What's the NEWS

• The Prime Minister, inaugurated the High-Level Segment Meeting of the 14^th Conference of Parties (COP14) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
  
  
• The Prime Minister reaffirmed India's commitment to addressing all the three main concerns of the Rio Conventions.

India's pledge

• India would raise its ambition of the total area that would be restored from its land degradation status, from twenty-one million hectares to twenty-six million hectares between now and 2030
• This will be focused on restoring land productivity and ecosystem services of 26 million hectares of most degraded and vulnerable land, with emphasis on the degraded agricultural, forest and other wastelands by adopting a landscape restoration approach.
• The Prime Minister also announced India's proposal to setup a global technical support institute for the member countries of the UNCCD for their capacity building and support regarding the Land Degradation Neutrality Target Setting Programme
• The COP14 has emerged as a global platform to discuss matters of great importance concerning the environment, he stated "More than 190 Countries, 100 Ministers and 8000 participants from all across the globe came together to discuss and work on promotion of land restoration and climate resilience.

Delhi Declaration

• The Environment Minister in a Press Conference later today also announced that the Delhi declaration will be announced tomorrow which will be accountable for the actions by various countries

Know! the report tabled at 14^th UNCCD

• One of the consequences of desertification and land degradation is migration. At the same time, there is a trapped population - people not in a position to migrate during environmental stress, according to a report tabled at the ongoing 14 the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
• The poors are hit the worst hit due to problem such as desertification; this will increase if corrective measures are not taken, according to the report, Addressing the Land Degradation-Migration Nexus: the Role of The United Nations Convention To Combat Desertification.
• The report has different estimates about the possible impacts of desertification, land degradation and drought on migration.
• It cites two more reports, including one released by World Bank in 2018 that estimated that 140 million people would possibly be internally displaced due to climate change by 2050 across sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America.
• A 2019 study by Laurent-Lucchetti et al pegged the number of migrants driven by drought to increase by 22 million in Africa, 12 million in South America and 10 million in Asia in 2059 from 2000-2015 levels.
• Approximately 80 per cent of the worlds' extremely poor live in rural areas and land degradation has become an important factor in rural poverty. Nearly three billion - 38 per cent of the global population - lived in dry lands, according to the report.
• The UNCCD report recommended that policymakers prioritise these vulnerable areas first while dealing with challenges such as land degradation or desertification.
• It also asked for strengthening access to land and tenure in rural and fragile areas and prioritise the creation of dignified, decent and aspirational employment opportunities for migrants.

North-East Region
2-day 68^th Plenary session of North Eastern Council held in Guwahati

Relevance IN -Prelims (about north eastern council) + Mains (GS II Centre- state relations)
What's the NEWS

• The 68th Plenary session of the North Eastern Council (NEC) was held in Guwahati.
• The Plenary session was inaugurated by the Union Home Minister Shri Amit.
• The Union Home Minister announced that the North Eastern Council will earmark 30 per cent of its fund for focussed funding of priority areas and deprived sections of society in the North East also the North East Council has been given its highest budgetary allotment of 1476 crore rupees for the year 2019-20.
• All the Governors and Chief Ministers of the eight north eastern states and other members also attended the meet
• It was emphasised that NEC as a regional planning body and a resource centre should play a major role in guiding the states towards achieving the goal of development at par with the rest of the country.
• The creation of shared infrastructure, setting up of shared institutions and finding & pursuing common interests for all the eight states should continue to be the vision and objective of the Council.
• Some of the key areas in which initiatives have been taken are upgradation of airports, increasing air connectivity of north east region with South-East Asian countries, strengthening broadband network and mobile connectivity especially in the uncovered villages in areas along the international border.
• The decisions and recommendations of the NEC Plenary will be sent to various Ministries and departments of the Central and state governments for taking appropriate action.

Know! about North Eastern Council (NEC)

• NEC is a statutory advisory body constituted under the NEC Act 1971 and came into being on the 7^th November, 1972 at Shillong.
• The eight States of Northeast India viz. Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, are members of the council, with their respective Chief Ministers and Governors representing them. Sikkim was added to the council in the year 2002.
• The headquarters of the council is situated in Shillong and functions under the ministry of home affairs of the Government of India.

