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GS Paper: GS2

  • Hazardous ideas for the Himalayas

    By planning hydropower projects, India and China are placing the region at great risk.

    China’s new hydropower project

    • Recently China announced that it is planning to build a major hydropower project as a part of its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), on the YarlungZanbo River, in MĂȘdog County in Tibet.
    • The hydropower generation station is expected to provide 300 billion kWh of electricity annually.
    • The Chinese authorities say the project will help the country realize its goal of reaching a carbon emission peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060.

    Misadventures

    • Such ‘super’ dams projects are very unviable as they are being planned in an area that is geologically unstable.
    • There are two hydropower projects being built in Arunachal Pradesh on the tributaries of the Brahmaputra: the 600 MW Kameng project on the Bichom and Tenga Rivers and the 2,000 MW Subansiri Lower Hydroelectricity Project.
    • China has already completed 11 out of 55 projects that are planned for the Tibetan region. In this race, the two countries overestimate their economic potential and grossly underestimate the earthquake vulnerability of the region.
    • High seismic zones coincide with areas of high population concentration in the Himalayan region where landslides and glacial lake outburst floods are common.

    Practice Question:‘’Carbon neutrality should not be at the expense of the environment.” Elaborate with proper examples.

    Havocs created due to these earthquakes

    • About 15% of the great earthquakes of the 20th century (with a magnitude of more than 8) occurred in the Himalayan region.
    • The northeast Himalayan band has experienced several large earthquakes of magnitude 7 and above in the last 100 years, more than the share from other parts of the Himalayas.
    • The 1950 earthquake just south of the McMahon Line was of 6 magnitudes. It was the largest continental event ever recorded and devastated Tibet and Assam.
    • The earthquake killed thousands, and caused extensive landslides, widespread land level changes and gaping fissures. It resulted in water and mud oozing in the Himalayan ranges and the upper Assam valley.
    • The earthquake was felt over an extensive area comprising parts of India, Tibet, erstwhile East Pakistan and Myanmar.
    • The2015 Gorkha earthquake of magnitude 7.8 in central Nepal resulted in huge losses in the hydropower sector. Nepal lost about 20% of its hydropower capacity consequent to the earthquake.
    • About 30 projects with a capacity of 270 MW, mostly located along the steep river valleys, were damaged.

    What are the issues of high concern?

    • The main mechanisms that contributed to the vulnerability of hydropower projects were found to be landslides, which depend on the intensity of seismic ground shaking and slope gradients.
    • Heavy siltation from giant landslides expected in the project sites and headwater region from future earthquakes will severely reduce the water-holding capacity and life expectancy of such dams.
    • Even without earthquakes, the steep slopes made of soft rocks are bound to slide due to deforestation and road-building. These activities will get intensified as part of the dam-building initiatives.
    • Desilting of dams is not an economically viable proposition and is technologically challenging.

    A transnational asset under threat

    • The Himalayan range is a transnational mountain chain and is the chief driver of the Asian climate.
    • It is a source for numerous Asian river systems and glaciers which are now under the threat of degradation and retreat due to global warming; these river systems provide water for billions of people.
    • The ongoing low-level military confrontations between these two countries have led to demands for further infrastructural development on both sides, including all-weather roads, much to the peril of regional biodiversity and the livelihoods of the indigenous population.
    • The Himalayas have seen the highest rate of deforestation and land-use changes.

    Way Forward

    • There is a need for India and China to sit together to deliberate on the consequences of such misadventures in an area where massive earthquakes are bound to take place.
    • The upper Himalayas should be converted into a nature reserve by an international agreement.
    • The possibility of a Himalayan River Commission involving all the headwater and downstream countries needs to be explored.
    • There is a need to understand that – ‘’Carbon neutrality should not be at the expense of the environment’’.

  • Issues related to Nursing Sector in India

    The year 2020 has been designated as “International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife”.

    But the nursing education in India displays a grim situation. It suffers poor quality of training, inequitable distribution, and non-standardized practices.

    Nursing sector in India

    • Nurses and midwives will be central to achieving universal health coverage in India.
    • India’s nursing workforce is about two-thirds of its health workforce. Its ratio of 7 nurses per 1,000 population is 43% less than the World Health Organization norm; it needs 2.4 million nurses to meet the norm.
    • The sector is dogged by structural challenges that lead to poor quality of training, inequitable distribution, and non-standardized practices.

