‘Compensate those acquitted under UAPA’

• A local court in Surat acquitted 122 persons arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for participating in a meeting organised in December 2001 as members of the Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), a banned outfit.

• After their acquittal, some of the accused, and also activists from the minority community, demanded that they be compensated for being “illegally framed by the police” without any evidence against them.
• “Many of them spent years in jail while facing trial ... They should be compensated,” an activist belonging to the minority community said.

Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967

• Unlawful Activity refers to any action taken by an individual or association whether by action/ words spoken/ written/signs to questions that disrupt the territorial integrity and sovereignty of India.
• It is an enhancement of TADA, 1995 and POTA, 2004. It was enacted by Indira Gandhi.
• The National Integration Council (headed by PM) appointed a Committee on National Integration and Regionalisation. Pursuant to this Committee, 16th CAA, 1963 was enacted to impose, by law, reasonable restrictions in Art 19 (Speech, Association, Assembly) in the interests of integrity and sovereignty of India. And to implement the provisions of the 1963 Constitution Amendment Act, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was enacted in 1967.

Analysis

• According to NCRB data, 922 cases were reported under UAPA in 2016, which was 5% less than in 2014 (976 cases).
• India faces 1 of the highest threats of terrorism and hence, anti-terrorism mechanisms must be stringent.
• NIA is a specialized agency and cannot be dependent on state police for approval of seizure of property.
• It would quicken the delivery of justice.
• It would address the activities done by Lone Wolf who does not belong to any organization.
• It would also give impetus to India's demand to designate Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed as terrorists in International Org.
• But on the other hand, there are concerns of the misuse of unfettered powers given to investigative agencies. The opposition says it could also be used against political opponents.

Way Forward

• It is important to set up a Review Committee to examine this process for fairness and objectivity.
• There is a greater role for the judiciary to carefully examine cases of misuse. Also Judicial Review.
• There should be a balance between individual freedom and state obligation to provide security.

Remote Work Models

Introduction

• The first known remote worker was an employee of NASA in the early 70s.
• In 1996, the National Telecommuting Initiative was launched in the U.S. to promote remote work within the government. As a result, Congress approved the use of telecommuting in Federal agencies.

Type-1: Centralized Office + Occasional Work-from-Home

• With this model, employees are required to work primarily from the office, but with the occasional work-from-home option.
• This model is attractive to just about anyone, but maybe especially beneficial for busy parents or those who live further away from the office.
• The number of remote hours varies from company to company, but most who have this policy allocate at least one full remote day per week.

Type-2: Centralized Office + Work-from-Anywhere

• This model takes the flexibility from type-1 and turns it up a notch.
• Companies who subscribe to this policy give their employees freedom to choose where they work, whether that be the office, their couch, a coffee shop, or far-away lands.
• Any place with a stable Internet connection and quality coffee should suffice.

Type-3: Fully Remote Work Without a Centralized Office

• This model is by far the most advanced remote work policy a company can embody, as team members are distributed all over the world, across different countries and time zones.
• Companies that use it have most likely been remote since day one with no prior physical office. So, for leaders who are in the early stages of starting their venture, this model is a great one to consider.

National AYUSH Mission

• Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India is implementing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National AYUSH Mission (NAM).
• Under ‘Medicinal Plants’ component of the NAM scheme supporting market driven cultivation of prioritized medicinal plants in identified cluster/zones with in selected districts of States and implemented in a mission mode.
• As per the scheme guidelines, the support is provided for:
  1. Cultivation of prioritized medicinal plants on farmer’s land.
  2. Establishment of nurseries with backward linkages for raising and supply of quality planting material.
  3. Post-harvest management with forward linkages.
  4. Primary processing, marketing infrastructure etc.

• Under this scheme, subsidy @30%, 50% and 75% of cultivation cost of specific plant species is provided for cultivation of 140 medicinal plants.

