Healthcare for Transgender Individuals

The Union government has announced that under the Ayushman Bharat program, transgender people will receive yearly health insurance of Rs. 5 lakhs.

About the recent decision

• There are 4.8 lakh transgender people in India who are eligible for the program's benefits.

Memorandum of understanding

• A memorandum of agreement on this program was signed between the Social Justice Ministry and the National Health Authority, which is part of the Health Ministry.

Coverage:

• Surgery for sex reassignment will also be covered by the insurance.
• There will be more hospitals on board to perform sex reassignment procedures. Services would be made available at AIIMS and other hospitals.
• The family members of transgender people are not covered by health cards issued to them.
• Those who possess a transgender certificate issued by the National Portal for Transgender People would be eligible for benefits.
• The program will cover all transgender people who are not eligible for such benefits under existing centre- or state-sponsored programs.

Defining Modification:

• To give transgender people full yearlong coverage, the government modified the definition of the family.

Important concerns with this choice

• Misleading statistics Only 2% of the 4.8 lakh total, which comes from the 2011 census, have received certificates from the Social Justice Ministry thus far.

Very few skilled surgeons:

• Even if others are successful in obtaining their cards, the issue is that there aren't many facilities that offer sex reassignment surgery, and there aren't many competent plastic surgeons in the nation.

Challenges the transgender community face:

• Discrimination and ostracism: These people experience discrimination at work, in educational institutions, and in their own homes, which hurts their general well-being.
• Identity crisis: Despite the government approving the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, which grants the community the right to self-perceived gender identity, individuals are frequently forced to identify with a gender with which they are not connected at work.
• Social stigma: They frequently encounter obstacles while trying to adopt a child or inherit property. They are forced into sex work or menial occupations despite having strong credentials since they are socially rejected.
• Unemployment: Due to the associated societal stigma, the community has few employment options and experiences severe discrimination at work.
• Lack of public amenities: They have trouble accessing public restrooms and other public areas. In hospitals, schools, and prisons, they frequently encounter issues.

Initiatives in India for Transgender People:

• The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2019 was passed by Parliament to eradicate discrimination against transgender people in the areas of access to healthcare, work, and education. It also recognizes the right to one's own self-perceived gender identity.

Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020:

• The government drafted it to give effect to the 2019 Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act's provisions.

Transgender National Council:

• The National Council for Transgender Persons has been established by the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2019 to provide advice to the Central Government on the formulation and assessment of policies, programs, laws, and projects for the welfare of the transgender community
• Reservations for the transgender community would be made under the OBC category of employment, according to the Union government.

National Transgender Resource Center:

• The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has created a webpage to help members of the transgender community apply for a Certificate and Identity card electronically from any location in the nation.
• They may track the progress of their application using the Portal, ensuring procedural transparency.

Garima Greh:

• The program's goal is to give transgender people a place to live with basic necessities like food, shelter, medical care, and recreational amenities.
• Additionally, it will encourage the development of people's skills and capacities, enabling them to live lives of respect and dignity in the Community.

Way Forward

• The government has taken several actions to put in place a set of five assurances: education, a dignified life, health support, opportunities for a living, and skill enhancement.
• Dignified life and livelihood: By giving marginalized and disadvantaged groups of the population a dignified life and livelihood, these measures are ensuring that they can escape from constrictive societal structures.
• Effectiveness: The council must be able to identify and address the difficulties that the community is facing, and both the state and civil society must work to ensure this.
• Society needs to be made aware that the community is a part of us and that we are co-equals through social engineering.

Also, Read - Sex Ratio at Birth

Sex Ratio at Birth

Image Source - Newsclick

In India, "son bias" is reportedly declining as the sex ratio at birth normalized from 111 boys to every 100 girls in 2011 to 108 boys to every 100 girls in 2019–21, according to a recent study.

