24 MARCH 2023

Topic 1: Shaheed Diwas

Context: Vice President pays tribute to Sardar Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru on Shaheed Diwas.

Key details:

• ‘Shaheed Diwas’ is commemorated every year on March 23 to remember the sacrifice made by the revolutionary leaders Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Hari Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar who were hanged at the Lahore Central Jail in 1931.
• The trio was found guilty of the murder of deputy police superintendent JP Saunders in 1928, to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai.
• Contributions of Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru:
  • Among the three, Bhagat Singh is remembered as a charismatic freedom fighter.
  • Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru plotted to kill superintendent of police James Scott in Lahore in a bid to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai.
  • However, they mistakenly shot John Saunders, following which Singh fled to Calcutta to avoid arrest.
  • He was arrested when he along with Batukeshwar Dutt hurled bombs in Delhi’s Central Assembly Hall, and raised the slogan of “Inquilab Zindabad!”
  • On March 23, 1931, the three heroes of the independence movement, Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged to death.

---

Topic 2: The Lily Thomas SC verdict

Context: A Surat court sentenced Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to two years in jail in a 2019 defamation case over his remarks about the “Modi surname”.

Key details:

• As per the Representation of the People Act of 1951, conviction of a lawmaker for an offence with a two-year sentence or more leads to disqualification from the House.
• The disqualification takes effect only after three months have elapsed from the date of conviction.
• Within that period, the convicted lawmaker could have filed an appeal against the sentence before a higher court.
• However, this provision was struck down as “unconstitutional” in the Supreme Court’s landmark 2013 ruling in ‘Lily Thomas v Union of India’.

The case:

• In 2005, a PIL was filed before the Apex Court by a Kerala-based lawyer Lily Thomas and NGO Lok Prahari challenging Section 8(4) of the RPA as “ultra vires” to the Constitution.
  • It protects convicted legislators from disqualification on account of their appeals pending before the higher courts.
• This plea sought to clean Indian politics of criminal elements by barring convicted politicians from contesting elections or holding an official seat.
• It drew attention to Articles 102(1) and 191(1) of the Constitution.
  • Article 102(1) lays down the disqualifications for membership to either House of Parliament
  • Article 191(1) lays down the disqualifications for membership to the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council of the state.

• Before this judgment, convicted MPs could easily file an appeal against their conviction and continue holding their official seats.
• In 2013, a Supreme Court Bench held that Parliament had no power to enact sub-section (4) of Section 8 of the Act and it is ultra vires the Constitution.
• The Court also held that if any sitting member of Parliament or State Legislature is convicted of any offence under Section 8, RPA, then by virtue of such conviction and/or sentence they will be disqualified.
• The court added that a convicted parliamentarian or legislator’s membership will no longer be protected by Section 8 (4).

Representation of People Act, 1950 And Representation of People Act, 1951.

Representation of People Act, 1950	Representation of People Act, 1951
The Act makes provisions relating to the allocation of seats in the House of the People, the State Legislative Assemblies and the State Legislative Councils.	The Act makes provisions relating to qualifications and disqualifications for membership of Parliament and State Legislatures.
The Act makes provisions relating to delimitation of Parliamentary, Assembly and Council Constituencies.	The Act makes provisions relating to notification of general elections.
The Act makes provisions relating to election officers like chief electoral officers, district election officers, electoral registration officers and so on.	The Act makes provision relating to administrative machinery for the conduct of elections.
The Act makes provisions relating to electoral rolls for Parliamentary, Assembly and Council constituencies.	The Act makes provisions relating to registration of political parties.
The Act makes provisions relating to manner of filling seats in the Council of States to be filled by representatives of union territories.	The Act makes provisions relating to conduct of elections.
The Act makes provisions relating to local authorities for purposes of elections to the State Legislative Councils.	The Act makes provisions relating to disputes regarding elections.
The Act makes provisions relating to barring the jurisdiction of civil courts.	The Act makes provisions relating to bye-elections and time limit for filling vacancies.

---

Topic 3: Guillotine in legislative parlance

Context: Amidst the ongoing stalemate in Parliament, some MPs said the government may guillotine the demands for grants and pass the Finance Bill without any discussion in the Lok Sabha.

What is a guillotine?

• A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading.
• The guillotine is most widely associated with the French Revolution.
• It was a method of execution in France until the country stopped capital punishment in 1981.

