Good morning! This week’s newsletter deals with the NRC in Assam, rural procurement of crops, stubble burning, and all you need to know about health in India, along with some COVID-updates. Do read it and share!
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Rural
Move to delete ‘ineligible’ names from Assam NRC: who, and why: The National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam has ordered the deletion of “ineligible” names, with a toll of 19 lakh people being left out. The people left out will be allowed to appeal against the exclusion. The Assam government has reiterated that it sticks to the demand of re-verification while criticising the former NRC Coordinator Prateek Hajela for what it calls an erroneous NRC.
Rice procurement up 33%, but MSP eludes other crops: The amount of rice procured so far has been 33% more than the period last year, taking the total to 4 million tonnes of paddy being brought by the government from nearly 350,000 farmers, who have been paid a minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 8,032 crore till October 11. However, since rice and paddy are the big sellers, other crops like soybean and maize are selling below MSP since the government procures too little of non-cereals. For example, nearly 3.70 million tonnes of pulses and oilseeds the government approved for procurement at MSP is less than 15% of the total production.
Punjab Assembly unanimously passes Bills against farm laws: As protests continue against the farm bills in the North, Punjab’s state assembly has adopted a resolution rejecting the Centre's new farm laws, passing four bills to counter the Center’s laws. The session was led by the Amarinder Singh-led Congress government, along with Shiromani Akali Dal, Aam Aadmi Party and Lok Insaaf MLAs. The BJP MLAs were not present. The bills are concerned with punishment for sale or purchase below the MSP, checking hoarding and black marketing, and ensuring that wheat or paddy are not bought for less than the MSP.
When India already grows enough brinjal, why does it need a genetically modified variety? : Feld trials of Bt brinjal have been started in September after a halt for nearly a decade. IT would be India’s second GM crop after Bt cotton. This does though bring with it concerns about poorly regulated trials, inadequate safeguards, along with the replacement of organic varieties, such as that which happened with Bt cotton. One main factor against the commercialisation of Bt brinjal is that while cotton was never in abundance in India, brinjal has no such issues - India supplies 27% of the world’s brinjal.
Study: 76% of rural Indians can’t afford a nutritious diet: In a recent paper published in Food Policy, three out of four rural Indians cannot afford a nutritious diet as per India’s official dietary requirements. The study uses the wages of unskilled workers. This is in stark contrast to the Economic Survey’s Thalinomics, which provided a more enthusiastic picture of what meals cost, and is based more on caloric intake rather than nutritional value.
Study: Rural roads take workers away from agriculture: A study looked at how over 11,000 villages that did not have a paved road in 2001 changed after getting one through the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) scheme. The scheme was expected to boost agricultural incomes and jobs. However, the share of workers in agriculture dropped by 9 percentage points, while the share in manufacturing, education, and retail grew by 7 percentage points. One conclusion is that better connectivity led to people moving out of villages for other employment.
Environment
Why does air pollution rise in Delhi in October each year? : The air quality index touched ‘very poor’ for the very first time this season in Delhi. The reason for Delhi’s air condition getting worse every period between October to February has been explained to be a combination of the change in wind direction, colder temperatures that lower the spreading of pollutants due to the inversion height, and dust and vehicular pollution.
Usually, the stubble burning by farms is linked to the lower air quality- yet the environment ministry has stated that the contribution of stubble burning was only 4 percent on the day. Additionally, the stubble burning season lasts only for 45 days long. However, another report by the Wire states that the Ministry of Earth Sciences’ air-quality monitor ‘SAFAR’ indicates that “farm fires accounted for 22% of the air pollution in the national capital on Saturday, and 17% on Sunday.”
Last straw to stubble burning : Sunita Narain, Indian environmentalist and political activist, writes against the payment to farmers for burning stubble, arguing that it leads to more burning and worsening air quality. She also highlights how farmers are stuck between harvesting paddy and having to plant wheat within a short period of time. Since basmati paddy is not under MSP, since it is traded internationally, farmers still grow non-basmati paddy for the MSP and then have no alternative but to burn the stubble. One suggestion listed is that instead, value could be added to biomass, for which farmers need not burn the straw. This can then be used to make compressed biogas.
Pollution: Can a fungus capsule stop stubble burning in North India? : The Indian Agricultural Research Institute has also tackled the issue of stubble burning with the development of a new bio-decomposer or the “Pusa decomposer.” It consists of a pack of four capsules containing the decomposer which costs Rs 20, and is a “long-term sustainable solution” to break down the stubble. However, it takes a significant time to prepare this concoction for use, which could lead to it not being used given the short time between harvest and sowing for the new wheat season.
