theory points out that the novel coronavirus may have jumped from animals to humans in a wildlife market in China.
• Many nations want a ban on wildlife markets.

Content Source link:

• https://www.who.int/news/item/01-12-2021-world-health-assembly-agrees-to-launch-process-to-develop-historic-global-accord-on-pandemic-prevention-preparedness-and-response,

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In news

In a bid to increase the coverage of self-help groups, the Ministry of Rural Development has recently announced a nationwide campaign, to expedite the inclusion of women who are left out of the umbrella of Self Help Groups (SHGs) under the Deen Dayal Upadhyay National Rural Livelihood Mission.

What are SHGs?

• Self-help groups are informal groups of people who come together to address their common problems.
• The goal of SHGs is that people with disabilities and their family members participate in groups to resolve common problems, enhance their individual strengths, and improve their quality of life.
• SHGs as defined by NABARD is a “small, economically homogenous groups of rural poor, formed to save and jointly contribute to common savings to be given to its members as per the group members’ decision and requirements”

Major Functions of SHGs

• Savings and Thrift:
  • SHG members take a step towards self-dependence when they start small savings. They learn financial discipline through savings and internal lending.
• Internal lending
  • The SHG use the savings amount for giving loans to members.
  • The purpose, amount, rate of interest, schedule of repayment etc., are decided by the group itself.
  • Proper accounts are kept by the SHG.

• Discussing problems
  • In every meeting, the SHGs encourage discussions and try to find solutions to the problems faced by the members of the group.
  • Individually, poor people are weak and lack the resources to solve their problems. When the group helps its members, it becomes easier for them to face difficulties and come up with solutions.
• Access to bank loan
  • The SHG takes loans from the bank and gives them as loans to its members when needed.

Significance of SHGs

1. Gender Equity

• • • The participation in SHGs empowers women and inculcates leadership skills among them.
    • The formation of SHGs results in the improvement of women's status in society, as well as in family leading to improvement in their socio-economic condition while enhancing self-esteem as well.

2. Forum for discussion of critical issues

• • • • Discussions around issues such as dowry, alcoholism, the menace of open defecation, and primary health care result in solutions.

3. Financial inclusion

• • • Priority Sector Lending norms and assurance of returns incentivize banks to lend to SHGs.
    • This SHG-Bank linkage has resulted in easier access to credit, and reduced dependence on non-institutional sources.

4. Impact on housing and health

• • • Financial inclusion leads to reduced child mortality, improved maternal health and the increased ability of the poor to combat disease through better nutrition, housing and health.

Measures to promote SHGs in India

• Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), under the Ministry of Rural Development, with the objective of organizing the rural poor women into Self Help Groups (SHGs) and continuously nurturing and supporting them to take economic activities till they attain an appreciable increase in income over a period of time to improve their quality of life and come out of abject poverty.
• Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs aims to reduce the poverty and vulnerability of urban poor households on a sustainable basis.
• Under the Self-Employment Programme (SEP), interest subvention over and above 7% rate of interest is available to all SHGs accessing bank loans. An additional 3% interest subvention is also available to all women SHGs who repay their loans on time.

Source:

• Self Help Groups
• Rural development campaign to expand self help group footprint

Image source:

• Self Help Group

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• Context: The Vice President has recently released the Arabic Version of “Majma Ul-Bahrain” of Dara Shikoh in New Delhi.
• Dara Shikoh (1615-59) was the eldest son of Shah Jahan.
• He is described as a“liberal Muslim” who tried to find commonalities between Hindu and Islamic traditions.

• He is known as a pioneer of the academic movement for interfaith understandingin India. He deeply understood and knew major religions, particularly Islam and Hinduism.
• He was inclined towards philosophy and mysticism over military pursuits in comparison to Aurangzeb.
• In 1655,he was declared the “Crown Prince”, but was defeated by Aurangzeb, his younger brother, in 1657.
• His prominent works include Majma-ul-Bahrain(Mingling of Two Oceans) and Sirr-i-Akbar (Great Mystery), which are devoted to the cause of establishing connections between Hinduism and Islam.
• He acquired proficiency in Sanskrit and Persian and translated the Upanishadsand other important sources of Hindu religion and spirituality from Sanskrit to Persian.

