Health
World Hearing Day

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about World Hearing day) + Mains ( GS II Social Justice)
What's the NEWS

• On the World Hearing Day the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare as Chairman of Executive Board of WHO released WHO's World Report on Hearing.

Know! about the recent developments

• The 2018 WHO report observed that 2% of India's population, mainly children, suffer from the condition of Otitis Media.
• Other problems like hearing loss due to high noise levels at workplaces and on the roads, hearing loss due to the use of ototoxic medicines and chemicals, the dangers of loud music and unsafe listening to people's hearing health (with over 750 million smart phone users in India).
• India's recently concluded study on hearing loss and its causes in our population: "A multi - centric cross-sectional survey conducted as per the WHO recommended Probability Proportional to Size (PPS) sampling technique assessed 92,097 people in the community across 6 sites in India.
• The results have showed a changing profile of hearing loss in India's population and in tune with similar changes in other countries as they move forward in economic development.
• The study showed that the disabling hearing loss affected 2.9% of the population and was noted to effect communication, education and work.
• The rural population had a far greater prevalence of hearing loss.
• The prevalence of total hearing loss, unilateral &bilateral was found to be as high as 9.93%.
• The geriatric population accounted for 40.5% of all hearing loss and 72.4% of all disabling hearing loss.
• The study also made a major contribution in identifying the risk factors associated with Sensory Neural Hearing Loss (SNHL): Smokeless Tobacco consumption, Heavy smoking, Leisure and work-related noise, and also excessive Residential Noise, are all noted as risk factors associated with SNHL.

National Programme for Prevention and Control of Deafness

• India's National Programme for Prevention and Control of Deafness to the audience that targets 6% of the population who have disabling hearing loss and require interventions.
• The program (launched in 2006)focuses on preventing hearing loss, especially that which is caused by ear infections and noise; early identification of deaf babies and hard of hearing persons
• The audience that with the COVID pandemic abating in India, the government plans to further strengthen our work on ear and hearing care based on the recommendations of the report:
• By improving services at community and primary levels through training of health workers for task sharing, in line with the strategies outlined in the report.

On World Hearing Day, Dr. Harsh Vardhan virtually inaugurates 6 new ‘Outreach Service Centers for Communication Disorders' across the country by AIISH, Mysuru

• Newborn screening, school screening and sensitization programs for general public about different communication disorders, early identification & intervention should be included in the outreach activities"
• The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare tvirtually inaugurated six new‘ Outreach Service Centers for Communication Disorders' across the country by All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH), Mysuru on the occasion of World Hearing Day

The new six Outreach Service Centres are:
1. Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Science, Patna, Bihar
2. Bidar Institute of Medical Sciences, Bidar, Karnataka
3. Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences, Belagavi, Karnataka
4. Karnataka Institute of Medical Science, Hubbali, Karnataka
5. AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, Odisha
6. Sri Devaraj Urs Academy of Higher Education and Research, Kolar, Karnataka

Environment
World Wildlife Day

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about World Wildlife Day) = Mains ( GS III Environment conservation)
What's the NEWS

• The Prime Minister, has saluted all those working towards wildlife protection on World Wildlife Day
• On 20 December 2013, at its 68th session, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), in its resolution UN 68/205, decided to proclaim 3 March, the international day of the adoption of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) on the planet raise awareness and benefits fauna and flora in 1973, as World Wildlife Day, which was proposed by Thailand, to celebrate and raise awareness of the world's wild fauna and flora.
• The day is observed every year on March 3, to celebrate the world's flora and fauna, and to raise awareness about animals going extinct.
• This year, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has tweeted that the government is "working on reintroduction of Cheetah, which went extinct in 1952", and that " this Big Cat will be a reality soon".

