Archives: News

Wildlife Conservation Efforts

Species in news: Great Indian Bustards

Prelims Only | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia
The recent sighting of three Great Indian Bustards (GIBs) deep in Pakistan’s Cholistan desert has given rise to speculation that the endangered birds might have flown across the international border from India.

Great Indian Bustards
- GIBs are the largest among the four bustard species found in India, the other three being MacQueen’s bustard, lesser florican, and the Bengal florican.
- GIBs’ historic range included much of the Indian sub-continent but it has now shrunken to just 10 percent of it. Among the heaviest birds with flight, GIBs prefer grasslands as their habitats.
- GIBs are considered the flagship bird species of grassland.
Protection accorded
- Birdlife International: uplisted from Endangered to Critically Endangered (2011)
- Protection under CITES: Appendix I
- IUCN status: Critically Endangered
- Protection under Wildlife (Protection) Act: Schedule I
Threats
- Overhead power transmission: This has resulted in the electrocution of the bustards.
- Poor vision: Due to their poor frontal vision, can’t detect powerlines in time and their weight makes in-flight quick maneuvers difficult.
- Windmills: Coincidentally, Kutch and Thar desert are the places that have witnessed the creation of huge renewable energy infrastructure.
- Noise pollution: Noise affects the mating and courtship practices of the GIB.
- Changes in the landscape: by way of farmers cultivating their land, which otherwise used to remain fallow due to frequent droughts in Kutch.
- Cultivation changes: Cultivation of cotton and wheat instead of pulses and fodder are also cited as reasons for falling GIB numbers.
Try this PYQ:

Q.Consider the following pairs:

Protected Area: Well-known for
1. Bhitarkanika, Odisha — Salt Water Crocodile
2. Desert National Park, Rajasthan — Great Indian Bustard
3. Eravikulam, Kerala — Hoolock Gibbon
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched? (CSP 2014)

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2

(c) 2 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Post your answers here.
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Health Sector – UHC, National Health Policy, Family Planning, Health Insurance, etc.

