Higher Prevalence of Mental Disorders in South India

Why in News

Recently, a study by the India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative was published in the Lancet Psychiatry.

• This is the first comprehensive estimate of disease burden due to mental disorders and their trends in every state of India from 1990.

India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative

• It is a public private initiative launched in October 2015.
• It is a collaboration between the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) and other experts and stakeholders.
  
  • PHFI is a response to redress the limited institutional capacity in India for strengthening training, research and policy development in the area of Public Health.

Key Points

Method

• The study divided States into three categories on the basis of their Socio-Demographic Index (SDI), i.e low, medium and high SDI States.
  
  • The SDI is a composite measure of per-capita income, mean education and fertility rate in women younger than 25 years and is calculated on a scale of one.
• The study utilised all accessible relevant data from India over the past three decades and reports that mental disorders are the leading cause of non-fatal disease burden in India and their contribution to the total disease burden is increasing.

Most Common Mental Disorder

• Depression and anxiety disorders are the commonest mental disorders in India. Their prevalence is increasing and is relatively higher in the southern states (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh) and in females.
• Depression accounted for 33.8% of all mental disorder DALYs in India in 2017, followed by anxiety disorders (19%), idiopathic developmental intellectual disability (10.8%) and schizophrenia (9.8%).
• The contribution of mental disorders to the total disease burden in India in terms of disability adjusted life years (DALYs) increased from 2.5% in 1990 to 4.7% in 2017.
  
  • DALY is the sum of total years of life lost and years lived with disability. One DALY is at least one lost year of ‘healthy’ life.

Prevalence

• Roughly one in seven Indians or 197 million people suffered from mental disorders of varying severity in 2017.
  
  • These include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, idiopathic developmental intellectual disability, conduct disorders, and autism.
• High SDI Group: Prevalence of depressive disorders was highest in Tamil Nadu. Anxiety disorders were found to be more common in Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Maharashtra in the high SDI State group
• Middle SDI Group: Prevalence of depressive disorders was highest in Andhra Pradesh. Anxiety disorders were found to be more common in Andhra Pradesh, Manipur and West Bengal in the middle SDI State group.

Suggestions

• There is an urgent need to strengthen mental health services, integrate these with general healthcare and remove barriers such as stigma and access to treatment.
• The high rate of depression among older adults needs attention through wider efforts in the community and health system.
• Community-level mental health care and integration of mental health services with other aspects of healthcare should receive high priority from state governments.
• Health officials should have an accurate accounting of how depression, anxiety and other mental disorders are distributed across the country.

Source: TH

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban

Why in News

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) has achieved its target of creating Urban India Open Defecation Free (ODF).

• Urban areas of 35 states / UTs have become ODF and certified through third-party verification.

Key Points

• Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launched various initiatives to make SBM-U a successful project. Some of them include,
  
  • ODF, ODF+ and ODF++ Protocol:
    
    • Norms under ODF: No visible faeces shall found in the environment and every household, as well as public/community institutions, should be using safe technology option for disposal of faeces.
    • Norms under ODF+: Not a single person should be defecating and/or urinating in open. All community and public toilets should be properly maintained and cleaned.
    • Norms under ODF++: Proper treatment and management of faecal sludge/septage and sewage is safely managed and treated. There should be no discharge or dumping of untreated faecal sludge/septage and sewage in drains, water bodies or open areas.
  • Water + Protocol: It is designed to ensure that no untreated wastewater is discharged into the open environment or water bodies.
  • Star rating protocol for Garbage free cities: It is based on 12 parameters which follow a SMART framework – Single metric, Measurable, Achievable, Rigorous verification mechanism and Targeted towards outcomes.
    
    • As on date, 4 cities namely, Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Ambikapur (Chattisgarh), Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra) and Mysuru (Karnataka) have been certified as 5-star cities.
  • Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs): MoHUA has also partnered with National Highways Authority of India(NHAI) to use the plastic waste for road construction.
    
    • Additionally, cities have been asked to set up adequate Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) to handle the segregation, processing and recycle of plastic waste.
  • Swachh Surevkshan: MoHUA launched the Swachh Survekshan 2020 (SS 2020) league, a quarterly cleanliness assessment of cities and towns in India.

Source: PIB

Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth

Why in News

The newly-formed Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth (CCIG) held its first meeting to discuss issues related to the slowdown in the economy.

• The meeting also discussed about the slowing GDP growth to 4.5% (a six-year low) as investment, exports and consumption have declined in the country.
• Alongside CCIG, a Cabinet Committee on Employment & Skill Development was also constituted in response to rising unemployment in the country.
  
  • The Periodic Labour Force Survey had shown the overall unemployment rate to be 6.1% during 2017-18.

Cabinet Committees

• Cabinet Committees are extra-constitutional in emergence. In other words, they are not mentioned in the Constitution. However, the Rules of Business provide for their establishment.
  
  • These Rules emerge out of Article 77(3) of the Constitution, which empowers the President to make rules for the more convenient transaction of the business of the Government, and for the allocation among Ministers.
• These committees are of two types—standing and ad hoc. The standing Cabinet Committees are of a permanent nature while the ad hoc Cabinet Committees are of a temporary nature.
  
  • The Prime Minister constitutes Standing Committees of the Cabinet and sets out the specific functions assigned to them. He can add or reduce the number of committees.
  • The ad hoc committees are constituted from time to time to deal with special problems. They are disbanded after their task is completed.

Note: All Cabinet Committees except Cabinet Committee on Accommodation and Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs are headed by Prime Minister.

Source:TH

Water Hyacinth Helps Detect Herbicide Pollution

Why in News

Researchers have used invasive plant water hyacinth to produce carbon nanoparticles which can be used for detecting a commonly used herbicide — pretilachlor.