Findings of the Report

National Statistics:

• From roughly 4.8 lakh in 2010 to 4.1 lakh in 2019, India's average annual number of infant girls reported as "lost" decreased.
• If there had been no female-selective abortions throughout this time, then there would have been a greater number of female births.
• The sex ratio at birth in India has slightly normalised from 111 boys for every 100 girls in the 2011 census to roughly 109 in the 2015–16 National Family Health Survey (NFHS) wave and to 108 boys in the NFHS 5 2019–21.
• Nine crore female newborns between 2000 and 2019 were "missing" as a result of female-selective abortions.
• The survey also examined the sex selection of people based on their faith and found that Sikhs had the largest discrepancy.
• Sikhs had a sex ratio at birth of 130 males for every 100 females in the 2001 census, which was significantly higher than the national average of 110 that year.
• The Sikh ratio has decreased to 121 boys for every 100 females by the time of the 2011 census.
• According to the most recent NFHS, it is now hovering at 110, or about the same as the male-to-female birth ratio among the predominantly Hindu population of the nation (109).
• Muslims (106 boys to 100 girls) and Christians (105 boys to 100 girls) both have sex ratios that are somewhat close to the natural average.

Share of Indians according to religion in Missing Girls:

• Sikh: 2%
• Hindu: 80%
• Islamic: 14%
• Christian: 2.3%

Amount of Missing Girls as a Result of Sex-Selective Abortion:

• Sikh: 5%
• Hindu: 87%
• Islam: 7%
• Christian: 0.6%

History of Sex Ratio in India

• At birth, boys modestly outnumber girls over the world, with 105 male infants to every 100 female infants.
• Before nationwide access to prenatal sex testing, this was the ratio in India in the 1950s and 1960s.
• The issue started in the 1970s when sex-selective abortions were made possible by prenatal diagnostic techniques.
• India legalized abortion in 1971, but the 1980s saw a rise in sex selection because of the development of ultrasound technology.
• India's sex ratio was 105-100 in the 1970s, matching the global average, but it grew to 108 boys per 100 girls in the early 1980s and 110 boys per 100 girls in the 1990s.

Challenges in Ensuring Balanced Birth Sex Ratio

• Regressive Mentality: All states, probably with the exception of Kerala and Chhattisgarh, show a significant preference for sons.
• The preference of this son stems from a backwards-thinking mentality. For instance, people often link girls to dowries.
• Technology Misuse: Less expensive technology, such as ultrasonography, aids in sex selection.
• Law not being implemented properly: The Prenatal Conception and Prenatal Determination Act (PC-PNDT), passed in 1994, which punishes medical practitioners with imprisonment and substantial fines for disclosing a child's sex to pregnant parents, has failed to regulate sex choice.
• Major training deficiencies in the staff members adopting PC-PNDT were discovered in reports.
• Due to inadequate training, they were unable to build compelling cases against offenders in order to obtain convictions.

Way ahead

• Increasing female education and economic success help to increase the ratio as a means of bringing about behavioural change. The government's Beti-Bachao Beti Padhao Campaign has been extremely successful in changing society's behaviour in this direction.
• Youth Sensitization: It's critical to educate young people about reproductive health issues and provide them with services, as well as promote gender equitable standards.
• Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) services can be used for this, particularly in rural regions.
• India must more strictly enforce the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act of 1994 and allocate more funds to combating the preference for boys.

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Bhitarkanika National Park

Image Source - Kalinga tv

• There has been an increased confrontation between humans and crocodiles, now that the crocodile population in the Bhitarkanika National Park has reached saturation.

About Bhitarkanika National Park

• Orissa's Bhitarkanika National Park spans a massive 672 km2 region.
• It has India's second-largest mangrove habitat.
• A network of creeks and canals that receive floodwater from the rivers Brahmani, Baitarani, Dhamra, and Patasala create the National Park's distinctive environment.
• Due to its close proximity to the Bay of Bengal, the area's soil is salt-rich, and the sanctuary's vegetation and species are mostly found in tropical and subtropical intertidal areas.
• It serves as a breeding ground for saltwater crocodiles.
• The greatest colony of Olive Ridley Sea Turtles may be found on Gahirmatha Beach, which defines the eastern edge of the sanctuary.
• The Bagagahana or heronry near Surajpore Creek is the other rare occurrence.
• Numerous birds flock to the creek to build their nests, and the soaring feats they do before mating are breathtaking to watch.
• Eight different types of Kingfisher birds, which are also uncommon, can be found in Bhitarkanika.

Issues

• Rising conflict: Since 2012, crocodiles have murdered around 50 individuals in and around the park, while 25 of them perished after getting into human settlements or getting entangled in fishing nets.
• The crocodile is a territorial aquatic reptile, so it is impossible for too many of them to coexist in a limited region because there will be more rivalry for food, mates, and sunbathing spots.