    Uneven regulation

    Nursing education in India has a wide array of certificate, diploma, and degree programmes for clinical and non-clinical nursing roles.

    • The Indian Nursing Council regulates nursing education through prescription, inspection, examination, and certification. 91% of the nursing education institutions are private and weakly regulated. The quality of training of nurses is diminished by the uneven and weak regulation.
    • The current nursing education is outdated and fails to cater to the practice needs. The education, including re-training, is not linked to the roles and their career progression in the nursing practice.
    • There are insufficient postgraduate courses to develop skills in specialities and address critical faculty shortages both in terms of quality and quantity.
    • These factors have led to gaps in skills and competencies, with no clear career trajectory for nurses.
    • Multiple entries point to the nursing courses and lack of integration of the diploma and degree courses diminish the quality of training.
    • A common entrance exam, a national licence exit exam for entry into practice, and periodic renewal of licence linked with continuing nursing education would significantly streamline and strengthen nursing education.
    • Transparent accreditation, benchmarking, and ranking of nursing institutions too would improve the quality.
    • The number of nursing education institutions has been increasing steadily but there are vast inequities in their distribution. Around 62% of them are situated in southern India.
    • There is little demand for postgraduate courses. Recognizing the need for speciality courses in clinical nursing 12 PG diploma courses were rolled out but the higher education qualification is not recognized by the recruiters.
    • The faculty positions vacant in nursing college and schools are around 86% and 80%, respectively.

    Gaps in education, services

    • There is a lack of job differentiation between diploma, graduate, and postgraduate nurses regarding their pay, parity, and promotion.
    • The higher qualifications are underutilized, leading to low demand for postgraduate courses.
    • Those with advanced degrees seek employment in educational institutions or migrate abroad which has led to an acute dearth of qualified nurses in the country.
    • Small private institutions with less than 50 beds recruit candidates without formal nursing education. They are offered courses of three to six months for non-clinical ancillary nursing roles and are paid very little.
    • The Indian Nursing Act primarily revolves around nursing education and does not provide any policy guidance about the roles and responsibilities of nurses in various cadres.
    • Nurses in India have no guidelines on the scope of their practice and have no prescribed standards of care and is a major reason for the low legitimacy of the nursing practice and the profession. This may endanger patient safety.
    • The Consumer Protection Act holds only the doctor and the hospital liable for medico-legal issues; nurses are out of the purview of the Act. This is contrary to the practices in developed countries where nurses are legally liable for errors in their work.

    Institutional reforms required

    1. The governance of nursing education and practice must be clarified and made current.
    2. The Indian Nursing Council Act of 1947must be amended to explicitly state clear norms for service and patient care, fix the nurse to patient ratio, staffing norms and salaries.
    3. The jurisdictions of the Indian Nursing Council and the State nursing councils must be explained and coordinated so that they are synergistic.
    4. Incentives to pursue advanced degrees to match their qualification, clear career paths, the opportunity for leadership roles, and improvements in the status of nursing as a profession should be done.
    5. A live registry of nurses, positions, and opportunities should be a top priority to tackle the demand-supply gap in this sector.
    6. The public-private partnership between private nursing schools/colleges and public health facilities is another strategy to enhance nursing education. NITI Aayog has recently formulated a framework to develop a model agreement for nursing education.
    7. The Government has also announced supporting such projects through a Viability Gap Funding.

    Practice Question:

    Q. Discuss the various issues related to nursing sector in India and measures to be taken to address them.

    A Bill that could spell hope

    • The disabling environment prevalent in the system has led to the low status of nurses in the hierarchy of health-care professionals. In fact, nursing has lost the appeal as a career option.
    • The National Nursing and Midwifery Commission Bill currently under consideration should hopefully address some of the issues highlighted.
    • These disruptions are more relevant than ever in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Matru Sahyogini Samitis Scheme

    The MP government has issued an order for the appointment of committees led by mothers to ensure better monitoring of services delivered at Anganwadi or day-care centres across the State.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Which of the following are the objectives of ‘National Nutrition Mission’?

    1. To create awareness relating to malnutrition among pregnant women and lactating mothers.
    2. To reduce the incidence of anaemia among young children, adolescent girls and women.
    3. To promote the consumption of millets, coarse cereals and unpolished rice.
    4. To promote the consumption of poultry eggs.

