Children in South Asia could face health crisis amid COVID-19: UNICEF

Part of: GS-I- Child issue (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST)

Almost a quarter of the world’s unimmunised or partially immunised children – about 4.5 million children – live in South Asia.

Expressing concern over the disruptions caused by immunisations due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that South Asia could face yet another health emergency if children across the region did not receive their life-saving vaccine shots.

Important Points

1. Almost a quarter of the world’s unimmunised or partially immunised children – about 4.5 million children – live in South Asia. Almost all of them, or 97%, live in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
2. Across the region, national mass vaccination campaigns have been postponed. Bangladesh and Nepal have postponed their national measles and rubella campaigns while Pakistan and Afghanistan have suspended their polio campaigns.

Reasons
1. With lockdown in place as a part of the novel coronavirus response, routine immunisations have been severely disrupted and parents are increasingly reluctant to take their children to health centres for routine jabs.

2. Sporadic outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, including measles and diphtheria, have already been seen in parts of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal.

3. The South Asia region is also home to two of the last polio endemic countries in the world, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

4. Vaccine stocks are running dangerously low in some countries of the region as supply chains have been disrupted with travel bans and cancelled flights.

5. The manufacturing of the vaccines has also been disrupted, creating additional shortages.

6. Many of the health facilities throughout the region, where millions of children are normally vaccinated, have been closed and outreach sessions have been suspended, adding to the challenge.

7. South Asia could face yet another health emergency if children across the region do not receive their life-saving vaccine shots, the UNICEF said.

8. As long as frontline health workers take the appropriate precautions, particularly washing their hands, there is no reason not to vaccinate – in fact, it is crucial that vaccination continues

The UNICEF strongly recommends that, where immunisation campaigns are suspended, governments begin rigorous planning now to intensify immunisation activities once the COVID-19 pandemic is under control.

The new list of names of tropical cyclones over the north Indian Ocean

Introduction

The new list of names of tropical cyclones over the north Indian Ocean has been selected buy the WMOs Panel on tropical cyclones(PTC).

Worldwide there are six regional specialised meteorological centres (RSMCs) and five regional Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs) mandated for issuing advisories and naming of tropical cyclones.

India Meteorological Department is one of the six RSMCs to provide tropical cyclone and storm surge advisories to 13 member countries under the WMO/ESCAP Panel including Bangladesh, India, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

RSMC, New Delhi is also mandated to name the Tropical Cyclones developing over the north Indian Ocean (NIO) including the Bay of Bengal (BoB) and the Arabian Sea (AS).

Importance of naming of Tropical Cyclones

It helps the scientific community, disaster managers, media and general masses to:

1. identify each individual cyclone.
2. create awareness of its development.
3. remove confusion in case of simultaneous occurrence of TCs over a region
4. remember a TC easily
5. rapidly and effectively disseminate warnings to much wider audience

Therefore, the tropical cyclones forming over different Ocean basins are named by the concerned RSMCs & TCWCs.

For north Indian Ocean including Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, the RSMC, New Delhi assigns the name to tropical cyclones following a standard procedure.

The WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones (PTC) at its twenty-seventh Session held in 2000 in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman agreed in principle to assign names to the tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea.

After long deliberations among the member countries, the naming of the tropical cyclones over the north Indian Ocean commenced from September 2004. This list contained names proposed by then eight member countries of WMO/ESCAP PTC, viz., Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Almost all names except the last name (Amphan) from this list have been utilised till date.

During WMO/ESCAP PTC 45th Session held at Muscat, Oman in September, 2018 it was decided to prepare a fresh list of names of tropical cyclones including representation from five new member countries, viz., Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen (Total 13 member countries).

The WMO/ESCAP PTC in this session nominated Dr.Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, India Meteorological Department to act as Rapporteur to co-ordinate among the Panel member countries and to finalise the list of names following the standard procedure and suggest the implementation plan. The report of the rapporteur was initially presented by India during 46th Session of WMO/ESCAP PTC held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar during 09-13, Sept., 2019. After deliberations, the report was finally adopted by WMO/ESCAP PTC with consensus in April, 2020.