Physical Inactivity, Neglected Burden on Economy

op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education
Context
- Global status report on physical activity is WHO’s first dedicated global assessment of global progress on country implementation of policy recommendations of the Global Action Plan on Physical Activity (GAPPA) 2018-2030.
What are the findings of the report?
- Poor physical activity standards: Over 80 per cent adolescents and 27 per cent adults do not meet the physical activity standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO), according to a new report.
- developing non-communicable diseases: This will lead to 500 million additional people developing non-communicable diseases from 2020-2030 and cost the global economy $27 billion annually, it added.
How physical Inactivity impacts health and Economy?
- Changing lifestyles: Sedentary lifestyle of a large share of the global population has been linked to rising prevalence of heart diseases, obesity, diabetes or other noncommunicable diseases.
- Increasing Hypertension and depression: Of the 500 million new cases projected, nearly half will be attributed to hypertension and 43 per cent to depression, the authors of the report said.
- A strain on the health systems: The report quantified the economic burden of not being able to meet the GAPPA target. The sharp rise in non-communicable diseases will also put a strain on the health systems in every country.
- Rising cost of treatment: If the current prevalence of physical inactivity doesn’t change, the world will incur treatment costs of just over $300 billion till 2030, the report mentioned.
- 70 per cent of health-care expenditure: The largest economic cost is set to occur among high-income countries, according to the analysis. This will account for 70 per cent of health-care expenditure on treating illness resulting from physical inactivity, it showed. Around 75 per cent of the cases will occur in low- and middle-income countries, it added.
What are the government efforts to address the physical inactivity menace?
- National physical activity policy: Less than half the countries in the world have any national physical activity policy, showed the analysis of 194 countries by WHO published October 19, 2022.
- National policies are in operation: Less than 40 per cent of the existing national policies are in operation, the United Nations health agency noted in the Global status report on physical activity 2022.
- Monitor physical activity among adolescents: As many as 75 per cent of countries monitor physical activity among adolescents, and less than 30 per cent monitor physical activity in children under 5 years.
- Addressing lack of public Infrastructure: The report highlighted that data regarding progress on certain policy actions is missing. These include provision of public open space, provision of walking and cycling infrastructure, provision of sport and physical education in schools.
- National physical activity guidelines: only 30 per cent of countries have national physical activity guidelines for all age groups, according to the findings of the report.
What are the Recommendations of WHO?
- Exercise benefits mental and physical health: Light exercise and even walking has proven benefits for mental and physical health, studies have shown.
- Infrastructural changes by governments: Citizens cannot make healthier lifestyle choices without infrastructural changes by governments such as safe walking and cycling lanes. “In policy areas that could encourage active and sustainable transport, only just over 40% of countries have road design standards that make walking and cycling safer,” the WHO analysts found.
- Five ways to address the policy gaps:
1. Strengthen whole-of-government ownership and political leadership
2. Integrate physical activity into relevant policies and support policy implementation with practical tools and guidance
3. Strengthen partnerships, engage communities and build capacity in people
4. Reinforce data systems, monitoring, and knowledge translation
5. Secure sustainable funding and align with national policy commitments
- Four areas of policy intervention:
1. Active societies,
2. active environments,
3. active people and
4. active systems.
Government of India’s efforts to promote physical activity
- FIT India Movement: FIT INDIA Movement was launched on 29th August 2019 by Honorable Prime Minister with a view to make fitness an integral part of our daily lives. The mission of the Movement is to bring about behavioral changes and move towards a more physically active lifestyle.
- Objectives of Fit India: Fit India proposes to undertake various initiatives and conduct events to achieve the following objectives:
1. To promote fitness as easy, fun and free.
2. To spread awareness on fitness and various physical activities that promote fitness through focused campaigns.
3. To encourage indigenous sports.
4. To make fitness reach every school, college/university, panchayat/village, etc.
5. To create a platform for citizens of India to share information, drive awareness and encourage sharing of personal fitness stories.
Conclusion
- Physical inactivity is silent poison, killing the future of the citizens. Work from home, remote working has increased the physical inactivity among the working populations. Indoor games, mobile addictions, e-learning have reduced the physical activity of children. It’s a collective responsibility of parents, society and government to promote and encourage the physical activity among citizens.
Mains Question Q.

What are the ill effects of physical inactivity on health and economy? What are the policies of government India to promote healthy life style?

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Wildlife Conservation Efforts

