17 May 2024

• Health: World Hypertension Day on 17 May. India has approximately 220 million hypertensives, with only 15 per cent controlled.
• Polity: Supreme Court ordered a halt to new mining licences in the Aravalli Range. In a separate ruling, lawyers' services were excluded from the Consumer Protection Act.
• Rights: The Supreme Court in the Prabir Purkayastha case held that written grounds for arrest must be supplied to an accused person even under UAPA.
• Defence: BHISHM (Battlefield Health Information System Harnessing Modern Technology) portable hospital cubes were tested by the Indian Air Force.

GS area: Health Policy, Society

17 May is World Hypertension Day, observed annually since 2005 to raise awareness about high blood pressure.

• Theme 2024: "Measure Your Blood Pressure Accurately, Control It, Live Longer."
• WHO definition: Hypertension is diagnosed when systolic blood pressure is 140 mmHg or higher, or diastolic blood pressure is 90 mmHg or higher (140/90 mmHg).
• India's burden: Approximately 220 million Indians have hypertension. The awareness-treatment-control cascade: only about 37 per cent are diagnosed, 30 per cent are on treatment, and only 15 per cent have controlled blood pressure.
• India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI): Launched in 2017 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in collaboration with WHO and the NGO Resolve to Save Lives. It follows a simplified treatment protocol.
• Hypertension is a "silent killer": It causes no symptoms in most cases but is the leading preventable cause of heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, and other organ damage.

Static linkage: Non-communicable diseases, WHO, public health policy.

GS area: Environment (Polity, Judiciary)

The Supreme Court halted the issuance of new mining licences and renewals in the Aravalli Range in Haryana, based on a Forest Survey of India (FSI) report.

• Aravalli Range: Among the world's oldest fold mountains, formed in the Proterozoic Era (2,500-541 million years ago). Guru Shikhar at Mount Abu, Rajasthan, is its highest point at 1,722 metres.
• Ecological role: The Aravalli hills act as a barrier against the eastward advance of the Thar Desert. They support 300 native plant species and 120 bird species, despite heavy degradation.
• FSI's role: The Forest Survey of India (under MoEFCC) submitted a report on forest cover in the Aravalli region, identifying significant encroachment on forest land through illegal mining.
• 2009 precedent: The SC had already banned mining in the Aravalli districts of Faridabad, Gurgaon, and Nuh in Haryana in 2009. The 2024 order extended scrutiny to additional areas.
• Haryana mining revenue: Mining revenue in Haryana grew from Rs 5.15 crore (2013-14) to Rs 363.5 crore (2023-24), indicating the scale of mining activity under scrutiny.

Static linkage: Forest conservation, Supreme Court's environmental jurisprudence, Aravalli geography.

GS area: Polity (Judiciary, Consumer Law)

The Supreme Court overturned a 2007 NCDRC ruling and held that advocates' services are not covered under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (or its 2019 successor).

• NCDRC: The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission is the apex consumer dispute body, below only the Supreme Court. The 2007 NCDRC ruling had held that legal services were "services" under the Act.
• SC's reasoning: The lawyer-client relationship is sui generis (of its own kind), characterised by fiduciary duty, professional discretion, and court-supervised conduct. It cannot be treated like a commercial service contract subject to consumer courts.
• Consumer Protection Act, 2019: Replaced the 1986 Act. Defines "service" broadly but the SC interpreted the profession exclusion expansively.
• Existing remedy: Clients can still file complaints against advocates before the Bar Council under the Advocates Act, 1961. This remains the appropriate forum for professional misconduct.

Static linkage: Consumer protection law, NCDRC, advocates' professional regulation.

GS area: Polity (Fundamental Rights, Criminal Law)

The Supreme Court in Prabir Purkayastha v. State (NCT of Delhi) held that investigating agencies must supply written grounds of arrest to the accused person, even in cases under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

• Article 22(1): Guarantees that a person arrested must be informed of the grounds for arrest as soon as possible. They must also be allowed to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of their choice.
• UAPA: The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 is India's primary counter-terrorism and anti-secessionist law. It allows extended pre-trial detention and has stringent bail conditions.
• Ruling: The Court held that Article 22(1) applies even to UAPA arrests. Oral communication of arrest grounds is insufficient; written grounds must be provided.
• Prabir Purkayastha: Founder editor of NewsClick, arrested in October 2023 under UAPA. His arrest was found to be illegal because written grounds were not supplied at the time of arrest.
• Significance: The ruling imposes a procedural safeguard on the exercise of UAPA powers, which have often been criticised for being used to keep journalists and activists in prolonged detention.

Static linkage: Article 22, UAPA, fundamental rights in custody.

GS area: Science and Technology (Defence)

The Indian Air Force tested BHISHM (Battlefield Health Information System Harnessing Modern Technology) portable hospital cubes at Agra.

• BHISHM cubes: A system of compact, deployable medical units designed for rapid deployment in battlefield and disaster situations. Each cube contains medical equipment, medicines, and can be airlifted.
• Capacity: The BHISHM system can treat up to 200 casualties in rapid sequence.
• Origins: The system was announced by Prime Minister Modi as a Republic Day 2024 gift to partner nations. India has been promoting BHISHM as part of its health diplomacy and disaster response outreach.
• Air Force test: The test at Agra validated the system's compatibility with Indian Air Force transport aircraft and demonstrated rapid deployment capabilities.
• Dual use: BHISHM can be deployed in both military conflict situations and in civilian disaster response (earthquakes, floods, mass casualty events).

Static linkage: Military medical technology, disaster management, defence innovation.

GS area: Geography, Environment

Reports highlighted conservation threats to Kanwar Lake (also known as Kabartal), designated as Asia's largest freshwater oxbow lake.

• Location: Begusarai district, Bihar.
• Formation: An oxbow lake forms when a river meander is cut off from the main channel, leaving a U-shaped lake. Kanwar Lake was formed by the meandering of the Burhi Gandak River, a tributary of the Ganga.
• Ramsar designation: Kabartal was designated India's 39th Ramsar Wetland of International Importance in January 2020.
• Ecological significance: The lake is a critical wintering habitat for birds from the Central Asian Flyway, including various duck species, pelicans, and waders.
• Threats: Agricultural encroachment, drainage for farming, and siltation have significantly reduced the lake's area over decades.

Static linkage: Ramsar Convention, Bihar geography, oxbow lake formation, migratory birds.

• IIP data: The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for March 2024 grew 4.9 per cent (released by MoSPI). Full FY2023-24 IIP growth was 5.8 per cent. Sector-wise: Mining 1.2 per cent, Manufacturing 5.2 per cent, Electricity 8.6 per cent. IIP base year is 2011-12.
• WHO prequalifies TAK-003 dengue vaccine: The WHO prequalified Takeda's TAK-003 (brand name Qdenga), a live-attenuated tetravalent dengue vaccine targeting all four serotypes (DENV 1-4) for children aged 6-16 years. WHO prequalification allows procurement by GAVI-funded programmes and UN agencies.
• Project ISHAN: India's Airports Authority of India (constituted 1 April 1995) is planning to consolidate 4 Flight Information Regions (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai) into a single airspace managed from Nagpur under Project ISHAN, aimed at improving air traffic management efficiency.