Criteria adopted for selection of names by the PTC member countries:

1. The proposed name should be neutral to (a) politics and political figures (b) religious believes, (c) cultures and (d) gender
2. Name should be chosen in such a way that it does not hurt the sentiments of any group of population over the globe
3. It should not be very rude and cruel in nature
4. It should be short, easy to pronounce and should not be offensive to any member
5. The maximum length of the name will be eight letters
6. The proposed name should be provided alongwith its pronunciation and voice over
7. The Panel reserves the right to reject any name, if any of the criteria above is not satisfied.
8. The finalised names may also be reviewed during the course of time of implementation with the approval of PTC in its annual session, in case any reasonable objection is raised by any member
9. The names of tropical cyclones over the north Indian Ocean will not be repeated.Once used, it will cease to be used again. Thus, the name should be new. It should not be there in the already existing list of any of the RSMCs worldwide including RSMC, New Delhi.

The current list has a total of 169 names including 13 names each from 13 WMO/ESCAP member countries.

Following criteria have been adopted for implementation of the list of names:

1. RSMC, New Delhi will be responsible to name tropical cyclones forming over the North Indian Ocean including Bay of Bengal & the Arabian Sea when they have been diagnosed with maximum sustained surface windspeed of 34 knots (62 kmph) or more as per Section 2.2.2.6.1 of Global Data Processing and Forecasting System (GDPFS) Manual 2017 edition.
2. The name of a TC from South China Sea which crosses Thailand and emerge into the Bay of Bengal as a tropical cyclone will not be changed.
3. Panel Members’ names will be listed alphabetically country-wise.
4. The names will be used sequentially, column-wise.

About World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 193 Member States and Territories. It originated from the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), the roots of which were planted at the 1873 Vienna International Meteorological Congress. Established by the ratification of the WMO Convention on 23 March 1950, WMO became the specialised agency of the United Nations for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences a year later. The Secretariat, headquartered in Geneva, is headed by the Secretary-General. Its supreme body is the World Meteorological Congress.

Kumbh Mela

Context:

Government has begun planning for the Maha Kumbh Mela in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, in January 2021. The gathering has a long history and draws large crowds from the world over, who come to take a ritualistic dip in the Ganga.

An April 16 meeting, organised by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), the Water Ministry body overseeing the clean up of the river, discussed funds that would be needed by the Uttarakhand government for providing community toilets and urinals for the attendees.

The Maha Kumbh Mela is organised once in 12 years, and the last time the event was held in 2010, about 10 million had reportedly congregated in the city.

About Kumbh Mela

Kumbh Mela, also called Kumbha Mela, in Hinduism, religious festival that is celebrated four times over the course of 12 years, the site of the observance rotating between four pilgrimage places on four sacred rivers—at Haridwar on the Ganges River, at Ujjain on the Shipra, at Nashik on the Godavari, and at Prayag (modern Prayagraj) at the confluence of the Ganges, the Jamuna, and the mythical Sarasvati.

Each site’s celebration is based on a distinct set of astrological positions of the Sun, the Moon, and Jupiter, the holiest time occurring at the exact moment when these positions are fully occupied. The Kumbh Mela at Prayag, in particular, attracts millions of pilgrims. In addition, a Great Kumbh Mela festival is held every 144 years at Prayag; the 2001 festival attracted some 60 million people.

Attendees at the Kumbh Mela come from all sections of Hindu religious life, ranging from sadhus (holy men), who remain naked year-round or practice the most severe physical discipline, to hermits, who leave their isolation only for these pilgrimages, and even to silk-clad teachers using the latest technology.

The religious organizations represented range from social welfare societies to political lobbyists. Vast crowds of disciples, friends, and spectators join the individual ascetics and organizations. The naga akhadas, militant ascetic orders whose members formerly made their livings as mercenary soldiers and traders, often claim the holiest spots at each Kumbh Mela’s most propitious moment.

Although the Indian government now enforces an established bathing order, history records bloody disputes between groups vying for precedence.

Origins of Kumbh Melas

Tradition ascribes the Kumbh Mela’s origin to the 8th-century philosopher Shankara, who instituted regular gatherings of learned ascetics for discussion and debate.