Efforts for Vulture Conservation

op-ed snap | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia
Context
- The Tamil Nadu government formed a committee to set up an institutional framework for the effective conservation of vultures. The State is home to four species of vultures the white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis), long-billed vultures (Gyps indicus), the Asian king vulture (Sarcogyps calvus) and the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus).
Are the vulture population decreasing?
- Absolute numbers are low: While the population of the vultures in the Nilgiris, Erode and Coimbatore districts has remained largely stable, experts state that the numbers are still extremely low, and that even a single poisoning event could lead to several of the species going locally extinct, especially the long-billed and Asian king vulture.
- Fewer hatchings of vultures: Over the last few years, breeding seasons have also seen fewer hatchings than is the norm, with experts attributing the cause to lesser availability of prey as well as erratic weather.
The status of Vultures in Tamilnadu
- Sighting of vultures in Nilgiris, erode and Coimbatore: While there have been reported sightings of vultures in other districts including Dharmapuri; essentially the Nilgiris, Erode and Coimbatore districts are believed to form one of the largest contiguous expanses where vultures are spotted.
- In the Tiger reserves and forest areas: Home to the nesting sites of three of the four species of vultures seen in the State, the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, parts of the Nilgiris forest division and the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve are crucial strongholds for the vultures in southern India.
- Sighting of Himalayan griffon vulture: Occasional migrants such as the Himalayan griffon vulture and the Cinerous vulture are also spotted each year.
- Larger population of vultures in the South of Vindhiya mountain range: Tamil Nadu boasts the largest population of vultures south of the Vindhiya Mountain Range. In the Nilgiris, researchers and forest department officials estimate that there are between 100 and 120 white-rumped vultures, 10 and 15 long-billed vultures and less than 10 Asian king vultures.
- Spotted at Sigur plateau: Though Egyptian vultures are spotted in the Sigur plateau, encompassing the Nilgiris and Erode districts, they are not believed to use the landscape to breed, while researchers still remain unsuccessful in tracing the breeding sites of the critically endangered Asian king vulture.
Role of vultures in the Ecosystem
- As scavengers: vultures help prevent the spread of many diseases and can remove toxins from entering the environment by consuming carcasses of dead cattle/wildlife before they decompose.
What are the Threats to the Vulture population?
- Temple Tourism and increased activities around the temple: There are multiple. For one, temple tourism in the Sigur plateau is centered primarily around vulture habitats, such as Siriyur, Anaikatty and Bokkapuram. Over the last few years, there have been recorded instances of vultures abandoning nesting sites located too close to temples inside these reserves, with activists calling for strict controls on the amount of people allowed to attend these festivals.
- Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs): Experts also agree that the use of some Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) to treat cattle, such as diclofenac, nimesulide, ketoprofen among others, has led to the crash in vulture populations across India.
- Spread of invasive weeds: Another threat is the spread of invasive weeds such as the Lantana camara in vulture landscapes, which hinder the birds from scavenging as their large wingspans require plenty of open area to safely land and to take to the skies in case of any major threats.
- Vulnerable to even natural drugs: Unfortunately, their tolerance for harmful substances does not extend to manmade drugs.
- Climate change and forest fires: Finally, due to the illegal tapping of water along the streams running through these areas, possible climate change, and forest fires, the Terminalia arjuna trees, that many vultures use as nesting sites are disappearing.
Steps taken to protect the vultures
- Banning the harmful drugs: The State government has banned the use of diclofenac, a drug, to treat cattle, while there are strict restrictions for the sale of other NSAIDs in the Nilgiris, Erode and Coimbatore districts.
- Vulture census: Additionally, as the vultures in the Sigur plateau utilize landscapes in neighboring Karnataka and Kerala, experts have called for a synchronous vulture census to accurately identify vulture populations and nesting sites.
Conclusion
- Only through a multipronged approach of increasing the amount of food available to the birds and managing invasive species can vulture numbers start rebounding.
Mains Question

Q. What important role does vulture plays in ecosystem? What are the efforts taken by central government for conservation of vultures in India?

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Climate Change Impact on India and World – International Reports, Key Observations, etc.

PM launches Mission LiFE

| Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Important Geophysical Phenomena
Prime Minister, in the presence of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, launched ‘Mission LiFE’ (Lifestyle For Environment).

What is Mission LiFE?
- NITI Aayog has conceptualized the idea of mission LiFE.
- It states that the aim of the mission is to follow a three-pronged strategy for changing our collective approach toward sustainability.
- PM elaborated that Mission LiFE emboldens the spirit of the P3 model i.e. Pro Planet People.
- The approach of LiFe campaign includes:
1. Focus on individual behaviours: To make life a mass movement (Jan Andolan).
2. Co-create globally: Crowdsourcing empirical and scalable ideas
3. Leverage Local Cultures: Leverage climate-friendly social norms and beliefs of different cultures worldwide to drive the campaign
Understanding Sustainable living
- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the global authority that sets environmental agenda and promotes the implementation of environmental dimension of sustainable development.
- UNEP says that as the population of the world is increasing the demand for food, fashion, travel, housing, etc also increases.
- Hence, a sustainable living approach is necessary to make a balance between the needs of the present generation with that of the future.
- Sustainable living means acknowledging day-to-day life choices and reflecting if there can be alternatives that may impact the environment less.
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Forest Conservation Efforts – NFP, Western Ghats, etc.

Forest Conservation Rules infringe upon Land Rights of Tribals: NCST

| Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia
The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) has asked the Centre to put the new Forest Conservation Rules, 2022, on hold.

