Table of Contents
Tainted by uranium
The groundwater contamination across India must be probed, and safe sources identified
Reports of widespread uranium contamination(संदू षण) in groundwater across India demand
an urgent response.
A study, published in Environmental Science and Technology has found over
30 micrograms per litre (mcg/l) of the heavy metal in parts of
Sorthwestern,
Southern and
Southeastern India
Drinking such water can damage one’s kidneys, and the World Health Organization
prescribes 30 mcg/l as an upper limit – Unfortunately, the residents of the regions
surveyed were using the contaminated wells as their main source of drinking water.
Continue
These findings highlight a major gap in India’s water quality monitoring
As the Bureau of Indian Standards does not specify a norm for uranium level, water is
not tested regularly for it.
This is despite the fact that evidence of uranium contamination has accumulated from
across India over the last decade.
A 2015 Bangalore study, for example, found uranium levels of over 2000 mcg/l in the souther
n part of the city.
Other studies found levels of over 500 mcg/l in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The Environmental Science paper adds new data to this body of evidence by sampling wells
in Rajasthan and Gujarat
Continue
The studies indicate that this is a chemical effect, rather than a radio logical one, even though uranium is radioactive- But the chronic effects of uranium consumption are still unknown.
Could there be, for example, a link between the high rates of chronic kidney
disease (CKD) in India
Survey conducted between 2005 and 2010, an Indian registry found 8,385 CKD cases with no
known cause.
When groundwater is over-extracted from soils, the researchers suggest, the uranium
is exposed to air
Research across India’s uranium hotspots can uncover who is at risk and how to protect them.
Transplanting best practices
Heart transplantation has always been in public eye right from the time Christiaan Barnard
performed the first successful human heart transplant in 1967, in Cape Town, Africa.
Therefore, controversy in India over a large percentage of foreign nationals receiving
cardiac transplants from deceased donors in India is not surprising.
Leaked WhatsApp message from the head of the National Organ and Tissue Transplant
Organisation.
However, the debate around it is vital because it is a marker of the fault lines in
transplantation policy in India that need immediate correction.
We will have to demonstrate(ददखाना) that organs will go to those who need
them the most rather than to those who can pay for them.
Continue
The length of time donated organs and tissues can be kept outside
the body, before transplantation is to occur, vary:
Heart(ददल): 4-6 hours
Liver(दिगर): 12-24 hours
Kidney(गुदाा): 48-72 hours
Lung(फे फडा): 4-6 hours
Heart-Lung: 4-6 hours
India’s first successful cardiac transplant in 1994 (by P. Venugopal at the All India Institute
of Medical Sciences, Delhi) were performed in public institutions
Along the way, organ transplantation in India (this includes Tamil Nadu) largely became
a private sector activity- hospitals, the costs in India are well beyond a large majority
of the local population.
This is where foreigner nationals who are often able to pay such sums fit in.
Saving Delhi’s trees
The government could heed(सावधान रहना) residents’ voices on redesigning the city
Over the last few days, Delhi residents have been protesting against the government’s
approval for felling over 14,000 trees in south Delhi
Redeveloping half a dozen south Delhi colonies, on Monday assured the Delhi High
Court that no trees would be cut for the project till July 4- which is temporary relief.
Many of the trees proposed to be felled are mature, local, fruit-bearing ones that provide clea
n air, shade and water recharge to humans and are homes to many birds.
These areas of Delhi have served as the “lungs” of the city- However, the project reports
overlook these qualities.
Projects, involving huge investments and wealthy, influential contractors
Continue
Were designed by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and approved by
the Union Cabinet in 2017.
Following the orders of the National Green Tribunal in September 2017 in a case challenging
these projects, at least five of the seven projects received environment clearances between Nov
ember and June
From 2006, most construction projects have been approved based on an application
form instead of detailed assessment reports.
In 2014, schools, colleges and hostels for educational institutions were exempted from
taking environment clearances as long as they followed specific sustainability parameters
In 2016, projects with areas of less than 20,000 sq m were permitted to proceed as long as they
submitted a self-declaration ensuring adherence to environmental norms.
Continue
As a result of these privileges, construction projects contribute significantly to urban
air and noise pollution and high water consumption in cities
Projects is a failure due to poor survival rates of saplings and no monitoring
The residents are now appealing to the government to embrace inclusive ways
of redesigning the city.
The governments join hands by committing to review these projects.
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Erdoğa’smix of nationalism and Sunni internationalism
Prelims Focus Facts-News Analysis
Page-1- After aid for defence buys, India gifts plane to Seychelles Maritime aircraft will increase island’s surveillance capability $100 million credit for Seychelles to buy
military hardware from India.
Prelims Focus Facts-News Analysis
Page-1- U.S. top court upholds(की पुदि की) travel ban
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld President Donald Trump’s controversial
ban on travellers from five mostly Muslim countries, in a major victory for
the Republican leader after a tortuous legal battle.
Administration claims is justified by national security concerns, was valid.
Cong. has not changed since Emergency: PM
Constitution, country will not be safe under it, says Modi
Prelims Focus Facts-News Analysis
Page-1- Naveen backs PM for joint elections
This will serve the country well: CM
Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal chief Naveen Pantaik on Tuesday supported
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for holding simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the country.
Prelims Focus Facts-News Analysis
Candidate may have to disclose health condition to contest poll
The Centre on Tuesday informed the Madras High
Court that the Law Commission was considering the
possibility of making it a statutory obligation for
those wanting to contest in elections to disclose full
particulars regarding their health condition at the time
of filing nominations.
India most unsafe for women: poll
India has been ranked as the most dangerous country out of the world’s 10 worst countries
for women, behind Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia, according to a poll
conducted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The same poll conducted in 2011 had placed India at the fourth place.
The findings are based on perceptions of experts on women’s issues.
Map Practice
Last Day- Q’s- Answers…
The Special Category States in India(11 States): Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and Nagaland
from 1969, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim,
Tripura, in 2010 Uttarakhand
AND “special assistance” to Andhra Pradesh for five years(2015-2016 to 2019-2020)
Planning Commission:- formed: 15th March 1950- Dissolve: 17 August 2014
Replaced by NITI Aayog
Set up by a Resolution of the Government of India in March 1950 i.e. Created by ‘ Executive
resolution ‘ of GoI (i.e. Union Cabinet).
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