Many medical students under stress

• According to a National Medical Commission(NMC) response to a Right to Information(RTI) request, 64 MBBS and 55 postgraduate medicos committed suicide in the previous five years.

Data and fact

• Around 2.5 times as many doctors commit suicide as the general population.
• A study found that 358 suicide deaths among doctors (128), residents (105), and medical students (125) occurred between 2010 and 2019. Seven out of ten suicides occurred before the age of thirty.
• At the time of suicide, female residents and doctors were younger than their male colleagues.
• Academic stress among medical students (45.2%), residents (23.1%), and doctors (26.7%) was a significant factor in suicide, according to the data.
• Medical students (24%) and doctors (20%) cited mental illness as their second most frequent reason, while residents (20.5%) cited harassment.
• The NMC, India's top governing body for medical education, requested late in 2022 that all medical colleges in the nation record information on suicides due to concerns regarding occurrences of suicide and suicidal ideation among medical students.
• The biggest burden is felt in low- and middle-income nations, where suicide and self-harm are major health and societal issues.

Reason for the suicide

• The transition to college occurs at a crucial developmental phase marked by individuation and family separation, the formation of new social connections, and an increase in autonomy and responsibility. At the same time, the brain is growing quickly and is more sensitive than usual to risk factors that university students frequently experience, including as psychosocial stressors, recreational substances, binge drinking, and sleep disruption
• The problem of suicide is complex and multifaceted. Some of the challenges that student doctors face include the demanding 24-hour shifts, irregular work schedules, separation from family, hostile work environment, unsupportive management, lack of sleep, financial difficulties, exam stress, occasionally inhumane ragging, and discrimination based on caste and regionalism.

Government initiative

• An anti-ragging committee was established by the National Medical Commission (NMC) in 2022 to address complaints brought forth by anti-ragging committees of various medical colleges. To discuss the ragging complaints and conduct an impartial investigation, the members were told to convene once a month.
• Mental Healthcare Act, 2017:The Mental Health Act of 1987 was repealed by this law, which was approved in 2017 and went into force in May 2018. Suicide attempts were made legal in India because to this law. In the classification of mental diseases, it included WHO guidelines. Finally, it introduced efforts to combat stigma in Indian society by restricting and banning the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
• Initiative under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan is called Manodarpan. It strives to give students psychological and social support for their mental health and wellbeing.
• National Plan for Suicide Prevention: A National Suicide Prevention Plan was just made public by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. In order to reduce suicide mortality by 10% by 2030, the suicide prevention policy includes multi-sectoral partnerships and time-bound action plans.

Global step to prevent suicide

• World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD):The International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) and the WHO founded World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD), which is observed annually on September 10th. It brings the problem into sharp focus, lessens stigma, and increases public and governmental knowledge while sending a clear message that suicide can be avoided.
• The WSPD's triennial theme from 2021 to 2023 is "Creating hope through action." This theme serves as a reminder that there are alternatives to suicide and tries to give each of us hope and brightness.
• Every year on October 10th, the world observes World Mental Health Day. The main goals of World Mental Health Day are to increase public awareness of global mental health challenges and to organise support for mental health.
• The topic of World Mental Health Day in 2022 is "Making Mental Health & Well-Being for Everyone a Global Priority."

Step to be focus

• Suicides can be avoided by ensuring that students have access to counselling, support groups, and other mental health services and resources.
• Also, teachers, employees, and students at schools and colleges must receive training in mental health first aid.
• Open discussions regarding suicide and mental illness must be encouraged in order to foster positive attitudes towards seeking help and maintaining mental health.
• Educational institutions may foster a welcoming and accepting environment that supports students in achieving academic and emotional success while also playing a significant role in avoiding suicides by adopting a comprehensive approach to personality development.
• By giving students at educational centres a healthy outlet for their stress and emotions while also boosting their self-esteem and confidence, sports can help prevent suicides.

Extend FAME II Subsidy

• The parliamentary standing committee on heavy industry brought attention to the fact that Phase 2 of the FAME programme to subsidise electric vehicles only met 51.96% of its goal.
• In related events, the Union Ministry of Heavy Industries' Committee on Estimates (2022-23) for the examination of electric vehicle policy proposed an extension of the FAME II programme.

About

• The Union Ministry of Heavy Industries' Committee on Estimates (2022-23) for the examination of its electric vehicle policy proposed extending the FAME II programme, which was set to expire in 2024.
• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman doubled the FAME II funding in the newly released Union Budget but didn't extend the timeline.

Issue highlighted by the committee

• Air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions are brought on by a heavy reliance on oil imports and ICE automobiles.
• sluggish progress towards both financial and athletic goals.
• Only a few cities have been authorised to have EV charging stations.
• If government subsidies were to end, the cost of EVs would drastically increase.
• The committee discovered that several startups are also operating in this industry, and that if FAME II is withdrawn, they may have to close.
• Encouraging the usage of EVs can help the environment, public health, economics, and technical innovation in a variety of ways. Via a number of programmes and incentives, India has been attempting to promote the usage of electric vehicles (EV).

Suggestion by the committee

• Increase the infrastructure for charging
• The programme should be expanded with new objectives, rewards, and controls.
• Increase the focus on execution and include private automobiles in the subsidies.
• The GoI needs to demonstrate its belief in the Indian EV market and "plug in" the capital sourcing holes through a successful subsidy programme like the soon-to-expire FAME II.
• It would be beneficial at this stage to study a leading electric transport economy, such as China, and learn from their experience.
• Increase the infrastructure for charging.