    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 1, 2 and 3 only

    (c) 1, 2 and 4 only

    (d) 3 and 4 only

    Matru Sahyogini Samitis

    • Called ‘Matru Sahyogini Samiti’ or Mothers’ Cooperation Committees, these will comprise 10 mothers at each Anganwadi centres.
    • They would be representing the concerns of different sets of beneficiaries under the Integrated Child Development Services, or National Nutrition Mission.
    • Beneficiaries’ would include children between six months to three years, children between three years and six years, adolescent girls and pregnant women and lactating mothers.
    • These mothers will keep a watch on weekly ration distribution to them as well as suggest nutritious and tasteful recipes for meals served to children at the centres.
    • The move is being taken as per the mandate of the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA).

    Its’ functioning

    • The committees will include mothers of beneficiary children as well as be represented by pregnant women and lactating mothers who are enrolled under the scheme.
    • The Anganwadi scheme includes a package of six services delivered at the centres, including supplementary nutrition, health services including vaccination, early education, among others.
    • The Committees will also include a woman panch, women active in the community and eager to volunteer their support to the scheme, teachers from the local school, and women heads of self-help groups (SHG).

    Why such a move?

    • This is in a move that is aimed at strengthening community response to the problem of hunger and malnutrition in the State.
    • With the help of mothers, we will be able to turn anganwadis into a community health system, a nutrition management centre, and spread awareness against social evils.
    • These will turn into a model for local governance as well as allow for greater engagement between communities and the State government.

    Back2Basics: Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)

    • The ICDS aims to provide food, preschool education, primary healthcare, immunization, health check-up and referral services to children under 6 years of age and their mothers.
    • The scheme was launched in 1975, discontinued in 1978 by the government of Morarji Desai, and then relaunched by the Tenth Five Year Plan.
    • The tenth FYP also linked ICDS to Anganwadi centres established mainly in rural areas and staffed with frontline workers.
    • The ICDS provide for anganwadis or day-care centres which deliver a package of six services including:
    1. Immunization
    2. Supplementary nutrition
    3. Health checkup
    4. Referral services
    5. Pre-school education (Non-Formal)
    6. Nutrition and Health information

    Implementation

    • For nutritional purposes, ICDS provides 500 kilocalories (with 12-15 grams of protein) every day to every child below 6 years of age.
    • For adolescent girls, it is up to 500-kilo calories with up to 25 grams of protein every day.
    • The services of Immunisation, Health Check-up and Referral Services delivered through Public Health Infrastructure under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

  • A four-point agenda for Indian banking in the post-covid world

    The article suggest 4 imperatives to the banks in India to emerge successful from pain inflicted by the pandemic.

    Impact of pandemic on banking industry

    • Unlike other shocks, covid is not a banking crisis; it is, instead, a crisis of the real economy.
    • Globally, the average return on equity (RoE) for banks could go below 1.5% in 2021 before recovering to the 2019 pre-crisis levels of 9% by 2024
    • This is effectively a loss of five years for the banking industry.
    • This will likely play out in two stages:
    • 1) Loan loss provisions over a period of 12-18 months.
    • 2) Followed by a period where banking revenue growth lags gross domestic product growth, or GDP.

    Important role played by banks in pandemic

    • India has entered this crisis well-capitalized.
    • Their provision coverage ratios improved to 65% in 2019-20, compared to 41% in 2016-17, and RoE (return on equity) has turned positive to 2.5% after two years of negative readings.
    • The banking system is playing a critical role in the economic recovery by supporting businesses and individuals.
    • New challenges, however, continue to emerge. These, if left unmitigated, will lead to severe losses in efficiencies gained.

    4 Imperative to tackle the emerging challenges to banking

    1) Need to increase productivity

    • Indian banks start at a materially higher cost-to-assets ratio of 2.2% versus 1.4% globally.
    • Regaining pre-covid RoE levels and negating higher risk costs and margin compression will, however, require that Indian banks improve productivity by over 30%.
    • The Indian banking sector lagged in efficiency improvements; other industrial peers have leveraged a combination of digital adoption and analytics, and strong governance.

    Suggestions for productivity transformation

    • The productivity transformation will comprise multiple agendas.
    • To start with, there will be a branch format and network re-configuration for custormers who has shifted to online mode.
    • To drive a permanent digital shift, banks will need to accelerate digital engagement via contact centre transformations.
    • In conjunction, there will be the equally important need to create minimum viable support functions (zero-based operations, demand management across human resources, finance, marketing).
    • And, finally, there will be the need to re-skill the workforce for digital operations.

