Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi extends warm wishes on Nuakhai 

About:

• Nuakhai Juhar is an agricultural festival, also called Nuakhai Parab or Nuakahi Bhetghat.
• It is celebrated to welcome the new crop of the season.
• Nuakhai is a combination of two words that signifies eating of new rice as ‘nua’ means new and ‘khai’ means eat.
• This is the festival of Western Odisha, southern Chhattisgarh and adjoining areas of Simdega (Jharkhand).
• Its coastal counterpart is Nabanna,observed in Coastal Odisha.
• It is observed on panchami tithi (the fifth day) of the lunar fortnight of the month of Bhadrapada (August–September), the day after the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.
• Lagan is the fixed time of the day to celebrate the festival.

Historical Background:

• It is believed to have been adopted from the tribal communities of western Odisha.
• As the preparations reveal elements of both tribal origins and the Hindu rituals.
• Nuakhai festival traces its origin to the Vedic period in One among them was Pralambana yajna which means the cutting of new crops and offering them to the mother goddess.
• Oral tradition of this festival dates back to the 12^th century A.D. when this festival was celebrated by Chauvan Raja Ramai Deo, Bolangir district of Odisha.

Rituals and Celebrations

• Prayers and Offerings: The day begins with families offering prayers to Maa Samaleswari and seeking her blessings for a good harvest in the upcoming agricultural season.
• Ritualistic Bath: People take a ritualistic bath and wear new clothes to mark the auspicious occasion.
• Nabanna: The main ritual involves offering the first sheaf of newly harvested paddy to the deity. This is called "Nabanna" or "Navanna."
• Feasting: After offering Nabanna, families prepare a special feast consisting of various traditional dishes made from the newly harvested rice and other seasonal crops.
• Music and Dance: Cultural programs, folk dances, and traditional music are an integral part of the celebrations. People come together to sing and dance, showcasing the rich cultural heritage of the region.

Union Environment Minister Sh. Bhupender Yadav reviews clean air action plans under National Clean Air Programme

Key Highlights of the 4th Meeting of the Apex Committee of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)

NCAP Implementation Review:

• Coverage: 24 States/UTs and 131 cities.
• Performance-Based Grant: ₹19,612 crore allocated (2019-20 to 2025-26).
• Disbursed Amount: ₹11,211 crore provided to cities.

Achievements:

• Air Quality Improvement: Significant reduction in PM10 levels.
• Performance: 95 cities improved air quality; 18 cities met NAAQS in PM10 levels.
• Reduction Targets: 51 cities achieved 20% reduction; 21 cities achieved 40% reduction.

Key Initiatives:

• Nagar Van Yojana: Creation of 3,776 hectares of green spaces in 64 cities with ₹142 crore sanctioned.
• Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam: Extensive tree plantation drives.

 National Clean Air Programme

• It was launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC)in January 2019.
• It is thefirst-ever effort in the country to frame a national framework for air quality management with a time-bound reduction target.
• Itcovers 132 non-attainment cities which were identified by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
• Non-attainment cities are those that have fallen short of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)for over five years.

Key features of NCAP 

• Target: Achieving 20% to 30% reduction target in Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5) concentrations by 2024, where 2017 is kept as the base year for the comparison of concentration. But it has been revised to 40%by 2026.
• Cities based on air quality: Identification of 122 non-attainment cities across the country based on the 2014-2018 Air Quality data.
• City specific plans: Preparation of city-specific action plans, including measures to strengthen the monitoring network, reduce vehicular/industrial emissions, and increase public awareness.
• Coordination between centre, state and local: Facilitating collaborative, multi-scale, and cross-sectoral coordination between the relevant central ministries, state governments, and local bodies.
• Right mix with exixting policies: Establishing a right mix with the existing policies and programs, including the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and other government initiatives related to climate change.
• Changes as per additional scientific information: Constant change, activity, and progress to get evolved based on the additional scientific and technical information as they emerge.
• Monitoring station: Increasing the number of monitoring stations in the country, including rural monitoring stations, technology support, and data analysis.
• Awareness and capicity building: Emphasis on awareness and capacity building initiatives, including public awareness campaigns, training programs, and research and development activities.

