Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE
Topics Covered
- Survey on Household social consumption related to education
- Health in India Report
- 1993 & 1996 Agreement with China
- Facts for Prelims
1 . Survey on Household social consumption related to education
Context: A report titled “Household Social Consumption on Education in India”, released by the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme
Details of the Report
- The report is based on NSO’s 75th round– July 2017 to June 2018 Survey.
- The survey provides for state-wise detail of literacy rate among the persons aged seven years and above.
- A sample of 64,519 rural households from 8,097 villages and 49,238 urban households from 6,188 blocks was surveyed all-over India.
Findings of the survey
- All India Level- Literacy Rate
- India’s overall literacy rate stands at 77.7%,
- Rural areas – 73.5 per cent
- Urban area – 87.7 per cent.
- Male – 84.7 per cent
- Female – 70.3 per cent
- The male literacy rate is higher than the female literacy rate among all states with considerable gap in the worst-performing states
- State-wise performance
- Kerala is the top performer with 96.2% literacy.
- Kerala is followed by Delhi (88.7%), Uttarakhand (87.6%) and Himachal Pradesh (86.6%)
- Andhra Pradesh has the country’s lowest literacy rate, at just 66.4%.
- Gender-wise performance
- Kerala – Kerala is the top performer with male literacy rate at 97.4 per cent and female literacy at 95.2 per cent.
- Delhi – the male literacy rate is 93.7 per cent which is higher than 82.4 per cent among females.
- Andhra Pradesh – the male literacy rate is 73.4 per cent, higher than 59.5 per cent among females (of the age of seven year or above).
- Rajasthan – the gap was even wider as the male literacy rate stood at 80.8 per cent compared to 57.6 per cent of females.
- Bihar – the male literacy rate was also higher at 79.7 per cent compared to 60.5 per cent of females.
Digital Literacy
- Across India, only one in 10 households have a computer — whether a desktop, laptop or tablet.
- The report also revealed that nearly 4 per cent of rural households and 23 per cent of urban household possessed computers.
- Among persons of age 15-29 years, nearly 24 per cent in rural areas and 56 per cent in urban areas were able to operate a computer.
- Nearly 35 per cent of persons of age 15-29 years reported the use of the internet during the 30 days prior to the date of the survey. The proportions were nearly 25 per cent in rural areas and 58 per cent in urban areas.
2 . ‘Health in India’ report.
Context: National Statistical Organisation (NSO) has recently released the ‘Health in India’ report.
About the report
- The report is based on the 75th round of the National Sample Survey (July 2017-June 2018) on household social consumption related to health.
Findings of the report
- Complete Immunisation
- In India, only 59.2% of children under five years are fully immunised and the rest do not complete the immunization programme.
- This contradicts the Centre’s Health Management Information System portal data, which has claimed that full immunisation coverage for 2017-18 stood at 86.7%.
- Almost all children in India are vaccinated against tuberculosis and have received their birth dose of the polio vaccine.
- Most of these children remain unprotected against measles, and partially protected against a range of other diseases.
- BCG and OPV
- About 97% of children across the country have received at least one vaccination which is mostly BCG and/or the first dose of OPV at birth.
- This statistic remains steady across income groups and geographies.
- Measles
- Only 67% of children are protected against measles
- Polio
- Only 58% of children have got the polio booster dose
- DPT
- Only 54% of the children have got their DPT booster dose
- State-wise performance
- Highest Immunization: Manipur (75%), Andhra Pradesh (73.6%) and Mizoram (73.4%) recorded the highest rates of full immunisation.
- Lowest Immunization: In Nagaland, only 12% of children received all vaccinations which is followed by Puducherry (34%) and Tripura (39.6%).
- Delhi: Less than half of all children have been given all eight required vaccines.
What is Immunization?
- Immunization is the process whereby a person is made immune or resistant to an infectious disease, typically by the administration of a vaccine. Vaccines stimulate the body’s own immune system to protect the person against subsequent infection or disease.
What does Full immunisation mean?
- Full immunisation means that a child receives a cocktail of eight vaccine doses in the first year of life.
Vaccine Preventable Diseases
- Vaccination is being provided against eight vaccine-preventable diseases nationally, i.e. Diphtheria, Whooping Cough, Tetanus, Polio, Measles, severe form of Childhood Tuberculosis and Hepatitis B and meningitis & pneumonia caused by Haemophilus influenza type B;
- Against Rotavirus Diarrhea and Japanese Encephalitis in selected states and districts respectively
3 . 1993 & 1996 Agreement with China
Context : Hours after the Chinese Army claimed that Indian troops opened fire along the disputed Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, the Indian Army stated on Tuesday morning that it was actually Chinese troops that fired a few rounds in the air. No shots have been fired along the disputed boundary between India and China since 1975.
Background
- 1993 Agreement between India and prohibits either side to use force or threaten against the other by any means.
- 1996 Agreement between India and China clearly mentions about not opening fire or brandishing firearms.
- Both the agreement seems to have been broken in the
Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China Border Areas, 1993
The agreement was between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the People’s Republic of China in accordance with the Five Principles of mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit and peaceful coexistence and with a view to maintaining peace and tranquility in areas along the line of actual control in the India-China border areas.
- Both the countries agreed that the India-China boundary question shall be resolved through peaceful and friendly consultations.Neither side shall use or threaten to use force against the other by any means.
- Both sides agreed to keep its military forces in the areas along the line of actual control to a minimum level compatible with the friendly and good neighbourly relations between the two countries.
- Both countries decided to work out through consultations effective confidence building measures in the areas along the line of actual control.
- In case of contingencies or other problems arising in the areas along the line of actual control, both the countries decided tol deal with the situation through meetings and friendly consultations between border personnel of the two countries.
- Both India and China agreed to take adequate measures to ensure that air intrusions across the line of actual control do not take place and shall undertake mutual consultations should intrusions occur.
- Both agreed that references to the line of actual control in this Agreement do not prejudice their respective positions on the boundary question.
- The two sides also decided to agree through consultations on the form, method, scale and content of effective verification measures and supervision required for the reduction of military forces and the maintenance of peace and tranquility in the areas along the line of actual control under this Agreement.
- Each side of the India-China Joint Working Group on the boundary question decided to appoint diplomatic and military experts to formulate, through mutual consultations, implementation measures for the present Agreement.
1996 Agreement
The 1993 agreement was considered “not enough” by India and China and therefore both the countries signed 1996 agreement.
- The 1996-agreement made it binding on soldiers to “exercise self restraint” and opt for “immediate consultation” if a face-off situation arises.
- This agreement states that “Neither side shall open fire or hunt with guns or explosives within two kilometres from the line of actual control.”
- This provision led to a practice under which no side even brandishes firearms. This is why there had been videos of jostling, pushing and shoving by the soldiers of the two sides.
4 . Facts for Prelims
eSanjeevani
- It is a telemedicine service platform and is implemented under Ayushman Bharat health initiative
- The platform supports two types of telemedicine services — doctor-to-doctor through eSanjeevani and patient-to-doctor through eSanjeevani OPD
- It was launched in November 2019
- Aim: The aim is to implement teleconsultation in all the 1.5 lakh health and wellness centers in a ‘hub and spoke’ model by December 2022.
- eSanjeevani has been implemented by 23 states and others are in the process of rolling it out
eSanjeevaniOPD
- It is patient-to-doctor teleconsultation
- It was launched on April 13, 2-20 year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.
- This has proved to be a boon in containing the spread of coronavirus infection while simultaneously enabling provisions for non-COVID essential healthcare