Source:

• https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/dara-shikoh-never-became-emperor-but-he-was-a-true-child-of-india-7479100/

Image source:

• https://storyofpakistan.com/dara-shikoh/

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• Context: The 75th session of the Regional Committee for WHO South-East Asia has recently concluded in Bhutan with member countries vowing to accelerate progress in the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including oral and eye care.
• NCDs, also known as chronic diseases, tend to be of long duration and are the result of a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental and behaviours factors.
• Cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes are prominent NCDs.

• NCDs may occur due to lifestyle as well as genetic factors. Thus, some of them are also termed lifestyle diseases.
• The risk factors for NCDs are mostly poor diet, lack of exercise, inadequate sleep, smoking, alcohol consumption and stress.
• These diseases account for almost 2/3rd of all deaths in the WHO South-East Asian Region and nearly half of these deaths occurred prematurely between the ages of 30 and 69 years in 2021.
• Measures taken by India to control NCDs include:
  1. National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS)
  2. India adopted the National Action Plan with specific national targets and indicators in response to the WHO Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs.

Source:

• https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/who-regional-committee-member-countries-vow-to-strengthen-health-systems-

Image source:

• https://www.lenscience.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/teaching-and-learning-resources/HSLeaP/NCD/what-are-non-communicable-diseases-.html

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• Context: According to the recent NCRB report, preventive detentions in 2021 have gone up by 23.7% compared to the year before.
• Preventive detention means to detain a person, to prevent that person from committing any possible crime, or an action taken by the administration on the grounds of suspicion alone that some wrong actions may be done by the person which will be prejudicial to the state.
• Such a person, will not be able to contest his arrest or detention, provided under Article 22(1) and Article 22(2).

• According to Section 151 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the police are empowered to make preventive arrests if they believe they must do so to prevent the commission of “any cognisable offence”.
• This detention can be extended beyond 24 hours if required.
• Recently, the Supreme Court observed that these powers accorded to the State were “exceptional” and that since they affect the liberty of an individual, they should be used sparingly and that these powers should not be used to control ordinary law and order problems.
• India is one of the few countries in the world whose Constitution allows for preventive detention during peacetime without safeguards.
• Article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) - which India has ratified admittedly permits derogation from guaranteeing certain personal liberties during a state of emergency. 

Source:

• https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/preventive-detentions-in-2021-up-by-237-compared-to-year-before/article65853863.ece

Image source:

• https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/preventive-detention-a-necessary-evil-only-to-prevent-public-disorder-supreme-court/article35688565.ece
• https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-751-preventive-detention.html

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• Context: The Union Home Minister has recently announced the constitution of a national-level committee for drafting a new national cooperation policy document.
• National Cooperative Policy is being formulated to realise the vision of ‘Sahakar Se Samriddhi’.
• The existing National Policy on Cooperatives was formulated in 2002 with the objectives of:
  1. facilitating the all-round development of cooperatives,
  2. providing necessary support,
  3. encouragement and assistance to them, so as to ensure that cooperatives work as autonomous, self-reliant and democratically managed institutions accountable to their members and make a significant contribution to the national economy.

• The new policy will ensure
  1. strengthening the cooperative movement in the country
  2. deepening its reach up to the grassroots; and
  3. promoting a cooperative-based economic development model.
• The country at present has around 8.5 lakh cooperative societies with a member base of around 29 crores and is engaged in varied activities like agro-processing, dairying, fisheries, housing, weaving, credit and marketing etc.

