Civil Snippets

60% children adopted in India between 2015 and 2018 are girls #GS2
#Governance

India may have a skewed gender ratio, but the female child happens to be the first choice when it comes
to adoption. The number of female children placed for in-country adoptions and inter-country adoptions
between 2015 and 2018 are relatively higher than male children.

During this period, about 11,649 children were put up for in-country adoptions; of them 6,962 were girls
and 4,687 were boys. Of the 3,011 children that were placed for in-country adoption in 2015-16, as
many as 1,855 were female children.

In the year 2016-17, as many as 3,210 children were placed under in-country adoptions and of them
1,915 were females. The figures for 2017-18 and 2018-19 (till December 2018) were 3,276 and 2,152, of
which the numbers of girl children were 1943 and 1249 respectively.

All the figures put together, female children comprise almost 60% of all in-country adoptions. When it
came to inter-country adoptions, the number of female children was even higher: 69%. Of the 2,310
children placed under adoption between the same period, 1,594 were females.

There was little doubt that more girls were being adopted and it reflected that gender bias and the
attitude of people against the girl child are changing across the country. Ms. Kulkarni, who represents
the NGO-run Specialised Adoption Agency in the CARA steering committee, said the whole issue of more
girls getting adopted needs to be looked into with research.

More girls for adoption?

One has to also look whether more girls were coming for adoption. The urban middle class people were
preferring female children because they are concerned and aware of the situation of the girl child. The
situation may not be the same for villages and small towns.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/60-children-adopted-in-india-between-2015-and-2018-are-
girls/article26241070.ece

Rajasthan to scrap education criterion #GS2 #Governance

The Rajasthan Assembly passed two Bills which seek to end the minimum education criterion for
panchayat and civic poll candidates.

The House passed by voice vote the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and the Rajasthan
Municipality (Amendment) Bill, 2019.

The previous Vasundhara Raje-led government had introduced education criterion in 2015 which
required a candidate to pass Class X for contesting zila parishad, panchayat samiti and municipal
elections.

For contesting elections for sarpanch of a panchayat in scheduled and non-scheduled areas, it was
mandatory to pass Class V and VIII, respectively.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/rajasthan-to-scrap-education-
criterion/article26241205.ece

Air transport registers 15% growth in Bihar: survey report #GS2 #Governance

There has been a 15% growth in air transport in Bihar since last year, according to the 13th Economic
Survey 2018-19 tabled in the Assembly by the State government. The report also said there was 20%
growth in the purchase of two-wheelers and the State had achieved second position in the country in
teledensity.

In 2016-17, a total of 21.12 lakh passengers travelled through air transport in the State, while in 2017-18
the number of passengers went up to 31 lakh, recording a 15% growth. Similarly, 7.64 lakh vehicles were
sold in the State in 2016-17, but the number went up to 11.18 lakh in 2017-2018.

“In teledensity, Bihar has achieved second position after Kerala, and in the energy sector it has
registered a growth of 165% in per capita consumption of power since 2011-12.

Power consumption

The per capita consumption of power in the State in 2011-12 was 134 MW per hour, but it went up to
280 MW per hour in 2017-18, said the survey report.

“The growth rate of Bihar’s economy in 2017-18 was 11.3%, which was 9.9% in 2016-17…during both
these years the growth rate of the national economy was about 7%,” the report said.
Similarly, the Gross State Domestic Product in Bihar in 2017-18 was ₹4, 87,628 crore at current prices
and in 2017-18 the highest growth rate was recorded in the State by the tertiary sector (14.6 %).

“Bihar is generating revenue surplus for more than a decade… the revenue surplus in 2017-18 (₹14,823
crore) was more than double the revenue surplus in 2013-14 (₹6,441 crore).

While, the primary deficit of the State government came down from ₹ 8,289 crore in 2016-17 to ₹5,251
crore in 2017-18, and as a result of reduced primary deficit, the Gross Fiscal Deficit also went down from
₹16,480 crore in 2016-17 to ₹14,305 crore in 2017-18, which was 2.9% of the GSDP keeping it within the
Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act limit of 3% of GSDP," said the voluminous report.

The survey report also said that Bihar has registered a “substantial increase in the production of total
cereals from 15.72 lakh tonnes in 2013-14 to 17.35 lakh tonnes in 2017-18”.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/air-transport-registers-15-growth-in-bihar-
survey-report/article26241242.ece

How geneticist Helen Hobbs found a way to fight bad cholesterol #GS3 #SnT

The discovery of cholesterol-lowering mutations in a human gene called PCSK9 led to the development
of the most promising new drugs against heart disease since statins.

At the Hyderabad edition of the TNQ’s Distinguished Lectures in Life Sciences, geneticist Helen Hobbs
told an audience of scientists and lay persons the story of this discovery. Hobbs and her colleague at
Dallas’ UT Southwestern Medical Center, geneticist Jonathan Cohen, found that when people had a
mutation in PCSK9, they ended up with lower levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or bad cholesterol.

Through this mechanism, the mutation protected people against heart disease, seemingly without side
effects. In 2016, Hobbs was awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for her work.

Hobbs’ research journey was unusual in many ways. When she began working on cholesterol in the early
2000s, the prevailing strategy among researchers looking for the genetic basis of disease was to search
for common gene variants (present in around 5% of the population).

