Table of Contents
Call to action
WHO highlights the air pollution crisis in urban India;
things are no better in rural areas
Summarised 2016 data for 4,300 cities, ranks 14 Indian cities
among the 20 most polluted ones globally.
While Delhi comes in at number six, Kanpur , Faridabad, Varanasi,
Gaya and Patna are ranked ahead of it, by PM 2.5 levels
While Europe has the most extensive monitoring network
The report puts the global death toll from air pollution at seven
million a year, attributable to illnesses such as lung cancer, pneumo
nia and ischemic heart disease
About a third of these deaths occurred in Southeast Asian countries,
Which include India.
India’s Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana scheme, which has provided
37 million women living below the poverty line with LPG (liquefied
petroleum gas) connections.
Such schemes will also help cut the indoor air pollution that plagues much of rural India,
Which is not covered in the WHO analysis.
It is important to remember, though, that rural India has problems beyond inefficient cook-s
toves.
This does not mean outdoor air pollution is not a problem here.
Studies have shown that ozone levels are higher in rural areas,
as is pollution from insecticide use and crop-burning.
WHO has asked Southeast Asian countries to take swift action to tackle the twin problems
of indoor and outdoor pollution.
India must realise that its problems are larger than the WHO estimates, and take
the call to action seriously
Protect patents
The Delhi HC’s judgment revoking Monsanto’s Bollgard-2 patent is troubling
Bollgard-2 is an insecticidal technology which uses a gene called Cry2Ab from the soil
bacterium Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt).
When inserted into a cotton plant, the gene confers resistance against cotton pests.
The judge argued that this crossing of plants was a natural and biological process
This argument undermined Monsanto’s patent, because under Section 3(j) of India’s
Patents Act, a seed or a plant, or a biological process to create a seed or plant
cannot be patented
This is a dangerous conclusion because the lack of patent protection would discourage
crucial research by the agri-biotech industry
Transgenic technologies such as Bt cotton are an important part of India’s cotton productio
n arsenal
The important thing for India is to keep incentivising development of such technologies
and to use them properly. Strong patent protection is a crucial part of this process
Prelims Focus Facts-News Analysis
Page-1- Collegium puts off decision on pressing Joseph’s case
It may meet next week to decide on the issue and on the names from other HCs
Page-1- Chhota Rajan gets life term for killing journalist J. Dey
8 others also given similar punishment by Mumbai court
Page-3- Male, female police recruits undergo medical test together
In a shocking incident, medical tests of female and male candidates during the ongoing
recruitment drive in the Madhya Pradesh Police were conducted in the same room
at Bhind district hospital on Tuesday
The matter came to light when a video footage of young male applicants stripped to their
undergarments in front of a female candidate surfaced in social media.
Page-7- Pollution dipped in 2017, says Environment Ministry
Responding to the air pollution data released by the World Health Organisation
(WHO) on Wednesday, the government claimed that various measures have led to
pollution levels actually falling in 2017.
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