What are the Forest Conservation Rules?
- The Forest Conservation Rules deal with the implementation of the Forest Conservation Act (FCA), 1980.
- They prescribe the procedure to be followed for forest land to be diverted for non-forestry uses such as road construction, highway development, railway lines, and mining.
- The broad aims of the FCA are:
1. To protect forest and wildlife
2. Put brakes on State governments’ attempts to hive off forest land for commercial projects and
3. Striving to increase the area under forests
How does it work?
- For forest land beyond five hectares, approval for diverting land must be given by the Central government.
- This is via a specially constituted committee, called the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC).
- The FAC approval also means that the future users of the land must provide compensatory land for afforestation as well as pay the net present value (ranging between ₹10-15 lakh per hectare.)
What do the updated rules say?
- The new rules aims to streamline the process of approvals.
- The rules make a provision for private parties to cultivate plantations and sell them as land to companies who need to meet compensatory forestation targets.
- This aims to help increase forest cover as well as solve the problems of the States of not finding land within their jurisdiction for compensatory purposes.
Why in news now?
- The point of contention flagged by NCST is- the new rules has no word for what happens to tribals and forest-dwelling communities whose land would be hived off for developmental work.
- Prior to the updated rules, state bodies would forward documents to the FAC that would also include information on the status of whether the forest rights of locals in the area were settled.
Back2Basics: National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST)
- National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) is an Indian constitutional body that was established through Constitution (89th Amendment) Act, 2003.
- It functions under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
- The original constitution provided for the appointment of a Special Officer under Article 338.
- The special officer was designated as the Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
- The 65th Constitutional Amendment Act 1990, amended Article 338 of the Constitution to introduce a joint NC for SCs and STs.
- Later by 89th Amendment, NC for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) and NC for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) were separated by creating a new Article 338-A.
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Tax Reforms

What are Gift Taxes?

Prelims Only | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Effects Of Liberalization On The Economy, Changes In Industrial Policy and their effects on Industrial Growth
The Supreme Court recently ruled that shares within the lock-in period are not ‘quoted shares’, and thus they need to be valued as ‘unquoted shares’ to determine the gift tax liability.

What are quoted and unquoted shares?
- According to the Wealth Tax Act, ‘quoted share’ in relation to an equity share or a preference share means a share quoted on any recognised stock exchange with regularity from time to time.
- The quotations of such shares are based on current transactions made in the ordinary course of business.
- An ‘unquoted share’ is simply a share that is not a quoted share.
- So according to the SC order, if the locked-in shares of the promoter falls in the ‘unquoted share’ category, their price treatment can’t be that of the ‘quoted shares’, and so gift tax will not be applicable.
What are Gift Taxes?
- Gift tax is a provision introduced by the Parliament of India in 1958.
- It was introduced to impose tax on giving and receiving gifts under certain circumstances which is specified under the act.
- These gifts can be in any form including cash, jewellery, property, shares, vehicle, etc.
Gift Tax on Transfers
- The gift tax is also applicable on certain transfers that is not considered as a gift.
- The transfer of existing movable or immovable property in money or money’s worth qualifies for gift tax.
Certain exemptions
- Though gift tax is applicable on gifts whose value exceeds Rs.50,000, the gift is exempted from tax if it was given by a relative.
- The income tax rule specifies who can be considered as a relative and the list is mentioned below.
1. Parent
2. Spouse
3. Siblings
4. Spouse’s siblings
5. Lineal descendants
6. Lineal descendants of the spouse
Listed below are other situations in which the gift will be exempted from tax.
1. Gifts received during weddings are usually exempted from tax.
2. Gifts received as part of inheritance is exempted from tax.
3. Cash or rewards received by local authorities or educational institutions on the basis of merit is exempted from tax.
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Innovations in Sciences, IT, Computers, Robotics and Nanotechnology

What is Web 3.0?

Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields
India has a rapidly-growing Web3 ecosystem with more than 450 active start-ups in the space that raised $1.3 billion in funding till April 2022.