    2) Pre-emptive risk management

    • The second imperative is pre-emptive risk management.
    • Banks must rapidly rewire their policies and analytical models such that they reflect fast- moving indicators of risk.
    • This means investing in self-serve channels, digital nudges and frictionless journeys across payments, settlements and recoveries.
    • The overall collections strategy will have to be underpinned by micro-segmentation, and also leverage analytical models to drive efficiency.

    3) Technology imperative

    • The third is the technology imperative that must scale with demand and analytical complexity.
    • Banks are required to handle high digital traffic and process enormous data sets, and regulators getting increasingly sensitive on downtimes.
    • This will requires modernizing core banking platforms, creating the data architecture that supports the analytics life-cycle, instituting modern engineering practices and moving towards automated infrastructure.

    4) Capital management

    • Banks with exposure to hard-hit sectors will face more of a challenge.
    • And existing risk models are unlikely to be tuned to the differentiated impact the pandemic has had on various sectors.
    • Risk teams will need to review critical models and add overlays to account for different credit risk in each sector.
    • Scenario planning, stress testing and balance sheet optimization will need to become core to planning and management decisions.

    Conclusion

    In its own way, the pandemic has given banks a glimpse into the art of the possible. Banks should take this opportunity to embed their newfound speed and agility, reinvent their business model, and collaborate with the communities they serve to recast their contract with society.

  • Demand for repeal of the law and importance of parliamentary scrutiny

    The article explains in detail the functioning of committees in the scrutiny of the Bills and underscores the importance of scrutiny of the Bills at the committee levels.

    Growing trend of bypassing the scrutiny at committee level

    • Data show that very few Bills are referred to the Parliamentary Committees now.
    • Ministers are generally reluctant to send their Bills to the committees because they are in a hurry to pass them.
    • They often request the Presiding Officers not to refer their Bills to the committees.
    • But the Presiding Officers are required to exercise their independent judgment in the matter and decide the issue.
    • They need to keep in mind the fact that the Bills which the government brings before the Houses often have serious shortcomings.

    Why scrutiny by the House committee matters

    • The demand for the repeal of the laws passed by Parliament only recently essentially points to a serious lapse in the management of the legislative work in Parliament.
    • Parliament has put in place a large machinery of committees to scrutinise the Bills which are brought before it by the government as a part of its legislative programme.
    • Rules of the Houses leave it to the Speaker or the Chairman to refer the Bills to the Standing Committees for a detailed scrutiny thereof.
    • After such scrutiny, the committees send their reports containing their recommendations on improvements to be made in the Bills to the Houses.
    • While undertaking such scrutiny, the committees invite various stakeholders to place their views before them.
    • Only after elaborate consultation do the committees formulate their views and recommendations.
    • Free India’s Parliament established a vast network of committees to undertake scrutiny of various aspects of governance including the Bills.
    • Prior to the formation of Standing Committees, the Indian Parliament used to appoint select committees, joint select committees, etc. for detailed scrutiny of important legislative proposals of the government.
    • With the formation of standing committees, the occasions for appointing select or joint select committees are few.

    Example of the Bills made better by suggestions of committe

    • The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Bill was introduced in 1999 in the Lok Sabha and was immediately referred to a joint committee of both Houses.
    • This Bill was meant to develop new varieties of plants and protect the rights of farmers and breeders.
    • The committee completed its work in eight months and made many improvements by way of bringing greater clarity into various terms and concepts.
    • The Seeds Bill, 2004 was referred to the Standing Committee on Agriculture which obtained the views from diverse sources.
    • Through the process of consultation with a wide range of experts and research organisations and farmers, the committee made significant improvements in the Bill; as a result, there was a better law on seeds.
    • It was the same case with the Companies (Amendment) Bill, the Information Technology Bill, and the Goods and Services Tax Bill.
    • The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill which was introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2011, which was referred to the Committee, was again referred to a Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha when it was transmitted to that House after being passed by the Lok Sabha.
    • Thus, this Bill underwent double security by two committees of Parliament.

    Conclusion

    Our Parliamentary Committees have a tradition of working in a non-party manner. The reports of these Committees are based on consensus. It may be a bit difficult for people to believe that the instrumentalities of Parliament could rise above parties. But that is how they function.

