30 September 2024

• Health: The NAMASTE scheme for manual scavenging rehabilitation showed 38,000 workers across India, of whom 91.9 per cent belong to SC/ST/OBC communities.
• Agriculture: Pusa-2090, a short-duration rice variety developed by ICAR-IARI, was approved; it takes 120-125 days versus 155-160 days for the current Pusa-44.
• Public health: Nipah virus (2024 episode, Kerala) contained after 2 deaths; origin traced to fruit bats; contact tracing covered 350 persons.
• Heritage: Mehrauli Archaeological Park in Delhi contains over 100 monuments spanning 1,000 years of history and became a subject of conservation attention.

GS area: Social Justice, Governance

The NAMASTE (National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem) scheme provided data on September 30, 2024 showing the scale of India's sanitation worker challenge.

Key facts:

• Scale: Approximately 38,000 manual scavengers identified across India during NAMASTE surveys.
• Caste composition: 91.9 per cent of identified workers belong to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes or Other Backward Classes, reflecting the deep caste-labour intersection.
• Prohibition law: The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 legally prohibits manual scavenging and mandates rehabilitation.
• NAMASTE objective: Mechanise sewer and septic tank cleaning, provide safety gear and insurance to sanitation workers, skill them for alternative livelihoods and ensure no human enters sewers or septic tanks.
• Hazardous cleaning deaths: Workers die while entering sewers and septic tanks due to toxic gases (hydrogen sulfide, methane) and oxygen depletion. NAMASTE provides robotics and machine-based alternatives.
• National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC): Provides credit and rehabilitation support to sanitation workers.
• Constitutional backing: Article 17 abolishes untouchability and Article 46 protects the educational and economic interests of SCs and STs.

Static linkage: Caste-based discrimination, sanitation policy, manual scavenging laws.

GS area: Economy (employment, labour markets)

The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Annual Report 2023-24, released in September 2024, provided comprehensive employment data.

Key findings:

• Unemployment rate (usual status, 15+ years): 3.2 per cent nationwide. Urban: 5.1 per cent. Rural: 2.0 per cent.
• Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR): 60.1 per cent (combined). Male LFPR: 78.8 per cent. Female LFPR: 41.7 per cent (significantly improved from 30 per cent in 2018-19).
• Worker Population Ratio (WPR): 58.2 per cent.
• Self-employment: 57.3 per cent of workers are self-employed; 22.7 per cent are casual labour; only 20 per cent are regular salaried/wage employees. This indicates the large informal economy.
• Trend: Female LFPR improvement is the most notable trend. Driven partly by increased participation in agriculture and rural non-farm activities.
• Youth unemployment: The 15-29 age cohort has significantly higher unemployment rates than the overall population, a key demographic challenge.

Static linkage: Labour markets, unemployment, informal economy, demographic dividend.

GS area: Health (infectious diseases)

A Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala in September 2024 resulted in 2 deaths and contact tracing of 350 persons.

Key facts:

• Nipah virus: A zoonotic virus in the Paramyxoviridae family. Natural reservoir: Pteropus (fruit bats) in South and Southeast Asia.
• Transmission: From bats to humans (via bat-contaminated fruit, date palm sap), human-to-human (healthcare settings, close contact).
• Symptoms: Fever, headache, respiratory distress, encephalitis. Case fatality rate: 40-75 per cent.
• No approved vaccine or treatment: Management is supportive care and isolation. WHO lists Nipah as a priority pathogen (Research and Development Blueprint).
• Kerala outbreaks: Kerala has had multiple Nipah clusters (2018 Kozhikode, 2019 Ernakulam, 2021 Kozhikode, 2023 Kozhikode, 2024). Kerala's health system response is regarded as a model for outbreak containment.
• 2018 outbreak: First Indian Nipah outbreak. Fatality rate close to 90 per cent. 17 deaths. Contained through aggressive contact tracing and isolation.
• One Health approach: Nipah highlights the importance of One Health: human, animal and environmental health integrated surveillance. The National One Health Mission (India) targets zoonotic diseases.