What is Web 3.0?
- Web3 help users interact with decentralized applications built on blockchain technology.
- Web3 technologies like distributed ledgers, artificial intelligence, Metaverse and others aim to create the next-generation internet, which is accessible to everyone and offers benefits.
- Web2 is what we know and use today.
Why need Web 3?
- Centralization has helped onboard billions of people to the World Wide Web (www) and created the stable, robust internet infrastructure.
- At the same time, a handful of centralized entities have a stronghold on large swathes of the World Wide Web.
- They unilaterally decide what should and should not be allowed over Internet.
Key features of a Web3
- Immutable ecosystem, i.e., trust that people will download the digital product just as the original creator intended.
- Enhanced transparency and security,
- Quicker browsing performance,
- Complete user anonymity and confidentiality,
- Integrating cryptocurrency wallets with multiple blockchains,
- Complete control over the content due to decentralization.
Evolution of (world-wide) web
- The Web most of us know today is quite different from originally imagined.
- To understand this better, it’s helpful to break the Web’s short history into loose periods—Web 1.0 and Web 2.0.
(1) Web 1.0: Read-Only (1990-2004)
- The first inception of ‘Web 1.0’, occurred roughly between 1990 to 2004.
- It was mainly static websites owned by companies, and there was close to zero interaction between users – individuals seldom produced content – leading to it being known as the read-only web.
(2) Web 2.0: Read-Write (2004-now)
- The Web 2.0 period began in 2004 with the emergence of social media platforms.
- Instead of a read-only, the web evolved to be read-write.
- Instead of companies providing content to users, they also began to provide platforms to share user-generated content and engage in user-to-user interactions.
- As more people came online, a handful of top companies began to control a disproportionate amount of the traffic and value generated on the web.
- Web 2.0 also birthed the advertising-driven revenue model.
- While users could create content, they didn’t own it or benefit from its monetization.
How is Web3 prospected to be?
- The premise of ‘Web 3.0’ was coined by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood shortly after Ethereum launched in 2014.
- Gavin put into words a solution for a problem that many early crypto adopters felt: the Web required too much trust.
- That is, most of the Web that people know and use today relies on trusting a handful of private companies to act in the public’s best interests.
Core ideas of Web3

Although it’s challenging to provide a rigid definition of what Web3 is, a few core principles guide its creation.
- Web3 is decentralized: instead of large swathes of the internet controlled and owned by centralized entities, ownership gets distributed amongst its builders and users.
- Web3 is permission-less: everyone has equal access to participate in Web3, and no one gets excluded.
- Web3 has native payments: it uses cryptocurrency for spending and sending money online instead of relying on the outdated infrastructure of banks and payment processors.
- Web3 is secure: It operates using incentives and economic mechanisms instead of relying on trusted third-parties.
Why is Web3 important?
- Ownership: Web3 gives you ownership of your digital assets in an unprecedented way. Web3 allows for direct ownership through non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
- Censorship resistance: The power dynamic between platforms and content creators is massively imbalanced.
- Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs): As well as owning your data in Web3, you can own the platform as a collective, using tokens that act like shares in a company.
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Industrial Sector Updates – Industrial Policy, Ease of Doing Business, etc.

Competition panel penalizes Google

Prelims Only | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Effects Of Liberalization On The Economy, Changes In Industrial Policy and their effects on Industrial Growth
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a ₹1,337.76-crore penalty on Google for abusing its dominant position in multiple markets in the Android mobile device ecosystem.

What did Google do?
- Google had abused its dominance in the licensing of its operating system for smart mobile devices, app store market for Android smart mobiles among others.
- The CCI examined various practices of Google with respect to its licensing and various proprietary mobile applications, including Play Store, Google Search, Google Chrome, YouTube, etc.
About Competition Commission of India
- CCI is the competition regulator in India.
- It is a statutory body responsible for enforcing The Competition Act, 2002 and promoting competition throughout India and preventing activities that have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India.
- It was established on 14 October 2003. It became fully functional in May 2009.
Its establishment
- A need was felt to promote competition and private enterprise especially in the light of 1991 Indian economic liberalization.
- The idea of CCI was conceived and introduced in the form of The Competition Act, 2002 by the Vajpayee government.
- The Competition Act, 2002, as amended by the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2007, follows the philosophy of modern competition laws.
- The Act prohibits anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position by enterprises, and regulates combinations (acquisition, acquiring of control, and Merger and acquisition), which causes or likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition within India.
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Electoral Reforms In India

