PM IAS OCT 11 NEWS ANALYSIS

Address Stigma and Discrimination in Mental Health

In News

• The Lancet recently released a new report calling for radical action to end stigma and discrimination in mental health.
  • World Mental Health Day was also celebrated on October 10th.

About

• The new Lancet Commission:
  • It is a grouping of over 50 contributors across the world, including people, academics, policymakers with lived experience of mental health.
• Report highlights:
  • The report indicated that 90% of people living with mental health conditions feel negatively impacted by stigma and discrimination.
  • Further, 80% said stigma and discrimination can be worse than the condition itself. 
  • Additionally, 90% of those surveyed felt that media could play a major role in reducing stigma.
  • On ‘stigma’ associated with mental health:
    • As per the commission, stigma can cause social exclusion and disempowerment of people with mental health conditions leading to discrimination and human rights violations, including problems in accessing healthcare, challenges in securing employment, and increased likelihood of health complications leading to early death.
    • Women with a diagnosis of severe mental disorder and their family members do face more stigma which has ramifications for marriage and employment preventing social inclusion.
• Report recommendations:
  • Putting the involvement or participation of people with mental illness at the centre of the matrix, the commission has urged governments, international organisations, schools, employers, healthcare, civil society and media to take action immediately.
    • For instance, it has been recommended that all countries take action to decriminalise suicide, therefore reducing the stigma around suicide and leading to fewer occurrences.

Determinants of Mental HealthMultiple social, psychological, and biological factors determine the level of mental health of a person at any point of time. For example, violence and persistent socio-economic pressures are recognized risks to mental health. The clearest evidence is associated with sexual violence.Poor mental health is also associated with: rapid social change, stressful work conditions, gender discrimination, social exclusion, unhealthy lifestyle, physical ill-health and human rights violations.There are specific psychological and personality factors that make people vulnerable to mental health problems. Biological risks include genetic factors.Mental health in India WHO estimates that about 7.5 percent of Indians suffer from some mental disorder and predicts that by the end of this year roughly 20 percent of India will suffer from mental illnesses. WHO states that there is a huge shortage of psychiatrists and psychologists in India. According to the numbers, 56 million Indians suffer from depression and another 38 million Indians suffer from anxiety disorders. India also accounts for 36.6 percent of suicides globally.A report published in The Lancet Psychiatry in February 2020 indicates that in 2017, there were 197.3 million people with mental disorders in India.

Government of India Initiatives 

• Constitution and Legal Provisions:
  • Article 21: The right to a dignified life extends to the right to seek Mental Health care.
  • Article 47: Duty of the state to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public health.
• National Mental Health Programme (NMHP) in 1982:
  • To ensure the availability and accessibility of minimum mental healthcare for all in the foreseeable future, particularly to the most vulnerable and underprivileged sections of the population.
• Mental Healthcare Act, 2017:
  • It was passed in 2017, came into effect in May 2018 and replaced the Mental Health Act of 1987. 
  • To the joy of most Indian medical practitioners and advocates of mental health, the act decriminalised suicide attempts in India. 
  • It also included WHO guidelines in the categorisation of mental illnesses. 
  • The most significant provision in the act was “advanced directives”, which allowed individuals with mental illnesses to decide the course of their treatment and also appoint someone to be their representative. 
  • It also restricted the use of electro-convulsive therapy (ECT), and banned its use on minors, finally introducing measures to tackle stigma in Indian society.
• Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2017:
  • The Act acknowledges mental illness as a disability and seeks to enhance the Rights and Entitlements of the Disabled and provide an effective mechanism for ensuring their empowerment and inclusion in society
• Manodarpan Initiative:
  • An initiative under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan aims to provide psycho-social support to students for their mental health and well-being.
• Kiran Helpline:
  • The helpline is a giant step towards suicide prevention and can help with support and crisis management.
  • The helpline aims to provide early screening, first-aid, psychological support, distress management, mental well-being, and psychological crisis management and will be managed by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD).
• SAATHI: 
  • It is a South-Asian Mental Health Outreach Program of ASHA International that aims to:
• Promote awareness about mental health and emotional wellbeing
• Improve access to care.