The founding myth of the Kumbh Mela—attributed to the Puranas (collections of myth and legend)—recounts how the gods and demons fought over the pot (kumbha) of amrita, the elixir of immortality produced by their joint churning of the milky ocean. During the struggle, drops of the elixir fell on the Kumbh Mela’s four earthly sites, and the rivers are believed to turn back into that primordial nectar at the climactic moment of each, giving pilgrims the chance to bathe in the essence of purity, auspiciousness, and immortality. The term Kumbh comes from this mythic pot of elixir, but it is also the Hindi name for Aquarius, the sign of the zodiac in which Jupiter resides during the Haridwar Mela

UIDAI permits Aadhaar updation facility through CSC- Banking Correspondent

Part of: GS-II- GOVERNANCE (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST)

1. To make Aadhaar updating easier for citizens, Unique Identification Authority of India, UIDAI has permitted Common Service Centre, CSCs, which are designated banking correspondents of banks, to offer Aadhaar services.
2. Around 20,000 such CSCs will now be able to offer this service to citizens. CSC Village Level Entrepreneurs are asked to start the Aadhaar work with responsibility and as per instructions issued by UIDAI in this regard.
3. The decision would further strengthen the efforts of achieving the goals of Digital India as envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
4. Commencement of Aadhaar updation services through CSC also comes across as a big relief during the lockdown restrictions imposed to prevent spread of COVID-19.
5. With these 20 thousand additional centers available to Aadhaar, the users particularly in rural areas need not visit Aadhaar centres in bank branches or Post Offices for this work.

Common Services Centers (CSCs)

Common Services Centers (CSCs) are a strategic cornerstone of the Digital India programme. They are the access points for delivery of various electronic services to villages in India, thereby contributing to a digitally and financially inclusive society.

They are multiple-services-single-point model for providing facilities for multiple transactions at a single geographical location. They are the access points for delivery of essential public utility services, social welfare schemes, healthcare, financial, education and agriculture services, apart from host of B2C services to citizens in rural and remote areas of the country.

CSCs enable the three vision areas of the Digital India programme:

1. Digital infrastructure as a core utility to every citizen.
2. Governance and services on demand.
3. Digital empowerment of citizens.

Significance of CSCs:

CSCs are more than service delivery points in rural India. They are positioned as change agents, promoting rural entrepreneurship and building rural capacities and livelihoods. They are enablers of community participation and collective action for engendering social change through a bottom-up approach with key focus on the rural citizen.

Blockchain technology boost economic recovery: WEF

Part of: GS-III- S&T (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST)

The WEF said crises such as the coronavirus pandemic dramatically increase pressure on governments and businesses to maintain resilient supply chains. Blockchain technology can help tackle supply chain failures exposed by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and also boost the economic recovery process, the World Economic Forum (WEF).

1. Releasing a ‘blockchain deployment toolkit’ to help organisations improve future pandemic preparedness and accelerate an economic rebound post COVID-19, Geneva-based WEF said it is aimed at helping leaders maximise the benefits and minimise the risks of the technology.
2. The WEF said the first of its kind toolkit is culmination of more than a year of efforts to capture best practices from blockchain deployment across industries and has drawn on global expertise of more than 100 stakeholders, including governments, companies, startups, academic institutions, civil society, international organisations and technology and supply chain experts.
3. The WEF, which describes itself as an international organisation for public-private partnership, said crises such as the coronavirus pandemic dramatically increase pressure on governments and businesses to maintain resilient supply chains.
4. Resilience in supply chains depends on trust, transparency and integrity, which can be improved through responsible deployment of blockchain technologies that offer a “shared truth”, the WEF said.
5. It further said the current pandemic underscores the need for businesses and governments to improve the integrity and provenance of pharmaceutical products and medical supplies, as well as food, goods and industrial and consumer products.

PT UPDATES

What are Blockchains?

Blockchains are a new data structure that is secure, cryptography-based, and distributed across a network. The technology supports cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, and the transfer of any data or digital asset. Spearheaded by Bitcoin, blockchains achieve consensus among distributed nodes, allowing the transfer of digital goods without the need for centralized authorisation of transactions. The present blockchain ecosystem is like the early Internet, a permissionless innovation environment in which email, the World Wide Web, Napster, Skype, and Uber were built.

How it operates?

1. The technology allows transactions to be simultaneously anonymous and secure, peer-to-peer, instant and frictionless. It does this by distributing trust from powerful intermediaries to a large global network, which through mass collaboration, clever code and cryptography, enables a tamper-proof public ledger of every transaction that’s ever happened on the network.
2. A block is the “current” part of a blockchain which records some or all of the recent transactions, and once completed, goes into the blockchain as permanent database. Each time a block gets completed, a new block is generated. Blocks are linked to each other (like a chain) in proper linear, chronological order with every block containing a hash of the previous block.