UN World Wildlife Day

• The day is essentially a celebration of biodiversity.
• On December 20, 2013, the United Nations General Assembly had proclaimed March 3 as UN World Wildlife Day to celebrate and raise awareness about animals and plants.
• The World Wildlife Day will be celebrated under the theme 'Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet', as a way to highlight the role of forests, forest species and ecosystems services in sustaining the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people globally, and particularly of indigenous and local communities with historic ties to forested and forest-adjacent areas

Economy
Merchant Digitization Summit 2021

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Merchant Digitization Summit 2021 -highlights + Better Than Cash Alliance ) + Mains ( GS III inclusive development)
What's the NEWS

• The Government of India, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), and UN-based Better Than Cash Alliance today hosted Merchant Digitization Summit 2021: Towards AatmaNirbhar (Self Reliance) Bharat with special focus on Himalayan Regions, North East Regions and Aspirational Districts of India.

Know! about the summit

• The Summit brought together leaders from the public and private sectors for the Responsible Merchant Digitization Summit to accelerate responsible digitization of merchants in India's North-Eastern and Himalayan regions, and Aspirational districts.
• Empowering women merchants who play critical roles in their communities is one of the priorities to help achieve the mission of Digital India.
• This Summit is part of the series of Learning Exchange amongst all States and Union Territories under which DEA had also co-organized the webinar titled "Unlocking the value of Fintech in promoting Digital Payments' on December 9, 2020.
• The participants agreed that the National Language Translation Mission can be used to disseminate digital payments information, privacy clauses and consent in local languages for trust and empowerment.
• They also identified opportunities to address the challenges of connectivity, access to smart phones, and digital literacy for merchants at the last mile.

• The Government, FICCI, and the Better Than Cash Alliance will continue their partnership this year with catalytic actions to achieve the industry level commitment of responsible digitization of merchants agreed during today's event.

Better Than Cash Alliance

• Based at the United Nations, the Better Than Cash Alliance is a partnership of governments, companies, and international organizations that accelerates the transition from cash to digital payments to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals
• The Alliance has 75 members which are committed to digitizing payments in order to boost efficiency, transparency, women's economic participation and financial inclusion, helping build economies that are digital and inclusive.
• Members do not want to abolish physical cash - it is legal tender - but rather want to provide responsible digital payment options that are "better than cash".

The Alliance Secretariat works with members on their journey to digitize payments by:

• Providing advisory services based on their priorities.
• Sharing action-oriented research and fostering peer learning on responsible practices.
• Conducting advocacy at national, regional and global level.

Know! about FICCI

• Established in 1927, FICCI is the largest and oldest apex business organisation in India. Its history is closely interwoven with India's struggle for independence, its industrialization, and its emergence as one of the most rapidly growing global economies.
• A non-government, not-for-profit organisation, FICCI is the voice of India's business and industry. From influencing policy to encouraging debate, engaging with policy makers and civil society, FICCI articulates the views and concerns of industry.
• It serves its members from the Indian private and public corporate sectors and multinational companies, drawing its strength from diverse regional chambers of commerce and industry across states, reaching out to over 2,50,000 companies.
• FICCI provides a platform for networking and consensus building within and across sectors and is the first port of call for Indian industry, policy makers and the international business community.

Prelims Factoids
Mullaperiyar dam

Relevance IN - Prelims ( all about Mullaperiyar Dam)
What's the NEWS

• The Supreme Court scheduled a hearing on March 9 of the case concerning the safety of the 126-year-old Mullaperiyar Dam.
• Recently, Tamil Nadu had filed an affidavit assuring that the dam was safe hydrologically and protected from earthquakes.
• Countering Kerala's allegations of non-cooperation and lack of concern, Tamil Nadu accused its neighbour State of adopting an "obstructionist attitude".

Know! about Mullaperiyaru Dam

• It is a masonry gravity dam on the Periyar River in the Indian state of Kerala[
• It is located 881 m (2,890 ft) above mean sea level, on the Cardamom Hills of the Western Ghats in Thekkady, Idukki District of Kerala, South India.
• It was constructed between 1887 and 1895 by John Pennycuick and also reached in an agreement to divert water eastwards to the Madras Presidency area (present-day Tamil Nadu).
• It has a height of 53.6 m (176 ft) from the foundation, and a length of 365.7 m (1,200 ft).
• The Periyar National Park in Thekkady is located around the dam's reservoir.
• The dam is built at the confluence of Mullayar and Periyar rivers.
• The dam is located in Kerala on the river Periyar,but is operated and maintained by the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu.
• Although the Periyar River has a total catchment area of 5398 km2 with 114 km2 downstream from the dam in Tamil Nadu,the catchment area of the Mullaperiyar Dam itself lies entirely in Kerala and thus not an inter-State river.

