Daily Current Affairs : 25th January 2024

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

1. Leprosy
2. Free Movement Regime
3. BSF Jurisdiction
4. Facts for Prelims

1 . Leprosy

Context: Centre releases three-drug regimen for treating leprosy.  

About the News

• The Union government has approved a new treatment regimen for leprosy, aiming at stopping its transmission at the sub-national level by 2027. 
• A letter written by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said the National Leprosy Eradication Programme is taking all the required steps to stop the transmission of the infection. 
• With the approval of the competent authority, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has decided to introduce a three-drug regimen for Pauci-Bacillary (PB) cases in place of a two-drug regimen for six months. 
• All States and Union Territories have now been asked to send their requisitions for anti-leprosy drugs 12 months beforehand. 
• The revised classification of leprosy and the treatment regimen for PB and multi-bacillary (MB) cases in India will be implemented from 2025.  

What is Leprosy (Hansen’s Disease)? 

• Leprosy also known as Hansen’s disease (also known as leprosy) is an infection caused by slow-growing bacteria called Mycobacterium leprae.
• It can affect the nerves, skin, eyes, and lining of the nose (nasal mucosa).
• With early diagnosis and treatment, the disease can be cured.
• People with Hansen’s disease can continue to work and lead an active life during and after treatment.
• Leprosy was once feared as a highly contagious and devastating disease, but now we know it doesn’t spread easily and treatment is very effective. However, if left untreated, the nerve damage can result in crippling of hands and feet, paralysis, and blindness.

Symptoms of leprosy 

• The main symptom of leprosy is skin lesions. Other effects of leprosy are due to its impact on the body’s nervous system. 
• Leprosy does not affect the central nervous system. However, it can affect the peripheral nervous system (PNS) (sensory, motor and autonomic nerves) by:
  • Sensory nerve damage – when the sensory nerves are damaged, they cannot register pain. This leaves the extremities of hands and feet vulnerable to burns and injuries that can result in loss of fingers, toes, hands and feet 
  • Eye nerve damage – when the eye is affected, it can lead to blindness, particularly if the person does not know how to prevent injury due to dust or other irritants 
  • Motor nerve damage – when the motor nerves are involved, various forms of paralysis can occur such as ‘dropped foot’, ‘dropped wrist’, ‘clawed hand’, or lagophthalmos (where the eye cannot close) 
  • Autonomic nerve damage – the autonomic nerves regulate the PNS body functions, such as blood pressure, heart rate, sweating, bowel and bladder emptying, and digestion. Damage to the autonomic nerves can cause hair loss and can affect the ability to sweat, leaving the skin dry and cracked and exposed to secondary infection. 

Diagnosis 

• The diagnosis of leprosy is done clinically. Laboratory-based services may be required in cases that are difficult to diagnose.   
• The disease manifests commonly through skin lesion and peripheral nerve involvement. Leprosy is diagnosed by finding at least one of the following cardinal signs: (1) definite loss of sensation in a pale (hypopigmented) or reddish skin patch; (2) thickened or enlarged peripheral nerve, with loss of sensation and/or weakness of the muscles supplied by that nerve; (3) microscopic detection of bacilli in a slit-skin smear. 
• Based on the above, the cases are classified into two types for treatment purposes: Paucibacillary (PB) case and Multibacillary (MB) case 
• PB case: a case of leprosy with 1 to 5 skin lesions, without demonstrated presence of bacilli in a skin smear. 
• MB case: a case of leprosy with more than five skin lesions; or with nerve involvement (pure neuritis, or any number of skin lesions and neuritis); or with the demonstrated presence of bacilli in a slit-skin smear, irrespective of the number of skin lesions. 

What are the treatments available for Leprosy? 

• Leprosy is a curable disease. The currently recommended treatment regimen consists of three drugs: dapsone, rifampicin and clofazimine. The combination is referred to as multi-drug therapy (MDT). The duration of treatment is six months for PB and 12 months for MB cases. MDT kills the pathogen and cures the patient.  
• Early diagnosis and prompt treatment can help to prevent disabilities.  

Is there any Vaccination against leprosy? 