Hyderabad drowns in unprecedented rainfall, 35 dead as rain fury hits South India | 20 points : South India is seeing some heavy rainfall, with Hyderabad facing the worst of it. The rains left the city with inundated roads, flooded houses, and toppled and swept away vehicles. The rains showed no signs of lessening in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka either, and have claimed 35 lives so far. One of the reasons for the severe flooding in Hyderabad is shown to be the encroachment of lake beds and reclaimed land housing poorly built houses.
FAC to decide if coal mines can start mining before obtaining forest clearance : The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) is dealing with three policy issues - the most dubious one being whether coal mines involving both forest and non-forest land can start mining in the latter before obtaining a forest clearance. The process of auctioning 38 coal blocks is already underway, out of which many mines involve large tracts of forest areas. So far, 680 projects in protected areas have been given wildlife clearance in the last 5 years.
From Cobras To Sea Turtles — The Role Of Social Media In Animal Trafficking : One of the first of REH’s set of commissioned articles, this piece by Chris Goldenbaum from Brazil highlights the role social media plays in illegal wildlife trade. The illegal trade in wildlife is worth up to US$19 billion each year and is the fourth largest illicit market. India is also one of the top 20 countries for illegal wildlife trade, as per data analysed by TRAFFIC, the Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network.
Health
COVID updates:
A government-appointed panel on Sunday said India had most likely hit its peak with the pandemic but only if sufficient protective measures continue. This piece by the Mint lists out the updates you would need to know. Fun fact: it was also admitted, for the first time, that community transmission was indeed present in India.
On Tuesday, the Health Ministry highlighted that the active cases of COVID-19 in India were less than 10% of the total caseload, with the national recovery rate at 88.63 %. The number of new infections reported in a span of 24 hours in India dropped below 50,000 for the first time in nearly three months.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan On Easing Restrictions For Festivals : Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said that the recent spike in COVID cases in Kerala - confirmed infections increased by around 1.35 lakh between October 1 and 17 - was the result of loosening restrictions, and cautioned that relaxing restrictions during the festive season could lead to a sharp increase.
Serosurveys point to inadequacies in India's COVID-19 testing strategy : The ICMR national serosurvey in May 2020 suggested that the seroprevalence in a set of districts across India was 0.73 percent. A follow-up survey done in August showed that seroprevalence in the same districts increased to 7.1 percent.
Vaccine ready by December, in market by March: Serum Institute reveals Covid-19 vaccine planning : On the vaccine front, India is to get 60-70 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, Covishield, by December, but the vaccine will be available in the market by March 2021. The government is targeting the vaccination of roughly 25 crore people by July 2021, which includes the three vaccines under trial in India along with ones that India will get under other international agreements.
PMO confirms the reason why Coronavirus vaccine in India may not be delayed : A reason for the vaccine to be delayed was thought to be the continuous evolution of the virus. However, the ICMR and Department of Biotechnology conducted two studies on the genome of SARS-CoV-2 regarding the mutation of the virus, which suggest that the virus is genetically stable and there are no major mutations. This, therefore, would not hinder the development of an effective vaccine. This is in line with global studies that state the vaccines currently being developed should not be affected by recent mutations.
To manage TB, India must invest in fighting the mental health challenges it presents : The tuberculosis epidemic in kills over 1,200 Indians on a daily basis, and has not been studied in relation to the dire mental health affects one would face. Per the WHO, between 40% and 70% of TB patients have comorbid mental health disorders. TB and mental health are twin comorbidities, due to the isolation and the stigma around TB, along with the medication for drug-resistant forms of TB that have severe mental health side effects and even psychosis in extreme cases.
Tweaks expand health insurance cover, but premiums now costlier : During the pandemic, insurance claims for COVID-related conditions rose up to 40%. This has led to considerable change in the insurance industry. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) states that previously uncovered conditions such as those arising due to hazardous activity, treatment for mental illnesses, age-related conditions such as cataracts, etc., are now to be included. Additionally, a condition diagnosed by a physician 48 months before the policy is issued will be classified as a pre-existing disease.
.LIFE
A weekly set of readings we found fascinating
Asafoetida (Heeng) Will Now Be Grown In India; Why It Is An Important Spice. Plus, there’s an informative thread from Twitter on why it wasn’t grown in India before.
The Economic and Political Weekly has put out a Public Health in India resource kit, which includes 10 aspects of public health that they researched at EPW between 2014 and 2020.
Hydro-geology: A new approach to natural spring recharge in the Himalayas
Migrants' Hardships Theme Of Many Durga Puja Pandals In Bengal
That’s it for today. If you have anything to say - tips, comments, suggestions, or just a hello - don’t forget to comment or email us at editorial@reh.life
See you next week!