Benefits of blockchain technology:

1. As a public ledger system, blockchain records and validate each and every transaction made, which makes it secure and reliable.
2. All the transactions made are authorized by miners, which makes the transactions immutable and prevent it from the threat of hacking.
3. Blockchain technology discards the need of any third-party or central authority for peer-to-peer transactions.
4. It allows decentralization of the technology.

No improvement in Ganga water quality

Part of: GS-III- Environment (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST)

The lockdown in the wake of coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak may have dramatically reduced air pollution across the country but it hasn’t significantly reduced pollution in the Ganga, according to a report by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

1. The dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration, a measure of the amount of free oxygen available in river systems, “rose marginally” from March 22-April 15. A high DO value is considered a good indicator of river health.
2. However, two other measures, BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) and COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) both indicators of the amount of oxygen necessary to break down organic and inorganic pollution showed “insignificant reductions”, the CPCB report notes. The lower these numbers are the better they indicate river health.

‘Marginal reduction’

1. “Reduction in BOD concentration has been less significant owing to continual discharge of untreated or inadequately treated sewage.
2. Further, there is gradual increase in BOD levels towards downstream stretches of the river, with the maximum values in West Bengal,” according to the CPCB report.
3. “Reduction in COD concentration has also been less significant. Few locations show increase in the COD values, while in remaining stations reduction in COD levels was not significant. This marginal reduction can be attributed due to stoppage of industrial activities.”
4. Domestic wastewater from 97 towns situated near river Ganga, and industrial effluents, are the main sources of water pollution in the river, with an estimated quantity of 3,500 MLD (Million Litres per Day) of sewage, out of which 1,100 MLD is treated and remaining 2,400 MLD gets discharged untreated.
5. Industrial effluent is estimated to be about 300 MLD, which is about 9% of total wastewater being discharged into the river every day.

Highest in U.P

The pollution in the river is highest in Uttar Pradesh. The bulk of the sewage treatment plants commissioned under Ganga are in Uttar Pradesh towns and though projects worth ?23,000 crore have been commissioned (across 11 Ganga basin States), a noticeable increase in the cleanliness of the river isn't yet apparent.

The CPCB, however, said that there was notable improvement in water quality in the Yamuna. “Analysis results indicate there is considerable improvement in the water quality of river Yamuna with respect to DO, BOD and COD when compared with pre-lockdown and lockdown period,” the CPCB notes. However, this was done basis an assessment at only three locations in Delhi and the gains were significantly due to reduced industrial activity.

Gearing up for floods during coronavirus pandemic

Part of: GS-III- Disaster management (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST)

The National Disaster Response Force is preparing to face the twin challenges in many States.
With the monsoon around the corner, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is preparing to face the twin challenge of coronavirus (COVID-19) and floods in different parts of the country. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast a normal monsoon, which is expected to hit Kerala on June 1.

Action plan

Over the past week, the NDRF has been working on an action plan to meet all possible exigencies. The top brass has been briefing the field formations on measures to be taken. The organisation has been in constant touch with the IMD and the local administration in the respective States.

Assam, which witnesses heavy rains and flash floods during monsoon, leading to several deaths and displacement of lakhs of people in the affected areas, had asked for monsoon pre-deployment of NDRF teams.
Low pressure

The NDRF has taken note of the latest IMD warning of the likely formation of a low-pressure area over the south Andaman Sea and the neighbourhood around April 30, which is likely to intensify into a depression during the subsequent 48 hours, triggering moderate and heavy to extreme rainfall in isolated areas.

Following the COVID-19 outbreak, NDRF teams in several States joined the local administration in implementing preventive measures and distributing essentials, including medical supplies. They also stepped in to alleviate the problems faced by thousands of stranded migrant labourers, particularly in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Polar vortex

• A polar vortex is a large area of low-pressure and cold air that surrounds both of Earth's poles.
• Polar vortexes always exist, but they typically weaken during the summer and strengthen in the winter.
• The polar vortex in the Arctic is typically weaker due to the presence of nearby land as well as mountain ranges that disturb the weather more so than its counterpart to the south.

Common Services Centre (CSC)

Part of: GS-II- Governance (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST)

Common Services Centre (CSC) programme is an initiative of the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY), Government of India. CSCs are the access points for delivery of various electronic services to villages in India, thereby contributing to a digitally and financially inclusive society.

CSCs are more than service delivery points in rural India. They are positioned as change agents, promoting rural entrepreneurship and building rural capacities and livelihoods. They are enablers of community participation and collective action for engendering social change through a bottom-up approach with key focus on the rural citizen.

