GS Analyst
Daily Current Affairs

The La Niña weather phenomenon, which entered its third year in September 2022, is unlikely to continue through 2023 as per the experts of Columbia Climate School Research Institute for Climate and Society.

The La Nina Event: 

• La Niña involves the large-scale cooling of the ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean coupled with changes in the tropical atmospheric circulation (winds), pressure, and rainfall.
  • It usually has the opposite impact on weather and climate as El Niño.
• La Niña is characterized by lower-than-normal air pressure over the western Pacific. These low-pressure zones contribute to increased rainfall. 

• La Niña years are associated with above-average trade winds, pushing the warmer waters towards Asia and drawing in more relaxed than normal water temps to the equatorial pacific. 
• Causes: La Niña is caused by a build-up of cooler-than-normal waters in the tropical Pacific, the area of the Pacific Ocean between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
• Unusually strong, eastward-moving trade winds and ocean currents bring this cold water to the surface, known as upwelling.

 Why the La Nina continued for so long?

• Human-induced climate change amplifies the impacts of naturally occurring events like La Niña.

Impacts on India:

• Monsoon: India may experience an extended monsoon lasting up to October due to La Niña.
• Agriculture: La Nina could have negative impacts on Indian agriculture.
• Farmers will risk losing their standing Kharif crops if it rains during this period.
• The harvesting of the Kharif crops begins in September-end or early October. And any rain just before that would prove detrimental to the standing crops.

The Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud recommended the transfer of 7 judges of High Courts which have drawn arguments against its ‘Opaque procedure’.

Process of selection and transfer:

• The selection and transfer of Judges of the Supreme Court and HC are made by President in consultation with the collegium system. 
• In the case of selection and transfer of HC judges, the collegiums consisting of CJI, 2 senior-most judges of the SC, and CJ of the concerned High Courts.

• The initiation of the proposal for the transfer of a Judge should be made by the Chief Justice of India (CJI).
• The opinion of the CJI “is determinative”.
• CJI is expected to take into account the views of the Chief Justice of the High Court from which the Judge is to be transferred and the Chief Justice of the High Court to which the transfer is to be affected.
• The views of one or more Supreme Court Judges who are in a position to offer his/their views are also taken into account.
• In the case of the transfer of a Chief Justice, only the views of one or more knowledgeable Supreme Court Judges need to be taken into account.

• The views on the proposed transfer of a Judge or a Chief Justice of the High Court should be expressed in writing and considered by the CJI and the four senior-most Judges of the Supreme Court.
• Once the proposal is referred to the Government, the Union Minister of Law, Justice, and Company Affairs would submit a recommendation to the Prime Minister who will then advise the President on the transfer of the Judge concerned.
• After the President approves the transfer, the notification will be gazetted and the judge remains transferred.

Criteria for transfer:

The transfer of judges is done in cases like:

• When a judge is appointed as Chief Justice he is generally transferred to another HC.
• In cases when a lawyer from the bar is appointed as Judge or when a judge is promoted to HC. These transfers are done to avoid instances of favoritism.

• Also in instances of any complaint of corruption or any other charge which does not lead to his impeachment, the judge is transferred to another High Court. These are called punishment transferring.

Out of all of India’s neighbors, the Indian government has invited only Bangladesh as one of the 10 guest countries during its Presidency of the G20.

About the news:

• The Invitation shows the growing importance of Bangladesh as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
• Bangladesh is going to share its experience with other member states on climate change.
• On Import of Russian Crude: Russian crude is not suitable for Bangladesh refineries. So, they are going to discuss importing refined products and Russian LNG.

India’s Relation with Bangladesh:

• Economic Ties: Bangladesh is the 6th largest trade partner of India.
• India has provided duty-free quota-free access to Bangladesh on all tariff lines except tobacco and alcohol under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) since 2011.
• Sharing of River Waters: Both nations share 54 common rivers. 1996, the Ganga Waters Treaty was signed.
  • Most recently, the Kushiyara Pact was signed.
• Connectivity: India and Bangladesh share 4096.7 Km. of the border, which touches Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, Meghalaya, and West Bengal.
• The Bandhan Express was the second train to be flagged off after the introduction of the Maitree Express between Kolkata and Dhaka Cantonment in April 2008.

• Power and Energy Sector Cooperation: Energy sector cooperation between India and Bangladesh has also seen considerable progress in the last few years.
• High-speed diesel (HSD) pipeline: The Indo-Bangladesh friendship pipeline carrying High-Speed Diesel from the Numaligarh refinery in India to Bangladesh is expected to be completed soon.
• Rooppur nuclear power: India is funding the project under a LOC (Line of Credit) for the distribution, of the transmission lines, alongside Bangladesh’s funding.
• Godda Power Project in Jharkhand state will provide a dedicated transmission line for the exports
• Tourism: Bangladesh accounted for the largest share of foreign tourist arrivals in India in 2020, including tens of thousands of people who come to the country for medical treatment.
• Defense and Security: The militaries of the two countries will conduct joint exercises and training, Exercise Sampriti and Navy (Exercise Milan)

World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2022 ends with Muscat ministerial Manifesto, calling upon different stakeholders to implement Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) National Action Plans.

Muscat Ministerial Manifesto on AMR

• Target 1: Reduce the total amount of antimicrobials used in the agri-food system at least by 30-50% by 2030 from the current level.
• Target 2: Zero use of Critically important antimicrobials (CIA).
• Target 3: Ensure that ACCESS group antibiotics are at least ≥60% of overall antibiotic consumption in humans by 2030.