Source:

• https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/govt-sets-up-47-member-panel-to-draft-national-cooperation-policy-document/articleshow/94035403.cms?from=mdr

Image source:

• National Committee set up to draft new National Cooperative Policy: Amit Shah | Mint (livemint.com)

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Essence - The article suggests that rising unemployment is good for businesses as it leads to low wages and hence greater access to talents at considerably low cost to the company. It states that unemployment is good even for the government sector as it leads to brokers lobbying for jobs, money changing hands and scams. The same remains true in public sectors where formalisation of jobs can be neglected and trade unions are weakened. All of these lead to neglect of labour laws and even rise to criminalisation as more people are forced to resort to crimes like smuggling, illicit liquor trade, human trafficking, etc. 

The rising inflation is also good for businesses as they hike MRP much more than the marginal increase in input cost. The government benefits from it as all budget allocations are done at current prices and government can say it increased its spending compared to the previous year while in reality, the percentage increase can be nominal after taking into account the inflation rate. The same remains true for export businesses that get more rupees for every dollar earned. 

Rising inflation and unemployment are even used by the political parties which can shift blames to the past or incumbent governments and can rally people on the issue.

Why should you read this editorial?

• To get a realistic picture of the present situation in India and indirectly highlights why stakeholders are not taking concrete steps to address the issue.
• To understand potential hidden causes behind rising unemployment and inflation.

Source:

• https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/p-chidambaram-writes-they-love-unemployment-and-inflation-8143018/

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Essence - The editorial discusses the need for an international treaty to deal with the Pandemic situation. It mentions the large-scale loss of lives and livelihood due to miss management of Covid-19. It also highlights the inequality between developed and developing countries, where poor and middle-income countries were forced to lag behind in vaccine coverage and other dimensions of development. it also presents the debate over IPR issues raised by pharma giants, who were making billions, over Covid-19 vaccines, drugs and diagnostic equipment. It has elaborated on India's welfare stance over the IPR issues in WTO for exempting Covid-19-related drugs and medical equipment from IPR till the pandemic is over. It also talks about the concept of vaccine diplomacy.

In the end, it recommends a global treaty under the umbrella of WHO which will cover data sharing, an early warning system and mobilisation of funds in health infrastructure. It emphasises on this treaty for reducing socioeconomic inequality.

Why should you read this editorial?

• To know about the issues related to the socioeconomic impact of Covid19.
• To know why a global treaty is needed for dealing with the pandemic in future.

Source:

• https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-outline-of-an-essential-global-pandemic-treaty/article65867346.ece/amp/

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In news

Kuharianwali, a village in the Fazilka district of Punjab, has become a trendsetter in expanding forest cover, with the idea of using an unused one-acre plot of land in the village to develop a “forest”.

About the Green Cover

• According to 2021 data, from the Forest Research Institute, the district had just 34 per cent forest cover, one of the lowest in the state.
• The District Administration hence launched a pilot project called “My village, my forest” by applying the so-called Miyawaki method.

• In less than a year, the efforts have borne fruit with the area now full of firm plants such as kachnar, neem, arjun, ashok, jamun, guava and others.
• The success of the project in the village has resulted in close to 75 sarpanches getting approached to replicate the process.
• The Miyawaki method, which was devised by Japanese botanist in the 1980s, is a technique to create micro forests over small plots of land.
• Achieving this goal requires planting a wide variety of plants in a fairly dense manner so that the plot of land has different layers of a forest such as shrubs and canopies and not just trees.
  • Plants initially require 8-9 months of care, before reaching a point where the micro forest becomes self-sustaining.

Significance:

Developing such forests in villages, results in the following advantages:

• • As forests are being raised by villagers, it gives them a sense of belonging, and a desire to protect and conserve them.
  • They provide a rich source of oxygen, and the presence of a micro forest will also have a positive impact on rainfall.
  • Further, the process is resulting in large job generation under MGNREGA.

Quote

"Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world."― John Muir

Source:

• With micro forests, how a district in Punjab expands its green cover

Image source:

• https://greenventure.ca/using-the-miyawaki-method-in-hamiltons-reforestation-efforts/

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