• There is no vaccine generally available to specifically prevent leprosy. However, the vaccine against tuberculosis (TB), called the BCG vaccine, may provide some protection against leprosy. This is because the organism that causes leprosy is closely related to the one that causes TB. 

Government initiative to eradicate Leprosy 

National Leprosy Eradication Programme? 

• The National Leprosy Eradication Programme (NLEP) is a Centrally Sponsored Health Scheme and it has been implemented with the major objective of reducing the disease burden, prevention of disability and to improve awareness among the mass about Leprosy and its curabilities 
• This programme strives to detect and treat cases as early as possible, gives treatment free of cost to prevent the development of disabilities and deformities, medical rehabilitation of those with existing deformities 
• It also spreads awareness and reducing stigma attached with the disease.  
• Programme aims to Strengthen the Surveillance by introducing ASHA-based Surveillance for Leprosy Suspects (ABSULS) where grassroot level workers constantly engaged in examining and reporting suspects. 
• Special emphasis under the Focused Leprosy Campaign (FLC) was given to areas that were difficult to access or had child cases and cases with disabilities.
  • Programme Strategy:
    • Integrated Leprosy services through General Health Care Services. 
    • Early diagnosis and prompt MDT treatment of new Leprosy cases through routine and special efforts. 
    • Carrying out household contact survey for early detection of cases. 
    • Strengthening of Disability Prevention and Medical Rehabilitation (DPMR) services. 
    • Information, Education and Communication (IEC), also called “Behavioral Change & Communication (BCC)” using local and Mass Media for reduction of Social Stigma and Discrimination, so that self reporting of the Leprosy disease to the Primary Health Centers (PHCs) is encouraged 

National Strategic Plan & Roadmap for Leprosy (2023-27) 

• This strategy and roadmap will aid in advancing the campaign against leprosy, to stop transmission, by speeding case detection efforts and maintaining a robust surveillance infrastructure. 

Nikusth 2.0 

• Nikusth 2.0 is an integrated portal for leprosy case management under National Leprosy Eradication Programme (NLEP).  
• It will aid in efficient data recording, analyzing and reporting of the data in the form of indicators and a real time dashboard at center, state and district levels. 

2 . Free movement Regime

Context: At a passing out parade of the Assam police commandos in Guwahati recently, the Home Minister said the 1,643 km India-Myanmar border would soon be fenced. He also said the Free Movement Regime (FMR) agreement with Myanmar would be reconsidered to stop border residents from moving into each other’s country without any paperwork. 

Background 

• Much of India’s present-day northeast was temporarily under Burmese occupation until the British pushed them out in the 1800s. 
• The victors and the vanquished signed the Treaty of Yandaboo in 1826, leading to the current alignment of the boundary between India and Burma, later renamed Myanmar. 
• The border divided people of the same ethnicity and culture — specifically the Nagas of Nagaland and Manipur and the Kuki-Chin-Mizo communities of Manipur and Mizoram — without their consent.  
• In some stretches, the border split a village or a house between the two countries. 
• Wary of increasing Chinese influence in Myanmar, New Delhi began working on improving diplomatic ties with the Myanmar government a decade ago. After almost a year’s delay, the FMR came about in 2018 as part of the government’s Act East policy. 
• The Rohingya refugee crisis that began in August 2017 caused the delay.  

About FMR

• The FMR allows people living on either side of the border to travel up to 16 km inside each other’s country without a visa. 
• A border resident needs to have a border pass, valid for a year, to stay in the other country for about two weeks per visit. 
• The FMR also envisaged the promotion of localised border trade through customs stations and designated markets apart from helping the people of Myanmar access better education and healthcare facilities on the Indian side of the border. 

Why is the FMR being reconsidered? 