Static linkage: Zoonotic diseases, One Health, disease outbreak management.

GS area: Science and Technology (agriculture)

ICAR-IARI's Pusa-2090, a short-duration, high-yielding rice variety, received approval for release.

Key details:

• Duration: 120-125 days (vs 155-160 days for the current Pusa-44).
• Yield: Comparable to Pusa-44 (approximately 7-8 tonnes/hectare under field conditions).
• Environmental benefit: The shorter duration allows paddy harvest 30-35 days earlier. In the Punjab-Haryana belt, this creates time for mechanical straw management before the next Rabi crop, addressing the root cause of stubble burning.
• Water savings: Shorter duration means fewer irrigation cycles, critical for the water-stressed Indo-Gangetic Plain.
• Quality: Maintains semi-fine grain quality preferred in north Indian markets.
• ICAR-IARI: Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. India's premier agricultural research institute. Developed the HYVs (IR8 "miracle rice" adaptation) during the Green Revolution.
• Green Revolution legacy: The Green Revolution (1960s-1970s) used high-yielding varieties + irrigation + fertilisers to achieve food security but created long-duration, water-intensive cultivation patterns now being revisited.

Static linkage: Agricultural technology, stubble burning, ICAR, Green Revolution.

GS area: History (medieval India), Culture

Mehrauli Archaeological Park in Delhi contains over 100 monuments and structures spanning approximately 1,000 years (7th-17th century CE).

Key contents:

• Qutb Minar complex: Adjacent. UNESCO World Heritage Site. Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque (1193), Qutb Minar (1193-1220, 72.5m, first mosque and minaret in India after Muslim conquest), Iron Pillar of Delhi (4th-5th century CE, defies corrosion).
• Jamali-Kamali mosque and tomb: 16th century Lodi period.
• Balban's tomb: 13th century, one of the earliest uses of the true arch in India.
• Rajon ki Baoli: A step-well (baoli) dating to the Lodi period.
• Adham Khan's tomb: Mughal period.
• Iron Pillar significance: Cast iron pillar erected during Gupta period. Its corrosion resistance (over 1,600 years in the open) is attributed to its high phosphorus content and the local environmental conditions.
• Conservation challenge: Urban encroachment, waterlogging and inadequate maintenance. ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) is responsible for protected monuments.

Static linkage: Delhi Sultanate, Mughal architecture, ASI, UNESCO heritage.

GS area: Health (antimicrobial resistance), Governance

Kerala's Operation Amrith (September 2024) clamped down on over-the-counter (OTC) sales of antibiotics without a prescription.

Key context:

• What H1 means: Schedule H1 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945 lists antibiotics and other high-risk drugs that require a prescription for dispensing. Pharmacies cannot sell H1 drugs without a written prescription.
• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR): Overuse and misuse of antibiotics drive resistance. India has among the world's highest rates of antibiotic-resistant infections. WHO identifies AMR as one of the top ten global public health threats.
• India's NAP-AMR: National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (2017-2021, updated). Coordinates surveillance, infection control, stewardship and international engagement.
• Operation Amrith: Kerala's health department enforcement drive against irrational antibiotic dispensing without prescription. Pharmacies found violating Schedule H1 rules faced fines and licence suspension.

Static linkage: Public health, drug regulation, antimicrobial resistance, Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

• Supreme Court on POCSO (CSEAM): The Supreme Court ruled on the definition of "possession" of child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEAM) under the POCSO Act, holding that constructive possession (storage with intent) is also punishable. Earlier loopholes allowed accused to claim they had not "actively possessed" the material.
• World Heart Day (29 September): Cardiovascular disease causes 18.6 million deaths globally annually (WHO). India accounts for approximately one-fifth of global CVD burden. Hypertension and diabetes are the leading risk factors for Indians.