H1N1

What is H1N1?

• Influenza A (H1N1) virus is the subtype of influenza A virus that was the most common cause of human influenza in 2009.
• H1N1 flu is also known as swine flu caused by swine influenza virus that is endemic in pigs.
• It is a highly contagious disease and can easily spread from a patient through saliva and mucus.

Symptoms are cough, fever, sore throat, stuffy or runny nose, headache, body ache etc. 

Spreads

• Airborne respiratory droplets (coughs or sneezes).
• Skin-to-skin contact (handshakes or hugs)
• Saliva (kissing or shared drinks). 
• Touching a contaminated surface (blanket or doorknob)

Diagnosis and treatment:

• The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention recommend real-time polymerase chain reaction as the method of choice for diagnosing H1N1.
• Antiviral drugs are the mainstay of clinical treatment of swine influenza and can make the illness milder and enable the patient to feel better faster.

Prevention –

• Being a communicable disease, swine flu can best be prevented with awareness generation by the governments.
• Uptake of influenza vaccination by people, health-care workers and especially by those belonging to the high-risk category, can go a long way in reducing the cases.
• High-risk categories include pregnant women, very young and old people, those who have had organ transplantation and those with certain underlying illnesses.
• Government should ensure that there are enough vaccines in various health centres.
• Also, it should take measures to keep the environment clean to address poor hygiene and sanitation being causes of swine flu.

Article 361 of the Constitution

• Article 361 of the Constitution that deals with immunity to the President and the Governors.
• It states that they shall not be answerable:

1. to any court for the exercise and performance of the powers and duties of his office; or 
2. for any act done or purporting to be done by him in the exercise and performance of those powers and duties.

Two crucial sub-clauses

Article 361 also has two crucial sub-clauses: 

• that no criminal proceedings whatsoever shall be initiated or continued against the President, or the Governor of a State, in any court during the term of his office.
• No process for the arrest or imprisonment of the President, or the Governor of a State, shall issue from any court during his term of office.

Immunity power of the Governor:

• Ceases to be in office: The police can act only after the Governor ceases to be in office, which is when either the Governor resigns or no longer enjoys the confidence of the President.”
• Rameshwar Prasad v Union of India: In the landmark 2006 ruling in Rameshwar Prasad v Union of India, that outlined the immunity enjoyed by the Governor “even on allegation of personal malafides,” the Supreme Court held that “the position in law, is that the Governor enjoys complete immunity.”

Instance When Criminal Proceedings were Suspended till a Governor Completed Term in Office

• Demolition of the Babri Masjid Case: In 2017, the Supreme Court allowed fresh charges of criminal conspiracyagainst UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh in the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid. 

However, the trial did not take place since he was then the Governor of Rajasthan.

• Ruling by Court:The court held that, being the Governor of Rajasthan, he is entitled to immunity under Article 361 of the Constitution as long as he remains Governor of Rajasthan. 
• The Court of Sessions will frame charges and move against him as soon as he ceases to be Governor.

Right to Education

What is Right to Education?

Right to Education Act (RTE) provided free and compulsory education to children in 2009 and enforced it as a fundamental right under Article 21-A.

Why Right to Education?

The Right to Education serves as a building block to ensure that every child has his or her right to get a quality elementary education.

Constitutional Background

• Originally Part IV of Indian Constitution, Article 45 and Article 39 (f) of DPSP,had a provision for state funded as well as equitable and accessible education.
• The first official document on the Right to Education was Ramamurti Committee Report in 1990.
• In 1993, the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment in the Unnikrishnan JP vs State of Andhra Pradesh & Othersheld that Education is a Fundamental right flowing from Article 21.
• Tapas Majumdar Committee (1999)was set up, which encompassed insertion of Article 21A.
• The 86^thamendment to the constitution of India in 2002, provided Right to Education as a fundamental right in part-III of the Constitution.
• The same amendment inserted Article 21Awhich made Right to Education a fundamental right for children between 6-14 years.
• The 86th amendment provided for afollow-up legislation for Right to Education Bill 2008 and finally Right to Education Act 2009.

Features of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009

• The right of children to free and compulsory education act 2009 guarantees free and compulsory education for all children aged 6 to 14. This is irrespective of their caste, creed, or social status.
• The RTE Act mandates the establishment of neighbourhood schools. Every child should have access to a school within a reasonable distance.
• The RTE Act prohibits schools from charging any capitation fee or screening students for admission.
• The RTE Act mandates that 25% of seats in all private schools be reserved for children from disadvantaged groups. This includes scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and other backward classes.
• The RTE Act prescribes a common curriculum for all schools so that all children can access quality education.
• The RTE Act mandates that all teachers be trained and qualified.
• The RTE Act sets minimum standards for school infrastructure, such as classrooms, toilets, and libraries.

Achievements of Right to Education Act,2009

• The RTE Act has successfully managed to increase enrolment in the upper primary level (Class 6-8).
• Stricter infrastructure norms resulted in improved school infrastructure, especially in rural areas.
• More than 3.3 million students secured admission under 25% quota norm under RTE.
• It made education inclusive and accessible nationwide.
• Removal of “no detention policy” has brought accountability in the elementary education system.
• The Government has also launched an integrated scheme, for school education named as Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan,which subsumes the three schemes of school education:
• Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)
• Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA)
• Centrally Sponsored Scheme on Teacher Education (CSSTE).