Election Commission can not breach Fundamental Rights

op-ed snap | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Constitutional Bodies,Representation Of People’s Act
Context
- Preparations are going on in full swing for the upcoming Assembly elections in Gujarat. Election Commission had signed MoUs with over 1,000 corporate houses undertaking to monitor electoral participation of their workforce and publish on their websites and notice boards those who do not vote.
Background
- In June, the EC had asked central and state government departments, public sector units and corporate entities with over 500 employees to appoint nodal officers to identify employees who take leave on polling day but do not vote, The Indian Express reported.
- The Chief Electoral Officer of Gujarat has said that the employees of state public sector units and government departments who don’t vote will also be tracked.
- The report also mentioned that on a recent visit to Gujarat, the CEC himself had said that though the commission cannot enforce compulsory voting, it “wanted to identify workers in big industries who don’t vote despite availing the holiday”.
All you need to know about Election Commission of India
- The ECI is a constitutional authority whose responsibilities and powers are prescribed in the Constitution of India under Article 324.
- In the performance of its functions, the Election Commission is insulated from executive interference.
- It is the Commission that decides the election schedules for the conduct of elections, whether general elections or by-elections.
- ECI decides on the location of polling stations, assignment of voters to the polling stations, location of counting centers, arrangements to be made in and around polling stations and counting centers and all allied matters.
Importance of Election Commission of India
- Conduction of Election: The ECI has been successfully conducting national as well as state elections since 1952.
- Electoral participation: In recent years, however, the Commission has started to play a more active role to ensure greater participation of people.
- Discipline of political parties: It had gone to the extent of disciplining the political parties with a threat of derecognizing if the parties failed in maintaining inner-party democracy.
- Upholds federalism: It upholds the values enshrined in the Constitution viz, equality,
  equity, impartiality, independence; and rule of law in superintendence, direction, and control over electoral governance.
- Free and fair elections: It conducts elections with the highest standard of credibility, freeness, fairness, transparency, integrity, accountability, autonomy and professionalism.
What is the criticism over the EC’s move to track who do not vote?
- Unethical and against the democracy: Any coercion particularly coercion of the kind being proposed by the EC in this case betrays an authoritarian approach that is not only antithetical to democracy but is directly violative of the Constitution and the laws of the land.
- Against the freedom of Expression: Constitution provides a fundamental right of freedom of expression. (Article 19). It is individual’s choice to cast their Right to vote or not to vote.
- Revealing Identity would be violative of Article 14: Protection of elector’s identity and affording secrecy is therefore integral to free and fair elections and an arbitrary distinction between a voter who casts and a voter who does not cast his vote is violative of Article 14. Thus, secrecy is to be maintained for both categories of persons.” the list of non-voters be put up on a company’s notice board or website? It will clearly be contempt of court.
- Supreme Court’s judgement on NOTA and mandatory voting: The Supreme Court, in PUCL vs Union of India, 2013, (popularly known as the NOTA judgment) has held that abstention from voting and negative voting are protected as freedom of expression a fundamental right. Earlier, in April 2009, the Court had taken the same view while dismissing a plea that sought to make voting mandatory on grounds of governments not representing the majority because of low turnouts.
