Necrophilia is a term derived from the Greek words philios (attraction to/love) and nekros (dead body) and involves the sexual attraction to a dead body.
Tobacco Consumption
Globally:
The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced, killing more than 8 million people a year (as per the World Health Organisation), including around 1.2 million deaths from exposure to second-hand smoke.
Nearly one in four people across the globe use tobacco.
All forms of tobacco are harmful, and there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco.
Cigarette smoking is the most common form of tobacco use worldwide.
Other tobacco products include waterpipe tobacco, various smokeless tobacco products, cigars, cigarillos, roll-your-own tobacco, pipe tobacco, bidis and kreteks.
Tobacco use is a major risk factor for many chronic diseases, including cancer, lung disease, cardiovascular disease and stroke.
Status in India:
38% men and 9% women above 15 years of age use tobacco products, as per the National Family Health Survey 5 (2019-21).
Women (19%) and men (51%) belonging to Scheduled Tribes are more likely to use tobacco than those from any other caste/tribe groups.
Among men as well as women, the use of tobacco is higher in rural areas (43% for men and 11 % for women) than in urban areas.
Socio-Economic Burden of Tobacco Consumption:
Tobacco use contributes to poverty by diverting household spending from basic needs such as food and shelter to tobacco.
It is one of the major causes of death and disease in India and accounts for nearly 1.35 million deaths every year.
India is also the second largest consumer and producer of tobacco. A variety of tobacco products are available at very low prices in the country.
What Measures have been Taken to Tackle High Tobacco Consumption?
Global Initiatives:
WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC):
It was developed in response to the globalisation of the tobacco epidemic and is an evidence-based treaty that reaffirms the right of all people to the highest standard of health.
India has adopted the tobacco control provisions under the WHO FCTC.
World No Tobacco Day:
31st May is observed as ‘World No Tobacco Day’ every year to spread awareness around the deadly effects of tobacco consumption.
India’s Initiatives:
Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003:
It replaced the Cigarettes Act of 1975 (largely limited to statutory warnings- ‘Cigarette Smoking is Injurious to Health’ to be displayed on cigarette packs and advertisements. It did not include non-cigarettes).
The 2003 Act also included cigars, bidis, cheroots, pipe tobacco, hookah, chewing tobacco, pan masala, and gutka.
Promulgation of the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Ordinance, 2019:
It prohibits Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement of e-Cigarettes.
National Tobacco Quitline Services (NTQLS):
Tobacco Quitline Services have the potential to reach a large number of tobacco users with the sole objective to provide telephone-based information, advice, support, and referrals for tobacco cessation.
What is Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY?
About:
PM-JAY is the world’s largest health insurance/ assurance scheme fully financed by the government.
Launched in February 2018, it offers a sum insured of Rs.5 lakh per family for secondary care (which doesn’t involve a super specialist) as well as tertiary care (which involves a super specialist).
Under PMJAY, cashless and paperless access to services are provided to the beneficiaries at the point of service, that is, hospital.
Health Benefit Packages covers surgery, medical and day care treatments, cost of medicines and diagnostics.
Packaged rates (Rates that include everything so that each product or service is not charged for separately).
These are flexible but the hospitals can’t charge the beneficiary more once fixed.
Beneficiaries:
It is an entitlement-based scheme that targets the beneficiaries as identified by latest Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) data.
Once identified by the database, the beneficiary is considered insured and can walk into any empaneled hospital.
Funding:
The funding for the scheme is shared – 60:40 for all states and UTs with their own legislature, 90:10 in Northeast states and Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal and Uttarakhand and 100% Central funding for UTs without legislature.
Nodal Agency:
The National Health Authority (NHA) has been constituted as an autonomous entity under the Society Registration Act, 1860 for effective implementation of PM-JAY in alliance with state governments.
The State Health Agency (SHA) is the apex body of the State Government responsible for the implementation of AB PM-JAY in the State.
Primary Agricultural Credit Societies
About:
PACS are village level cooperative credit societies that serve as the last link in a three-tier cooperative credit structure headed by the State Cooperative Banks (SCB) at the state level.
Credit from the SCBs is transferred to the District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs), that operate at the district level. The DCCBs work with PACS, which deal directly with farmers.
PACSs provide short-term, and medium-term agricultural loans to the farmers for the various agricultural and farming activities.
The first PACS was formed in 1904.
Status:
A report published by the Reserve Bank of India on December 27, 2022 put the number of PACS at 1.02 lakh. At the end of March 2021, only 47,297 of them were in profit.
What is the Significance of PACS?
Access to Credit:
PACS provide small farmers with access to credit, which they can use to purchase seeds, fertilizers, and other inputs for their farms. This helps them to improve their production and increase their income.
Financial Inclusion:
PACS help to increase financial inclusion in rural areas, where access to formal financial services is limited. They provide basic banking services, such as savings and loan accounts, to farmers who may not have access to formal banking services.
Convenient Services:
PACS are often located in rural areas, which makes it convenient for farmers to access their services. This is important because many farmers are unable to travel to banks in urban areas to access financial services.
PACS have the capacity to extend credit with minimal paperwork within a short time.
Promoting Savings Culture:
PACS encourage farmers to save money, which can be used to improve their livelihoods and invest in their farms.
Enhancing Credit Discipline:
PACS promote credit discipline among farmers by requiring them to repay their loans on time. This helps to reduce the risk of default, which can be a major challenge in the rural financial sector.
Issues with the PACS?
Inadequate Coverage:
Though geographically active PACS cover about 90% of 5.8 villages, there are parts of the country, especially in the north-east, where this coverage is very low.
Further, the rural population covered as members is only 50% of all the rural households.
Inadequate Resources:
The resources of the PACS are much too inadequate in relation to the short-and medium-term credit needs of the rural economy.
The bulk of even these inadequate funds come from higher financing agencies and not through owned funds of societies or deposit mobilization by them.
Overdues and NPAs:
Large over-dues have become a big problem for the PACS.
As per the RBI report, PACS had reported lending worth Rs 1,43,044 crore and NPAs of Rs 72,550 crore. Maharashtra has 20,897 PACS of which 11,326 are in losses
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Daily Mains Question
Q – Discuss the significance of biodiversity conservation in India and the steps taken by the government to preserve it. Also discuss the measures in protecting the country’s rich biodiversity. (250 words)
प्रश्न – भारत में जैव विविधता संरक्षण के महत्व और इसे संरक्षित करने के लिए सरकार द्वारा उठाए गए कदमों पर चर्चा करें। देश की समृद्ध जैव विविधता की रक्षा के उपायों पर भी चर्चा करें। (250 शब्द)
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