Hysterectomies to be a part of National Health Survey

Hysterectomies to be a part of National Health Survey


Health Ministry has decided to gather information on hysterectomies in the forthcoming National Family Health Survey as many health activists has raised concerns regarding the rising incident. The decision was initiated by Health Ministry after health activists from various parts of the country wrote to the Ministry expressing serious concern on issue of age at which hysterectomies or surgical removal of uterus are being conducted across the county.

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National Health Survey in India

National Health Survey in India


The Indian National Family Health Survey is a large-scale survey conducted in a representative sample of households throughout India. National Family Health Survey is a collaborative project of the International Institute for Population Sciences(IIPS), Mumbai and other international technical institutes . The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare designated IIPS as the nodal agency, responsible for providing coordination and technical guidance for the National Family Health Survey.

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Sea Level Rise by 2100

Sea Level Rise by 2100


According to the studies of an international panel of scientists, human activity is the cause of most of the temperature increases in recent decades, and warns that sea levels could conceivably rise by more than 3 feet by 2100 if emissions continue at a runaway pace. The findings of the scientists have been reported in a draft summary of the next big U.N. climate report. The report largely dismiss the belief that there has been a slowdown — often cited by those sceptical of climate change — in the pace of global warming, attributing it most likely to short-term factors.

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TB in India - Tuberculosis in India Statistics

Tuberculosis in India 2013-Tuberculosis in India Statistics


Tuberculosis or TB is the shortform for tubercle bacillus. It is a common, lethal and infectious disease caused by mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis typically attacks the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body. It is spread through the air when people who have an active TB infection cough, sneeze, or otherwise transmit respiratory fluids through the air. If left untreated, TB has the power to kill more than 50% of those so infected.

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Seagrass can fight against climate change

Seagrass can fight against climate change


Latest studies revealed that Seagrass can be crucial in the battle against climate change as this humble plant is 35 times more efficient at locking up, or 'sequestering' carbon than rainforests. These unusual marine flowering plants are called seagrasses because in many species the leaves are long and narrow. Seagrass often grow in large "meadows" which look like grassland. In other words many of the species of seagrasses superficially resemble terrestrial grasses.

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Minor Forest Produce in India

Minor Forest Produce in India


The Union Cabinet on 2nd August 2013, approved a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for marketing of non-nationalized and non monopolized Minor Forest Produce (MFP) and development of a value chain for MFP through Minimum Support Price (MSP). This will be a measure towards social safety for MFP gatherers, who are primarily members of the Scheduled Tribes (STs) most of them in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) areas.

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Indian Current Affairs August 2013

National Teeka Express


The National Teeka Express was launched by Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare on 1st August 2013. It has been launched to protect children from life-threatening childhood diseases. Government of India noticed gaps in the implementation of Alternate Vaccine Delivery in difficult areas with low access to healthcare services.

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Environment News August 2013

International Tiger Day


International Tiger Day, also known as Global Tiger Day, is an annual celebration to raise awareness for tiger conservation, held annually on 29 July. It was created in 2010 at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit.The goal of the day is to promote a global system for protecting the natural habitats of tigers and to raise public awareness and support for tiger conservation issues.(wiki) We have lost 97% of all wild tigers in a bit over 100 years. Instead of 100,000, as few as 3,200 live in the wild today. 

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2. Environment and Health News June 2013

Wind Energy: The Fastest Growing Renewable Energy Technology


Worldwide, wind energy is accepted as one of the most developed, cost-effective and proven renewable energy technologies to meet increasing electricity demands in a sustainable manner. While, onshore wind energy technologies have reached to a stage of mass deployment and have become competitive with fossil fuel based electricity generation with supportive policy regimes across the world, exploitation of offshore wind energy is yet to reach a comparable scale. India ranks 5th in terms of installed capacity from wind energy projects globally which has reached to 18522 MW as on January 2013. 

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1. Environment and Health News June 2013

 World Environment Day

As you all know, today is World Environment Day. 5th June was declared as the “World Environment Day” on the recommendations made by UN Conference on Human Environment in 1972. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) through the celebration of World Environment Day spreads awareness and gets citizens’ support for environment protection across the globe. The theme for this year’s World Environment Day is Think. Eat. Save- Reduce our Foodprint. The campaign calls for minimizing waste of food at all stages of the food chain, from farm to fork. 

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1.General Knowledge for UPSC, Banking and PSC Examinations

Protection of Mangrove Forests


Zoological Survey of India has been undertaking studies on the serious threat to coral colonies only of Palk Bay continuously for more than 10 years. Studies confirm that there is reduction in the live coral cover and increase in rubbles, macro-algae and calcareous algae which indicate continuing degradation of these reefs. The Government seeks to protect, sustain and augment mangroves and coral reef in the country by both regulatory and promotional measures. Under the regulatory measures, the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification (2011) and the Island Protection Zone (IPZ) Notification 2011 regulates the development activities along the Sea coast and tidal influenced water bodies. 

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Ecology and Environment News 2012

Myristica swamps, a vanishing wetland ecosystem
Myristica swamps, a vanishing ecosystem, is now largely confined to 53 patches in the Kulathupuzha and Anchal forest ranges and the Shendurney wildlife sanctuary in Kerala. The Myristica swamps are tropical fresh water swamp forests with an abundance of Myristica trees, the most primitive of the flowering plants on earth. The evergreen, water-tolerant trees have dense stilt roots helping them stay erect in the thick, black, wet alluvial soil. The swamps are typically found in valleys, making them prone to inundation during monsoon rains. The trees form a fairly dense forest with a closed canopy. Studies have shown that the swamps, which would have occupied large swathes of the thickly- wooded Western Ghats in the past, are now restricted to less than 200 hectares in the country.

