IAS UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 23rd September 2019

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(PRELIMS + MAINS FOCUS)

Mochi Swabhimaan Initiative

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II – Society

In News

• Mochi Swabhimaan Initiative is a nationwide effort in which Leather Sector Skill Council (LSSC) will support the cobbler community who provide leather-based services, with CSR funds.
• This will ensure that they work in a dignified manner by bringing respect to their skills by giving them better working environment in the form of kiosks/umbrellas. 
• Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has launched this initiative.
• LSSC is an NSDC approved non-profit organization set up in 2012 dedicated to meet the demand for skilled workforce in the leather industry.

Shondol

Part of: GS Prelims

In News

• Shondol is famous dance, which used to be performed by artists for King of Ladakh on special occasions.
• Shondol dancehas created history by entering into the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest Ladakhi dance, which involved 408 women
• It was held on the concluding day of the ongoing Buddhist carnival Naropa festival near the 11th-century world-famousHemis Monastery. 
• The monastery is close to the Hemis National Park, an area that is home to the endangered snow leopard.
• During the festival, it was not only focused on Zero usage of Plastic but also sensitise the religious and community leaders on plastic waste management and recycling.

Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current (AMOC)

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains GS-I- Geography

In News

• AMOC is a large system of ocean currents operating in the Atlantic, which circulates the waters between the north and the south.
• How it operates?
  • As warm water flows northwards in the Atlantic, it cools, while evaporation increases its salt content.
  • Low temperature and a high salt content raise the density of the water, causing it to sink deep into the ocean.
  • The cold, dense water deep below slowly spreads southward. Eventually, it gets pulled back to the surface and warms again, and the circulation is complete.
• AMOC ensures the oceans are continually mixed, and heat and energy are distributed around Earth.
• Scientists have been worried by signs that AMOC may be slowing, which could have drastic consequences on global climate.
• However,a new study now suggests that AMOC is getting help from the Indian Ocean
• As a result of climate change, the Indian Ocean warms faster and faster, generating additional precipitation.
• This draws more air from other parts of the world to the Indian Ocean, including the Atlantic, causing a series of cascading effects that is providing AMOC a “jump start” 

ALL INDIA SURVEY ON HIGHER EDUCATION (AISHE) 2018-19

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains GS-II – Education

In News

• Union Minister for HRD released the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2018-19.
• The survey has listed a total of 993 universities as operational HEI’s in India. A total of 39,931 colleges and 10,725 standalone institutions are dedicated to higher education in the country
• The Gross Enrolment Ratioincreased from 25.8% in 2017-18 to 26.3% in 2018-19.The total enrolment in higher education has been estimated to be 3.74 crore, as opposed to 3.66 crore the year before.
• The report also found that GER among male population is 26.3% and for females, it is 26.4%. GER for Reserved Categories i.e. SC and ST categories stands below the national average at 23% and 17.2% respectively.
• The Gender Parity Index (GPI) has shown consistent growth over the period of last five years from 0.5 in 2014-15 to 1 in 2018-19. The Gender Parity Index suggests that of the total 3.74 crore students, 1.92 crore are men, and 1.82 crore are women.
• Only 2.5% colleges offer PhD or doctoral programmes to the students
• The total number of students enrolled for the Doctoral Programme stands at 1,69,170, which is below 0.5% of the total number of students enrolled for higher education. 
• As per report, the number of students enrolled in the B.Tech and M.Tech programme has fallen by nearly 50% in last five years.
• On the other hand professional programmes like MBA, B.Ed and LLB have registered significant jump in the students’ enrolment. For instance, MBA enrolment rose from 4,09,432 in 2014-15 to 4,62,853 in 2018-19. 

India-Mongolia

Part of: GS Prelims and Main GS-II- International Relations

In News

• PM Modi and President of Mongolia H.E. Mr Khaltmaagiin Battulga, jointly unveiled a statue of Lord Buddha and his two disciples, installed at historic Gandan Tegchenling Monastery in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia’s Capital) via videoconferencing from Delhi.
• The Statue symbolizes the shared respect of our two countries for universal message of Lord Buddha. 
• Statue depicts Lord Buddha in a sitting posture along with his two disciples conveying the message of compassion as well as peace and co-existence
• Gandan Tegchenling Monastery –prominent centre of Mongolian Buddhists – hosted 11th General Assembly of Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace (from 21-23 June 2019)

(MAINS FOCUS)

CLIMATE CHANGE

TOPIC: General Studies 3:

• Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Climate change action an hour of need

Context:

• Millions of people demonstrated across the world(185 countries)  demanding urgent action to tackle global heating, as they united across timezones and cultures to take part in the biggest climate protest in history.
• The demonstrations took place on the eve of a UN climate summit, called by the secretary general, António Guterres, to inject urgency into government action to restrict the rise in global temperatures to 1.5C, as agreed under the 2015 Paris agreement.