About World Mental Health DayIt was first observed on October 10, 1992 as an annual activity of the World Federation for Mental Health.The Day provides an opportunity for all stakeholders working on mental health issues to talk about their work, and what more needs to be done to make mental health care a reality for people worldwide.Overall Objectives: To raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilize efforts in support of mental health.

Way Ahead

• There is a need for more promotive programs & campaigns on mental health. 
• The government should press more on allocating more funds in Mental Health Organisations.

International Girl Child Day

Context

• Every year on 11th October the International Child Day is observed.

About the Day

• 11th October 2022 commemorates the 10th anniversary of the International Day of the Girl (IDG). 
• The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 1995, proposed an action plan to advance the rights of girls.
• In 2011, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/170 to declare 11th October as the International Day of the Girl Child.
• Theme of 2022: ‘Our time is now—our rights, our future.’
• Positive impact: In the last 10 years, there has been increased attention and provision of opportunities on girls’ specific issues amongst governments, policymakers and the general public. 

Status of Girl Child in India

As per the “Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India Report 2021” by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB):

• West Bengal and Odisha feature in the list of top five states along with Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh accounting for close to half of the total crimes committed against children (47. 1 %) across the country. 
•  In a large country like India, many cases of crimes against children go unrecorded, especially in remote areas. Hence, the actual number may be much higher than those reported.  
• Vulnerability of children is increasing in the post-pandemic era, despite the efforts and initiatives to strengthen child protection in the states. 
• Grim Picture of Eastern States: Sikkim has the highest rate of sexual offences against children followed by Kerala, Meghalaya, Haryana and Mizoram.

Challenges faced by women and girls

• Lack of sensitization on behalf of police personnel
• Investments in girl’s rights remain limited. 
• Lack of time bound investigation of the reported cases
• Adequate laws, inadequate implementation
• Female infanticide and Sex-selective Abortions
• Meta-son preference driven gender stereotyping and discrimination
• Lack of education and awareness about women’s rights and legal grievance redressal mechanisms
• Human trafficking and forced prostitution with the lure of jobs
• Online Abuse and harassment-like rape threats, online harassment, cyber-stalking, blackmail, trolling etc.
• Sexual harassment at workplace and glass ceiling.
• Girls’ challenges in fulfilling their potential are worsened by concurrent crises of climate change, COVID-19 and humanitarian conflict. 

Measures Taken

• Global:

• 1995 World Conference on Women adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action for advancing the rights of the women and the girls
• The Spotlight Initiative of UN and EU to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG).
• 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is also in tune with the Spotlight initiative to ensure centrality of gender equality and women’s empowerment.
• India:

• Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005
• Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013
• Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006
• Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2018 based “Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences” to monitor and track time-bound investigation in sexual assault cases 
• National Database on Sexual Offenders (NDSO) to facilitate investigation and tracking of sexual offenders across India by law enforcement agencies

Way Forward 

• Despite adversity, the world’s 600 million adolescent girls have shown that given the skills and the opportunities, they can be the changemakers driving progress in their communities, building back stronger for all, including women, boys and men.
• Further, boosting community-based child protection mechanisms such as village-level child protection committees can play a critical role.
• Urgent measures should be taken to strengthen the country’s child protection system and make the police, judicial and legal systems more proactive. 
• Government should formulate an Information Education and Communication (IEC) strategy on laws, mechanisms, schemes and best practices for the protection and welfare of women and children.

Space Bill & Potential of India’s Space Sector.

In Context

• A new space Bill — a legal framework for commercial use of space will soon be released.

More about the new bill

• The 2017 Bill:
  • The previous Bill (of 2017) provides for imprisonment of up to three years and fine of over Rs 1 crore if 
    • any activity is undertaken without prior licensing, 
    • false information is furnished, or 
    • it pollutes earth, airspace, outer space or celestial bodies.
  • Issues with the bill (2017):
    • This bill was criticised for being a little harsh. 
    • Also, Imprisonment was a very major disincentive for the industry, so the government sought to remove it.
• About the new bill:
  • Leniency:
    • It will do away with provisions for imprisonment.
    • The bill will be lenient when it comes to criminal charges. 
  • Insurance mechanism:
    • It will also create mechanisms for insurance damages. 
    • Significance of insurance:
      • The cost of insurance (for space activities) is very high. 
      • Today, ISRO does not pay for it because it is a government commitment, but when a private player is there, they will need insurance.

