The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 28 April 2023

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis for UPSC

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 27 April 2023

• The violation of existing agreements has eroded the entire basis of bilateral relations, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told his Chinese counterpart General Li Shangfu on Thursday, adding that the development of India-China ties is premised on the prevalence of peace and tranquillity at the borders.
• This is the first high-level military visit from China since the start of the Ladakh stand-off in April 2020.
• Defence sources said Mr. Singh categorically said military cooperation between the two countries can progress “only” if peace and tranquillity is established on the border. “He said, after disengagement, there should be movement towards de-escalation, and expressed hope for a positive response,” a source stated.
• The Chinese Minister and State Councillor is in New Delhi to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ meeting scheduled for Friday.

 The Hindu Editorial Today

• The low-cost psychosocial intervention designed by non-profit Sangath and delivered by women, has the potential to change the way mental health is approached in places where no psychiatrist or psychologist goes.
• These are accredited social health activist (ASHA) workers
• From identifying a pregnant woman to hand-holding her through her term, and ensuring vaccination for the newborn, ASHAs are the foot soldiers of India’s rural public health system.
• ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers have received the Global Health Leaders Award-2022 in the backdrop of the on-going 75th World Health Assembly.

Who are ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers?

• ASHA workers are volunteers from within the community who are trained to provide information and aid people in accessing benefits of various healthcare schemes of the government.
• They act as a bridge connecting marginalised communities with facilities such as primary health centres, sub-centres and district hospitals.
• The role of these community health volunteers under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was first established in 2005.
• They must have good communication and leadership skills; should be literate with formal education up to Class 8, as per the programme guidelines.

ASHA workers in the country:

• There are around 10.4 lakh ASHA workers across the country.
• The largest workforces of ASHA workers are in states with high populations – Uttar Pradesh (1.63 lakh), Bihar (89,437), and Madhya Pradesh (77,531).
• Goa is the only state with no such workers.

Question:

Empowering the ASHA workers to truly integrate the multiple roles of community mobiliser, activist and provider of first contact care will ensure holistic developmental outcomes at the grassroot level. Discuss.

• The Train 18 project was one that was wholly conceived, planned and executed with élan in record time, by a team of inspired, talented and committed Railway professionals of the Integral Coach Factory, Perambur, Chennai, with minimum official support.
• The National Rail Plan 2030 (NRP) envisages raising the rail share in freight traffic vis-à-vis roadways from 27% to 45% by 2050 and the raising of the average speed of goods trains to 50 kilometres per hour from the present 25 kmph and concurrent reduction in tariff rates for freight by up to 30%. It may be mentioned that the rail share of freight carried reduced from 51.5.% in 2008-09 to 32.4% in 2018-19 for leads over 300 km.
• On the passenger front, perhaps the single most important operational index is punctuality.

• Germany has shut down the last of its nuclear power plants; France, the nuclear powerhouse of the world, is struggling to replenish its stock of ageing reactors. With solar and wind power becoming more popular globally, there are questions on whether nuclear power, with its attendant concerns on cost and safety, remains a relevant option for a future that is fossil-free, particularly in India.
• China has anyway been surging ahead on nuclear power. South Korea’s new president has changed the energy policy and committed to increasing the share of nuclear power in the country’s energy mix to 30% by 2030. Japan, which should have completely shut down reactors after the Fukushima (accident), is restarting them — 10 have been restarted following years of inspection and upgrading safety systems

• Germany has shut down the last of its nuclear power plants; France, the nuclear powerhouse of the world, is struggling to replenish its stock of ageing reactors. With solar and wind power becoming more popular globally, there are questions on whether nuclear power, with its attendant concerns on cost and safety, remains a relevant option for a future that is fossil-free, particularly in India.
• China has anyway been surging ahead on nuclear power. South Korea’s new president has changed the energy policy and committed to increasing the share of nuclear power in the country’s energy mix to 30% by 2030. Japan, which should have completely shut down reactors after the Fukushima (accident), is restarting them — 10 have been restarted following years of inspection and upgrading safety systems
• The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has found in a new report that the world’s sea level is rising at an unprecedented rate, portending potentially disastrous consequences for the weather, agriculture, the extant groundwater crisis, and social disparities.
• The report, entitled ‘State of the Global Climate 2022’, was published last week. Along with accelerating sea-level rise, it focused on a consistent rise in global temperatures, record-breaking increases in the concentration of greenhouse gases as well as glacier loss, sustained drought-like conditions in East Africa, record rainfall in Pakistan, and unprecedented heatwaves that struck Europe and China in 2022.
• While the sea-level rise is one of several compounding disasters, it also merits individual attention for the unique crises it can precipitate, especially for coastal areas, the communities there that depend on life in the sea, and its ability to render the loss of land.
• The WMO report points to the following factors as being responsible for a rising GSML: “ocean warming, ice loss from glaciers and ice sheets, and changes in land water storage”.

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