Why?

• The growing evidence of climate change — scientific and experiential — has spurred an upwelling of social action, notably among the youth.
• Carbon emissions climbed to a record high last year, despite a warning from the UN-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that there is little more than a decade left to act to slash emissions and stabilise the climate.

Evidences of  climate change:

• Sea level rise is accelerating, and oceans have become 26% more acidic since the dawn of the Industrial era.
• This summer saw Delhi-like temperatures across southern Europe;
•  Hurricane Dorian rendered large parts of the Bahamas unliveable;
•  simultaneous raging fires in the Amazon, central Africa and even Siberia.
• heat wave in France and Germany

Yet, concentrations of carbon dioxide continue to rise, and current country pledges would not stem this increase even by 2030.

Crux:

A turn toward nationalism in multiple countries has created a short-term, look-out-for-our-own mentality that is inimical to the global collective action needed to address climate change.

Example:

• In United States, President Donald Trump not only refuses to enhance actions, he has actively rolled back measures in the electricity sector and actions to limit methane emissions in the name of competitiveness
• In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro has made it clear he sees environmental protections as limiting Brazilian business.

What is done so far?

Diplomatically:

• countries have been urged to enhance their pledges for action made as part of the Paris Agreement, committing to lower future emissions.
• the response is underwhelming. A number of small and mid-sized countries, have already committed to achieving the objective of making their economies net carbon neutral by 2050
• By contrast, several large countries, notably the United States, Brazil, Australia, Canada, Japan and Mexico are reportedly not even going to participate in the event at a high level
• China and India have issued statements hinting that they are doing quite enough

Trough action port folio:

• furthering and accelerating an energy transition toward low-carbon energy, 
• making cities more climate friendly and more resilient to climate disruption, 
• starting the process of turning energy intensive sectors such as steel and cement more carbon friendly.
• promoting solar energy for energy security reasons; 
• making cities more liveable; 
• making industries more efficient and therefore competitive

Impact on India:

• We are a deeply vulnerable country to climate impacts. It would behove India not to be a status quo player in this context, but to argue for enhanced global collective action.
• India has the potential to show the pathway to accelerating action on climate change even while pursuing its development interests.
• India is justifiably recognised for promoting renewable energy, yet also muddies the waters by sending mixed signals on future coal use.

Conclusion:

• India needs domestic energy policies that are more clearly and coherently tuned to a future low carbon world.
• India and China, jointly must  help ensure that Africa’s development is powered by renewable energy rather than fossil fuels
• the aim should be to make accelerated climate action congruent with an enlightened notion of national interest by focusing on key actions in rapidly changing areas such as energy and urbanisation.
• India Must  build a diplomatic approach on a firm domestic foundation that takes seriously climate change as a factor in its future development pathway.

2015 Paris agreement:

• Paris Agreement is an international agreement to combat climate change.
• Paris Agreement comes under the broad umbrella of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). UNFCCC is a convention held in 1992 to combat climate change.

Aim:

• Keep the global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level.
• Pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
• Strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change.

Connecting the dots:

• Backed by popular mobilisation and scientific evidence, can the UN swing the tide toward enhanced action?
• What does this canvas of global climate politics mean for India?
• Could an India, firmly committed to a low-carbon future that brings development benefits, strike common cause with other powers?

HEALTH

TOPIC:General Studies 2

• Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes
• Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

One year of Ayushman Bharat — the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY)

Context:

• Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme having central sector component under Ayushman Bharat Mission anchored in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). 
• It is an umbrella of two major health initiatives, namely Health and wellness Centres and National  Health Protection Scheme.
• The journey of Ayushman Bharat started in Jangla in Chhattisgarh.

1. Health and Wellness Centres

• Under this 1.5 lakh existing sub centres will bring health care system closer to the homes of people in the form of Health and wellness centres. 
• These centres will provide comprehensive health care, including for non-communicable diseases and maternal and child health services.

2. National Health Protection Mission (AB-PMJAY)

• AB-PMJAY provides a defined benefit cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year. This cover will take care of almost all secondary care and most of tertiary care procedures.
• The benefit cover will also include pre and post-hospitalisation expenses.
• PM-JAY has sought to cover a population larger than that of Canada, United States and Mexico put together.