Challanges

• Because EVs are more expensive up front than ICE cars, EV adoption has been minimal. This was due to the expensive lithium-ion batteries, which accounted for 30–40% of the vehicle's cost.
• Yet, compared to traditional automobiles, battery-powered vehicles have reduced operating costs.
• Only a few cities have been authorised to have EV charging stations.

About fame

• Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) is a programme that was started in 2015 by the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. The fundamental reason for initiating this programme was to encourage the development of these cars and eco-friendly automobiles, including electric and hybrid vehicles

• The plan was launched in two stages. Phase I began in 2015 and was finished on March 31, 2019. The FAME Scheme's Phase-I initially began on April 1, 2015, for a period of two years, but was later extended through March 31, 2019.

National electric moblity mission 2020

• It is a National Mission document that was started with the goal of increasing the use of electric vehicles in the nation. In order to give the people a practical and environmentally beneficial transportation choice, the plan was developed to conserve the nation's fuel
• The Indian automobile industry's goal of selling more electric vehicles will also be accomplished with the aid of this programme. The automobile industry projected to sell 6-7 million hybrid and electric vehicles through this programme by the end of the year.

Bandipur Tiger Reserve

• On April 1, 2023, the Karnataka-based Bandipur Tiger Reserve will have served as a Project Tiger Reserve for 50 years. To arrest the population decrease of tigers, the reserve was established in 1973 by the then-prime minister, Indira Gandhi.
• When Project Tiger was started, there were 12 tigers in Bandipur at first; today, 173 tigers are utilising the region as a result of conservation efforts.

About bandipur tiger reserve

• Bandipur was one of the first nine reserves included in Project Tiger's flagship initiative, and it contained the majority of territories that were already protected by Venugopal Wildlife Park

• It is located in the tri-junction of the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala in two adjacent districts of Karnataka (Mysore and Chamarajanagar).

• Bandipur Tiger Reserve is located in one of the most biodiverse regions of our nation, the "Western Ghats Mountains Biogeography Zone," and is bordered by the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu to the south, the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala to the southwest, and the Kabini Reservoir in Kerala to the north-west.

• The Bandipur Tiger Reserve is a crucial part of the nation's first biosphere reserve, the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, and the Bandipur, Nagarahole, Mudumalai, and Wayanad complex landscape is home to the highest population of Asian elephants in addition to the nation's many tigers.

• Project Tiger allowed for its establishment in 1973. In 1985, it was expanded and given the name Bandipur National Park by incorporating surrounding sections of Venugopala Wildlife Park.

• The Bandipur Tiger Reserve is a crucial section of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, the nation's first biosphere reserve, which is a part of the Mysore Elephant Reserve.

• In addition to having the most tigers in the nation—roughly 724—the region that includes Bandipur, Nagarahole, Mudumalai, and Wayanad complex also has the largest population of Asian elephants.

About project tiger

• For the conservation and preservation of various flora and fauna species, the government approved the Wildlife Protection Act in 1972.

• The ambitious goal of Project Tiger, which was started by the Indira Gandhi administration in 1973 from the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand, was to increase the number of tigers in the nation.

• Jim Corbett, Manas, Ranthambore, Simlipal, Bandipur, Palamau, Sundarbans, Melghta, and Kanha national parks were the first reserves to be included in Project Tiger.

Tiger reserves:

• Project Tiger now covers 54 tiger reserves, distributed throughout 18 of the states where tigers are found, up from 9 in its early years.

Project Tiger's objectives

• To protect India's tiger population in order to advance science, industry, culture, and aesthetics.

• to determine the causes of tiger habitat decline and, via proper management practises, to minimise those causes.

• to protect biologically significant regions as a national treasure for the people's ongoing enjoyment and education.

• protecting threatened and endangered species.

• to protect the rights of locals and tribal members who reside close to tiger reserves.

Challanges

• Making Project Tiger a successful undertaking required the commitment and dedication of numerous government personnel. Taking hunting lands off the market was challenging. Many individuals complained to it and expressed their displeasure with it. The project nonetheless went forward
• Poaching was yet another serious problem. In the past, many individuals sold tiger skin and bones to overseas markets. For them, this was an important source of income.
• Large-scale development initiatives including dams, factories, mines, railway lines, and other structures put stress on, fragment, and destroy habitats.
• Native producers are being wiped out by invasive species. This has an adverse effect on the food chain. Because they are at the bottom of the food chain, tigers suffer the most.

Conclusion

• India has already a success with protected areas, but we still need to do more to conserve our ecosystems. India needs to focus on creating tiger corridors and connecting different ecosystems going forward.

Eravikulam National Park

• A Fernarium has been constructed up inside Eravikulam National Park (ENP), the Nilgiri tahr's natural habitat in Munnar.

About Ferns

• Ferns belong to the epiphytic family of plants. They develop in a soilless environment spontaneously. With the leaching of nutrients and water from trees, plants receive both.

• Ferns are a varied group of plants that reproduce by spores rather than flowers or seeds.

• Uses: Although ferns are not as commercially significant as seed plants, they are nevertheless quite essential in some cultures. Food is made from some ferns.

Eravikulam National Park (ENP)

• Eravikulam National Park is located in Kerala's upper ranges of the Idukki district, along the summit of the Western Ghats.

• Neelakurinji, a flower that blooms just once every twelve years, also grows in this region. This is where the Anamudi, the tallest peak south of the Himalayas, is.

• It is also referred to as Rajamalai National Park. When it was established in 1975 as a sanctuary with the goal of preserving the native population of Nilgiri Tahr (the most endangered mountain goat), it was later upgraded to become a national park.

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