• Apart from a 10 km stretch in Manipur, the India-Myanmar border through hills and jungles is unfenced. 
• The security forces have for decades grappled with members of extremist groups carrying out hit-and-run operations from their clandestine bases in the Chin and Sagaing regions of Myanmar. 
• The ease of cross-border movement, even before the FMR was in place, was often flagged for inward trafficking of drugs and outward trafficking of wildlife body parts. 
• The trigger for the rethink on the FMR was the conflict that broke out between the majority Meitei and the tribal Kuki-Zo communities in Manipur in 2023. 
• Over the past decade, the Manipur government has been expressing concern over the “influx” of Myanmar nationals, a euphemism for Kuki-Chins, calling for an Assam-like National Register of Citizens to weed out the “illegal immigrants”. The theory gained currency after the conflict, which coincided with a few hundred Myanmar nationals taking refuge in Manipur to escape a civil war back home. 
• In 2023, Manipur Chief Minister blamed the ethnic violence on the free movement of Myanmar nationals into India and urged the Ministry of Home Affairs to end the FMR, which had been suspended on April 1, 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown. 
• The suspension was extended after the military coup in Myanmar in February 2021. Kuki-Zo organisations, on the other hand, have accused the Chief Minister of branding the community as “illegal immigrants” and “narco-terrorists” to justify their “ethnic cleansing”. 

What is the scale of migration? 

• The civil war in Myanmar saw a drastic jump in the number of people seeking refuge in India. In 2022, authorities in Manipur pushed back 4,300 of some 5,500 Myanmar nationals from the Moreh area along the border after recording their biometrics. 
• A committee set up by the State government put the number of such migrants in 2023 at 2,187. The civil war in the neighbouring country also forced some 40,000 people into Mizoram, who, unlike Manipur, made them feel at home primarily due to their ethnic affiliation. 
• The Mizoram government has been seeking funds from the Centre to look after the displaced people who it wants to be sent back only after the situation in their country normalises. 

Is there a problem of drug trafficking or terrorism related to the FMR? 

• According to a paper published by Anuradha Oinam of the Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), several insurgent groups such as the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), and small groups of Kukis and Zomis have built camps in Sagaing Division, Kachin State, and Chin State (in Myanmar). 
• They took shelter there, obtained arms, trained cadres, and, most importantly, engaged in illegal activities such as smuggling drugs and selling weapons to raise funds. This is possible because of the porous borders and frequent misuse of FMR. 
•  Therefore, managing and administering the border areas effectively is pertinent for reducing drug trafficking and illegal cross-border movement on unfenced borders. 
• Data from the Manipur Chief Minister’s Office show that 500 cases were registered and 625 individuals were arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in Manipur in 2022. 
• A large quantity of narcotics, including heroin, opium, brown sugar, and ganja, crystal meth and yaba (methamphetamine and caffeine), and prescription drugs such as the stimulant pseudoephedrine and analgesic spasmoproxyvon, were seized, several thousand acres of poppy were destroyed during the same period. The value of the drugs seized or destroyed is estimated to have been more than Rs 1,227 crore in the international market. 

What, according to experts, can happen if FMR is removed? 

• The regime has been reviewed from time to time, and most experts agree that the FMR needs better regulation. As the crisis in Myanmar escalated and the influx of refugees increased, India suspended the FMR in September 2022. 
• Given the interests of the local population, however, neither the complete removal of the FMR nor full fencing of the border may be desirable. Livelihoods will be impacted, and essential travel for health care and education may be hit. 
• it is therefore imperative for New Delhi to tackle the issue by pursuing ‘killing the snake without breaking the stick’ approach. 
• Sources in the security establishment said it is not easy to plug illegal immigration or drug trafficking across an unfenced border in treacherous terrain. 
• Even with robust patrolling and intelligence, people do sneak through, especially when there is no hostility towards the immigrant on our side. FMR or no FMR, it is not an easy task. And all borders, even the fenced ones, are struggling to deal with drug trafficking. 

Why are Mizoram and Nagaland opposed to ending the FMR? 

• Mizoram Chief Minister said his government does not have the authority to stop the Centre from fencing the India-Myanmar border for perceived security threat and scrapping the FMR, but said he was opposed to the move. 
• According to him, the border was imposed by the British to divide the people belonging to the Zo ethnic stock. The Mizos share ethnic ties with the Chin people across the border. 
• The Nagaland government has not reacted but the influential Naga Students’ Federation condemned the Centre’s move. 
• It said the decision to fence the border and end the FMR was “regressive”, which would exacerbate conflicts in the region. The federation said that It is crucial for India to acknowledge the historical truth that these territories (between the Chindwin River in Myanmar and the Saramati mountain in Nagaland) belong to the Nagas.  

