Recently, the Madras High Court ruled that cooperative societies are not amenable to the Right to Information (RTI) Act of 2005.

• The Madras High Court has set aside an order passed by Tamil Nadu Information Commission (TNIC) directing a cooperative society to disclose details regarding the loans extended by it.
• Legal Rationale: The court clarified that cooperative societies under the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Societies Act of 1983 are not ‘public authority’ as per Section 2(h) of the RTI Act of 2005.

Cooperative Societies:

• Formation: Cooperatives are organizations formed at the grassroots level by people to harness the power of collective bargaining in the marketplace.
• This can mean different kinds of arrangements, such as using a common resource or sharing capital, to derive a common gain that would otherwise be difficult for an individual producer to get.
• Example: In agriculture, cooperative dairies, sugar mills, spinning mills etc. are formed with the pooled resources of farmers who wish to process their produce. Amul from Gujarat is perhaps the best-known cooperative society in India.
• Jurisdiction: Cooperatives are a state subject under the Constitution.
• The subject ‘Cooperative Societies’ is mentioned in entry 32 of the State List under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.

The Right to Information Act:

• Right to Freedom of Speech & Expression: It was passed by the Parliament in 2005 to enable the citizens to exercise their freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of Indian Constitution.
• Mandate: It provides the right to information for citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities in order to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority.
• Provision: Under the provisions of the Act, a citizen may request information from a “public authority” (a body of government) which is required to reply within thirty days.
• However, there are many societies whose members and areas of operation are spread across more than one state. For example, most sugar mills along the districts on the Karnataka-Maharashtra border procure cane from both states.

Constitutional Provisions:

• The 97th Constitutional Amendment, Part IXB (The Co-Operative Societies) was inserted into the Constitution.
• The Right to Form Cooperative Societies was included as the Right to Freedom under Article 19 (1).
• Article 43-B that deals with Promotion of Cooperative Societies was also inserted as one of the Directive Principles of State Policy.
• In 2021, the Ministry of Cooperation was created by the Government of India for realizing the vision of ‘Sahkar se Samriddhi’.

Recently, the Health Ministry and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) are working together to launch the National Health Claim Exchange (NHCX).

National Health Claim Exchange:

• NHCX, created by the National Health Authority (NHA), is a digital platform aimed at streamlining the sharing of claims-related data among stakeholders in the healthcare and health insurance sectors.
• Interoperability: NHCX is built to be interoperable, machine-readable, auditable, and verifiable. This guarantees the accuracy and reliability of the shared information, promoting transparency and enhancing efficiency in processes.
• Centralized Hub: It serves as a single platform for all health claims, alleviating administrative burdens on hospitals that currently manage various portals for different insurers.
• Adoption and Incentives: The National Health Authority has introduced financial incentives to promote the adoption of digital health transactions.
• Starting January 2023, hospitals receive ₹500 per claim or 10% of the claim amount, whichever is lower, for transactions conducted through the NHCX.
• These incentives aim to encourage widespread use of the platform and the digitization of patient health records.

Benefits of NHCE:

• Enhanced Efficiency and Transparency: National Health Claim Exchange endeavours to standardise data presentation and validation, fostering a consistent approach to healthcare pricing and claims processing.
• Decreased Administrative Burden: Hospitals will enjoy a simplified, paperless, and secure contractual structure, simplifying interactions with insurers.
• Rapid Processing of Cashless Claims: A stipulated time frame mandates that cashless claims be processed within three hours of discharge authorization, ensuring prompt service for patients.
• Data Insights: Insurance firms can utilize aggregated data and analytics regarding claims trends, patterns, and outcomes to develop improved products and services.
• Online Tracking: Beneficiaries have the ability to monitor their claim status online, access their claim history, and receive prompt updates on claim settlements.
• Monitoring of Performance: Hospitals can track their claims performance, pinpoint areas for enhancement, and compare their performance with others.
• Comprehensive Oversight: Regulators acquire a thorough and dependable information source regarding the health insurance sector in India.
• Streamlined Processes: Promotes the digitalization of health transactions and offers financial incentives through the Digital Health Incentive Scheme (DHIS).
• Advantages: The platform’s objectives include expediting claim settlements, cutting administrative expenses, deterring fraud, and enhancing customer contentment. Additionally, it offers valuable data for policy making, regulatory purposes, and research.