Potential of India’s space sector

• Recently, a joint report was prepared by EY and the Indian Space Association (ISpA).
  • Report highlights:
    • Indian space economy:
      • The Indian space economy is set to reach $13 billion by 2025, according to this joint report.
    • Space launch segment:
      • The report also said the space launch segment would grow fastest at a CAGR of 13% spurred by growing private participation, latest technology adoption and low cost of launch services.
    • Satellite services and application segment:
      • This segment would form the largest share of the space economy accounting for 36% of the space economy by 2025, as per the study.
      • On the country’s satellite manufacturing opportunity, it said in 2020 it was $2.1 billion and this would reach $3.2 billion by 2025.
      • Also, by 2025, satellite manufacturing would be the second fastest-growing segment in the Indian space economy. 
    • Space tech start-ups:
      • There are over 100 space tech start-ups in the country and investments in space tech start-ups increased 196% y-o-y in 2021, the survey said.
    • Space parks:
      • Space parks that are coming up across the country would give a fillip to companies operating across the space value chain, especially manufacturing, found the study.
• India’s upcoming commercial launch:
  • Marking the shift towards the private sector, India’s heaviest rocket, GSLV Mk III, will launch 36 satellites OneWeb global communication satellite constellation. 
    • This is the first commercial launch by the vehicle, so far having carried two ISRO communication satellites for two of its development flights and the Chandrayaan-2 for its first operational flight.

Significance of the Space industry

•  Assessing & recording weather information:
  • Satellites provide more accurate information on weather forecasts. 
  • It can also assess (and record) long-term trends in the climate and habitability of a region. 
    • For example, by monitoring the long-term impact of climate change at regional, territorial, and national scales, governments would be able to devise more pragmatic and combative plans of action for farmers and dependent industries. 
• Real-time tracking :
  • Satellites can serve as real-time monitoring and early-warning solutions against natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, wildfires, mining etc. 
  • Real-time tracking can also serve multiple purposes in defence.
• Communication and connectivity:
  • As for connectivity, satellite communication can reach more remote areas where conventional networks would require heavy complimenting infrastructure. 
  • Additionally, as to the reliability, the World Economic Forum(WEF) stated that satellite communication can help connect 49% of the world’s unconnected population. 
  • In this light, it must be noted that satellite communications, which are used to facilitate telecommunication services, are among the major categories for investment in the space technology sector. 
  • Other prominent categories include spacecraft and equipment manufacturing.
• Benefits to other sectors:
  • The space avenue is an integration of the aerospace, IT hardware and telecom sectors. 
  • It is thus argued that investment in this arena would foster positive carryover effects to other sectors as well.

About Indian Space Association (ISpA)Aim: To supplement the Centre’s efforts in commercial space exploration and space-based communication.Members: Various stakeholders in the Indian space domain with members comprising the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Bharti Airtel, OneWeb, Tata Group’s Nelco, L&T, MapMyIndia among others.About:ISpA is an industry association for private players in space.It is an organisation meant to represent the interests of the space sector with government and private sector bodies across the board.It will support start-ups and will work towards facilitating and enabling private players to work in tandem with ISRO.The industry association will act as an independent and “single-window” agency for enabling the opening up of the space sector to start-ups and the private sector.The progress:While ISpA has grown from seven members to more than 50 members in a year, the number of space sector start-ups in the country has also boomed from just a handful two years ago, before the space sector was opened up, to over a hundred now.

United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress

In News

• Recently, the PM addressed the second United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress in Hyderabad.

United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress (UNWGIC)The first United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress was held in Deqing, Zhejiang Province, China in 2018.The United Nation Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) organizes the United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress (UNWGIC) every four years.The objectives are enhancing international collaboration among the Member States and relevant stakeholders in Geospatial information management and capacities. The theme of the 2nd conference: It is ‘Geo-enabling the Global Village: No one should be left behind’.