- No of circumstances that one can’t vote on the day: In every election, there will be those who do not vote out of conviction or for ideological reasons. More importantly, there are millions of daily wage workers, and many homeless and ill.
What are the legal and constitutional provisions for a citizen?
- Section 79 D of RPA Act: Section 79 of the Representation of People Act, 1951 defines “electoral right” to mean the right of a person to vote or refrain from vote at an election”. The law completely enables, but does not force, citizens to vote. The same provision exists in the Indian Penal Code, vide Section 171A (b).
- Section135B of the RPA Act: Section135B of the Representation of People Act, 1951, grants a paid holiday to every person employed in any business, trade, industrial undertaking or any other establishment.
- A compulsory paid Holiday: Even a daily wage worker shall be paid for the day.The only exception is essential services Contravention of the law carries a fine for the employer which may extend to Rs 500, which was fixed over 25 years ago.
Rulings of the supreme court on the matter of voting rights
- Free and fair election is a basic structure: In PUCL vs Union of India, the Court said: “free and fair election is a basic structure of the Constitution and necessarily includes within its ambit the right of an elector to cast his vote without fear of reprisal, duress or coercion.
What does the Election Commission say over this new development?
- Clarification by Chief Electoral Officer of Gujarat: MoU’s are signed in the form of appeal for increasing registration and voter turnout, establish voter awareness forum in their organizations.
- To track electoral participation: Election Commission said that it will help to track electoral participation of their workforce.
- Less voting percentage: Out of seven least voting percentage districts during 2019 general elections, four were metropolitan cities. Voting percentage in urban areas is generally less, pulling down the overall voting percentage.
- Purpose is to educate voters: CEC clarified MoU’s are only for voter education and facilitation and not for compelling them to vote.
How to address the issue of less participation of voters?
- Systematic voter education programme: The noble objective of enhanced voter participation can be best achieved through systematic voter education, amply demonstrated by the ECI in elections in all the states and Union territories since 2010 when a voter education division was set up. This soon evolved into its SVEEP programme. This has led to all elections ever since seeing the highest-ever turnouts.
- Through Motivation and facilitation: The EC’s consistent efforts should be towards motivation and facilitation, rather than compulsion, are the best ways to address the issue.
- The voter education programme: The voter education programme has sought to motivate the youth to participate in democracy by registering as voters, voting in every election and voting ethically that is, without inducement. It has involved schools and colleges to take the registration facility to the doorstep by introducing voter clubs, and youth icons and placing drop boxes in the public locations and online drop boxes.
- Awareness in the corporate setup: Employers have been encouraged to create similar facilities in their offices. They are legally obliged to close their establishments on poll day, but this is seldom enforced.
Conclusion
- The noble objective of enhanced voter participation can be best achieved through systematic voter education, and awareness programs and not the cost of fundamental rights of the citizen which is enshrined the fundamental law of the land. Motivation and awareness could be the way for enhancing voter participation.
Mains Question