Challenges and Solutions:

• Enhancing Cooperation: Strengthening the collaboration between hospitals and insurance companies is essential. Both must upgrade their IT systems and provide workforce training to ensure effective implementation.
• Minimising Discharge Delays: It is crucial to address discharge delays and miscommunication between hospitals and insurers to facilitate smoother operations.
• Ensuring Data Security: Protecting data from breaches is a critical aspect of the ongoing development of NHCX.

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI):

• The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) is a statutory body established under the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999, tasked with the overall supervision and development of the insurance sector in India.
• Objectives: Ensure the interests and fair treatment of policyholders
• Oversee the insurance sector to ensure its financial stability and fairness.
• Regularly develop regulations to ensure the industry operates clearly and without ambiguity.
• Headquarters: Located in Hyderabad.

Entities Regulated by IRDAI:

• Life Insurance Companies: Includes both public and private sector companies.
• General Insurance Companies: Comprises both public and private sector companies, including standalone health insurance companies that offer health insurance policies.
• Re-Insurance Companies: Regulated to ensure compliance with industry standards.

An analysis by the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) shows that consumption inequality in the rural areas of 11 states has increased.

• Consumption Inequality Increased in Rural Areas of 11 States
• The Gini coefficient of total consumption expenditure saw an increase between the periods 2011-12 and 2022-23 as per the survey in rural areas.
• 11 out of 25 states taken for analysis, recorded an increase in the GIni Coefficient value.
• Rural Areas: The rise in Gini coefficient was the sharpest in Nagaland (0.244 from 0.192), followed by Jharkhand (0.255 from 0.206), Maharashtra (0.291 from 0.253), Rajasthan (0.283 from 0.248), Meghalaya (0.223 from 0.19) and Chhattisgarh (0.266 from 0.234).
• Urban Areas: The Gini coefficient for consumption expenditure has also risen in urban areas for three states ie. Meghalaya (0.266 from 0.226), Himachal Pradesh (0.311 from 0.29) and Manipur (0.221 from 0.209).
• National Trend: At the country level, The Gini coefficient of total consumption expenditure recorded a general decline showing a decline in spending inequality in the country.
• The Gini coefficient has gone down to 0.266 in 2022-23 from 0.283 in 2011-12 (rural areas). For urban areas, it has gone down to 0.314 from 0.363 during the same period.

The Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES)

• The HCES survey is designed to collect information primarily on consumption of goods and services by the households and also collects some auxiliary information on household characteristics and their demographic particulars.
• Purpose: The Information collected in HCES is useful for understanding the consumption and expenditure pattern, standard of living and well-being of the households.
• The data is used for preparation of the weighting diagram for compilation of official Consumer Price Indices (CPIs).
• Conducted by: The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO)
• Survey Coverage: The survey is an All India exercise. Information has been collected from 8,723 villages and 6,115 urban blocks covering 2,61,746 households (1,55,014 in rural areas and 1,06,732 in urban areas) in total.
• The consumption basket: The Items basket has been divided into three broad categories, namely, Food items, Consumables and Services items, and Durable goods in HCES: 2022-23.

The Gini Coefficient:

• The Gini Index determines a nation’s level of income inequality by measuring the income distribution or wealth distribution across its population.
• Developed by: The Gini index was developed in 1912 by Italian statistician Corrado Gini.
• Scale: Gini coefficient measures inequality on a scale of 0 (or 0%) to 1 (or 100%), with 0 representing perfect equality and 1 representing perfect inequality.
• World Bank ranking: South Africa has the world’s worst level of income inequality, with a Gini index ranking of 63.0% and Norway had the lowest level of income inequality, at 22.7%.
• India has a Gini Coefficient of 32.8 as per the World Bank in 2021.
• Graphical Representation: The Gini index is often represented graphically through the Lorenz curve.