What does ‘guillotine’ refer to in legislative parlance?

• In legislative parlance, to “guillotine” means to bunch together and fast-track the passage of financial business.
• It is a fairly common procedural exercise in Lok Sabha during the Budget Session.
• Given the limitation of time, the House cannot take up the expenditure demands of all Ministries.
• Therefore, the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) identifies some important Ministries for discussions.
• Once the House is done with these debates, the Speaker applies the guillotine, and all outstanding demands for grants are put to vote at once.
• This usually happens on the last day earmarked for the discussion on the Budget.
• The intention is to ensure timely passage of the Finance Bill, marking the completion of the legislative exercise with regard to the Budget.

---

Topic 4: Coal Bed Methane

Context: The Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs informed Lok Sabha about coal bed methane extraction in India.

Key details:

• At present, Coal Bed Methane (CBM) is not produced from any working/ operational coal mines in the country.
• Government of India had formulated a policy in 1997 to extract Coal Bed Methane (CBM) from coal-bearing areas prior to the mining of coal.
• a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed between the Ministry of Coal and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, to act in a cooperative manner for the development of CBM.
• India has the fifth largest proven coal reserves in the world and thus holds significant prospects for exploration and exploitation of CBM.
• The Gondwana sediments of eastern India host the bulk of India’s coal reserves and all the current CBM producing blocks.
• The vast majority of the best prospective areas for CBM development are in eastern India, situated in Damodar Koel valley and Son valley.
• Though India has CBM Prognosticated Resource of 92 TCF, in-place reserves established is 10 TCF only.

What is coal bed methane?

• Coal bed methane (CBM) is a form of natural gas which can be recovered from coal deposits or coal seams.
  • A coal deposit is a geographical location containing mineable accumulations of coal while a coal seam is entrapment of coal in underlying rock.
• How is it formed?
  • The gas is formed during the natural conversion of plant material into coal, known as coalification.
  • When coalification occurs, the coal becomes saturated with water and methane gas is trapped within it.
  • CBM can be recovered from coal deposits and seams through drilling and extraction.
• Composition
• It consists predominantly of methane gas (CH4) although it can contain trace amounts of ethane (C2H6), carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O).

• Uses
  • Power Generation
  • Manufacturing fertilizers and plastics.
  • Transportation fuel
• Concerns:
  • Coal bed methane exploration involves pumping large volumes of water out of coal seams to reduce the hydrostatic pressure and liberate the gas.
    • The produced water from coal bed methane wells has a fairly high salinity (due to dissolved sodium bicarbonate ions or chlorides) making it unsuitable for certain agricultural activities due to adverse and long-term chemical or physical effects on soil structure.
  • Its main component, methane, offers up to 72 times more global warming potential (GWP) per unit mass than CO2.

---

Topic 5: Eliminating tuberculosis by 2025

Context: India targeted to eliminate TB by 2025, five years ahead of the global target

What is TB?

• Tuberculosis is a disease caused by infection with the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
• The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but TB bacteria can attack any part of the body such as the kidney, spine, and brain.
• Two TB-related conditions exist:
  • Latent TB.
    • You have a TB infection, but the bacteria in your body are inactive and cause no symptoms.
    • Latent TB, also called inactive TB or TB infection, isn’t contagious.
    • Latent TB can turn into active TB.
  • Active TB.
    • Also called TB disease, this condition makes you sick and, in most cases, can spread to others.
    • It can occur weeks or years after infection with the TB bacteria.
• Antibiotics are the mainstay treatment of TB.
• However, the bacteria has been known to become resistant and find a way to beat these antibiotics.
• Drug-resistant strains of TB have become a global concern.

70 years of TB control in India

• When India gained independence in 1947, there were about half a million TB deaths annually and an estimated 2.5 million Indians suffered from active tuberculosis.
• In 1948, a TB vaccination program commenced.
• The BCG vaccine protects against the most severe forms of TB, such as TB meningitis in children, but it doesn’t protect against TB in adults.
• India’s first national survey of TB, conducted from 1955 to 1958, found on average four of every 1,000 people in India had TB.
• The National Tuberculosis Institute was established in 1959 and an interdisciplinary group conducted a series of research studies that culminated in the National Tuberculosis Programme in 1963.
• The key strategy of the program was to use chemotherapy to treat TB.