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Critical wildlife habitats | Critical wildlife habitats of India

Critical wildlife habitats
Critical Wildlife Habitat means such areas of national parks and sanctuaries that are required to be kept 'inviolate' for the purpose of wildlife conservation, as per a provision of the Forest Rights Act, 2006. In its preamble to CWH guidelines, the Ministry emphasised that it “is in no way intended to cause or force resettlement or relocation of Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers from National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries”, in a bid to ease the concerns of activists. The new guidelines issued in May 2011 envisage a bigger role for the gram sabha, whose free informed consent must be given before any relocation is carried out. It also seems to ensure that forest rights are settled under the FRA before a CWH can be declared in an area. At present, not a single park and sanctuary in the country is notified as critical wildlife habitat (CWH), though the FRA has been in operation for over three years. Closer home, Bhimashankar sanctuary and Sagareshwar wildlife sanctuary in Sangli district of Maharashtra are in the process of declaring their critical wildlife habitats.

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General Studies Online | Latest Health News India | Feb 2012

Health to be allotted 2.5% of GDP by end of 12th Plan
A high-level meeting at the Prime Minister's Office decided to increase the total government expenditure on the health sector to 2.5 per cent of the GDP by the end of the coming 12th Plan period, from the current level of around 1.4 per cent of the GDP. The meeting decided to request the Planning Commission to allocate adequate resources to achieve the target and motivate and incentivise the States since health was primarily a State subject and outlay of States for the sector would be critical in this regard. Also the meeting decided that the Health Ministry should prepare a “clear” roadmap to merge all the schemes under the National Rural Health Mission to bring them under one umbrella. The merger may begin from the coming financial year and be completed by 2013-14.

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Carbon Disclosure Project | Carbon Disclosure Project in India


The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is a UK based organisation which works with shareholders and corporations to disclose the GHG emissions of major corporations. Over 3,000 organisations from more than 60 countries round the world now measure and disclose their greenhouse gas emissions, water management and climate change strategies through CDP to set reduction targets and make performance improvements. This data is made available for use by a wide audience including institutional investors, corporations, policymakers and their advisors, public sector organisations, government bodies, academics and the public. The Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI), an initiative by CDP, recognises organisations meeting outstanding standards of transparency and comprehensiveness of GHG reporting and analysis. The disclosure is a measure of the companies’ understanding of the risks, effects on climate change and ability to capture good quality of data. 

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Environmental Sustainability : Climate Summit for a Living Himalayas


Climate Summit for a Living Himalayas
Realising that consequences of climate change in Himalayas can no longer be ignored, India along with Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh has signed a declaration for wide-ranging collaboration on energy, water, food and biodiversity issues to addresss the threat to their ecosystem. The four nations reached the pact at the two-day "Climate Summit for a Living Himalayas" against the backdrop of melting glaciers, erratic weather conditions, changing rainfall patterns and increasing temperatures impacting the people and wildlife of the region. But agreements on water security – the most contentious are of the Summit declaration – were somewhat diluted.

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Latest Health News October 2011 | Health News from India


Encephalitis kills around 500 people in UP
Encephalitis is an acute infection and inflammation of the brain. Encephalitis is generally a viral illness. Viruses such as those responsible for causing cold sores, mumps, measles, and chickenpox can also cause encephalitis. A certain family of viruses, the Arboviruses are spread by insects such as mosquitoes.Japanese encephalitis virus is the most common arbovirus in the world (virus transmitted by blood-sucking mosquitoes or ticks) and is responsible for 50,000 cases and 15,000 deaths per year. In UP,the majority of patients are suffering from water-borne entero-virus encephalitis while the cases of Japanese Encephalitis are about 10 per cent of the total encephalitis patients. A similar type of disease is meningitis where inflammation happens to the layers covering the brain.

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Environmental News : September 2011


Delhi and its noise levels
Delhi has some of the noisiest roads in the country, a recent decibel survey by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has found. In some places of Delhi, noise levels going up as high as 106 decibels due to constant vehicular honking. The standard for a silence zone is 50 decibels, while it is 55 decibels for residential areas. Constant exposure to noise has serious health impacts. Prolonged exposure to noise above the decibel level of 60 can lead to irreversible Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL). Sound becomes painful as it reaches 120 decibels. Chronic exposure to sound beyond 85 decibels for eight hours can cause irreversible hearing loss. A 140-decibel sound impulse next to the ear can tear the eardrum. Every increase of 10 decibels makes the sound twice as loud to the human ear. 

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Environmental News : August 2011


India third biggest greenhouse gas emitter: Government. 
India is the third biggest greenhouse gas emitter with its contribution standing at 5.3 per cent behind countries like China and the USA, the Government said in Lok Sabha. "As per current information available, the countries which are the largest contributor, in percentage term regarding greenhouse gas emissions are China 19.5 per cent, USA 19.2 per cent, India 5.3 per cent, Russia 5.1 per cent, Japan 3.6 per cent and Germany 2.6 per cent," Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan said. 

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