Weekly Current Affairs (22nd to 31st March 2023) Part - 1 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - UPSC PDF Download

Right to Health

Context: Recently, the Rajasthan Government has passed the Right to Health Bill, which gives every resident of the state the right to avail free services at all public health facilities.

What are the Key Features of the Bill?

• Free healthcare services, including consultation, drugs, diagnostics, emergency transport, procedure and emergency care, will be provided at all public health institutions and select private facilities subject to conditions specified in the rules.
• The Bill makes it mandatory for the hospitals to provide treatment in emergency cases without waiting for medico-legal formalities and give medicines and transport facilities without charging money.
• The implementation of the law is expected to do away with out-of-pocket expenditure and bring transparency and accountability within the health care system.

What is the Right to Health?

About:

• Right to health refers to and means the most attainable levels of health that every human being is entitled to.
• The origin of the right to health dates as far back as 1946 when the first international organization, World Health Organisation (WHO) came into existence to formulate health terms as human rights.
• The right to health is an essential component of human dignity, and it is the responsibility of governments to ensure that this right is protected and promoted for all individuals, regardless of their gender, race, ethnicity, religion, or socioeconomic status.
• Part IV of the Constitution under the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) ensures social and economic justice to its citizens. Therefore, Part IV of the Constitution directly or indirectly relates to public policy in terms of health.

Related Provisions in India:

• International Conventions: India is a signatory of the Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) by the United Nations that grants the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being to humans including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services.
• Fundamental Rights: Article 21 of the Constitution of India guarantees a fundamental right to life & personal liberty. The right to health is inherent to a life with dignity.
• DPSP: Articles 38, 39, 42, 43, & 47 put the obligation on the state in order to ensure the effective realization of the right to health.
• Judicial Pronouncements: Supreme Court in Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samity case (1996) held that in a welfare state, the primary duty of the government is to secure the welfare of the people and moreover it is the obligation of the government to provide adequate medical facilities for its people.
• Also, in its landmark judgment in Parmanand Katara Vs Union of India (1989), Supreme Court had ruled that every doctor whether at a government hospital or otherwise has the professional obligation to extend his services with due expertise for protecting life.

Significance:

• Right Based Healthcare Services: The people are entitled to the right to health, and it creates a compulsion for the government to take steps toward this.
• Wide Access to Health Services: Enables everyone to access the services and ensures that the quality of those services is good enough to improve the health of the people who receive them.
• Reduce Out of Pocket Expenditure: Protects people from the financial consequences of paying for health services out of their own pockets and reduces the risk of people getting pushed into poverty.

What are the Challenges Related to Right to Health in India?

Inadequate Healthcare Infrastructure:

• Despite recent improvements, India's healthcare infrastructure remains inadequate, particularly in rural areas.
• India has 1.4 beds per 1,000 people, 1 doctor per 1,445 people, and 1.7 nurses per 1,000 people. Over 75% of the healthcare infrastructure is concentrated in metro cities, where only 27% of the total population resides—the rest 73% of the Indian population lack even basic medical facilities.

High Disease Burden:

• India has a high burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases, including tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, malaria, and diabetes.
• Addressing these diseases requires significant investment in healthcare infrastructure and resources.
• According to a report by Frontiers in Public Health, more than 33% of the individuals are still suffering from infectious diseases out of the total ailing population in India.
• The per capita out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure on infectious diseases is INR 7.28 and INR 29.38 in inpatient and outpatient care, respectively.

Gender Disparities:

• Women in India face significant health disparities, including limited access to healthcare, higher rates of maternal mortality, and gender-based violence.
• According to the World Economic Forum 2021, India consistently ranks among the five worst countries in the world for the health and survival of females.
• Women from poor households account for over 2,25,000 lesser hospital visits than men between 2017 and 2019 for nephrology, cardiology, and oncology services alone,

Limited Health Financing:

• India's health financing system is limited, with low levels of public spending on healthcare. This limits the government's ability to invest in healthcare infrastructure and resources, and it can lead to inadequate healthcare services for individuals.
• Government of India spent 2.1% of GDP on healthcare in FY23. This is much lower than the average health spending share of the GDP — at around 5.2% — of the Lower- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC).

