PIB – 17 DECEMBER 2021

CONTENTS:

1. TUBERCULOSIS
2. CYBER SURAKSHIT BHARAT
3. REPORT ON STATE OF FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY IN INDIA

TUBERCULOSIS

Focus: GS Paper – 2: Health, Government Policies & Interventions, Important International Institutions

Why in News?

The Ministry of Women and Child Development today organized a National Conference on Women winning against Tuberculosis at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

Key points:

• The conference stressed on the need for making people ‘key partners’ in the campaign for ‘TB Mukt Bharat’ by 2025.
• It stressed that there is a need to adopt a gender sensitive approach to TB, given that the disease can have a disproportionately high impact on women.
• Women account for nearly 36% of the total TB cases.
• TB among women often goes unreported as women do not come forward to seek medical care due to societal stigma & lack of awareness. It results in social and financial stress thereby affecting their treatment.
• Additionally, undernutrition & gender inequality make women more susceptible to TB.

About Tuberculosis (TB):

• It is caused by bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) that most often affect the lungs.
• Transmission: It is spread from person to person through the air. When people with lung TB cough, sneeze or spit, they propel the TB germs into the air. A person needs to inhale only a few of these germs to become infected.
• Organs affected: In humans, TB most commonly affects the lungs (pulmonary TB), but it can also affect other organs (extra-pulmonary TB).
• Symptoms: Common symptoms of active lung TB are cough with sputum and blood at times, chest pains, weakness, weight loss, fever and night sweats.
• TB is present in all countries and age groups. But TB is curable and preventable.
• A total of 1.5 million people died from TB in 2020 (including 214 000 people with HIV).
• Worldwide, TB is the 13th leading cause of death and the second leading infectious killer after COVID-19 (above HIV/AIDS).
• India reported 1.8 million TB cases between January and December 2020 as compared to 2.4 million the year before.
• MultiDrug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a strain of TB that cannot be treated with the two most powerful first-line treatment anti-TB drugs. Extensively Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (XDR-TB) is a form of TB caused by bacteria that are resistant to several of the most effective anti-TB drugs.
• CBNAAT (Cartridges Based Nucleic Acid Amplification Test) is used for early diagnosis of MDR-TB.
• Vaccine: In India, BCG was first introduced in a limited scale in 1948 and became a part of the National TB Control Programme in 1962.

Government Initiatives:

• National Strategic Plan for Tuberculosis Elimination 2017-2025: It aims to eliminate TB in India by 2025, , ahead of the Sustainable Development Goals target (2030)
• TB Harega Desh Jeetega Campaign: It aims to improve and expand the reach of TB care services across the country by 2022.
• The WHO (World Health Organisation) has launched a joint initiative “Find. Treat. All. #EndTB” with the Global Fund and Stop TB Partnership.

CYBER SURAKSHIT BHARAT

Focus: GS Paper – 3, Cyber Security, Cyber Warfare, Challenges to Internal Security Through Communication Networks

Why in News?

With an aim to strengthen the cyber security ecosystem in Government organizations in the country, the National e-Governance Division under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) organises organises 25th CISO Deep Dive Training program under Cyber Surakshit Bharat initiative

Key points:

• The training program is a part of a series of workshops organised by the National e-Governance Division at MeitY under the Cyber Surakshit Bharat initiative. 
• The Program will equip participants with better understanding of the emerging cyber threat landscape & understand best practices in cyber security
• In this deep dive training, security experts from industry as well as Government will talk about how to secure the IT infrastructure and also adopt best practices to safeguard the IT infrastructure
• The knowledge gained during training can help you to prepare cyber security policies and Cyber Crisis Management Plan for respective organizations.
• India is ranked among top 10 countries in cyber security posture for the year 2020 out of 182 countries. India has jumped from 47th position in the year 2018 to 10th position in the year 2020.

Need:

• In these past years, cyber-attacks have been increasing. Cyber fraudsters are using the COVID-19 pandemic as a cyber-attack vector for their own notorious gains.
• In 2019, there were 3,94,499 attacks which increased to 11,58,208 attacks in 2020.
• And in 2021, we have already witnessed 6,07,220 cyber-attacks.
• The primary set of attacks has been phishing attacks to steal information and drop malware. 
• The attackers devise new strategies to target victims with scams or malware campaigns. This workshop is an opportunity to understand how you should approach this entire problem

About Cyber Surakshit Bharat:

• It was launched in 2018 by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity).
• It aims to empower the CISOs with the emerging challenges of cyber security and train them to meet the challenges
• Objective: The objective of the programme is to train 1200 CISOs and frontline IT officials from Central and State Government, PSUs, Banks and government organizations.
• It is the first PPP of its kind and will leverage the expertise of the IT industry in cybersecurity.
• Cyber Surakshit Bharat will be operated on the three principles of Awareness, Education and Enablement.

REPORT ON STATE OF FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY IN INDIA

Focus: GS Paper – 2: Education, Government Policies & Interventions

Why in News?

The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) releases the report on State of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy in India.

Key points:

• The report prepared by the Institute for Competitiveness highlights the importance of early education years in the overall development of a child.
• It establishes an understanding of the overall state of Foundational Learning across children aged below ten years in Indian States and Union territories. 
• The Index includes five pillars comprising of41 indicators.
• The five pillars are : Educational Infrastructure, Access to Education, Basic Health, Leaning Outcomes and Governance.
• Kerala (36.55) has the best performance among the small states.
• The performance of Large States such as Rajasthan (25.67), Gujarat (22.28), and Bihar (18.23) is noticeably below average.
• North-eastern states have the highest scores as a result of their superior performance.
• States have performed particularly worse in the Governance pillar because over half of the states have a score that is below the national average, i.e., 28.05, the lowest across all pillars.

Need:

• Access to quality early childhood education is a fundamental right for all children.
• The earliest years of a child’s life needs to be understood in the backdrop of the socio-economic, psychological, and technological hindrances they face, which further affects the potential of a child in numerous ways.
• A child needs to develop solid Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) skills.FLN refers to basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills.
• Falling behind in the Foundational Learning years which encompass of pre school and elementary education makes children more vulnerable as it negatively impacts their learning outcomes.
• In addition to the existing issues pertaining to foundational learning years, the ongoing pandemic has highlighted the importance of technology in overall child’s education.
• Therefore, focus on the foundational learning is the need of the hour to ensure universal access to quality levels of education for all children in pre-primary and primary classes in India.

Government Initiatives:

• Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP): Part IV of Indian Constitution, Article 45 and Article 39 (f) of Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP), has a provision for state-funded as well as equitable and accessible education.
• The 86th Amendment in 2002 made education an enforceable right under Article 21-A.
• National Education Policy (2020): It aims to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education including vocational education from 26.3% (2018) to 50% by 2035.
• NIPUN (National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy) Bharat Scheme: It aims to cover the learning needs of children in the age group of 3 to 9 years. This initiative is being launched as a part of NEP (National Education Policy) 2020.
• Right To Education (RTE) Act, 2009: It aims to provide primary education to all children aged 6 to 14 years and enforces education as a Fundamental Right.
• Other Initiatives: Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Mid Day Meal Scheme, Kendriya Vidyalayas (KV schools) and so on
• India is committed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals 2030. Zero Hunger, Good health and Well being and Access to Education are the significant goals