Other missions for AYUSH

• National Medicinal plants Board, Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India is also implementing Central Sector Scheme on “Conservation, Development and Sustainable Management of Medicinal Plants” wherein following activities are supported:
  1. In-situ conservation / Ex-situ conservation
  2. Livelihood linkages with Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) / Panchayats / Van Panchayats / Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) / Self Help Groups (SHGs).
  3. IEC activities like Training / workshops / Seminars/ Conferences etc.
  4. Research & Development.
  5. Promotion, marketing and trade of medicinal plants produce.

• Ministry of Finance has announced Rs. 4000 crore package under Atma Nirbhar Bharat for Promotion of Herbal Cultivation.
• The Ministry of AYUSH has prepared a draft scheme namely “Pradhan Mantri VRIKSH AYUSH Yojana” for cultivation and marketing of medicinal plants which is yet to be approved from Cabinet. The scheme will be implemented throughout the country.

Constitutionality of Reservations in India

Some of the prominent laws framed for reservation policies are listed below.

• Article 15(4) – 1st Amendment,1951 – Special provision for Advancement of Backward Classes.
• Article 15(5) – 93rd Amendment, 2006 – Provision of Reservation for Backward, SC, and ST classes in private educational institutions.
• Article 16(3) – Reservation of posts in public employment on the basis of residence
• Article 16(4) – Reservation in public employment for backward classes.
• Article (330 – 342) – talks about special provisions for certain classes of society
• Article 45 – Under DPSP, states have a duty to raise the standards of living and health of backward classes.
• Article 39 A – Under Directive Principles of State Policy – states have to ensure justice and free legal aid to Economically Backward Classes.
• The Constitution was amended by the Constitution (77^th Amendment) Act, 1995 and a new clause (4A) was inserted in Article 16 to enable the government to provide reservations in promotion.
• Later, clause (4A) was modified by the Constitution (85^th Amendment) Act, 2001 to provide consequential seniority to SC and ST candidates promoted by giving reservations.
• Constitutional 81^st Amendment Act, 2000 inserted Article 16 (4 B) which enables the state to fill the unfilled vacancies of a year which are reserved for SCs/STs in the succeeding year, thereby nullifying the ceiling of fifty per cent reservation on a total number of vacancies of that year.
• Article 243D provides reservation of seats for SCs and STs in every Panchayat.
• Article 233T provides reservation of seats for SCs and STs in every Municipality.

1992 Indra Sawhney Case:

• 1st the time Creamy Layer & Means test concept came to people who are socially, educationally and economically advanced than other SC/STs.
• Indra Sawney upheld Mandal commission recommendation to give 27% reservation to OBCs but it held Creamy layer should be excluded and economic criteria should be adopted.
• It upheld reservations only in Initial appointments and not promotions.

Loya Jirga- The National Gathering in Afghanistan

What is Loya Jirga?

• It is a mass national gathering that brings together representatives from the various ethnic, religious, and tribal communities in Afghanistan.
• It is a highly respected centuries-old consultative body that has been convened at times of national crisis or to settle national issues.
• According to the Afghan Constitution, a Loya Jirga is considered the highest expression of the Afghan people.
• It is not an official decision-making body and its decisions are not legally binding.
• However, Loya Jirga's decision is seen as final, with the president and parliament expected to respect the ruling.

Types of Visas Granted by the US Administration

To fill a vacuum of highly-skilled low-cost employees in IT and other related domains, the US administration issues a certain number of visas each year which allows companies from outside the US to send their employees to work on client sites.

• When a person travels to the US with a non-immigrant visa, then he/she has to depart from the US by the date of visa expiration. It allows one to work for a specific employer only.
• H1B Visa
  • It is most popular among Indian IT companies. Issued for a period of 3 to 6 years.
  • Meant for persons in Specialty Occupation: to work in a speciality occupation, one requires a higher education degree or its equivalent.
  • The total number of H-1B visas issued annually: is 85,000.
  • Of these, 65,000 H-1B visas are issued to highly skilled foreign workers, while the rest 20,000 can be additionally allotted to highly skilled foreign workers who have a higher education or master’s degree from an American university.
• H2 B Visa
  • It permits employers to hire foreign workers to come temporarily to the United States and perform temporary non-agricultural services or labour on a one-time, seasonal, peak load or intermittent basis.
  • H-2B visa holders are allowed for one year, with renewal for two years.
• L Visa
  • Meant to transfer candidates who already work for a foreign branch of a US-based company, or are planning to open operations in the US of a foreign-based company.
  • Holders are granted an initial three years of stay in the U.S, which is subject to further extensions up to 7 years.
• The key difference between H1B and H1B1 visas:
  • H-1B visa permits for “dual intent” which means that a foreign national will be coming to work in a professional position temporarily while also intending to immigrate to the United States at some point in time in the future. H-1B visa holders can apply for permanent residency by applying for a green card.
  • H1B1 visa applicants, however, have to demonstrate that they do not intend to immigrate to the United States at all.