• The nanoparticles were found to be selective and sensitive for the detection of the herbicide.

Key Points

• Carbon Dots:
  
  • The water hyacinth without chlorophyll is powdered and heated at 150-degree Celsius to convert it to carbon dots.
  • When a nanoparticle is less than 10 nanometre it is known as a dot or nanodot.
• Working Principle:
  
  • The carbon dots gives a green fluorescence under UltraViolet (UV) light, due to the presence of oxygen functional groups on the surface of the dot.
  • The fluorescence intensity of carbon dot increases in the presence of the herbicide.
    
    • The electron transfer between the dot and the herbicide enables the fluorescence enhancement.
    • The carbon dot is extremely sensitive to pretilachlor and could detect even very small quantity of it.
• Advantages:
  
  • The detection of herbicides through carbon dots is a commercially viable option compared to the currently available sensors in the market as the raw material i.e. water hyacinth is readily available.
  • It will help to convert waste material like the water hyacinth to produce useful technology.

Water Hyacinth

• Water hyacinth is a free-floating aquatic plant native to South America. It is considered as an invasive alien species.
• Single plant of water Hyacinth is capable of duplicating itself every nine days.
• It is also referred to as the terror of Bengal given its effect on the local ecology and lives of the people.
• It has an effect on irrigation, hydroelectric generation and navigation.
• It also leads to a drastic reduction in fish production, aquatic crops and an increase in diseases caused by mosquitoes.

Source: TH

Eco Clubs

Why in News

The first annual meeting of the State Nodal Agencies implementing the National Green Corps Ecoclub programme was recently organized by the Environment Ministry’s Education Division in collaboration with the GEER Foundation (Gujarat). It was held from 20^th-21^st December 2019 in Kevadia, Gujarat.

• Best Ecoclub Award at national level were also awarded to the students of the Ecoclub from Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Telangana who secured First, Second and Third position respectively.

Key Points

Environment Education Awareness and Training

• In the fiscal year 1983-84, the Environment Education Awareness and Training (EEAT) was launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) as the central sector scheme.
  
  • It aims to promote environmental awareness among all sections of the society and to mobilize people’s participation for conservation of environment.
  • Its objectives are achieved through the implementation of four programmes:
    
    • National Green Corps (NGC),
    • National Environment Awareness Campaign,
    • Seminars/Workshops, and
    • National Nature Camping Programme.
  • Under these programmes, financial assistance is provided to various organisations for undertaking activities and awareness campaigns for the protection of environment in the country.

NGC- Ecoclub Programme

• Under National Green Corps (NGC), the Ecoclub programme was initiated in 2001-2002.
• Objectives:
  
  • To impart knowledge to school children through hands on experience, about their immediate environment, interactions within it and the problems therein.
  • To inculcate compassion among people towards environment and sensitize children on issues related to environment and development.
  • To build young cadres of students and trigger their sensitivity towards environment protection and conservation. Although it is envisaged that the number of Ecoclubs must be enhanced from about 1.5 lakh at present to 2 lakh in the ensuing year 2020-21.

Source: PIB

Space Force by USA

Why in News

Recently, the US President signed the National Defense Authorization Act, 2020 directing the establishment of the U.S. Space Force (USSF) as the sixth branch of the armed forces.

• The establishment of USSF comes after the launch of a new Pentagon Command named Spacecom earlier in September, 2019.

Key Points

• The USSF will be the sixth formal force of the U.S. military, after the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard and will be headquartered at the Pentagon.
• It will comprise of about 16,000 air force and civilian personnel.
• Objectives:
  
  • Maintaining and enhancing the competitive edge of the Department of Defense (DOD) in space.
  • Developing military space professionals, acquiring military space systems, maturing the military doctrine for space power and organizing space forces, etc.
  • Effectively organizing the defence for US interests in space, especially related to satellites used for navigation and communication.
• Concerns: China and Russia have apprehensions regarding this development. It is being perceived as increasing weaponization of outer space and turning cosmos into a battlefield.

Source: TH

Konda Reddy Tribe

• It is one of the most backward tribal groups in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
• They inhabit on both the banks of the Godavari River (East and West Godavari districts), in the hilly-forest region of Khammam (Telangana) and Srikakulam (Andhra Pradesh).
• They live in the interior forest areas largely cut-off from the mainstream. Traditionally, they were shifting cultivators and recently, some of them have adopted settled agriculture and horticulture. 
  • Collection of non timber forest products and basket-making supplement the sources of their livelihood.
• Their mother tongue is Telugu with a unique accent.
• Konda Reddis have also been recognized as Primitive Tribal Group (now Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups)
• The Konda Reddis are known for their eco-friendly practices such as use of household articles made of bamboo, bottle gourd, and seed.

Chillai-Kalan

• Chillai-Kalan, a traditional 40-day long period of extreme cold in Kashmir, began on December 21 and will continue till January 31 followed by Chillai-Khurd and Chillai-Bachha.
  
  • Chillai-Khurd (small cold), a 20-day long period which starts from January 31 to February 19.
  • Chillai-Bachha (baby cold), a 10-day long period follows which occurs between February 20 and March 2.
• As per India Meteorological Department (IMD), the period mostly remains wet as the upper part of the Kashmir Valley receives heavy snowfall and the minimum temperature drops considerably.
• During this period, water bodies like lakes, rivers and streams get frozen with a thick layer of ice.

India Meteorological Department

• It was established in 1875 as an agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India.
• It is the principal agency responsible for meteorological observations, weather forecasting and seismology.