Social Issue: March 2022 Current Affairs | Current Affairs & General Knowledge - CLAT PDF Download

Jan Aushadhi Diwas

Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI), under the aegis of Department of Pharmaceuticals, celebrated 4th Jan Aushadhi Diwas by organizing week-long (1st March-7th March) celebrations at different locations across the country covering all States/UTs. This will generate awareness about the usages of generic medicines and benefits of Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana.

Performance

• As on 31st January, 2022, the number of stores has increased to 8,675. In the current financial year 2021-22 (till 31st January, 2022), PMBI has made sales of Rs. 751.42 Crore which led to savings of approximately Rs. 4500 Crore to the citizens.
• Under the PMBJP, all 739 districts of the nation have been covered.
• Government has set a target to increase the number of Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras (PMBJKs) to 10,500 by the end of March 2025.
• Product basket of PMBJP comprises of 1451 drugs and 240 surgical instruments.
• Further, new medicines and nutraceuticals products like protein powder, malt-based food supplements, protein bar, immunity bar, sanitizer, masks, glucometer, oximeter, etc. have been launched.
• At present three IT enabled warehouses of PMBJP are functional at Gurugram, Chennai & Guwahati and fourth one is ready to start operations at Surat.
• Further, 39 distributors have been appointed across the country to support the supply of medicines to remote and rural areas

Minimum Assured Return Scheme (MARS)

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has proposed a guaranteed return scheme, Minimum Assured Return Scheme (MARS), which will provide savers/ people from the salaried class an option for their investments. This will be the first scheme from the pension regulator that will offer a guaranteed return to investors.

Proposal Under MARS

• To have a separate scheme that can offer a guaranteed minimum rate of return to NPS (National Pension System) subscribers, especially those who are risk averse.
• The actual returns will depend on the market conditions. Any shortfall will be made good by the sponsor, and the surplus will be credited to the subscribers’ account.

National Pension System (NPS)

About 

• Central Government introduced NPS from January 2004 for government employees (except for armed forces).
• NPS is implemented and regulated by PFRDA.
• National Pension System Trust (NPST) established by PFRDA is the registered owner of all assets under NPS.
• Opening an account with NPS provides a Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN)
• NPS provides seamless portability across jobs and across locations, unlike all current pension plans, including that of the EPFO.
• Individuals can switch over from one investment option to another or from one fund manager to another subject, of course, to certain regulatory restrictions. The returns are totally market-related.

Structure NPS is structured into two tiers:

• Tier-I account: This is the non-withdrawable permanent retirement account into which the accumulations are deposited and invested as per the option of the subscriber.
• Tier-II account: This is a voluntary withdrawable account which is allowed only when there is an active Tier I account in the name of the subscriber. The withdrawals are permitted from this account as per the needs of the subscriber as and when claimed.

Beneficiaries 

• NPS was made available to all Citizens of India from May 2009.
• Any individual citizen of India (both resident and Non-resident) in the age group of 18-65 years can join NPS.
• OCI (Overseas Citizens of India) and PIO (Person of Indian Origin) card holders and Hindu Undivided Family (HUFs) are not eligible Achievements 
• NPS has been gradually growing in size and now manages 5.78 lakh crore of savings and 4.24 crore accounts in multiple savings schemes. 
• Of these, over 3.02 crore accounts are part of the Atal Pension Yojana (APY), a government-backed scheme for workers in unorganised sector that assures a fixed pension payout after retirement.
• The rest constitute voluntary savings from private sector employees and self-employed individuals Changes Introduced
• PFRDA has recently announced that NPS will no longer compel investors to convert 40% of their accumulated retirement corpus into an annuity, as poor yields on annuities and high inflation are translating into negative returns.
• It has also announced that the retirees will be able to take out the entire Rs.5 lakh savings in the NPS against Rs. 2 lakh at present. India’s pension Assets Under Management (AUM) have already crossed Rs 7-lakh crore and are expected to touch RS 7.5-lakh crore by end March this fiscal 2021-22.PFRDA is aiming for an AUM of Rs 30-lakh crore by 2030

SAMARTH Initiative

Why in News?
Recently, on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2022, the Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), launched a Special Entrepreneurship Promotion Drive for Women-”SAMARTH”.

What is the SAMARTH Initiative?