Jal Jeevan Mission Extended Till 31st March 2021

• The Ministry of Jal Shakti is overseeing the implementation of the mission at the national level.
• Har Ghar Nal Se Jal by 2024.
• JJM aims at providing potable water at the service level of 55 litres per capita per day (lpcd) to every rural household through Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) by 2024.
• The fund sharing between the Centre and states is 90:10 for Himalayan and North-Eastern States, 50:50 for other states, and 100% for Union Territories.
• Jal Jeevan Mission adopts a bottom-to-top approach, where the users and Paani Samitis (Water Committees) in the villages envision the whole project from its implementation to maintenance and operation.
• The mission has also ensured that at least 50% of the members of the water committee would be women.

Work to be taken up under JJM:

• In-village water supply (PWS) infrastructure for tap water connection to every household
• Reliable drinking water source development/ augmentation of existing sources
• Transfer of water (multi-village scheme; where quantity & quality issues are there in the local water sources)
• Technological intervention for treatment to make water potable (where water quality is an issue, but quantity is sufficient)
• Retrofitting of completed and ongoing piped water supply schemes to provide FHTC and raise the service level
• Grey water management
• Capacity building of various stakeholders and support activities to facilitate the implementation

73rd Amendment of the Constitution of India

Gram Panchayats will play a crucial role in planning, designing, executing, operations and maintenance of the in-village infrastructure under the Jal Jeevan Mission – Every village is to prepare a village action plan (VAP) which will essentially have three components namely;

• Water source & its maintenance
• Water supply and
• Grey water management.

OPEC+ Countries

• The non-OPEC countries which export crude oil along with the 14 OPECs are termed as OPEC plus countries.
• OPEC plus countries = Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, South Sudan, and Sudan.
• India is not a member of OPEC + countries.
• OPEC member countries produce about 40 percent of the world’s crude oil.
• Equally important to global prices, OPEC’s oil exports represent about 60 per cent of the total petroleum traded internationally.
• Saudi and Russia had a three-year alliance of oil producers known as OPEC Plus — which now includes 11 OPEC members and 10 non-OPEC nations — that aims to shore up oil prices with production cuts.

Anti-microbial resistance crisis in India

What is Antimicrobial resistance?

• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR or AR) is the ability of a microbe to resist the effects of medication that once could successfully treat the microbe.
• In other words, Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the ability of a microorganism (like bacteria, viruses, and some parasites) to stop an antimicrobial (such as antibiotics, antivirals and antimalarials) from working against it.
• As a result, standard treatments become ineffective, infections persist and may spread to others.
• When an organism is resistant to more than one drug, it is said to be multidrug-resistant. Then

What is Antibiotic resistance?

• The term antibiotic resistance is a subset of AMR, as it applies only to bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics.
• Antibiotics are medicines used to prevent and treat bacterial infections. Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change in response to the use of these medicines.
• Bacteria, not humans or animals, become antibiotic-resistant.
• These bacteria may infect humans and animals, and the infections they cause are harder to treat than those caused by non-resistant bacteria.
• Antibiotic resistance occurs naturally, but misuse of antibiotics in humans and animals is accelerating the process.
• A growing number of infections – such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, gonorrhoea, and salmonellosis – are becoming harder to treat as the antibiotics used to treat them become less effective.
• It leads to higher medical costs, prolonged hospital stays, and increased mortality.