International Organisations
22^nd Session of UN Committee on CRPD at Geneva

Relevance IN - Prelims (about UNCRPD) + Mains GS II ( social justice)
What's the NEWS

• India is a signatory of the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
• It ratified this Convention on 01-10-2007 in pursuance of Article 35 of the Convention. India submitted its First Country Report on Status of Disability in India in November 2015.
• The UN Committee on CRPD in its 22nd Session took up India's First Country Report for consideration during 2^nd & 3^rd September 2019 at UNHRC, Geneva.
• UN Committee on enactment of the Comprehensive RPwD Act, 2016, launch of Accessible India Campaign, establishment of National Institute of Mental Health Rehabilitation (NIMHR) to address issues concerning psycho-social disability, establishment of Centre for Disability Sports, achievements in distribution of aids and assistive devices, etc.
• The UN Committee while appreciating the provisions of the RPwD Act, 2016 and various initiatives of the Government of India raised queries
• The UN Committee welcomed the efforts of the Government of India and noted the response of the Indian delegation. The Committee will come up with its final recommendations on the report shortly

Centre - State Relations
Centre sets up 3-member panel to oversee bifurcation of J&K into two Union Territories
Relevance IN - Prelims (about the objective of the panel) + Mains (GS II centre - state relations)
What's the NEWS

• Centre has set up a three-member panel to oversee the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories.
• The committee will look into the distribution of assets and liabilities of Jammu and Kashmir between two successor Union territories, which will come into existence on 31^st of October this year.
• The committee headed by Former Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra will have Retired IAS officer Arun Goyal and Retired Indian Civil Accounts Service officer Giriraj Prasad Gupta as members.
• On 5^th of last month, the Centre had announced the abrogation of the special status given to J&K under Article 370 and bifurcation of the state into the two UTs.

Know! more about the committee role

• The Centre has constituted a three-member committee to look into distribution of assets and liabilities of Jammu and Kashmir between two successor Union territories, which will come into existence on October 31
• In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 84 and Section 85 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the central government hereby constitutes the advisory committee
• As per Section 84 of the Act, the assets and liabilities of the existing state of Jammu and Kashmir have to be apportioned between the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
• On August 5, the Centre announced the abrogation of the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and bifurcation of the state into the two UTs.
• The apportionment of the assets and liabilities of the existing state of Jammu and Kashmir shall be subject to the recommendations of a committee constituted by the central government.
• According to Section 85 of the Act, the central government, by an order, can establish one or more advisory committees for apportionment of assets, rights and liabilities of the companies and corporations constituted for the existing state of Jammu and Kashmir between the two Union territories.

Health Sector
Malaria Eradication possible by 2050: Lancet Report

Relevance IN - Prelims (about the lancet report) + Mains (GS II issues relating to development and management of social sector/services relating to health)
What's the NEWS

• The latest Lancet Report suggested that it may be possible to eradicate malaria from the world by 2050.
• The report titled, ‘Malaria eradication within a generation: ambitious, achievable, and necessary' has prepared by 41 leading scientists, economists and health-policy experts.

Know! more about the report

• The report synthesizes existing evidence with new epidemiological and financial analyses to demonstrate that malaria eradication by 2050 is a bold but attainable and necessary goal.
• In the report-the first peer-reviewed academic document of its kind-the Commission examines the major operational, biological, and financial challenges on the path to eradication and identifies solutions that will enable the global malaria community to bend the curve and achieve a world free of malaria within a generation.

Know! the major highlights

• According to the Lancet Report, in 2017, there were 86 such countries and the pace of malaria elimination has accelerated in recent years between 2000 and 2017, 20 countries achieved elimination and several others are on track to eliminate by 2020.
• The report suggested that global social, economic, and environmental trends are, in most places, helping to reduce malaria. The Commission's models show that these trends alone will lead to greatly reduced but still widespread malaria by 2050.

Measures to be taken to eradicate Malaria

• The report suggested that forming close partnerships with private healthcare providers, to ensure that all malaria cases are correctly diagnosed, treated, and reported can strengthen the programme.
• Other essential measures - deploying information technology solutions that facilitate the faster and smarter collection, analysis, use, and sharing of data to inform the choice and targeting of interventions and improve the impact of existing tools.

Know! about Malaria

• Malaria is a vector-borne disease caused by Plasmodium parasites.
• People come into the contact of the parasites through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes or malaria vectors. Generally, malaria parasites travel to the liver and when they mature the parasite enters the bloodstream and start to infect red blood cells.
• Some common symptoms of malaria are - shaking chills that can range from moderate to severe, headache, high fever, nausea, diarrhoea, coma, muscle pain, anaemia, abdominal pain and profuse sweating.
• Every year on 25^th April World Malaria Day is observed.

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