  • N.K. Singh calls for a fresh look at the Seventh Schedule

    Fifteenth Finance Commission chairman N.K. Singh has called for a fresh look at the Constitution’s Seventh Schedule, which forms the basis for allocating subjects to the Centre and States.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Which of the following provisions of the Constitution of India have a bearing on Education?

    1. Directive Principles of State Policy
    2. Rural and Urban Local Bodies
    3. Fifth Schedule
    4. Sixth Schedule
    5. Seventh Schedule

    Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 3, 4 and 5 only

    (c) 1, 2 and 5 only

    (d) 1, 2, 3 4 and 5

    Why such calls by Mr NKS?

    • Singh said these issues needed urgent consideration to reinforce trust in fiscal federalism.
    • He urged a review of both the Seventh Schedule and Article 282 of the Constitution so as to give more flexibility to States in implementing centrally sponsored schemes.
    • Many have argued that the trust between various forms of government is waning.
    • Since the farmers’ agitation, these are seen through the prism of suspicion and mistrust.

    Q. The federal organisation of powers under the Constitution’s Seventh Schedule needs review. In light of this, examine the problems faced by the distribution and suggest the challenge the review would face.

    What is the Seventh Schedule?

    • This Schedule of the Indian Constitution deals with the division of powers between the Union government and State governments.
    • It defines and specifies the allocation of powers and functions between Union & States. It contains three lists; i.e. 1) Union List, 2) State List and 3) Concurrent List.

    The Union List

    • It is a list of 98 (Originally 97) numbered items as provided in the Seventh Schedule.
    • The Union Government or Parliament of India has exclusive power to legislate on matters relating to these items.

    The State List

    • It is a list of 59 (Originally 66) items.
    • The respective state governments have exclusive power to legislate on matters relating to these items.

    The Concurrent List

    • There are 52 (Originally 47) items currently in the list.
    • This includes items which are under the joint domain of the Union as well as the respective States.

  • Digital Voter ID Card and its benefits

    The Election Commission (EC) is keen to make the Elector’s Photo Identity Card or EPIC available in electronic form.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Regarding DigiLocker, sometimes seen in the news, which of the following statements is/are correct?

    1. It is a digital locker system offered by the Government under Digital India Programme.
    2. It allows you to access your e-documents irrespective of your physical location.

    Select the correct answer using the code given below.

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) Both 1 and 2

    (d) Neither 1 nor 2

    Digital Voter ID Card

    • The digital voter card is not expected to look too different from its physical form.
    • It will be available as a PDF file and can be downloaded on one’s phone or computer.
    • The soft copy may also have a QR code that will carry the voter’s enrolment details such as name and date of birth and address.
    • This is still just a proposal and needs to be approved by the Election Commission.

    How to avail it?

    • To avail this facility, an eligible voter will have to provide her mobile number or email address to the EC machinery at the time of applying for enrolment in the voters’ list.
    • Once her name is included in the electoral roll, she will be intimated through an SMS or email.
    • The new voter can then download the Voter Card through OTP (One Time Password) authentication.
    • Existing voters may have to re-verify their details with the EC (similar to the Bank KYC process) and provide their email or mobile phone number to get their cards in the electronic form.

    Benefits offered

    • An electronic card will help the EC save costs on printing and distributing a hard copy of EPIC.
    • The EC feels that voters too will find it useful to have the PDF file of her voter card on her phone.
    • This will do away with the necessity of first producing a voter’s slip on the day of voting.

  • Morocco to normalize ties with Israel

    Morocco has become the fourth Arab nation this year to recognise Israel after interventions by the US.

    Must read:

    Israel and Morocco

    • After the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan, Morocco is the fourth Arab State since August to commit to establishing diplomatic relations with the Jewish State.
    • Morocco and Israel had respectively maintained liaison offices in Tel Aviv and Rabat in the 1990s, before closing them in 2000.
    • Israeli PM Netanyahu anticipated direct flights between the two countries soon.
    • Palestinian officials condemned the agreement, saying it encouraged Israel’s denial of their rights.

    For the sake of Western Sahara

    • The White House said the US would recognise Morocco’s claim over Western Sahara as part of the deal with Israel.
    • The US recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the entire Western Sahara territory.
    • A former Spanish colony, it was annexed by Morocco in 1975.
    • Since then it has been the subject of a long-running territorial dispute between Morocco and its indigenous Saharawi people.
    • Morocco says it has always been part of its territory, while the African Union recognizes it as an independent state.
    • A 16-year-long insurgency ended with an UN-brokered truce in 1991 and the promise of a referendum on independence, which has yet to take place.