• Under the Samarth initiative of the Ministry, following benefits will be available to aspiring and existing women entrepreneurs:
  (i) 20% Seats in free Skill Development Programs organised under skill development schemes of the Ministry will be allocated for Women.
  (ii) 20% of MSME Business Delegations sent to domestic & international exhibitions under the schemes for Marketing Assistance implemented by the Ministry will be dedicated to women owned MSMEs.
  (iii) 20% Discount on annual processing fee on National Small Industries Corporation’s (NSIC) Commercial Schemes.
• NSIC is a Government of India Enterprise under the Ministry of MSME.  Special Drive for registration of women-owned MSMEs under Udyam Registration.
• Through this initiative, the Ministry of MSME is focusing on providing Skill Development and Market Development Assistance to women.
• More than 7500 women candidates from rural and sub- urban areas will be trained in the FY 2022-23.  Besides, thousands of women will be getting marketing opportunities to showcase their products in domestic and international exhibitions.
• Also, to enhance the participation of women entrepreneurs in Public Procurement, a special discount of 20% shall also be offered on annual processing fee on NSIC’s following commercial schemes during the year 2022-23:
  (i) Single Point Registration Scheme
  (ii)Raw Material Assistance and Bill Discounting
  (iii) Tender Marketing
  (iv)  B2B Portal msmemart.com

What is International Women’s Day?

1. About
It is celebrated annually on 8th March. It includes:

• Celebration of women’s achievements,
• Raising awareness about women’s equality,
• Lobbying for accelerated gender parity,
• Fundraising for female-focused charities, etc.

2. Brief History
Women’s Day was first celebrated back in 1911 by Clara Zetkin, who was a German. The roots of the celebration had been in the labour movement. It was only in 1913, however, that the celebrations were shifted to 8th March, and it has remained that way ever since.

International Women’s Day was celebrated for the first time by the United Nations (UN) in 1975.

• In December 1977, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a UNs Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by Member States, in accordance with their historical and national traditions.

3. 2022 Theme

•  ‘Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow’.

4. Related Data
According to the UN, legal restrictions have kept 2.7 billion women from accessing the same choice of jobs as men.

• As of 2019, less than 25% of parliamentarians were women.
• One in three women experience gender-based violence. In 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic, female labour force participation in India was 20.5%, according to International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates. Comparable estimates for males was 76%. In the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index (which measures progress towards gender parity), India is one of the worst performers in South Asia, it is now ranked 140 among 156 countries in 2021.
  As per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5, as many as 57% women aged 15-49 were anaemic in 2019-21, compared to 53% in 2015-16.

What are the Safeguards for Women in India?

1. Constitutional Safeguards

• Fundamental Rights: It guarantees all Indians the right to equality (Article 14), no discrimination by the State on the basis of gender (Article 15(1)) and special provisions to be made by the State in favour of women (Article 15(3)).

2. Fundamental Duties: The Constitution imposes a fundamental duty on every citizen through Articles 51 (A)(e) to renounce practices derogatory to dignity of women.

3. Legislative Framework:

• Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005: It provides victims of domestic violence with a means for practical remedy through prosecution.  The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961: It prohibits the request, payment or acceptance of a dowry.  The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013: This legislative act seeks to protect women from sexual harassment at their place of work.

4. Related Schemes: Mahila e-haat, Women Technology Park, Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI), etc.

Are there any World Conferences on Women?

• The UN has organised 4 world conferences on women. These took place in
  (i) Mexico City, 1975
  (ii)  Copenhagen, 1980
  (iii) Nairobi, 1985
  (iv) Beijing, 1995
• The 4th World Conference on Women (WCW), held in Beijing, was one of the largest ever gatherings of the UNs, and a critical turning point in the world’s focus on gender equality and the empowerment of women.  The Beijing Declaration is an agenda for women’s empowerment and considered the key global policy document on gender equality. It sets  strategic objectives and actions for the advancement of women and the achievement of gender equality in 12 critical areas of concern like women and health, women in power and decision-making, the girl-child, women and the environment.
• Recently, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has proposed a Temporary basic Income (TBI) for poor women in developing countries to help them cope with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and alleviate the economic pressures they face every day.

Maternal Mortality in India

Why in News?
Recently, the Registrar General of India’s Sample Registration System (SRS) released the latest special bulletin on Maternal Mortality in India (2017-19).

• As per the World Health Organisation, maternal death is the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management.
• Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) is defined as the number of maternal deaths during a given time per 1,00,000 live births during the same time.