CSC e-Governance Services India Limited is a Special Purpose Vehicle (CSC SPV) incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, to monitor the implementation of the Common Services Centers Scheme. It provides a centralized collaborative framework for delivery of services to citizens through CSCs, besides ensuring systemic viability and sustainability of the scheme.

Common Service Centres and Digital India

Digital India is a flagship programme of the Government of India with a vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.

CSCs enable the three vision areas of the Digital India programme:

1. Digital infrastructure as Utility to Every Citizen
2. Governance and services on demand
3. Digital empowerment of citizens

Partners

1. Village Level Entrepreneur (VLE) to provide service to the rural consumer in villages.
2. The agency designated by the State - State Designated Agency (SDA)—to facilitate implementation of the Scheme within the State.
3. Others include central ministries, their departments and other central agencies to offer various services to the citizens and partner banks (public and private sector) and regional rural banks to enable CSCs to become Banking Correspondent Agents / Customer Service Points to deliver various banking and financial services.

Services offered

The CSCs would provide high quality and cost-effective video, voice and data content and services, in the areas of e-governance, education, health, telemedicine, entertainment as well as other private services. A highlight of the CSCs is that it will offer web-enabled e-governance services in rural areas, including application forms, certificates, and utility payments such as electricity, telephone and water bills. In addition to the universe of G2C services, a wide variety of content and services that are offered are:

1. Agriculture Services (Agriculture, Horticulture, Sericulture, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, Veterinary)
2. Education & Training Services (School, College, Vocational Education, Employment, etc.)
3. Health Services (Telemedicine, Health Check-ups, Medicines)
4. Rural Banking & Insurance Services (Micro-credit, Loans, Insurance)
5. Entertainment Services (Movies, Television)
6. Utility Services (Bill Payments, Online bookings)
7. Commercial Services (DTP, Printing, Internet Browsing, Village level BPO).

CSC 2.0 Scheme

Under the Digital India programme, at least one CSC (preferably more than one) is envisaged in 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats for delivery of various electronic services to citizens across rural India. This would include strengthening and integrating the existing 100,000 CSCs under the CSC scheme and making operational an additional 1.5 lakh CSCs in Gram Panchayats.

CSC 2.0 is a service delivery oriented entrepreneurship model with a large bouquet of services made available for the citizens through optimum utilization of infrastructure already created in the form of SWAN, SSDG, e-District, SDC, and NOFN/BharatNet.

Objectives of CSC 2.0

• Non-discriminatory access to e-Services for rural citizens by making CSCs complete service delivery centres, utilizing the infrastructure already created in terms of other Mission Mode Projects.
• Expansion of self-sustaining CSC network till the Gram Panchayat level – 2.5 lakh CSCs, i.e. at least one CSC per Gram Panchayat, more than one preferred.
• Empowering District e-Governance Society (DeGS) under the district administration for implementation.
• Creating and strengthening the institutional framework for rollout and project management, thereby, supporting the State and District administrative machinery and handholding of VLEs through local language Help Desk support.
• Enablement and consolidation of online services under single technology platform, thereby making the service delivery at CSCs accountable, transparent, efficient and traceable, with a technology-driven relationship between all stakeholders.
• Providing Centralized Technological Platform for delivery of various services in a transparent manner to the citizens.
• Increasing sustainability of VLEs by sharing maximum commission earned through delivery of e-services and encouraging women to join as VLEs.

Participating in CSC scheme

Eligibility :

• Applicant should be a village youth above 18 years of age
• Applicant must have passed the 10th level examination from a recognized board as minimum level of educational qualification.
• Applicant should be fluent in reading and writing the local dialect and should also have basic knowledge of English language
• Prior Knowledge in basic computer skills would be advantage
• Applicant should be motivated enough to be the prime driver of social change and disperse his or her duties with utmost dedication
• Should have a valid VID (Virtual ID) and PAN

Infrastructure Required for CSC

• PC with a licensed operating system of Windows XP-SP2 or above
• At least 120 GB hard disc Drive
• At least 512 MB RAM
• CD/DVD Drive
• UPS with 4 hours battery back-up/portable generator set
• Printer/ Colour Printer and Scanner
• Web cam/digital camera
• Internet connection with at least 128 kbps speed for browsing & data uploading over internet.
• Biometric/ IRIS Authentication Scanner for banking services