Limitation of Right to Education Act, 2009

• Age group for which Right to Education is available ranges from6 – 14 years of age only, which can be made more inclusive and encompassing by expanding it to 0 – 18 years.
• Children below 6 years are not covered under the Act.
• Five States namely Goa, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim and Telangana have not even issued notification regarding 25% seatsfor underprivileged children of society under the RTE.
• Lack of teachersaffect pupil-teacher ratio mandated by RTE which in turn affects the quality of teaching.
• Many of the schemes under the Act have been compared to the previous schemes on education such as the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, and have been plagued with corruption charges and inefficiency.
• At the time of admissions, many documents such asbirth certificate, BPL certificate, etc. are required. This move seems to have left out orphans from being beneficiaries of the Act.
• There have been implementational hurdles in the 25% reservation of seats for EWS and othersin private schools. Some of the challenges in this regard are discriminatory behaviour towards parents and difficulties experienced by students to fit in with a different socio-cultural milieu.
• Regarding the ‘no detention’ policy till class 8, an amendment to the Act in 2019, introduced regular annual exams in classes 5 and 8.
• In case a student fails in the annual exam, he/she is given extra training and made to appear for a re-exam. If this re-exam is not passed, the student can be detained in the class.
• This amendment was made after many states complained that without regular exams, the learning levels of children could not be evaluated effectively.
• The states which were against this amendment were six states with higher learning outcomes due to their effective implementation of the CCE system as mandated in the Act. (The six states were Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, Telangana and Maharashtra.)

Steps to Be Taken

• Minority Religious Schools need to be brought under the RTE.
• More focus on teacher training programs.
• Quality of education needs to be emphasized over quantity of education.
• Steps should be taken to make the teaching profession attractive.
• Society as a whole need to be supportive of education for children without biases.

Modified Interest Subvention Scheme

Government looks to raise limit of crop loans from 3 lakh to 5 lakhs.

• The interest subvention scheme for farmers aims at providing short term credit to farmers at subsidised interest rate.  The policy came into force with effect from Kharif 2006-07. The scheme is being implemented for the year 2022-23 to 2024-25.
• The interest subvention will be given to Public Sector Banks (PSBs), Private Sector Banks, Small Finance Banks, Cooperative Banks and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) on use of own funds and to NABARD for refinance to RRBs and Cooperative Banks.
• The Interest Subvention Scheme is being implemented by NABARD and RBI.

Eligibility 

• Farmers, individuals/ Joint borrowers who are owner cultivator;
• Tenant farmers, oral lessees & share croppers;
• Self Help Groups (SHGs) or Joint Liability Group (JLG)sof farmers including share croppers etc.

Features of MISS

• Under this scheme, short term agriculture loan upto Rs. 3.00 lakhis available to farmers engaged in Agriculture and other allied activities including Animal Husbandry, Dairying, Poultry, fisheries etc. at the rate of 7% p.a.
• An additional 3% subvention (Prompt Repayment Incentive – PRI) is also given to the farmers for prompt and timely repayment of loans.
• Therefore, if a farmer repays his loan on time, he gets credit at the rate of 4% p.a.
• For enabling this facility to the farmers, GoI provides Interest Subvention (IS)to the Financial Institutions offering this scheme.
• This support is 100% funded by the Centre, it is also the second largest scheme of DA&FW as per budget outlay and coverage of beneficiaries.

Significance of the scheme: 

• This scheme is the second-largest scheme of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (DA&FW) as per budget outlay and coverage of beneficiaries. 
• Increase in Interest Subvention will ensure the sustainability of credit flow in the agriculture sector as well as ensure the financial health and viability of the lending institutions.
• This will also lead to a generation of employment since short-term Agri-loans are provided for all activities including Animal Husbandry, Dairying, Poultry, and fisheries.

Project ASMITA

About:

• It was launched by the Union ministry of education and the University grants commission.
• It is a collaborative effort of the UGC and the Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti to promote Indian languages in education.
• The UGC was established in 1953 (became a statutory organisation in 1956), for the coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of teaching, examination and research in university education.
• Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti is a High-Powered Committee for Promotion of Indian Languages constituted by the Ministry of Education in 2021.
• 13 nodal universities along with member universities from various regions have been identified to lead this project.
• The UGC has created a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the book-writing process in each assigned language.  
• The project aims to produce 1,000 books in 22 languages within five years, resulting in 22,000 books in Bharatiya Bhasha (Indian languages).
• Also, the commission aims to produce 1,800 textbooks covering Arts, Science and Commerce streams by June 2025.

Other Initiatives Launched with Project ASMITA:

• The Ministry of Education also launched the "Bahubhasha Shabdakosh," a single-point reference for all the words in all Indian languages and their meanings. 
• This initiative will be developed by the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL) in collaboration with the Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti. 
• The Shabdakosh will help in using Bharatiya words, phrases, and sentences for various new-age domains like IT, industry, research, and education. 

Objective:

• Promote deeper integration of Indian languages into the education system, enhancing inclusivity and enriching the learning experience.

Implementation Framework:

• Thirteen nodal universities have been designated to spearhead the project, with participation from member universities across different regions.
• UGC has established a comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the book-writing process in each assigned language.
• Includes steps such as appointing nodal officers and authors, title and subject allocation, manuscript writing and editing, submission, review, plagiarism check, finalization, designing, proofreading, and e-publication.