What is the Registrar General of India?

• It is under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• Apart from conducting the Population Census and monitoring the implementation of the Registration of Births and Deaths in the country, it has been giving estimates on fertility and mortality using the Sample Registration System (SRS).
• SRS is the largest demographic sample survey in the country that among other indicators provide direct estimates of maternal mortality through a nationally representative sample.
• Verbal Autopsy (VA) instruments are administered for the deaths reported under the SRS on a regular basis to yield a cause-specific mortality profile in the country.

Where does India Stand on MMR?

• The MMR of India has declined by 10 points. It has declined from 113 in 2016-18 to 103 in 2017-19 (8.8 % decline).
• The country had been witnessing a progressive reduction in the MMR from 130 in 2014-2016, 122 in 2015-17, 113 in 2016-18, and to 103 in 2017-19.  India was on the verge of achieving the National Health Policy (NHP) target of 100/lakh live births by 2020 and certainly on track to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals target of 70/ lakh live births by 2030.
• Many developed countries have successfully brought down MMR to single digits. Italy, Norway, Poland and Belarus have the lowest MMR of two, while it is seven in both Germany and the UK, 10 in Canada and 19 in the US. 
• Most of India’s neighbours — Nepal (186), Bangladesh (173) and Pakistan (140) — have a higher MMR. However, China and Sri Lanka are way ahead with MMRs of 18.3 and 36 respectively.

What are the State Specific Findings?

• The number of States that have achieved the SDG target has now risen from five to seven -- Kerala (30), Maharashtra (38), Telangana (56), Tamil Nadu (58), Andhra Pradesh (58), Jharkhand (61), and Gujarat (70).
• Kerala has recorded the lowest MMR which puts Kerala way ahead of the national MMR of 103.  Kerala’s Maternal MMR has dropped by 12 points. The last SRS bulletin (2015-17) had put the State’s MMR at 42 (later adjusting it to 43).
• There are now nine States that have achieved the MMR target set by the NHP, which include the above seven and Karnataka (83) and Haryana (96).
• Uttarakhand (101), West Bengal (109), Punjab (114), Bihar (130), Odisha (136) and  Rajasthan (141) -- have the MMR in between 100-150, while Chhattisgarh (160), Madhya Pradesh (163), Uttar Pradesh (167) and Assam (205) have the MMR above 150.

What are some Related Government Initiatives?

• Janani Suraksha Yojana under the National Health Mission to link cash assistance to institutional deliveries.
• The Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) provides a fixed day for assured, comprehensive and quality antenatal care free of cost to pregnant women on 9th of every month.
• Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, Poshan Abhiyan and LaQshya Guidelines.

New Guidelines on Abortion Care by WHO

Why in News?
Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) presented new guidelines on abortion care. These, it claimed, would prevent more than 25 million unsafe abortions annually.

• The new guidelines include recommendations on many simple interventions at the primary care level that improve the quality of abortion care provided to women and girls.
• The new guidelines will support interested countries to implement and strengthen national policies and programmes related to contraception, family planning and abortion services, helping them to provide the highest standard of care for women and girls.

What is the Global Status of Abortions?

• Globally, between 13,865 and 38,940 lives are lost yearly due to the failure to provide safe abortion.  Developing countries bear the burden of 97% of unsafe abortions.
• The proportion of abortions that are unsafe is also significantly higher in countries with highly restrictive abortion laws than in those with less restrictive laws.
• Over half (53.8%) of all unsafe abortions occur in Asia, the majority of those in south and central Asia. A quarter (24.8%) occur in Africa, mainly in eastern and western Africa and a fifth (19.5%) in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Abortion rates were highest in low-income countries with the most legal restrictions to abortion care.
• There was also an increase of 12% in the number of abortions in countries with legal restrictions on the procedure, while it declined slightly in countries where abortion is broadly legal.

What are the New Guidelines by the WHO?