Key findings:

1. India is one of the top users of antibiotics.
2. The private sector clocked high levels of antibiotic prescription rates (412 per 1,000 persons per year).
3. The highest rate was seen among children aged 0–4 years (636 per 1,000 persons) and the lowest in the age group 10–19 years (280 per 1,000 persons).
4. Per-capita antibiotic consumption in the retail sector has increased by around 22% in five years from 2012 to 2016.

Ways by which individuals become antibiotic-resistant (2019 PT)

• Inappropriate use of antibiotics such as popping pills for mild ailments like the common cold.
• Rampant use of antibiotics in livestock and poultry animals. Antibiotics used in animals to treat infections and for growth promotion are often passed on to humans who consume their meat.
• Improper disposal of residual antibiotics that eventually enter the food chain.
• Prolonged illness
• Poor diagnosis
• Poor health and hygiene management in Hospitals (Fluid exchange)
• Globalisation

Doctors’ take on antibiotics

• Doctors believe that the inappropriate and sometimes rampant use of antibiotics has transformed the healthy human intestinal gut flora into a reservoir of antibiotic resistance organisms.
• At present organisms are resistant to low end antibiotics but if the misuse persists, these may become resistant to high end antibiotics as well.
• There are as many bacteria in a human body as the number of cells. They perform a host of functions to keep the body running for example, processing the food we eat and modulating the immune system. The antibiotic-resistant bacteria aren’t healthy so they cannot perform these functions well.
• The presence of antibiotic resistance in healthy individuals is a cause for concern because it signals that it will get more difficult to treat infections in the future.

India’s action plan for AMR

• A national policy for containment of AMR was introduced in 2011. The policy aims to understand emergence, spread and factors influencing AMR.
• To set up an antimicrobial program to rationalize use of antimicrobials and to encourage the innovation of newer and effective antimicrobials.
• In addition, some major action points identified in the national policy are:
  1. Establishing an AMR surveillance system.
  2. To strengthen infection, prevention and control measures.
  3. Educate, train and motivate all stakeholders in the rational use of antimicrobials.
  4. Providing sanitation, clean water and good governance.
  5. Increasing public health expenditure and better regulating the private health sector.

WHO’s take on antibiotic resistance?

• As per the World Health Organization (WHO), antibiotic resistance is rising to dangerously high levels in all parts of the world.
• The alarming rate at which bacteria are becoming resistant has led the World Health Organization (WHO) to identify AMR as one of the top ten threats to global health.
• The world body recommends that countries must prioritize their national action plans to scale up financing and capacity-building efforts, put in place stronger regulatory systems and support awareness programmes for responsible and prudent use of antimicrobials by professionals in humans, animals and plants health.
• In addition, countries must invest in ambitious research and development technologies to combat AMR.
• The WHO also suggests a number of steps that can be taken at various levels to reduce the impact and also limit the spread of this resistance.

At individual level

• For individuals, the most important step toward preventing and controlling the spread of this antibiotic resistance is to use antibiotics only when prescribed by a certified health professional. Also, never shared with anyone who used leftover antibiotics.
• Preparing food hygienically and avoiding close contact with sick people.
• Practising safer sex and keeping vaccinations up to date.
• Following the WHO’s five keys to safer food i.e. to keep clean, separate raw and cooked, cook thoroughly, keep food at safe temperatures, use safe water and materials and choose foods that have been produced without the use of antibiotics for growth promotion or disease prevention in healthy animals.

For Policymakers

• Policymakers must ensure that a robust national action plan is in place to tackle antibiotic resistance.
• Surveillance of antibiotic-resistant infections must be improved.
• Policies, programmes and implementation of infection prevention and control measures must be strengthened.
• It is required to regulate and promote the appropriate use of quality medicines.
• The information must also be made available on the impact of antibiotic resistance.

For Health Professionals

• Health professionals need to play a major role in preventing and controlling the spread of antibiotic resistance.
• The first and foremost thing that must be done is to ensure that their hands, instruments and environment are clean.
• They should only prescribe and dispense antibiotics when they are needed.
• They must immediately report antibiotic-resistant infections to surveillance teams.