Recent survey findings

• The results of the most recent national TB survey in India (2019–21) found just over three people per 1,000 had active TB cases.
• This is not a great improvement on the last survey from the 1950s (four per 1,000) and much higher than the WHO’s 2020 estimate of 1.8 per 1,000.
• The highest prevalence was in Delhi, at over five per 1,000.
• Groups with higher prevalence included:
  • the elderly,
  • malnourished,
  • smokers,
  • those with alcohol dependence and
  • diabetics.

TB and COVID:

• The total number of TB patients recorded dropped by 25% in 2020, then rose 19% in 2021.
• This probably indicates TB diagnoses were lost in 2020 during the COVID outbreak.
• Even the National Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases (NITRD) was converted into a designated COVID Care Centre in May 2021.
• TB was already endemic in India, and the lockdowns probably increased overcrowding for socioeconomically disadvantaged households which could have meant TB was able to more effectively spread in crowded households.
• This was exacerbated by the healthcare system at time bordering on collapse as resources had to be allocated for COVID cases, and access to diagnostics and treatment were reduced during the lockdown periods.

How many TB cases are detected each year in India?

• Although India continues to be the largest contributor to global TB cases, there has been a decline in the number of cases in 2021.
• Reporting of TB cases also improved in 2021 – although it didn’t reach the pre-pandemic levels.
• The incidence of TB (new cases detected through the year) reduced by 18% in 2021 over the 2015 baseline.
• The incidence of drug-resistant TB also went down by 20% during the period from 1.49 lakh cases in 2015 to 1.19 lakh cases in 2021.
• India accounts for 28% of all TB cases in the world, according to the Global TB Report 2022.
• There were 21.3 lakh cases detected in 2021 as compared to 18.05 lakh cases in 2020.
• The numbers are still lower than the 24.04 lakh cases reported before the pandemic in 2019.

India’s TB elimination target

• Although elimination of Tuberculosis is one of the sustainable development targets to be achieved by 2030 by the world, India has set the target of 2025.
• The national strategic plan 2017-2025 sets the target of India reporting no more than 44 new TB cases or 65 total cases per lakh population by 2025.
• The programme also aims to reduce the mortality to 3 deaths per lakh population by 2025.
• The estimated TB mortality for the year 2020 stood at 37 per lakh population.
• The plan also aims to reduce catastrophic costs for the affected family to zero.
  • However, the TB report states that 7 to 32 per cent of those with drug-sensitive TB, and 68 per cent with drug-resistant TB experienced catastrophic costs.
• The goals are in line with the World Health Organisation’s End TB strategy that calls for 80% reduction in the number of new cases, 90% reduction in mortality, and zero catastrophic cost by 2030.

Key initiatives by Indian government for elimination of TB:

• Ni-kshay Mitra:
  • The President launched the Ni-kshay Mitra initiative to ensure additional diagnostic, nutritional, and vocational support to those on TB treatment.
  • The Ni-kshay 2.0 portal will facilitate in providing additional patient support to improve treatment outcome of TB patients
  • It will augment community involvement in meeting India’s commitment to end TB by 2025 and leveraging Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) opportunities.
• The National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme
  • The National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP), previously known as Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP), aims to strategically reduce TB burden in India by 2025, five years ahead of the Sustainable Development Goals.
  • In 2020, the RNTCP was renamed as the National TB Elimination Program (NTEP) to emphasize the aim of the Government of India to eliminate TB in India by 2025.
  • It reached over a billion people in 632 districts/reporting units and is responsible for carrying out the Government of India’s five-year National Strategic Plans for TB elimination along with the States/UTs.
• The National Strategic Plan for TB Elimination
  • The National Strategic Plan for TB Elimination was launched to achieve the target of ending TB by 2025 in a mission mode.
  • It is a multi-pronged approach which aims to detect all TB patients with an emphasis on reaching TB patients seeking care from private providers and undiagnosed TB in high-risk populations.
• Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana:
  • Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana (NPY) helped meet the nutritional requirements of TB patients, especially the underserved.
  • From 2018 till present, around ₹1,707 crore has been disbursed to more than 65 lakh people on TB treatment across the country.
• Patient Provider Support Agencies
  • As part of engaging the private sector, Patient Provider Support Agencies (PPSA) have been rolled out across 250 districts through the domestic setup and JEET initiative, leading to 32% of all TB patients being notified from the private sector.
• Improved diagnostics:
  • The pandemic has led to improved access to the more accurate molecular diagnostic tests like CB-NAAT and TureNat that were also used to test for Covid-19.
  • The government has also implemented a universal drug susceptibility test, meaning that antibiotic susceptibility of the mycobacterium is determined for all newly diagnosed cases.
• New drugs:
  • Newer drugs such as Bedaquiline and Delamanid for the treatment of drug-resistant TB have been included in the government’s basket of drugs provided free TB patients.
  • These oral drugs can replace the injectable kanamycin that was associated with serious side effects like kidney problems and deafness.
  • These new drugs have also been included in the new National List of Essential Medicines that gives the government power to regulate their market price as well.