• Task Sharing: These include task sharing by a wider range of health workers; ensuring access to medical abortion pills, which mean more women can obtain safe abortion services and making sure that accurate information on care is available to all those who need it.
• Telemedicine:  It also includes the recommendations for the use of telemedicine, which helped support access to abortion and family planning services during the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Removing Political Barriers:  It also recommend removing medically unnecessary political barriers to safe abortion, such as criminalisation, mandatory waiting periods before receiving a requested abortion, third-party authorisation for abortion, restrictions on which health workers can provide abortion services. Such barriers can lead to critical delays in accessing treatment and put women and girls at greater risk of unsafe abortion, stigma and health complications, while increasing barriers to education and their ability to work.
• Restricting access to abortions does not reduce the number of abortions that take place. In fact, restrictions are more likely to push women and girls into unsafe practices.
• Providing Enabling Environment:  A person’s environment plays a crucial role in shaping their access to care and influencing their health outcomes.  An enabling environment is the foundation of quality comprehensive abortion care.

The three cornerstones of an enabling environment for abortion care are:

• Respect for human rights including a supportive framework of law and policy. 
• Availability and accessibility of information.
• A supportive, universally accessible, affordable and well functioning health system.

What are the Steps Taken by the Indian Government for Safe Abortions?

• The Government provides safe and Comprehensive Abortion Care (CAC) services to women in health facilities under RMNCH+A (Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health) program of National Health Mission.
• Capacity Building of Medical officers in Safe Abortion Techniques and of Auxiliary Nurse Midwife workers, Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) and other functionaries to provide confidential counseling for safe abortion and promote post-abortion care.
• Certification to private and Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) sector facilities to provide quality Comprehensive Abortion Care services.
• Supply of Nischay Pregnancy detection kits to subcenters for early detection of pregnancy.
• Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Amendment Act, 2021 expands the access to safe and legal abortion services on therapeutic, eugenic, humanitarian and social grounds to ensure universal access to comprehensive care.

Leprosy

Why in News?

According to the latest report by the Leprosy Mission Trust India, the Covid-19 pandemic and its ensuing recommendations on social distancing and lockdowns caused a fall of 62.5% in the detection of active leprosy cases between April and September 2020 in four States — Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

• The second wave has put brakes on the Leprosy Case Detection Campaign and the scope for getting healthcare and disability management services in institutional setup reduced.
• Further, the pandemic highlighted that the ‘vulnerable population’ is not a homogenous entity. Their vulnerability is sometimes a complex intersection of different social variables: poverty, disability, stigma, exclusion, etc.

What is Leprosy?

• Bacterial Infection: Leprosy is a chronic, progressive bacterial infection. It is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium Leprae, which is an acid-fast rodshaped bacillus.  It is also known as Hansen’s Disease.
• One of Oldest Disease: It is one of the oldest diseases in recorded history, afflicting humanity since time immemorial.  A written account of Leprosy dates as far back as 600 B.C.
  It was well recognized in the oldest civilizations of China, Egypt and India thousands of years ago.
• Areas of Infection: Skin, Peripheral nerves, Upper respiratory tract and Lining of the nose. It is a disease that leaves a terrifying image in its wake of mutilation, rejection, and exclusion from society.
• Mode of Transmission: Mainly by breathing airborne droplets from the affected individuals. It can be contacted at any age.
• Symptoms
  (i) Red patches on the skin.
  (ii) Skin Lesion
  (iii) Numbness in arms, hands, and legs.
  (iv) Ulcers on the soles of feet.
  (v) Muscle Weakness and excessive weight loss.
• Long Incubation Period: It usually takes about 3-5 years for symptoms to appear after coming into contact with Leprosy causing bacteria.  The long incubation period makes it difficult for doctors to determine when and where the person got infected.
• Cure: Leprosy is curable with the combination of drugs known as Multi-Drug Therapy (MDT).

What are Steps Taken by India for its Eradication?

The Government of India started the National Leprosy Control Programme in 1955. It was only in the 1970s that a definite cure was identified in the form of MultiDrug Therapy.