For different sectors

• Sectors like healthcare and agriculture must also act to prevent and control the spread of antibiotic resistance.
• The healthcare industry can invest in research and development of new antibiotics, vaccines, diagnostics and other tools.
• The agricultural sector must adhere to the guidelines such as giving antibiotics to animals only under veterinary supervision.
• Antibiotics should not be used for growth promotion or to prevent diseases in healthy animals.
• Animals must be vaccinated to reduce the need for antibiotics and use alternatives to antibiotics when available.
• The agriculture sector should also promote and apply good practices at all steps of production and processing of food from animals and plant sources.
• In addition, they must also improve biosecurity on farms and prevent infections through improved hygiene and animal welfare.

Global Efforts for Anti-microbial resistance:

GLASS (Global Antimicrobial Surveillance System)

• In 2015, WHO launched the global antimicrobial surveillance system (GLASS) to work closely with WHO collaborating centres and existing antimicrobial resistance surveillance networks.

• As members of GLASS, countries are encouraged to implement the surveillance standards and indicators gradually based on their national priorities and available resources.

• Recently, the United Nations (UN) has begun considering the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to be at par with diseases like ebola, HIV.
• The WHO has launched a global campaign that urges countries to adopt its new online tool aimed at guiding policy-makers and health workers to use antibiotics safely and more effectively.

AWARE Tool by WHO

The tool, known as ‘AWaRe’, classifies antibiotics into three groups:

• Access — antibiotics used to treat the most common and serious infections
• Watch — antibiotics available at all times in the healthcare system
• Reserve — antibiotics to be used sparingly or preserved and used only as a last resort

Collistin

• India has been called the epicenter of the global drug resistance crisis. Chickens in numerous poultry farm are being given Colistin, to protect them against diseases or to make them gain weight faster. Doctors call Colistin the ‘last hope’ antibiotic.
• The World Health Organisation has called for the use of such antibiotics to be restricted to animals. These should be banned as growth promoters.
• MCR-1 is one such gene discovered recently. It could be transferred within and between species of bacteria. This means that microbes did not have to develop resistance themselves, they could become resistant just by acquiring the MCR-1 gene.
• The resistance could be passed to bugs which are already multi-drug resistant. This could lead to untreatable infections.
• Another such gene is New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase 1 (NDM-1), which makes bugs resistant to carbapenem antibiotics.

Why is resistance among microbes a problem?

1. The answer lies in the intimacy shared between environmental bacteria and human pathogens
2. A pathogen, say Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae), that causes pneumonia, can take two routes to antibiotic resistance
3. The first is for its own genes to mutate spontaneously to help fight the drug
4. The second route, a shortcut known as horizontal gene transfer, is for the bug to borrow resistance genes from its neighbours
5. Scientists believe that many human pathogens today picked up their resistance genes from the environment through this shortcut

Phenomenon of anti-microbial resistance not new

1. Phylogenetic studies suggest that the earliest antibiotic-resistance genes in nature are millions of years old
2. But when humans started manufacturing antibiotics in the 1950s, a dramatic shift occurred
3. Large doses of these drugs seeped into the environment through poultry and human excreta, and waste water from drug makers and hospitals
4. This led to an explosion of resistance genes in soil and water microbes

European project ANSWER

• It stands for ‘Antibiotics and mobile resistance elements in wastewater reuse applications: risks and innovative solutions’. This project studies technologies to remove antibiotic-resistance germs from wastewater along with other research.

How is the Anti microbial resistance spread?

How to stop the spread of Anti microbial resistance?

India’s Efforts for Anti-microbial resistance

National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance, 2017

1. For the first time, the 2017 National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance talks about limiting antibiotics in effluent being dumped by drug makers into the environment
2. This is because when these drugs taint soil and water, the scores of microbes that live there grow drug-resistant
3. Until now, India’s fight against antibiotic-resistance was focussed on getting people to cut down on unnecessary antibiotic consumption

India’s Red line campaign:

• It was launched in Feb 2016 and is finding recognition, and could be adopted globally. It should be considered as starting point of restriction over use of antibiotics.
• Aim: To decrease the use of Red line antibiotics without prescription, create awareness of danger of taking antibiotics.