Newer vaccines in the pipeline

• The BCG vaccine uses a weakened form of the TB bacteria to train the immune system.
• Although it can protect against severe forms of TB like the ones in the brain, the protection is not very good against the most common form of TB in the lungs.
• It offers limited protection to adults, it doesn’t prevent people from getting the infection or re-activation of a latent infection.
• Trials are underway to test the effectiveness of a vaccine called Immuvac, which was initially developed to prevent leprosy, in preventing TB.
  • The vaccine developed using mycobacterium indicus pranii has antigens (the portions of a pathogen against which antibodies are developed) similar to those of leprosy and TB bacteria.
• Researchers are also testing the vaccine candidate called VPM1002, which is a recombinant form of the BCG vaccine modified to express the TB antigens better.
  • This results in better training of the immune system and protection against TB.

TB Vaccine (BCG)

• Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is a vaccine for tuberculosis (TB) disease.
• The BCG vaccine isn’t recommended for general use in the United States because it isn’t very effective in adults.
• However, it is often given to infants and small children in other countries where TB is common. BCG does not always protect people from getting TB.

 

Drug-resistant TB

• Drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis emerge when an antibiotic fails to kill all of the bacteria it targets.
• The surviving bacteria become resistant to that drug and often other antibiotics as well.
• Some TB bacteria have developed resistance to the most commonly used treatments, such as isoniazid and rifampin (Rifadin, Rimactane).
• Some TB strains have also developed resistance to drugs less commonly used in TB treatment, such as the antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones, and injectable medications including amikacin and capreomycin (Capastat).

Prevalence of Latent TB

• What is it?
  • Latent TB is a condition that occurs after an individual is infected by TB bacteria, M. tuberculosis, but does not show symptoms of TB.
  • Unlike patients with active TB, individuals with latent TB do not transmit the disease.
  • Although most of the infected persons do not manifest the disease, they are at high risk of developing active infection and hence represent a reservoir of TB bacteria.
• WHO statistics:
  • According to WHO, approximately one fourth of the world’s population is estimated to be infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
  • On average, 5–10% of those who are infected will develop active TB disease over their lifetime.
  • In India, the prevalence rate of latent tuberculosis is very high, around 40% of the population.

Way forward:

• India’s National Strategic Plan for Tuberculosis Elimination has described four strategic pillars of “Detect – Treat – Prevent – Build” (DTPB) as the way forward.
  • Detect refers to early identification of presumptive TB cases, at the first point of care, and prompt diagnosis using high sensitivity diagnostic tests
  • Treatment refers to initiating and sustaining all patients on first-line anti-tuberculosis drug treatment for drug-sensitive TB patients and appropriate antibiotics for drug resistant TB
  • Prevent refers to scaling up air-borne infection control measures at health care facilities, treatment for latent TB infection in contacts of confirmed cases, and addressing social determinants of TB including crowded housing and sanitation
  • Build refers to strengthening and building on the existing health service to prevent and treat TB and positioning TB high on the health and development agenda.

Conclusion

• TB continues to be a significant public health issue in our country.
• Therefore, the TB programmes should lay emphasis on detection and treatment of latent tuberculosis to decrease the likelihood of active TB and to achieve the targets of TB elimination.

---

Topic 6: Exercise Konkan 2023

Context: Konkan 2023 exercise was held recently.

Key details:

• It is an annual bilateral maritime exercise between the Indian Navy and the Royal Navy (United Kingdom.
• It was held in the Arabian Sea.
• INS Trishul, a guided missile frigate participated in this edition.
• The exercises covered  all domains of maritime operations, air, surface and sub-surface.

---