Way Forward

• India needs to significantly increase its investment in healthcare infrastructure and resources, including medical facilities, equipment, and healthcare professionals. This can be achieved through increased public spending on healthcare and increased private sector investment.
• To improve access to healthcare, India needs to address the barriers that prevent individuals from accessing healthcare services, including financial constraints, transportation, and discrimination.
• This can be achieved through targeted policies and programs, such as health insurance schemes and mobile healthcare units.
• There is a need to create a designated and autonomous agency to perform the functions of disease surveillance, information gathering on the health impact of policies of key non-health departments, maintenance of national health statistics, enforcement of public health regulations, and dissemination of information to the public.

India Aims to Become Top Global Aviation Market by 2030

Context: India is poised to become the world's leading aviation market, surpassing the United States and China by the end of the decade.

• The Civil Aviation Secretary in India made an announcement of the country's plans for expanding air connectivity to increase accessibility for the population during the CAPA India Aviation Summit.

What is the Status of India’s Aviation Sector?

About:

• India's Civil Aviation is among the fastest-growing aviation markets globally and will be a major growth engine to make India a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024.
• India is currently the world's 3rd-largest civil aviation market.
• Over the past 6 years, India's domestic passenger traffic has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 14.5% and international passenger traffic at around 6.5%.
• India's domestic passenger traffic is projected to rise to 16 crores in the 2023-24 fiscal year and to 35 crores by 2029-30.

Recent Government Initiatives Related to Aviation Sector:

• India's government aims to establish 6 major metropolitan cities as international hubs for air travel.
• National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) 2016
• UDAN Scheme

Challenges:

• High Operating Costs: One of the major challenges for the Indian aviation sector is the high operating costs. This is due to a number of factors such as high fuel prices, airport charges, and taxes.
  • For airlines, the increase in jet fuel prices represents a major challenge as this cost typically accounts for 20% to 25% of total operational costs.
• Infrastructure Constraints: The Indian aviation sector also faces infrastructure constraints such as limited airport capacity, lack of modernized air traffic control systems, and inadequate ground handling facilities.
• Regulatory Framework: The Indian aviation sector also faces challenges related to the regulatory framework.
  • The sector is heavily regulated, and airlines have to comply with a number of rules and regulations through different windows, which can be complex and time-consuming.

Conclusion

India's ambitious plans for growth in the aviation sector present significant opportunities for the country's economy and its people. While there are challenges to overcome, India's commitment to expanding its aviation infrastructure and developing its manufacturing capabilities positions it well to become a major player in the global aviation market by the end of the decade.

Waste to Energy

Context: The Kerala government recently announced the State’s first Waste-To-Energy project in Kozhikode. The planned facility is expected to be built in two years and generate about 6 MW of power.

• Kozhikode has a population of about 6.3 lakh and generates approximately 300 TPD of waste. Of this, around 205 TPD is biodegradable and 95 TPD is non-biodegradable.
• There are around 100 waste-to-energy projects around the country but only a handful of them are operational, thanks to various production and operation challenges.

What do Waste-to-Energy Projects do?

• Waste-to-energy projects use non-recyclable dry waste to generate electricity and ease the Solid Waste Management (SWM) burden.
  • Solid waste in India is 55-60% biodegradable organic waste, which can be converted into organic compost or biogas; 25-30% non-biodegradable dry waste; and around 15% silt, stones, and drain waste.
  • Of the non-biodegradable dry waste, only 2-3% – including hard plastics, metals, and e-waste – is recyclable.
  • The remainder consists of low-grade plastic, rags, and cloth that can’t be recycled.
• This fraction of the non-recyclable dry waste is the most challenging portion of the present SWM system; the presence of these materials also reduces the efficiency of recycling other dry and wet waste.
• Waste-to-energy plants use this portion to generate power. The waste is combusted to generate heat, which is converted into electricity.

What is Waste-to-Energy Technologies?

Biological Treatment Technologies (BTT):

• BTT are designed and engineered for natural biological processes working with the organic rich fraction of Municipal Solid waste. These treatments are divided into two different processes:
• The aerobic process or composting (in the presence of oxygen) and the anaerobic process (in the absence of oxygen).