Performance of NCAP

Air Information Centers and Pollution Forecasting:

• NCAP aimed to establish air information centres at central and regional levels by 2020.
• However, as of December 2023, only the central ‘Portal for Regulation of Air Pollution in Non-Attainment Cities (PRANA)’portal by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is functional.
• Despite NCAP’s goal for air pollution forecasting systems in non-attainment cities by 2022, only Delhi has a functional system by December 2023.

Committee Setup and Utilization of Funds:

• Committees at various levels were proposed by NCAP, but their functionality, transparency, and public availability of information remain challenging.
• Out of total allocations of 1253 crore to 82 non-attainment cities, only 498 crores (40%) was utilized till November 2023.
• The trend reflects significant underutilization of the allocated funds.

Monitoring Stations and Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations:

• NCAP envisaged augmenting the manual monitoring stations under the National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP) from the existing 703 stations to 1,500 stations by 2024.
• However, as of December 2023, only 931 manual stations were operational, with a minimal increase from the previous year, showing critical shortfall against the target.
• NCAP aimed for 150 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS), but 531 stations are currently operational, indicating very good progress.
• The rural monitoring network consists of 26 manual stations covering limited areas. 
• Efforts to set up 100 monitoring stations by 2024 in rural areas are yet to be fully realized and seem difficult to achieve.

Challenges faced by NCAP

Implementation by States has been inconsistent

• Most cities proactively submitted their CAAPs yet their implementation has been inconsistent.
• Implementation delays hinder NCAP’s success.

Lack of standard operating procedures

• There is also a lack of standard operating procedures for the implementation process. 
• Time-consuming tasks required to implement control measures and the absence of well-defined timelines create further delays.
• Other Challenges: Other challenges include bureaucratic red-tape and lingering doubts regarding the effectiveness of proposed mitigation measures.

Way forward

• Emissions Inventory (EI) and Source Apportionment (SA) studies are critical
• EI and SA studies are critical to identify and understand the origins of pollution. 
• EIs provide insights into local pollution sources and their contributions. EIs also help shape targeted pollution control strategies.
• SA studies offer a detailed analysis of contributions from various pollution sources, including those located afar.
• Important role of Air Quality (AQ) modelling

            EIs and SA studies have limitations.

• EIs have limitations in assessing the impact of transboundary pollution sources — such as when determining the effect of stubble-burning outside Delhi on the city’s air quality.
• Similarly, SA studies can’t distinguish between the origins of pollution, like, say, emissions from diesel trucks 200 m away and 20 km away, because diesel emissions have similar chemical signatures.
• These gaps can be bridged through AQ modelling, which informs our understanding of pollution dispersion, including from distant sources.

Health Ministry Reports Suspected Mpox Case in Recent Traveler; Patient Stable and Isolated

About:

• Mpox, also known as monkeypox, is a DNA virus. It belongs to the family Poxviridae, which consists of large,double-stranded DNA.
• The virus was first identified in monkeys in 1958 but has since been found to infect humans as well.
• Transmission: Mpox is primarily transmitted to humans from animals, particularly rodents and primates, through direct contact or through contaminated objects.

Monkeypox Treatment

• Isolation: The persons infected by Mpox must be isolated and cared far away from other people.
• Prioritising Vulnerable: It is recommended for people at high-risk health workers, sex workers, etc to get vaccinated to prevent infection with Mpox during an outbreak.
• Medications: Several antivirals, such as tecovirimat, need to be made accessible to the persons infected.

Monkeypox Vaccines

The ACAM2000, MVA-BN, and JYNNEOS vaccines are the available vaccines for controlling the current outbreak.

• The vaccines should be given within 4 days of contactwith someone who has Mpox (or within up to 14 days if there are no symptoms).
• MVA-BN: It is a third-generation live, attenuated, nonreplicating, modified vaccinia Ankara vaccine.
• ACAM2000: It is a smallpoxvaccine that is also a second-generation live, attenuated vaccinia virus vaccine.
• JYNNEOS vaccine: It is presently being used to treat monkeypox, and was developed using the Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA).

