Daily Hindu Editorials

'AIR QUALITY CAUSES PREMATURE DEATHS’ (ENVIRONMENT) An IIT-CEED study in 11 north Indian cities has found that worsening air quality in the last two decades has emerged as one of the major reasons for high numbers of premature deaths. The research by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Delhi in collaboration with environmental NGO, Centre for Environment and Energy Development (CEED) published its findings in a report titled ‘Know what you breathe’. The report found annual mortality linked to air pollution to be in the range of 150-300 persons per 1 lakh population. 👉Numbers The study was conducted in seven cities of Uttar Pradesh, three cities of Bihar and the capital of Jharkhand, Ranchi. And it was Kanpur which recorded the highest number of premature deaths per year (4,173) due to chronic exposure to air pollution, followed by Lucknow (4,127), Agra (2,421). 👉What were the parameters used? To calculate the annual “mortality burden” the study resorted to the av...

💥 Daily Word Bytes - 2  from editorial  -Venezuela: After re-election 💥 deadly  discontent (noun) – disappointment, dissatisfaction, resentment. Hindu Editorial usage  :  Nicolás Maduro must address discontent and economic hardship in Venezuela hardship (noun) – financial distress, suffering/trouble, deprivation. Hindu Editorial usage  :  Nicolás Maduro must address discontent and economic hardship in Venezuela step down (phrasal verb) – resign, give up one’s job, stand down. Hindu Editorial usage  :  Venezuelan protesters failed last year to force President Nicolás Maduro to step down in the midst of an economic and humanitarian crisis.   in the midst of (phrase) – in the middle of. Hindu Editorial usage  :  Venezuelan protesters failed last year to force President Nicolás Maduro to step down in the midst of an economic and humanitarian crisis.   humanitarian crisis (noun) – humanitarian disaster; it...

💥 Daily Word Bytes - 1  from editorial  -The Nipah test 💥 age-old (adjective) – traditional, established, lasting. Hindu Editorial usage  :  Age-old practices of infection control are crucial to limit the deadly outbreak outbreak (noun) – outburst, epidemic, sudden appearance/occurrence. Hindu Editorial usage  :  The outbreak of the deadly Nipah virus around Kozhikode, Kerala, is a test of India’s capacity to respond to public health emergencies.   pathogen (noun) – something, like bacteria/virus, that causes disease. Hindu Editorial usage  :  In 2018, the World Health Organisation listed Nipah as one of the 10 priority pathogens needing urgent research, given its ability to trigger lethal outbreaks and the lack of drugs available against it. lethal (adjective) – deadly, fatal, killing. Hindu Editorial usage  :  In 2018, the World Health Organisation listed Nipah as one of the 10 priority pathogens needing urgent ...

👉Recent strategic decisions indicate a post-normative turn in India’s foreign policy👈 In India’s evolving foreign policy imagination, the pursuit of power and influence seems to eclipse the country’s traditions of normative behaviour and principled positions. The jury is still out on whether by shedding its normative shibboleths New Delhi is finally doing what states typically do, and whether or not its post-normative turn will negatively impact its national interests. 👉The rise of realpolitik Around three months ago, the Central government frankly told the Supreme Court, “we don’t want India to become a refugee capital,” even as the Border Security Force (BSF) had been pushing back Rohingya refugees from the eastern borders. India’s stand vis-à-vis Rohingya refugees is an indication of how new India proposes to deal with humanitarian issues in its neighbourhood. Its approach to the Rohingya crisis (i.e. its refusal to admit people fleeing for their lives into the co...

👉Age-old practices of infection control are crucial to limit the deadly outbreak👈 The outbreak of the deadly Nipah virus around Kozhikode, Kerala, is a test of India’s capacity to respond to public health emergencies. In 2018, the World Health Organisation listed Nipah as one of the 10 priority pathogens needing urgent research, given its ability to trigger lethal outbreaks and the lack of drugs available against it. As an RNA (ribonucleic acid) virus, Nipah has an exceptional rate of mutation — that is, it can easily adapt to spread more efficiently among humans than it does now. Such an adaptation would result in a truly dangerous microbe. Nipah already kills up to 70% of those it infects, through a mix of symptoms that include encephalitis, a brain inflammation marked by a coma state, disorientation, and long-lasting after-effects, such as convulsions, in those who survive. Thankfully, in most outbreaks in South Asia so far the virus has displayed a “stuttering chain of transm...

👉Nicolás Maduro must address discontent and economic hardship in Venezuela👈 Venezuelan protesters failed last year to force President Nicolás Maduro to step down in the midst of an economic and humanitarian crisis. After his emphatic victory in Sunday’s presidential elections, they have to reconcile themselves to his rule for another six-year term. The embattled Mr. Maduro won the poll with 68% of the vote, and with a turnout of less than 50%, according to the election commission. Potential challengers to Mr. Maduro, Hugo Chávez’s protégé and successor, are either in detention or barred from the contest after they organised mass protests against his government, alleging brutal misrule and economic mismanagement. An umbrella coalition of opposition parties and activist groups, the Broad Front for a Free Venezuela, had called on the people to boycott what they said was as a sham exercise. Mr. Maduro’s closest rival, Henri Falcón, alleged fraud and demanded a fresh ballot. It is hig...