• The 1st Phase of the World Bank supported National Leprosy Elimination Project started from 1993-94.
• The National Leprosy Eradication Programme is being continued with Government of India funds from January 2005 onwards.
• The National Health Policy 2002, Government of India had set the goal of elimination of leprosy i.e. to reduce the no. of cases to < 1/10,000 population by the year 2005.
• The National Leprosy Eradication Programme achieved the goal of elimination of leprosy as a public health problem, defined as less than 1 case per 10,000 Population, at the National Level in the month of December, 2005. World Health OrganisationGlobal Leprosy strategy document for 2016–2020 calls for promoting intersectoral collaboration within countries.
• In 2017, SPARSH Leprosy Awareness Campaign was launched to promote awareness and address the issues of stigma and discrimination. The measures included in the campaign like contact tracing, examination, treatment, and chemoprophylaxis are expected to bring down the number of Leprosy cases. The special emphasis on women, children and those with disabilities are expected to flush out more hidden cases.
  In addition to continuing to administer MDT to patients, new preventive approaches such as Chemoprophylaxis and immunoprophylaxis are being considered to break the chain of transmission and reach zero disease status.
• In 2018 the Supreme Court directed states and the Central government to roll out awareness programmes about leprosy. The court said campaigns should utilise positive images and stories of those who had been cured.
• In 2019, Lok Sabha passed a bill seeking to remove Leprosy as a ground for divorce.
• In commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on 2nd October 2019, the NLEP has prepared the comprehensive plan to reduce the grade of disability to less than one case per million people by October 2019

Bonafide Plea of Juvenility

Why in News?
Recently, the Supreme Court, while dismissing an appeal challenging the decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, held that a plea of juvenility has to be raised in a bonafide and truthful manner.

• The Court said that if a document of dubious nature is relied on to seek juvenility, the accused cannot be treated to be juvenile keeping in view that the law is a beneficial legislation.
• Juvenile offenders (age below 18 years) are given protection under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 (JJ Act).
• Under Section 7 A of the JJ Act, an accused person can raise the ‘claim of juvenility’ before “any court, at any stage, even after the final disposal of the case”.

How the Juvenile Justice System Evolved in India?

• Definition of Juvenile Justice System: The juvenile justice system concerns children who have conflicted with the law and need care and protection.  In India, a person below the age of 18 years is considered a juvenile.  Minor is a person who has not attained the age of full legal responsibility and the juvenile is a minor who has committed some offence or needs care and protection.
  In India, any child below the age of 7 years can not be convicted of any crime because of the doctrine of Doli incapax which means incapable of forming intent to commit a crime.
• Main Objective of the Juvenile Justice System: To rehabilitate young offenders and give them a second chance. The main reason for this protection is that children’s brains are not fully developed and they do not have a complete sense of wrong and right.
  When parents have poor parenting skills, abusive home, violence in the home, a single parent who left their children for a long time unsupervised.  The influence of news, movies, web series, social media, and lack of education are also reasons why children indulge in criminal activities.
• After the independence of India, the constitution provided some provisions under the fundamental rights and Directive principles of state policy to protect and develop children.
• Children Act, 1960: This act prohibited the imprisonment of children in any circumstances and provided care, welfare, training, education, maintenance, protection, and rehabilitation.
• Juvenile Justice Act, 1986: The Juvenile justice act 1986 came into force to provide uniformity of the Children Act and set the standard for protection of juveniles as per the 1959 United Nations declaration of the child.
  In 1959, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child.
• Juvenile Justice (care and protection of children) Act, 2000: The Government of India repealed the Juvenile Justice Act (JJA) and came up with a new Act, the Juvenile Justice (care and protection of children) Act, 2000.
  It had much better terminology such as ‘conflict with the law’ and ‘need care and protection’.  Juveniles who have a conflict with law are handled by the juvenile justice board and juveniles who need care and protection are handled by the child welfare committee.
  In 2006 Amendment was made in the Juvenile Act to make clear that juvenility is considered from the date when a crime is committed.
• Juvenile Justice (care and protection of children) Act, 2015: It replaced the Juvenile Act 2000.  This act was passed by the parliament after much controversy and protest. It has introduced many changes in existing law. This act allows juveniles involved in the heinous crimes age group between 16-18 are treated as adults.
  Making the juvenile justice system more responsive and according to the changing circumstances of society.
  The Act gives a clear definition of orphaned, abandoned, surrendered children and provides an organized system for them.
• Juvenile Justice (care and Protection) Amendment Act 2021: Recently, Parliament passed the Juvenile Justice (care and Protection) Amendment Act 2021. The amendment provides strength to the provision of protection and adoption of children.  There are many adoption cases pending before the court and to make proceedings of the court faster now the power is transferred to the district magistrate.
  Amendment provides that the district magistrate has the authority to issue such adoption orders.

What are Other Legal Frameworks for Welfare of the children?

• The Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), 2013
• Child Labour (Protection and Regulation) Act, 2016
• United Nation Convention on the Right of the Child (UNCRC)
• National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, 2005.