3 . BSF Jurisdiction

Context: The Supreme Court is set to hear the dispute over the expansion of the Border Security Force (BSF) jurisdiction in Punjab. 

About BSF 

• The BSF was created after the enactment of the Border Security Force Act in September 1968. The BSF is meant to secure India’s borders with its neighbouring nations and is empowered to arrest, search and seize under a number of laws, such as the Criminal Procedure Code, the Passports Act, the Passport (Entry into India) Act, and the NDPS Act, to name a few. 
• Section 139(1) of the BSF Act allows the central government, through an order, to designate an area “within the local limits of such area adjoining the borders of India” where members of the BSF can exercise powers to prevent offenses under any Acts that the central government may specify. 

Why was the BSF jurisdiction extended? 

• Prior to the notification issued in October 2021, the BSF could exercise its powers within 15 kilometres of the border in Punjab, West Bengal and Assam. The Centre expanded this to within 50 kilometres of the border. 
• The notification states that, within this larger 50-kilometre jurisdiction, the BSF can only exercise powers under the Criminal Procedure Code, the Passport (Entry into India) Act and the Passports Act. For other central legislations, the 15-km limit remains. 
• On December 7, 2021, the Minister of State for Home Affairs clarified in writing that this expansion was in response to the increased use of drones and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, which have long-range capabilities and enable surveillance and the smuggling of arms and fake currency. He also highlighted the ‘menace of cattle smuggling’ and pointed out that smugglers often seek refuge outside BSF jurisdiction. 
• Solicitor General also claimed that the notification makes the BSF jurisdiction uniform across states, as the 50-kilometre limit was already in place in Rajasthan. The same notification reducted the jurisdiction in Gujarat from 80 km to 50 km. 

Why has Punjab challenged this? 

• The state of Punjab filed an ‘original suit’ against the central government in the Supreme Court in 2021. The Supreme Court has ‘original jurisdiction’ in disputes between the central government and states under Article 131 of the Constitution, which means cases of this kind can only be heard for the first time at the SC “to the exclusion of any other court”. 
• The Punjab government claimed that expanding the jurisdiction of the BSF would compromise the state’s exclusive powers to legislate on matters involving the police and public order. These powers are provided in Entries 1 and 2 of the State List under Article 246 of the Constitution. 
• They also claimed that the notification was issued without consulting with any of the states concerned. Shortly after the notification was released, the then Chief Minister of Punjab called it “a direct attack on federalism”. 
• Arguing before the SC in 2023, Additional Advocate General for the state of Punjab, claimed that in Punjab, a large number of cities and towns would fall within this 50-kilometre jurisdiction, whereas in Gujarat and Rajasthan, most areas along the international border are sparsely populated, primarily containing marshlands or deserts. 

Have other states joined the challenge? 

• Currently, no other challenge is tagged with the Punjab government’s, though the notification was met with pushback from West Bengal when it was released. 
•  Shortly after the  2021 notification, the West Bengal Assembly had passed a resolution demanding its withdrawal. 

What are the issues that the SC will consider? 

• The court will decide if the notification expanding the jurisdiction of the BSF was arbitrary or backed by legitimate reasons.  
• Further, the court will determine if this notification interferes with the powers of the local police and encroaches upon states powers under the Constitution. 
• The SC will also decide what factors have to be considered when deciding which areas are “within the local limits of such area adjoining the borders of India” and whether all states must be treated alike when determining these local limits.  
• the court will also decide if the notification can be challenged through an original suit under Article 131 of the Constitution. 

4 . Facts for Prelims

HSBC Flash India Composite PMI Output Index

• The headline HSBC Flash India Composite PMI Output Index is a new seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of India’s manufacturing and services sectors — was at 61 in January, compared with 58.5 in December.
• The Flash PMI, unveiled is based on responses from about 75% to 85% of 800 services and industry firms that are surveyed each month to arrive at the comprehensive PMI that is available in the first week of the subsequent month.

National Voter’s day

•  In order to encourage more young voters to take part in the political process, Government of India has decided to celebrate January 25 every year as “National Voters’ Day”. It has been started from 25 January 2011 to mark the foundation day of Election Commission of India