Global Antimicrobial Resistance R&D Hub

• Recently, India has joined the Global Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Research and Development (R&D) Hub as a new member.
• Working with AMR(R&D) Hub would help India to expand existing capabilities, resources and collectively focus on new R&D intervention to address drug-resistant infections present in the country.
• Global Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Research and Development (R&D) Hub is a collaboration of 16 countries, the European Commission, two philanthropic foundations and four international organizations (as observers).
• It was launched in 2018 during the 71st session of the World Health Assembly, following a call from G20 Leaders in 2017.
• It is supported through a Secretariat, established in Berlin, Germany.
• It aims to further improve the coordination of international efforts and initiatives to tackle Antimicrobial Resistance while further increasing investments into R&D for AMR.
• The work of the Global AMR R&D Hub will be aligned to the priorities set by
  1. World Health Organization (WHO)
  2. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
  3. World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
• It enforces the One Health Approach by including environmental aspects and veterinary medicine against antimicrobial resistance.
• It integrates human and animal health, worldwide food safety and environmental factors.

Other Steps to fight against AMR

• Infection control in healthcare facilities.
• Creating awareness about the use and abuse of antibiotics.
• Vaccination can combat drug resistance by reducing the cases of infection and as a result reducing the need for antibiotics.
• Strengthening resistance tracking so that data on antimicrobial resistant infections and causes of infection can be gathered to enable formulation of specific strategies to prevent the spread of the resistant bacteria.
• Self-medication should be shunned.
• Antibiotics should be used only when prescribed by the doctor.
• Appropriate and safe use of antibiotics- taking antibiotics only when needed, choosing the right antibiotic and completing the full prescription.
• Invest in the search for new antibiotics to keep up with resistant bacteria as well as in new diagnostic tests to track the development of resistance.

Impacts of Anti-Microbial resistance

• A threat to prevention and treatment of infections - medical procedures such as organ transplantation, cancer chemotherapy, diabetes management and major surgery (for example, caesarean sections or hip replacements) become very risky.
• The failure to treat infections caused by resistant bacteria also poses a greater risk of death.
• Antimicrobial resistance increases the cost of health care with lengthier stays in hospitals, additional tests and use of more expensive drugs.
• Without effective antibiotics for prevention and treatment of infections, the achievements of modern medicine are put at a risk.
• Without urgent action, we are heading to antibiotic apocalypse – a future without antibiotics, with bacteria becoming completely resistant to treatment and when common infections and minor injuries could once again kill.
• Antimicrobial resistance is putting the gains of the Millennium Development Goals at risk and endangers achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Shortcomings in fighting AMR

• A cross-cutting programme dealing with antimicrobial resistance across multiple microbes has been lacking.
• Absence of a One Health Approach in addressing AMR – which recognizes that human well-being is inextricably tied to the health of animals and the environment.
• The absence of stringently framed and implemented regulatory frameworks to limit the use of antimicrobials in livestock and food animals, especially for non-therapeutic purposes, has been one of the drivers of antibiotic overuse at the community level.
• In India, current effluent standards do not include antibiotic residues, and thus they are not monitored in the pharmaceutical industry effluents.

Way Forward

• AMR has the potential to return the world to a pre-antibiotic era when medicines could not treat even simple infections.
• Therefore, to contain AMR, there is need for a One Health Approach through coherent, integrated, multi sectoral cooperation and actions, as human, animal and environmental health are integrated.
• Development of antibiotic resistance breakers (ARBs) to restore effectiveness of older classes of antibiotics.

Conclusion

• Antibiotic resistance is not a problem that can be solved by any one country or even one region. Since, we live in a connected world, where people, animals and food travel and microbes travel with them, a global action is essential to make progress in the long run.
• Increasing public awareness and understanding is therefore the most crucial pillar towards tackling antimicrobial resistance.
• AMR is an increasingly serious threat to the global public health that requires action across all government sectors and societies.