A team of scientists in the UK recently developed non-invasive measurement techniques and novel analysis methods to decode disease progression and evaluate the effect of potential treatments or lifestyle changes in people with Huntington''s disease.

Huntington’s Disease:

• HD is an inherited disorder that causes nerve cells (neurons) in parts of the brain to gradually break down and die.
• It has a wide impact on a person''s functional abilities and usually results in movement, thinking (cognitive), and psychiatric disorders.

There are two types of HD:

• Adult-onset is the most common. Persons with this form usually develop symptoms in their mid-30s or 40s.
• Early-onset affects a small number of people and begins in childhood or in the teens.
• Cause:A genetic change (mutation) in the HTT gene causes HD.
• The HTT gene makes a protein called huntingtin. This protein helps your nerve cells (neurons) function.
• The normal HTT gene contains a stretch of DNA that specifies the number of times the amino acid glutamine is repeated in the Htt protein. This number varies from 11 to 31.
• In the mutant versions of the HTT gene, this stretch is expanded to encode 35 or more repeats.
• As the number of repetitions increases, the severity of Huntington’s disease increases and its debilitation begins at an earlier age.
• HD is rare. The disease is passed down through families.

Symptoms:

• HD usually causes movement, cognitive, and psychiatric disorders with a wide spectrum of signs and symptoms.
• The patient suffers mood swings, has difficulty in reasoning, shows abnormal and uncontrollable jerky movements, and experiences difficulty in speaking, swallowing, and walking.

Treatment:

• There is no cure for HD. There is no known way to stop the disease from getting worse.
• The goal of treatment is to slow the symptoms and help the person function for as long as possible.

A rare four-horned antelope has been sighted for the first time in Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve (Sagar district), which was earlier known as Nauradehi Sanctuary.

Four-Horned Antelope:

• The four-horned antelope, also called Chousingha, is a small bovid antelope.
• They are the smallest antelopes found in Asia.

Scientific Name: Tetracerus quadricornis

Distribution:

• It is endemic to India and Nepal.
• In India, they range from the foothills of the Himalayas in the north to the Deccan Plateau in the south.

Habitat:

• They mostly occur in open, dry, deciduous forests in hilly terrain.
• They inhabit areas with significant cover from grasses or heavy undergrowth, and close to water bodies.

Features:

• They have a yellowish-brown to reddish coat and are slender, with small legs and a short tail.
• These antelopes have four horns, which distinguish them from most other bovids, which have two horns.
• Only males in this species grow horns. One pair of horns is located between the ears, and the other on the forehead.
• They are usually diurnal and solitary by nature; however, can be spotted in loose groups of three to four.

Conservation Status:

IUCN Red List: Vulnerable

Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve:

• Location: It is spread across Sagar, Damoh, and Narsinghpur, districts of Madhya Pradesh.
• It is spread over an area of 2,339 square kilometres.
• It is the seventh tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh.
• It will encompass areas within the Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary and Durgavati Wildlife Sanctuary.
• A green corridor linking Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR) with Durgavati will be developed for the natural movement of the tiger to the new reserve.
• Rivers: Parts of the reserve fall under the Narmada and Yamuna River basins.
• The Singorgarh Fort is located within the reserve.
• Vegetation: Dry deciduous type
• Flora: The chief floral elements include Teak, Saja, Dhaora, Ber, Amla etc.
• Fauna: Tiger, leopard, wolf, jackal, Indian fox, striped hyena, Nilgai, Chinkara, Chital, Sambhar, Black Buck, Barking deer, Commom Langur, Rhesus Macaque, etc.