India’s geospatial Sector   

• Data: 
  • India’s geospatial economy is expected to cross 63,100 crore by 2025 at a growth rate of 12.8%.
  • Geospatial technology has become one of the key enablers in socio-economic development by enhancing productivity, ensuring sustainable infrastructure planning, effective administration, and aiding the farm sector.

What is Geospatial Technology?

• Geospatial technology innovations allow us to determine the exact location of an object or person on our planet.
• We apply them in multiple spheres from geospatial technologies for maps like GPS navigators for drivers to vast-scope remote sensing by satellites orbiting Earth.

Types of Geospatial Technologies

• Remote Sensing
• Electromagnetic impulses
• Filmed or digital aerial imagery
• Radars and lidars
•  Global Positioning Systems (GPS)
•  Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

 Applications of Geospatial Technology

• Logistics: Tracking goods and ensuring their quality.
• Transportations: Identifying location and time of arrival, route making, and navigation.
• Meteorology: Referring weather forecasts to particular territories.
• Forestry: Detecting forest fires and deforestation & preventing large-scale wildfires.
• Agriculture: Assessing vegetation state on a selected terrain.
• Healthcare: Monitoring areas of epidemic outbreaks.
• Ecology: Tracing species populations in certain areas, preventing and addressing calamities.
• Marketing and advertising: Targeting ads to relevant regions.
• Real estate: Visualizing and analyzing real estate objects remotely.
• Insurance: Managing risks in questioned areas via historical georeferenced data analysis.

New Guidelines on Geospatial Policy of India

• Free access to geospatial data
  • The Geospatial data will be made available in the open public domain by the Department of Science and technology.
• Self Certification
  • Startups don’t need pre and post-approval certificates for adherence to guidelines. A self-declaration will work.
• Promotion of New Technologies
  • The government will promote the latest map-making technologies.
• Applicability
  • The Guidelines are applicable to geospatial data, maps, products, solutions and services offered by government agencies, autonomous bodies, academic and research institutions, private organizations, non – governmental organizations and individuals.
• Negative List of sensitive attributes
  • The Guidelines provide for a negative list of sensitive attributes to be notified by the DST to require regulation before anyone can acquire and/or use such sensitive data.

Significance of this sector

• Robust ecosystem
  • The Survey of India (SoI), the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), remote sensing application centres (RSAC)s, and the National Informatics Centre (NIC) in particular, and all ministries and departments, in general, using geospatial technology.
• Acquiring Data
  • Geospatial technology enables us to acquire data that is referenced to the earth and use it for analysis, modelling, simulations and visualization.
• Informed decisions 
  • Geospatial technology allows us to make informed decisions based on the importance and priority of resources most of which are limited in nature.
• Intelligent maps and models 
  • Geospatial technology may be used to create intelligent maps and models that may be interactively queried to get the desired results in a STEM application or may be used to advocate social investigations and policy-based research.

Issues/ Challenges in this sector

• Negligible contribution
  • The full benefits have yet to percolate to the public and neither are there many contributions to the nation’s GDP.
• Absence of market
  • Among the most prominent hurdles is the absence of a sizable geospatial market in India.
• There is no demand for geospatial services and products
  • It is due to the lack of awareness among potential users in the government and private sectors.
• Lack of skilled manpower 
  • Across the entire pyramid is also a major issue.
• There are still no ready-to-use solutions 
  • Especially built to solve the problems of India.

Related Initiatives 

• SWAMITVA
  • Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas scheme uses drones to map properties in villages.
  • People in rural areas now have clear evidence of ownership.
• The South Asia satellite
  • It is facilitating connection and communication in India’s neighbourhood.
• Drone sector 
  • India gave a major boost to its drone sector as well as opened its space sector to private entities and 5G technology. 
• Real-time digital payments
  • India is the world’s number 1 in real-time digital payments. Even the smallest vendors accept and prefer digital payments.
• PM Gati Shakti Masterplan 
  • It is building multimodal infrastructure. It is being powered by geo-spatial technology.
• Digital Ocean platform 
  • It is using geo-spatial technology for management of our oceans. This is crucial for our environment and marine ecosystem.