Thermal Treatment Technologies:

• The thermal treatment of hazardous waste involves pyrolysis, gasification, and incineration techniques, depending upon the nature of the waste and the end-product application.
• Pyrolysis is the heating of an organic material, such as biomass, in the absence of oxygen. Biomass pyrolysis is usually conducted at or above 500 °C, providing enough heat to deconstruct the strong biopolymers.
• Gasification is a process that converts organic or fossil-based carbonaceous materials at high temperatures (>700°C), without combustion, with a controlled amount of oxygen and/or steam into carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide.
• Incineration is a rapid oxidation process, which is used to convert VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) and other gaseous hydrocarbon pollutants to carbon dioxide and water.
• Torrefaction converts biomass in the absence of oxygen at a temperature of 200–300°C to produce torrefied materials, bio-oils, biochar, etc.

What are the Challenges Related to Such Plants?

Low Calorific Value:

• The low calorific value of solid waste in India due to improper segregation. The calorific value of mixed Indian waste is about 1,500 kcal/kg, which is not suitable for power generation.
• The calorific value of segregated and dried non-recyclable dry waste is much higher, at 2,800-3,000 kcal/kg, sufficient to generate power. However, segregation should be streamlined to ensure the waste coming to the facility has this calorific value.

High Costs of Energy Production:

• The cost of generating power from waste is around Rs 7-8/unit, while the cost at which the States’ electricity boards buy power from coal, hydroelectric, and solar power plants is around Rs 3-4/unit.

Improper Assessments:

• Many waste-to-energy projects have failed because of improper assessments, high expectations, improper characterisation studies, and other on-ground conditions.

What can be the Solution?

• While State electricity boards are considering purchasing power from newer renewable energy sources like waste-to-energy, the price of the power generated needs to halve.
• Setting up waste-to-energy projects is complex and needs the full support of the municipality, the State and the people. To overcome its various challenges, the municipality must ensure that only non-biodegradable dry waste is sent to the plant and separately manage the other kinds of waste.
• Importantly, the municipality or the department responsible for SWM should be practical about the high cost of power generation, and include the State electricity department, perhaps as a tripartite agreement between the municipality, the plant operator, and the power distribution agency.
• It is also crucial to conduct field studies and learn from the experience of other projects.
• Without all these efforts, the project may not be a success, which in turn will stress the State government to manage all the accumulated waste, which can be a costly mistake.

Supreme Court Asks for Data on Humane Method of Execution

Context: The Supreme Court of India has asked the Centre to provide data that may lead to a more dignified, less painful, and socially acceptable method of executing prisoners other than death by hanging.

• The court even suggested the formation of an expert committee to relook at India's current method of putting criminals to death.

What are the Arguments Around Execution of Prisoners?

• The court clarified that it was not questioning the constitutionality of the death penalty but rather the method of execution.
  • The government had said the mode of execution is a "matter of legislative policy," and the death penalty is awarded only in the rarest of rare cases.
• The court was hearing a petition challenging the constitutionality of death by hanging as a mode of execution.
  • Section 354 (5) of the Code of Criminal Procedure mandates that a person sentenced to death shall “be hanged by the neck till he is dead”.
  • It is argued that there is a need to evolve a "humane, quick, and decent alternative" and termed hanging as "cruel and barbarous" compared to lethal injection.
• However, the Centre had filed an affidavit in 2018 supporting death by hanging and had not found the method of execution "barbaric, inhuman, and cruel" compared to firing squads and lethal injections.

What is the Current Provision of Death Penalty in India?

• Certain offences under Indian Penal Code, for which the offenders can be sentenced to punishment of death are:
  • Murder (Section 302)
  • Dacoity with murder (Section 396)
  • Criminal Conspiracy (Section 120B)
  • Waging war against the Government of India or attempting to do so (Section 121)
  • Abatement of mutiny (Section 132) and others.
• The term death penalty is sometimes used interchangeably with capital punishment, though imposition of the penalty is not always followed by execution, it can be commuted into life imprisonment or pardoned by the President under Article 72 of Indian Constitution.

Where does the Death Penalty Exist in the World?

• According to Amnesty International, the death penalty continues to be quite widespread Asia, with China, India, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia, among others
• The death penalty is rare in Europe and the Americas – with the notable exceptions of Belarus, Guyana, Cuba and the United States.
• 110 countries and territories around the world have abolished the death penalty, most recently Sierra Leone, Papua New Guinea and Equatorial Guinea.