Prelims Factoids
Powering Past Coal Alliance
Relevance IN - Prelims ( Powering Past Coal Alliance)
What's the NEWS

• U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on wealthy nations to end coal use by 2030 so the world can meet its goals to curb global warming, urging G7 nations to make that commitment before or at a leaders' summit in June.

Powering Past Coal Alliance (Highlights)

• In a video message to a virtual gathering of the "Powering Past Coal Alliance", Guterres said emissions-cutting pledges by governments fell far short of what is needed to limit climate heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.
• But if immediate action were taken to end use of what he called the dirtiest, most polluting and increasingly costly fossil fuel in power generation, "then we have a fighting chance to succeed
• Phasing out coal from the electricity sector is the single most important step to get in line with the 1.5-degree goal," the U.N. chief said.
• Scientists estimate that coal use in electric power generation must fall by 80% below 2010 levels by 2030 to meet the 1.5C warming limit, which is the more ambitious goal set by more than 190 nations in the 2015 Paris Agreement.
• All 37 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) - a group of mainly high-income nations - should promise to stop using coal by 2030, and the rest should do so by 2040.
• This is essential to meet the Paris Agreement goals and protect future generations

Powering Past Coal Alliance (genesis)

• The Powering Past Coal Alliance was formed by Canada and Britain in 2017 to bring together governments and business to accelerate the phase-out of "unabated" coal power, where there is no technology in place to remove carbon emissions.
• It now has more than 120 members, with 10 new ones joined recently including Hungary, Uruguay, the Japanese city of Kyoto, and utilities National Grid of Britain and Ontario Power Generation of Canada, as well as pension providers.
• As per the alliance statement the progress on phasing out coal had sped up across OECD and European Union member states, with over 55% of operating coal plant capacity retired since 2010 or scheduled to retire by 2030.
• The Powering Past Coal Alliance said setting an "early date" for a fair and complete transition away from coal, that would protect workers, was a critical first step to reach the long-term net-zero commitments recently adopted by many countries.
• The alliance and Bloomberg Philanthropies also launched the "Bloomberg Global Coal Countdown", an online data dashboard that tracks the retirement of coal plants around the world.

Way Forward

• In a world aiming to become climate neutral by the second half of the century, "coal-based power is an outdated model".
• Investments in renewable energies, however, clearly offer a competitive edge ,they are already more cost-effective and create new jobs.

Prelims Factoids
The Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for our Nation's Future Act, or CLEAN
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the bill and its objective)
What's the NEWS

• Three Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives unveiled a wide-ranging climate bill that embraces President Joe Biden's goals to curb climate change including decarbonizing the electric grid by 2035.

Know! all about the bill

• The bill includes a federal clean electricity standard requiring a percentage of retail power sales to come from sources that produce little or no carbon emissions.
• The Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for our Nation's Future Act, or CLEAN, requires 80% clean electricity by 2030 and 100% by 2035.
• The power could come from sources including wind, solar and existing nuclear energy. That could provide a boost to nuclear power, an industry experiencing shutdowns amid low prices for natural gas, a competing fuel.
• The bill also sets a goal of a fully decarbonized economy by 2050.
• The bill authorizes $100 million annually from fiscal 2022 to 2031 for entities that install publicly accessible electric vehicle (EV) supply equipment.
• It also requires the energy secretary to establish a program to help determine where EV charging stations are needed and expands EV access in disadvantaged communities.
• The legislation, which needs to pass committees and then the full House and Senate and be signed by Biden before becoming law, does not include a carbon tax, a mechanism supported by some Republicans and companies.

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