    Ground realities

    • The latest move by the Trump administration will not necessarily have an immediate impact on the ground because the dispute is seen as greater than the whims of the American president.
    • However, Trump’s backing of Morocco’s claim to sovereignty over Western Sahara is a big deal because it diminishes the hope of a people who have aspired for the independence of that territory for decades.
    • The UN is still mandated to oversee a referendum for the independence of Western Sahara – although this hasn’t materialized since 1991.

    Why Arab countries are normalizing their ties with Israel?

    • Economics: The Gulf States see opportunities for trade and more. The deal helps the ambitious gulf, who has built themselves into military power as well as a place to do business.
    • Common enemy: The UAE has used its already well-equipped armed forces in Libya and Yemen. But its most serious potential enemy is Iran, just on the other side of the Gulf.
    • For the Iron wall: Normalizing its relations with gulf is a genuine achievement for the Israelis who is a believer in the strategy first described in the 1920s of an “Iron Wall” between the Jewish state and the Arabs.

  • What is Shakti Act?

    In a bid to curb crimes against woman and children in Maharashtra, the state cabinet unveiled the ‘Shakti Act.’ The Act is modelled on the lines of Andhra Pradesh’s Disha Act, which was brought last year after a veterinarian was raped and murdered in Hyderabad.

    Why have stringent laws have consistently failed to instill any fear in rapists?

    Shakti Act: Key Provisions

    • It proposes stringent punishment including the death penalty and heavy fines for the culprits.
    • Special police teams and separate courts will be set up for investigation and trial of cases against women and children.
    • The perpetrators if found guilty will be punished with imprisonment for life for not less than ten years but may extend to the remainder of natural life or with death in cases which have characteristics of being heinous in nature.
    • A sum of Rs 10 lakh will be given to an acid attack victim for plastic surgery and facial reconstruction and the amount will be collected as fine from the convict.
    • The investigation shall be completed within a period of 15 working days from the date of registration of an offence. This can be extended by 7 days.
    • After a charge sheet is filed trial shall be conducted on a day-to-day basis and completed within a period of 30 working days.
    • Some cases will be tried in-camera for the recording of evidence of victims and witnesses who are vulnerable.

    Enforcement, not the law

    • Despite several laws, incidences of rapes continue unabated.
    • In fact, now we hear cases of extreme brutality.
    • The general perception is that since the laws have been made more stringent, so the rapists resort to extreme measures in a bid to destroy the evidence.
    • One thing is very clear, Laws alone cannot provide a solution to this problem.

    What should be done?

    • Law provides for speedy investigations and fast track of trials in rape cases.
    • What we need is better policing, making public spaces safer for women, ensuring round the clock surveillance of isolated areas and deployment of police at all strategic points.
    • Prevention and not punishment is the solution and that requires concerted efforts on part of all the stakeholders.
    • It is not harsher punishments that will deter. It is the fear of being caught and not being spared.
    • The message should go out loud and clear that no one is above the dignity and safety of women in our country.

  • UN Population Award for 2020

    HelpAge India has been presented the UN Population Award for 2020 (institutional category), according to a release issued by UNFPA.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.The Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE), a UN mechanism to assist countries transition towards a greener and more inclusive economies, emerged at:

    (a) The Earth Summit on Sustainable Development 2002, Johannesburg

    (b) The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development 2012, Rio de Janeiro

    (c) The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 2015, Paris

    (d) The World Sustainable Development Summit 2016, New Delhi

    UN Population Award

    • Each year, the Committee for the UNPA honours an individual and/or institution in recognition of outstanding contributions to population and reproductive health questions and to their solutions.
    • The Award was established by the General Assembly in 1981, in resolution 36/201, and was first presented in 1983. It consists of a gold medal, a diploma and a monetary prize.
    • The Committee for the Award is comprised of 10 UN Member States, with UN Secretary-General and UNFPA Executive Director serving as ex-officio members.
    • Nominations for the award are accepted through 31 December of each year.

    Whats’ so special this year?

    • For the first time in the history of the UNPA, the honour is being conferred on an Indian institution.
    • HelpAge India, which has been working for ‘the cause and care of disadvantaged older persons to improve their quality of life’ for over four decades, is the first Indian institution to receive this award.
    • The last time the Award came to an Indian was 28 years ago, back in 1992, when it was awarded to Mr J.R.D. Tata as an individual laureate.