26-27-03-23 Daily-Kerala-KPSC Current Affairs

A century ago, Alummoottil Govindan Channar, an avarna (lower-caste person), was one of the few car owners in the erstwhile Travancore kingdom and also its biggest taxpayer. However, as an untouchable he was not allowed to drive past temples in his car. He had to get out and walk to the other side where his upper-caste driver would pick him up.Untouchabilitywas so deep-rooted in Travancore and other parts of Kerala those days thatSwami Vivekanandahad once called the state a lunatic asylum.

On March 30, 1924, two untouchables a Pulaya named Kunjappi and an Ezhava named Bahuleyan along with Govinda Panikkar from the upper-caste Nair community, took the road around the Vaikom Shiva temple that was closed to the polluting castes. They were arrested and sentenced to six months imprisonment.

But they were acting on an idea that had arisen three years earlier in 1921 when social activist T K Madhavan had met MK Gandhi at Tirunelveli to seek his advice and support for launching an agitation for temple entry. Gandhi had approved of the agitation and suggested civil disobedience and non-violent satyagraha.

Gandhis involvement in the struggle proved crucial as it mobilised the educated upper-caste Hindu opinion in favour of temple entry. Madhavan wisely allied himself with the Congress larger movement, became a member and participated in the partys Kakinada session in 1923 that made untouchability one of its main concerns and authorised the state Congress to take charge of the struggle.

India achieved the “elimination of leprosy as a public Health problem” as per World Health Organization (WHO) criteria of less than one case per 10,000 Population at the national level in 2005. However, data shows the number of leprosy cases has again risen in the country.

The data presented by the Union minister of health and family welfare,Mansukh Mandaviya, revealed that the number has increased by 15.7% in 2021-22 as compared to the previous year. From 65,147 in 2020-21, it increased to 75,394 in 2021-22. Till January 2023, there were 88,278 active cases of chronic infectious disease in the country.

As per the data, till January 2023, a maximum 17,014 cases were reported in Maharashtra, followed by Bihar (11,318), UP (10,312),Chhattisgarh(7,422), Madhya Pradesh (7,313), Jharkhand (6,184), Odisha (6,088) and West Bengal (5,012).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday appealed to people to donate organs, and said his government was working on a uniform policy to make the process easy and to encourage the life-saving exercise.

In this direction, it has also been decided to remove the condition of domicile of the states, that is, now the patient will be able to go to any state of the country and register themselves for receiving the organs, the PM said. In 2013, India recorded less than 5,000 cases of organ donation; but in 2022, this number increased to over 15,000, Modi said.

India has become the first country in the world to have developed a country-level mathematical model to estimate the prevalence oftuberculosis(TB) cases, official sources said.

Using this model, TB incidence and mortality estimate data for India will be available by March every year, months before the annual WHO estimates are released in October, they said, adding that India can also prepare similar estimates at the state level in future.

The model was presented before the delegates from 40 countries taking part in the 36th Stop TB PARTNERSHIP Board meeting in Varanasi last week. Most of them lauded it saying they would want to implement it in their countries.

According to WHO, the TB mortality rate (per 10,000) in 2021 was estimated to be 35, which reduced to 23 in 2022 as per the Indian model. WHO’s TB mortality absolute numbers were estimated to be 4.94 lakh in 2021. The Indian model suggested it was 3.20 lakh in 2022

HDFC Asset Management manager of HDFC (MF) recently filed for Indias first target maturity funds in order to track Sovereign Green Bonds (SGrBs).

It includes tracking of the HDFC Nifty India Sovereign Green Bond Jan 2028 Index Fund as well as the HDFC Nifty India Sovereign Green Bond Jan 2033 Index Fund.

The Government of India issued these sovereign green bonds which will be used in public sector projects. It can help to curb the carbon intensity of the economy.

Prime MinisterSheikh Hasinainaugurated the first submarine base of Bangladesh BNS Sheikh Hasina atPekua in Coxs Bazar. Hailing the newly inaugurated naval base as an ultra modern submarine base, Prime Minister called the event a proud chapter in the HISTORY of Bangladesh navy.

It will allow for safe and swift movement of the submarines in case of emergency, as the base is located at the Bay of Bengal.

The Government of Bangladesh signed an agreement with China inSeptember 2019 for the construction of the submarine base.

The government of Bangladesh is working on Forces Goal 2030 to transform its military force into a modern organization appropriate for the times