Way Forward

• Open access to all: India’s geospatial sector had been opened up for its young bright minds. Data collected over 200 years had been made open and accessible to all.
• Vision of Antyodaya: This means empowering the last person at the last mile, in a mission mode. It is this vision that has guided us in last mile empowerment at a massive scale.
• India is ensuring no one is left behind: Banking 450 million unbanked people, a population greater than that of the USA, Insuring 135 million uninsured people, about twice the population of France, Taking sanitation facilities to 110 million families and tap water connections to over 60 million families. 

Manesar Anti-Terror Excercise Under SCO RATS

In News

• Pakistan has been invited to the closing ceremony, on October 13, of the ongoing Joint Anti-Terror Exercise (JATE).

About Manesar Anti-Terror 2022

• The National Security Guard is hosting the multinational JATE ‘Manesar Anti-Terror 2022’ under the framework of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure(RATS) at the NSG Manesar Garrison.
  • JATE is an annual counter-terrorist exercise held within the framework of the SCO RATS.
• The exercise is aimed at exchanging expertise and best practices, and build synergy between the Counter Terrorism Forces of the SCO RATS member countries to enhance capabilities for conducting anti-terrorist operations and countering other security threats collectively.
• The exercise will provide a platform to the participating member countries to enhance their operational capabilities and exchange experience in combating terrorism, separatism and extremism, which are common regional security challenges.

SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) 

• About: It is a permanent body of SCO. It aims to counter extremism, terrorism, and separatism in the region. Its headquarters is in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
  • India assumed chairmanship of the RATS SCO on October 28, 21.

Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)

• About:
  • It is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation of Eurasian Nations with a secretariat in Beijing.
  • It is a political, economic and military organisation that aims at maintaining peace, security and stability in the region.
  • Origin:
  • Shanghai Five emerged in 1996 from a series of border demarcation and demilitarization talks between 4 former USSR republics and China.
  • Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan were members of the Shanghai Five.
  • With the accession of Uzbekistan to the group in 2001, the Shanghai Five was renamed the SCO.
  • The SCO Charter was signed in 2002 and entered into force in 2003.
• Inclusion of India & Pakistan:
  • India and Pakistan both were initially observer states.
  • Both were given full membership in 2017.
• Members:
  • Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, and Pakistan.
  • Iran has been admitted as a permanent member of the SCO at the Samarkand summit.
  • Iran will attend the SCO as a full member from the Summit to be hosted by India in 2023.
• Structure:  
  • SCO Secretariat in Beijing & Executive committee in Tashkent.

Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences

In News

• The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to Ben S Bernanke, the former chair of the US Federal Reserve, and two other academics (Douglas W. Diamond and Philip H. Dybvig)  for research into banks and financial crises.

About

• The work for which Ben Bernanke, Douglas Diamond and Philip Dybvig are being recognised has been crucial to subsequent research that has enhanced our understanding of banks, bank regulation, banking crises and how financial crises should be managed.
• Ben Bernanke’s Contribution:
  • He analysed the Great Depression of the 1930s, the worst economic crisis in modern history. 
  • Among other things, he showed how bank runs were a decisive factor in the crisis becoming so deep and prolonged. 
  • Using historical sources and statistical methods, Bernanke’s analysis showed which factors were important in the drop in gross domestic product. He found factors that were directly linked to failing banks accounted for the lion’s share of the downturn.
• Douglas W. Diamond and Philip H. Dybvig’s Contributions:
  • They developed theoretical models that explain why banks exist, how their role in society makes them vulnerable to rumours about their impending collapse and how society can lessen this vulnerability.
  • They presented a solution to bank vulnerability, in the form of deposit insurance from the government. When depositors know that the state has guaranteed their money, they no longer need to rush to the bank as soon as rumours start about a bank run.

Unlike the other prizes, the economics award wasn’t established in Alfred Nobel’s will of 1895 but by the Swedish central bank in his memory.  The first prize in economic sciences was awarded to Ragnar Frisch and Jan Tinbergen in 1969.

International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Context

• International Finance Corp has launched the Global Food Security Platform to support the private sector for sustainable production and delivery of food stocks to countries affected by food instability.
  • This 6 billion USD financing facility will help boost the flow of food supplies and other important commodities like fertilizers to vulnerable communities.

International Finance Corporation (IFC)

• The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international financial institution that offers investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage private-sector development in less developed countries. 
• The IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States.