Implementation 

• At the national level to manage, a National Health Agency has been set up. States/ UTs are advised to implement the scheme by a dedicated entity called State Health Agency (SHA).
• Several states have merged their many ongoing schemes with PMJAY to make implementation simpler for both beneficiaries and participating hospitals. 

Ex: Karnataka has merged seven different existing schemes into one, while Kerala has merged three different schemes.

Impacts:

Ayushman Bharat has been designed on the fundamental precepts that prevention is better than cure, and that no one should fall into poverty because of expenditure on healthcare, or die, because they cannot afford treatment.

• In-patient hospitalization expenditure in India has increased nearly 300% during last ten year.
•  More than 80% of the expenditure are met by out of pocket (OOP).
• Nearly 6 million families getting into poverty due to catastrophic health expenditures
• AB-PMJAY will have major impact on reduction of Out Of Pocket (OOP)
• This will lead to increased access to quality health and medication.
•  timely treatments, improvements in health outcomes, patient satisfaction, improvement in productivity and efficiency, job creation thus leading to improvement in quality of life.

Present scenario:

• More than 20,000 HWCs have been made operational. 
• More than five crore people have been screened for a whole range of common non-communicable diseases.
•  more than 45 lakh hospital admissions have taken place for cashless treatment in more than 18,000 empaneled hospitals across the country, resulting in savings of more than Rs 13,000 crore for the beneficiary families. 
• Every three seconds, a beneficiary is being treated, and the numbers continue to rise.

Role of private sector:

• More than half of the empaneled hospitals are private. 
• Over 62 per cent of the treatments have been done by private hospitals. 
• PM-JAY has created a massive demand for private (and public) sector services by making hospital facilities accessible to 55 crore people.
•  In tier II and tier III cities, private sector hospitals are already witnessing an almost 20 per cent increase in footfall.
• Public sector facilities have streamlined their processes so as to improve service quality and amenities with funds from PMJAY.

Employment generation:

• Ayushman Bharat is set to become one of the largest drivers of jobs in the country. 
• With the setting up of 1.5 lakh HWCs by 2022, an expected 1.5 lakh jobs will be created for community health officers, including 50,000 multi-purpose health workers.
•  It has generated an estimated 50,000-60,000 jobs in the first year itself and is expected to add over 12.5 lakh jobs in both public and private sectors over the next three to five years.
• as more people seek in-patient care, 1.5 lakh beds will be added in existing and new hospitals. This, in turn, will lead to the creation of around 7.5 lakh new opportunities for doctors, nurses, technicians, pharmacists and frontline healthcare workers such as Pradhan Mantri Arogya Mitras (functionaries who are the key interface between beneficiaries and the scheme)

Use of technology:

• A live dashboard helps in monitoring and improving performance, based on real-time data and regular analysis. 

• This platform also helps states to compare their performance.

•  A strong and sophisticated fraud prevention, detection and control system at the national and state level has proved to be critical for PM-JAY to ensure that frauds are largely prevented.

Conclusion:

• Ayushman Bharat has provided a platform and framework for the country to accelerate its progress towards comprehensive universal healthcare.
• “Green field” states with no past experience of implementing healthcare schemes have to work harder to scale up their progress. All states will need to make sincere efforts towards providing seamless health services to the last mile.
• As the Ayushman Bharat revolution unfolds, we are optimistic that India will make sure healthcare is no longer a privilege and is available to every Indian.

Connecting the dots:

• Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) is the most ambitious health sector scheme since Independence. Analyze

(TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE)

Model questions: (You can now post your answers in comment section)

Note: 

• Featured Comments and comments Up-voted by IASbaba are the “correct answers”.
• IASbaba App users – Team IASbaba will provide correct answers in comment section. Kindly refer to it and update your answers.

Q.1)Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) which is the source of information on children’s learning outcomes is releasedby which body/Ministry?

1. Ministry of Human resource development
2. Ministry of Finance
3. NGO- Pratham
4. None of the above

Q.2)Shondol is a cultural dance of which region of India?

1. Kerala
2. Manipur
3. Ladakh
4. Rajasthan

Q.3)Mochi Swabhimaan Initiative is being implemented by which Union Minstry?

1. Ministry of Labour
2. Ministry of Human resource development
3. Ministry of Skill development and Entrepreneurship
4. None of the above

Q.4)Consider the following statements about Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current (AMOC)

1. It is a large system of ocean currents operating in the Atlantic, which circulates the waters between the north and the south.
2. It ensures that heat and energy are distributed around Earth.
3. Recent report show AMOC may be speeding, which could have drastic consequences on global climate.

Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 2and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1,2 and 3

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