Q. What is the role of Election Commission of India? How do you see the compulsory voting in the light of the Constitution of India under the EC’s mandate of free and fair election? Discuss

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Innovations in Biotechnology and Medical Sciences

An Indian Pioneer of ORT

op-ed snap | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Achievements Of Indians In S&T,S&T – Applications In Everyday Life
Context
- In the demise of Dilip Mahalabnis on October 16 we lost a pioneering public health physician the ORS pioneer who helped save millions of lives. In 1978, a Lancet editorial termed ORS the most important medical advance in this century.
Background
- ORT was first introduced worldwide in the 1970s to treat millions of children suffering from severe dehydration in crisis-stricken and impoverished areas. At the time, the world’s leading general medical journal The Lancet called ORT “potentially the most important medical advance since penicillin.”
- A Lancet editorial in 1978 termed it “potentially the most important medical advance this century”.
Interesting story of Dilip Mahalabnis and invention of ORT
- Mahalanabis was trained as a paediatrician and joined the Cholera Research Programme of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Medical Research and Training (JHCMRT) in Calcutta in 1966.
- His team was treating cases of the cholera epidemic in a camp in Bangaon, West Bengal that housed 3,50,000 refugees but ran out of intravenous fluids. He thought that it would be opportune to use ORS. As no ORS packets were available, they mixed salt and sugar solution (ORS) in drums and administered it to the cholera patients in the camps.
- The library of the JHCMRT was converted into a factory. This was not a mandated mode of treatment and at great personal risk, Mahalanabis chose to respond to the humanitarian crisis in this manner.
- It was evident in two to three weeks’ time that not only was the therapy working but that it was possible to administer ORT through volunteers (in the absence of a sufficient number of trained workers).
- It was subsequently analyzed that ORS reduced mortality due to cholera or acute diarrhoeal diseases in these camps from 40 per cent to 5 per cent. They coined the term “oral saline” and rest is the story.
What is Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT)?
- A fluid to correct dehydration: Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) entails drinking water with modest amounts of sugar and salts, specifically sodium and potassium to correct dehydration due to fluid losses from diarrhoea.
- ORT ingredients: ORT combines three ingredients such as salts, sugars and water to quickly reverse the signs of dehydration. Through the process of osmosis, the salts and sugars pull water into your bloodstream and speed up rehydration.
- Essential electrolytes which replenish Blood: ORT also replenishes your blood with essential electrolytes (minerals) that are lost due to intense exercise, exposure to extreme weather conditions, or diarrhea and other illnesses. Water doesn’t contain electrolytes and so, ironically, water alone cannot cure dehydration like ORT.
- An effective electrolyte: Administration of fluids through the intravenous route used to be the mainstay of management of cholera till the results of a study demonstrated that an oral solution of glucose and electrolytes was effective for replacing water and electrolyte losses.
- Quick and efficient: The translation of the basic science concept to quick and efficient practice was, however, not easy. And that is the fascinating story and sterling contribution of Mahalanabis and his co-workers on ORT.
What is Dehydration?
- Dehydration occurs when you use or lose more fluid than you take in, and your body doesn’t have enough water and other fluids to carry out its normal functions. If you don’t replace lost fluids, you will get dehydrated.
What is Disease Cholera?
- Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae that can kill within hours if left untreated.
- Most of those infected will have no or mild symptoms and can be successfully treated with oral rehydration solution. Cholera affects both children and adults.
- Provision of safe water and sanitation is critical to prevent and control the transmission of cholera and other waterborne diseases.
- Cholera remains a global threat to public health and an indicator of inequity and lack of social development.
Recent outbreak of cholera In India
- Cholera is said to be endemic in India. However, the reported cases in India tend to be much lesser than the actual numbers, say doctors and experts.
- The number of cases is rising in India because we still lack the basic sanitation, hygiene and access to clean water in many communities,
- The country reports nearly 20,000 to 30,000 cases of cholera every year, usually during the monsoon season of July to September.
- Climate change adds up another layer to the cholera outbreak.
Contribution of ORT to the world.
- As a perfect alternative over the prevailing doctrine: ORT was in marked contrast to the then prevailing doctrine of patients being given only sips of water without food, euphemistically called “resting the stomach”, often worsening the underlying malnutrition.
- For Diarrhoea: An estimated 54 million diarrhoeal deaths were averted by ORT alone between 1978 and 2008, such was the magnitude of its beneficial impacts. ORT for the management of severe diarrhea was developed in the latter half 1960s. WHO launched a worldwide campaign in 1978 to reduce mortality related to diarrhea, with ORT as one of the key elements.
- For cholera: Administration of fluids through the intravenous route used to be the mainstay of management of cholera till the results of a study demonstrated that an oral solution of glucose and electrolytes was effective for replacing water and electrolyte losses
- Cholera pandemic: This period coincided with the seventh cholera pandemic (El Tor biotype) that started in Indonesia in 1961 and spread to East Pakistan (Bangladesh) by 1963 and to India in 1964. Though experiments with ORS were underway, the WHO responded in 1970 by distributing large amounts of intravenous fluids – a move marked by high transportation costs and limited utilization on account of a shortage of a trained health workforce. The focus of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), through the Cholera Research Laboratory in Dhaka, was to find a vaccine to protect the US troops from cholera attacks in Southeast Asia.
- One solution for everyone: Athletes; people with illnesses, especially babies and toddlers; seniors; military personnel stationed in extreme climates; air travelers who lose electrolytes every time they fly: They all stand to dramatically improve their health and well-being with ORT.
Conclusion
- Dilip Mahalanabis pioneered a simple and effective solution for diarrhoea that saves millions of lives which can be considered as one of the greatest contributions of Indian in medical sciences. To carry the carry legacy forward young scientists should step in.
Mains Question

Q. What do you Understand by Oral Rehydration Therapy? How it could be effective in tackling the yearly outbreaks of Cholera in India and the world. Discuss.

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