Historical viewpoint

• Due to the saturation point that the crocodile population had reached in 1991, the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment instructed the state forest department to halt the crocodile rearing program in Bhitarkanika.
• But in 1990, the government stopped providing financing for the initiative to produce and raise crocodiles.
• Additionally, the crocodile population in the park had increased from 94 in 1975 to roughly 1,000 by 1995, when the forest service terminated the program for breeding and releasing crocodiles there.

Way ahead

• The government must take action to reduce the crocodile population as well as to redistribute crocodiles into wetlands throughout the entire Bhitarakanika and Mahanadi River system's mangrove forests.

Anang Tal Lake

Image Source - Journals of India

The Anang Tal Lake in South Delhi has just been recognized as a monument of National significance by the Ministry of Culture through a gazette notification.

Important National Monuments

• The Archaeological Survey of India designates the Monuments of National Importance (ASI).
• The preservation, promotion, and protection of the Monuments of National Importance fall under the purview of the Indian union government.
• According to the Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1958, an ancient monument is one that:
• Any construction, erection, or monument that has been in existence for at least 100 years qualifies as an ancient monument, as well as any tumulus, site of burial, cave, rock carving, inscription, or monolith that is of historical, archaeological, or artistic interest.

The following ought to be mentioned:

• the remains of a historic site
• the location of an old monument
• the area surrounded by walls or other coverings used to safeguard the monument
• Land that permits unrestricted access to the monument.

Anang Tal Lake

History

• It was created in AD 1,060.
• The site has a total size of 10.599 acres.
• According to ancient stone inscriptions discovered by Lord Cunningham, the city was formerly known as DhillikaPuri.

Location

• Jog Maya Temple is located to the north of Anang Tal, which is 500 metres to the northwest of Qutub Complex.

Tomar King

• Anang Pal Tomar, a Tomar ruler from the eleventh century, constructed it.

Relevance of the most recent decision

• As soon as a site is designated as being of national significance, the ASI takes steps to protect it and places limitations on nearby construction.
• It is rumoured to have once been a popular vacation spot, but these days it is dried up and utilised for farming.

Brahmos Missile

Three Indian Air Force (IAF) officers have had their employment terminated by the Ministry of Defense as a result of the unintentional launch of a BrahMos missile that landed in Pakistan.

About

• Early in 1980s, Dr A P J Abdul Kalam established the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme, which went on to create a variety of guided missiles with a wide range of capabilities and ranges, including the Prithvi, Agni, Trishul, Akash, and Nag.
• Early in the 1990s, India's strategic leadership recognized the necessity for cruise missiles, which are guided missiles that travel practically continuously during the majority of their flight path and precisely deliver massive warheads over great distances.
• The requirement became apparent principally as a result of the Gulf War's usage of cruise missiles.

Signing the Contract:

• In 1998, Dr Kalam, the chairman of the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), and N. V. Mikhailov, the deputy defence minister of Russia at the time, signed an intergovernmental agreement in Moscow.
• As a result, DRDO and NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM), a joint venture with the Russians holding 49.5% and India holding 50.5%, created BrahMos Aerospace.
• After receiving funding from the two governments in 1999, DRDO and NPOM laboratories started working on developing missiles.

Significance

• The two-stage BrahMos missile has a booster engine that burns solid fuel.
• The missile's first stage accelerates it to supersonic velocity before separating.
• When in the cruise phase, the liquid ramjet or second stage accelerates the missile closer to three times the speed of sound.
• The missile can go in a number of directions and has a very low radar signature, making it stealthy.
• The "fire and forget" type missile may strike the target at an altitude as low as 10 m and a cruise altitude of 15 km.
• Known as "standoff range weapons," cruise missiles like the BrahMos are launched at a distance that enables the attacker to avoid defensive counterfire.
• In comparison to subsonic cruise missiles, the BrahMos boasts a three times faster top speed, a 2.5 times longer flying range, and a higher range.

Present and upcoming

• The BrahMos is undergoing a lot of improvements as a result of the changing demands of multi-dimensional warfare, and efforts are being made to create variants with increased ranges, manoeuvrability, and accuracy.
• Ranges up to 350 km are included in the versions that are currently being tested, as opposed to the original's 290 km.
• It is rumoured that versions with hypersonic speed and even larger ranges, up to 800 km, are in the works.
• Additionally, efforts are being made to decrease the size and signature of current versions and increase their functionality.

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