One Stop Centres (OSCs) across 10 missions for women
Context: The Central government will set up One Stop Centres (OSCs) across 10 missions (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, Australia, Canada and Singapore) to provide assistance to Indian women who are survivors of gender-based violence. Relevance: GS-II: Social Justice (Issues related to women, Welfare Schemes) Dimensions of the Article: […]
Expanding the scope of POCSO
Context: Since 2012, India has sought to “protect children from offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography” through the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). Recently, the Supreme Court had to injunct an interpretation of ‘skin-to-skin contact’ given by the Bombay High Court. Another fundamental defect of POCSO is its inability to […]
NGT upholds rights of pastoralists in Banni grasslands
Context: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered all encroachments to be removed from Gujarat’s Banni grasslands within six months and directed a joint committe to prepare an action plan. Thet NGT said that the Maldharis (Pastoralists) will continue to hold the right to conserve the community forests in the area, granted to them as per […]
Vaccine tourism: Going abroad for Covid-19 shots
Context: Recently, reports emerged of a Dubai-based tour operator offering a 24-day package tour from Delhi to Moscow, which included two shots of the Russian Sputnik-V vaccine. Even as several constraints need to be worked out first – including visa and flights from India to Russia – a Delhi-based travel agency has also jumped in […]
Declare mucormycosis an epidemic, Centre tells States
Context: The Union government has asked the States to declare mucormycosis, the fungal infection being reported in COVID-19 patients, an epidemic. An infection called white fungus or Candidiasis has also been found to affect some people and Covid-19 patients are more prone to white fungus as it affects the lungs and similar symptoms are created […]
Social Justice Ministry: Financial aid to transgender people
Context: The Social Justice Ministry would give transgender persons a one-time financial assistance of ₹1,500 at a time that livelihoods have been affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Immediate subsistence assistance to trans persons would be given through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), for which beneficiaries can register with the National Institute of Social Defence (NISD). […]
Kyasanur forest disease: ICMR develops new test
Context: A new point-of-care test developed by ICMR-National Institute of Virology has been found to be highly sensitive in the rapid diagnosis of Kyasanur forest disease (KFD), also known as monkey fever, which is an emerging public health problem in the country. Relevance: Prelims, GS-III: Science and Technology, GS-II: Social Justice (Health related issues) Dimensions […]
Social Security: Laws that leave the workers out
Context: If the informal workers, who constitute 91% of the workforce, had a social security (including free basic curative care in public clinics and hospitals, the elderly had old age pensions, the dying had death/disability insurance or life insurance) – it would save them from being hapless as the Covid-19 pandemic rages on. India’s Parliament […]
Adoption issues for those orphaned during COVID-19
Context: Cases of children losing their parents to Covid-19 are mounting as the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic rages on. Childline 1098 has recorded 51 calls between May 1 to May 12 2021 for children whose both parents succumbed to COVID-19 , but the actual number is likely to be much higher as there […]
Using all options: On Covaxin licensing
Context: As the second COVID-19 wave continues to ravage the country, it is now clear that universal and swift vaccination is the only way out to mitigate the effects of the pandemic. But with only 3% and 10.4% of the total population estimated to have taken the second and a single dose, respectively, the goal […]