Current Affairs

 

Lumpy Skin Disease

Causes:

• LSD is caused by infection with the Lumpy Skin Disease Virus (LSDV) in cattle or water buffalo.
• The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that its mortality rate is less than 10%.
• The first reported outbreak of LSD occurred in Zambia in 1929, and it was initially believed to be caused by poisoning or an allergic reaction to insect bites

Transmission:

LSD is primarily spread between animals through the bite of vectors, such as mosquitoes and flies.

Symptoms:

• The primary symptoms of LSD include fever, discharge from the eyes and nose, drooling, and blisters on the skin.
• Also, affected animals may also lose their appetite and have difficulty eating, leading to reduced milk production.
• Prevention and Treatment:
• Currently, India is administering the goat pox vaccine and sheep pox virus vaccines for LSD.
• It's a heterologous vaccine that offers cross-protection for cattle against the disease.
• Goat pox, sheep pox, and LSD belong to the same capripoxvirus genus.
• Lumpi-ProVacind is a live attenuated vaccine developed jointly by ICAR's National Research Centre on Equines and the Indian Veterinary Research Institute. It is targeted to protect cattle against the LSD virus and provides 100% protection.

Red Sea

Physical Geography:

• An inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. One of the most saline bodies of water in the world.

• Bordering Countries: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sudan, Eritrea, and Djibouti.

• Connected to the Indian Ocean in the south through the Bab el-Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden.

• In the north are the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez (leading to the Suez Canal).

Bab al-Mandab strait

• It is strait between Arabia (northeast) and Africa (southwest) that connects the Red Sea (northwest) with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean (southeast).

• It forms a vital strategic link in the maritime trade route between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal

• It is one of the world's most important routes for global seaborne commodity shipments, particularly crude oil and fuel.

• It is bordered by Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and Djibouti and Eritrea on the African coast.

Empowering Persons with Disabilities

• Disability as an identity and entity exists at the intersection of multiple vulnerabilities (social, economic, and gender), with each facet requiring careful consideration when conceptualizing action for equity.

• Globally, 1.3 billion people live with some form of disability. Of them, 80% live in developing countries; further, 70% of them live in rural areas.

• Current systems are designed for people without disabilities and end up being exclusionary to people with disabilities, resulting in them experiencing higher instances of poverty, lack of access to education and opportunities, informality, and other forms of social and economic discrimination.

Definition of Disability in India

• According to the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, a person with a disability is someone who has a long-term impairment that affects their physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory abilities.

• This impairment prevents them from participating fully and effectively in society.

The four main categories of disability are:

• Behavioral or emotional
• Sensory-impaired disorders
• Physical
• Developmental

What is the status of disability in India?

• According to the World Bank, 5–8% of India's population has disabilities. The NSSO estimates that 2.2% of the population is disabled. The NFHS-5 survey (2019–21) found that 4.52% of the population has a disability.

Challenges People with Disabilities Face in India

Limited Awareness:

• The first hurdle is the lack of awareness about the government schemes and benefits available for people with disabilities.

• This issue is more pronounced in rural areas where information dissemination is challenging

Perception and Stigma:

• Persons with disabilities are sometimes viewed as objects of charity rather than as autonomous beings capable of making meaningful contributions to society.

• This perception can lead to social stigma, discrimination, and exclusion from decision-making processes, further exacerbating their challenges.

Lack of Legal and Policy Support:

• India has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2007, and enacted the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (RPWD) in 2016, which provides a legal framework for the protection and empowerment of people with disabilities. 

• However, there are gaps and challenges in the implementation and enforcement of these laws and policies, and many people with disabilities are still unaware of their entitlements and remedies.

Left Wing Extremism

About:

• Left-wing extremism, also known as left- wing terrorism or radical left-wing movements, refers to political ideologies and groups that advocate for significant societal and political change through revolutionary means.
• LWE groups may target government institutions, law enforcement agencies, or private property to further their agenda.
• The LWE movement in India originated in a 1967 uprising in Naxalbari, West Bengal

Presence of LWE in India:

• According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, 90 districts in 10 states are affected by LWE, although in varying degrees. The states are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana and West Bengal.

• The most affected states are Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Bihar, where the LWE groups have a strong presence and carry out frequent attacks on security forces and civilians

Reasons behind Left Wing Extremism

Inequitable Development:

• Many of the LWE-affected areas are among the least developed regions of the country, with high levels of poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, malnutrition, and social exclusion.

• The LWE groups exploit the grievances of the marginalized sections of the society, especially the tribal, who have been deprived of their land, forest, and mineral rights by the state and private actors.

Governance Deficit:

• The LWE-affected areas suffer from a lack of effective governance, administration, and service delivery. The state institutions are often weak, corrupt, or absent, leaving a vacuum that is filled by the LWE groups.

• The LWE groups also use violence and intimidation to disrupt the democratic processes, such as elections, panchayats, and development schemes.

Other Measures:

SAMADHAN Doctrine:

The solution to the LWE problem is not possible with any silver bullet. For this short term, medium term and long-term policies need to be formulated at different levels. Thus 'SAMADHAN' stands for:

S - Smart Leadership

A - Aggressive Strategy

M - Motivation and Training

A - Actionable Intelligence

D - Dashboard Based KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and KRAS (Key Result Areas)

H - Harnessing Technology ucation

A - Action plan for each Theatre

N - No access to Financing

Other Measures:

SMART Police:

• SMART Police is an acronym for Strategic Management & Alternative Response Tactics, which refers to the application of data-driven approaches by police authorities.

• SMART Police aims to improve the quality and efficiency of policing by using various sources of data, such as crime statistics, citizen feedback, social media, etc., to inform decision making and resource allocation. Deepak Yadav

• SMART Police also includes alternatives to police dispatch, such as online reports, telephone reporting units, and false alarm reduction.

Impact of these Measures

• The last eight years have seen a significant decline in left-wing extremism violence as well as the geographical spread of LWE.

• There has been a reduction in incidents in 2022 as compared to 2013. The number of incidents of violence perpetrated by left-wing extremists was 413 in 2022-23.

• There has been a 75% reduction (397 to 98) in left-wing extremism- related deaths in 2022 as compared to 2013.

• In 2022 the resultant deaths and casualties to security forces reduced by 33% and by 68%, respectively in comparison to 2021.