Current Trends of Monkeypox

• 2022-2023 Outbreak:The current outbreak of Mpox all over the world is very concerning because:
• There are around 91,328 cases of Mpox across the world.
• In the USA, there were 55 deaths reported out of 31,010 cases of Mpox.
• Cases in India:India reported its first case of monkeypox in July 2022 with the patient having traveled from the UAE to Kerala.
• Till July 2023, a total of 27 confirmed cases of monkeypox were reported in India, with 12 cases from Keralaand 15 from Delhi.
• Most of these cases were characterized as mild, and treatment remained largely supportive.
• Re-infection after vaccination: In June 2023, Israeldetected a case of monkeypox in a man who had been vaccinated against the virus but contracted it after travelling from Portugal to Israel.
• Clade 9 Variant:In September 2023, the ICMR National Institute of Virology (ICMR-NIV) identified the presence of the Clade 9 variant of the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) in India for the first time.

Samagra Shiksha fund delay punishes role-model States

• Over the past year, the Centre has withheld funds of the Samagra Shiksha scheme (SSA) to at least five Opposition-ruled States — Tamil Nadu , Kerala, Punjab, West Bengal, and Delhi.
• Among the States which got the funds, Gujarat is in the top half for only eight of the 20 objectives.
• Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are in the top half for three objectives each, and Bihar for two.

Samagra Shiksha Scheme

• The Samagra Shiksha Scheme was launched in the year 2018 by the Ministry of Education.
• The scheme aims to ensure the equitable, inclusive, and cost-effective delivery of school education to many children in India.
• Under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme umbrella, three schemes are included:

1. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan,
2. Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan,
3. Teacher Education Program.

• The scheme covers over 1.16 million schools, catering to approximately 15.6 crore children and around 57 lakh teachers in government and government-aided schools.
• It encompasses classes from pre-primary to senior secondary levels.
• Implemented as a centrally sponsored scheme, the central government provides 60% of the funds, while the state governments contribute 40%.

Objectives:

• Implementing the recommendation of NEP 2020;
• Supporting States & UTs in implementing RTE Act, 2009;
• Focus on Early Childhood Care and Education;
• Emphasis on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy;
• Thrust on Holistic, Integrated, Inclusive and activity based Curriculum and Pedagogy;
• Provision of quality education and enhancing learning outcomes of students;
• Bridging Social and Gender Gaps in School Education;
• Ensuring equity and inclusion at all levels of school education;
• Strengthening and up-gradation of SCERTs/SIE and DIETs;
• Ensuring safe, secure and conducive learning environment and minimum standards in schooling provisions;

Samagra Shiksha supports new pedagogical and curricular structure of school education (5+3+3+4):

• 3 years in Anganwadi/pre-school and 12 years in school

1. Foundational stage (5):multilevel, play/activity-based learning
2. Preparatory Stage (3):play, discovery, and activity-based and interactive classroom learning
3. Middle Stage (3):experiential learning in the sciences, mathematics, arts, social sciences, and humanities
4. Secondary Stage (4):multidisciplinary study, greater critical thinking, flexibility and student choice of subjects

Challenges for the Samagra Shiksha

Quality of education:

• While the scheme has focused on increasing enrolment rates & improving infrastructure, there is still a need to improve the quality of education in schools across India.
• This includes improving teaching methods, curriculum design, and assessment practices, as well as ensuring that students have access to high-quality learning materials and resources.

Inadequate funding:

• One of the biggest challenges facing the education sector in India is the lack of adequate funding.
• While the government has increased spending on education, there is still a need for more investment to ensure that schools have necessary resources they need to provide quality education.

Inequitable access:

• Despite efforts to improve access to education, there are still significant disparities in enrolment rates and learning outcomes between different regions, socio-economic groups, and gender.
• Addressing these inequities requires a more targeted approach, with a focus on providing support to marginalized communities and ensuring that all students have equal access to educational opportunities.

Teacher shortage:

• There is a shortage of trained and qualified teachers in many parts of India, particularly in rural areas.
• This shortage makes it difficult to provide quality education to all students and highlights the need for more investment in teacher training and recruitment.

Out-of-school children:

• Despite efforts to increase enrolment rates, there are still millions of children in India who are out of school.
• This includes children who are forced to work to support their families, as well as those who face barriers to accessing education due to poverty, disability, or other factors.