About World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW):

• It is a global campaign that is celebrated annually to improve awareness and understanding of AMR.
• It encourages best practices among the public, One Health stakeholders, and policymakers to reduce the further emergence and spread of AMR.
• Theme 2022: “Preventing Antimicrobial Resistance Together”

Meaning of Antimicrobial Resistance:

• Antimicrobial resistance is the resistance acquired by any microorganism (bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, etc.) against antimicrobial drugs (such as antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals, antimalarials, and anthelmintics) that are used to treat infections.
• As a result, standard treatments become ineffective, infections persist, and may spread to others.
• Microorganisms that develop antimicrobial resistance are sometimes referred to as “superbugs”.

Reasons for the Spread of AMR:

• Contamination around pharmaceutical manufacturing sites where untreated waste releases large amounts of active antimicrobials into the environment.
• Many factors have accelerated the threat of AMR worldwide, including overuse and misuse of medicines in humans, livestock, and agriculture, as well as poor access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene.

Measures were taken by India to Rising Anti-Microbial Resistance

• A national program on AMR containment was launched during the 12^th FYP in 2012-17. Under this program, AMR Surveillance Network has been strengthened by establishing labs in State Medical College.
• National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (NAP-AMR) focusing on the One Health approach was launched on 19th April 2017 with the aim of involving various stakeholder ministries/departments
• AMR Surveillance Network: ICMR has established the AMR surveillance and research network (AMRSN) in 2013, to generate evidence and capture trends and patterns of drug-resistant infections in the country.
• AMR Research & International Collaboration: ICMR has taken initiatives to develop new drugs /medicines through international collaborations in order to strengthen medical research in AMR.

As the World Population has reached 8 billion, India’s contribution is considered to be significant. But, the numbers estimated for India outpaced the emerging challenges of depopulating country's young ones without any preparedness against it.

India’s Population estimates Paradox:

• India is the second most populous country with over 1.35 billion people.
• Approximately 17.85% of the world's population are Indians, which means 1 in every 6 people on Earth lives in India.

Is India’s Population really increasing?

• Yes, India’s population is increasing with the world accordingly; however, there is an element of skewed growth within the nation.
• The overall growth rate of India’s population will remain stagnant in the upcoming decades. The evidence can be drawn from:
• A Replacement fertility rate of 2.1 has been achieved for most of the States in India.
• Emerging Health challenges and Pandemics.
• Awareness and Family planning Technique
• Gender-equal norms are prevalent as a sign of social transformation.
• Lack of affordability among most middle-income families for more children.

Should India focus on Population control policies?

• More than the Population control policies, there is a need for the government to prepare for fewer population challenges as seen in most of the developed countries like Europe, the US, and Japan.

Emerging Issues:

A depopulating future poses at least three unique challenges to India:

• First, a skewed sex ratio remains a danger.
• As the latest round of the NFHS showed, families with at least one son are less likely to want more children than families with just one daughter.
• The stark differences between northern and southern States in terms of basic literacy as well as enrolment in higher education, including in technical fields, will mean that workers from the southern States are not automatically replaceable.
• The Population policies are being seen through a communal lens.

Areas to be focused on for Sustainable development:

• Social security and universal health: Increasing rate of the old age population will demand a better welfare system along with social security and universal health care facility.

• Demographic liability
• Resource allocation and Achieving SDGs
• Poverty and quality of life

The Cells of Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman who died of Cervical Cancer in 1951 have been used by the researchers of that time to develop the Polio vaccine and other medicines, without taking consent from the family before or after her death. This arise a question about Doctors and researchers against following medical research ethics.

What does Medical Ethics mean?

• Ethics is an understanding of the nature of conflicts arising from moral imperatives and how best we may deal with them.
• Ethics in medical research deals with conflicts of interest across various levels. Guidelines have been proposed for standardized ethical practice throughout the globe.
• Medical ethics also deals with the choices made by society, the distribution of resources, access to health care, and the dilemmas arising from them.

Why is Medical research Ethics important?

• The four fundamental principles of Medical research ethics which are being underscored are;
  • Autonomy,
  • Non-maleficence,
  • Beneficence, and
  • Justice.    
• It is suggested that though the value of published guidelines and the help that may be available from research ethics committees is quite great, the primary responsibility for maintaining high standards of practice in research rests with the research workers themselves.

Efforts so far:

• Following International code for ethics in clinical research: It laid down 10 clear principles to be followed by researchers and;
• made voluntary consent essential,
• allowed subjects to withdraw from the experimentation at any time,
• banned experiments that could result in major injury or death of the subjects, and
• Made mandatory to have preclinical data before experimenting on humans.
• A set of guidelines was adopted by the 18th World Medical Association (WMA) General Assembly, which was called the Declaration of Helsinki.
  • It contained 32 principles, which stress informed consent, the confidentiality of data, vulnerable population, and the requirement of a protocol, including the scientific reasons for the study, to be reviewed by the ethics committee.
  • Though the Declaration of Helsinki had created a stir in the medical community, medical atrocities continued.
• The Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS) in association with the World Health Organization (WHO) developed “International Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research Involving Human Subjects” in 1982.

Ethical Issues that persist:

• Lack of Individual or Peer Consent:
  • The samples being collected by the Researchers remain under darkness and are not revealed to common people. It sometimes includes family members of the patient and the patient himself/herself.
• Avoid Justice:
  •  The lack of awareness and trust for doctors among the common people makes researchers do injustice to the patient or his/her family by using the samples for future developments but no benefit or recognition is given to the individual or family.
• Used for Monetary benefits:
  •  Today the medical world has engulfed by the power of money and benefits generated for doctors and researchers.
  •  This makes the real aim remain unaddressed i.e. Helping patients.

How can they be solved?

• Making a set of rules for medical Practitioners and  a regulating body
• Involving common people in research-related activity
• To Biological generate awareness in the community
• Sensitize the Medical Staff