However, this strategy hasn’t gone very far in understanding complex illnesses like heart disease; most
common variants only have small effects on traits like cholesterol. Hobbs reasoned that it would be
more fruitful to look for rare gene variants with large impacts. Large impacts would also mean such
findings would translate more quickly into treatments, she said.

The question Hobbs and Cohen wanted to answer was how necessary high LDL was to causing coronary
artery disease (CAD). From Mendelian, or single-gene disorders, the researchers already knew that
elevated LDL made people sick.
People with Mendelian heart disease often have no other risk factor, such as obesity or smoking. LDL
seems sufficient to make them ill. Hobbs wanted to test if the opposite was true. In other words, she
was looking for a gene that protected against LDL and promoted health.

To do this, the team set up the Dallas Heart Study, a cohort of around 3500 people, comprising blacks,
hispanics and whites. The idea was that more racial diversity would make it more likely to find rare
variants.

The cue for which gene to focus on in the Dallas Heart Study came from a French study which found that
people with familial hypercholesteremia – a genetic disorder leading to high LDL — tended to have a
mutation in the PCSK-9 gene.

Sequenced the genes of people at both extremes of the Dallas Heart Study – those with the highest LDL
levels and lowest. Sure enough, they found a mutation that protected against LDL, the opposite of the
French study.

The findings led to the development of the PCSK9 inhibitors Alirocumab and Evolocumab within 10
years, an unusually rapid example of drug development. The average time between the discoveries of a
drug target to commercialisation is typically 15 years.

Today, Hobbs has turned her attention to fatty liver disease. Here, too, her efforts led to the
identification of two gene mutations which promote the disease through different pathways.

Both mutations increase triglycerides in blood through different mechanisms, while also making people
susceptible to liver cirrhosis and cancer. This finding shows that a condition called hepatic steatosis, in
which fat builds up in the liver is not as benign as clinicians currently think, according to Hobbs.

When hepatic steatosis is not accompanied by inflammation, clinicians call it “bland” and believe it has a
good prognosis. Hobbs’ research shows that such fat build-up, which results from high triglycerides, can
lead to cirrhosis and cancer without help from any other factors.

https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/how-geneticist-helen-hobbs-found-a-way-to-fight-bad-
cholesterol/article26240901.ece

New immigration checkpoint for Kartarpur Sahib Corridor #GS2 #IR

The Home Ministry has designated the Dera Baba Nanak land check post in Gurdaspur district, the exit
and entry point in Punjab for visiting the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan, as an authorised
immigration checkpoint.

In a notification, the Ministry said that anyone with valid travel documents could exit or enter through
the check post.

“In pursuance of sub-rule (b) of rule 3 of the Passport (Entry into India) Rules, 1950, the central
government hereby designates Dera Baba Nanak Land Check Post of District Gurdaspur, Punjab State as
an authorised Immigration Check Post for entry into/exit from India with valid travel documents for all
classes of passengers,” the notification said.

Sikh bodies have been petitioning both the governments to build a pilgrim corridor over the border from
Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur to Kartarpur in the Narowal province of Pakistani Punjab. The plan is to
complete the project by November 23, the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.

On November 26 last year, Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu laid the foundation stone of the Dera Baba
Nanak-Kartarpur Sahib Corridor (up to the International Border) at an event at Mann village in
Gurdaspur district.

On November 28, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone of the 4-km corridor on
the Pakistan side, which is expected to be completed by 2019.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/new-immigration-checkpoint-for-kartarpur-sahib-
corridor/article26240871.ece

Indian H1B visa–holders rally outside White House demanding immigration law
reforms #GS2 #IR

A group of mostly Indians on H1B visas held a rally outside the White House, demanding immigration
law reforms to benefit those in the country legally. The rally, organized by the Republican Hindu
Coalition (RHC), which describes itself as an organization that seeks to provide a voice for the Hindu
American community, involved some 200-300 people, as per The Hindu’s estimates.

Among the demands of the group was that the Green Card backlog be cleared with a period of 1-5 years.
The wait time, at present, can run into decades for employment based Green Cards for Indians.

The group is also pushing for legal childhood arrivals (LCAs) to receive any benefits that individuals
brought illegally to the U.S. as minors (a group often referred to as “Dreamers”) might receive.

Nearly 700,000 such individuals have been protected by a Obama-era program called Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The Trump administration has sought to end this program, and the issue
is currently in court. The status of Dreamers, has, in parallel, also been part of the discussions to re-open
parts of the federal government following the shutdown and to keep it open past February 15.

H1B visa–holders, whose children and spouses get H4-dependent visas, are asking that H4 children be
given Green Cards straight away, so they can remain in the U.S. after they turn 21 without having to
switch to another visa category, such as a student visa or an H1B visa or having to self-deport.

Country caps for Green Card allotments

The third demand of those rallying was to remove the country caps for Green Card allotments. Currently
no country may be allocated more than 7% (around 9,800) of the total number of Green Cards granted
each year.
India, which sends a relatively large number of skilled workers to the U.S. each year - over 70% of all H1B
visas in fiscal year 2018 went to Indians - inevitably uses up all the Green Cards allocated to it.

China, Vietnam and the Philippines are other examples, though the excess demand for immigrant visas
is far less in these countries. Just under 307,000 Indians (compared to some 67,000 Chinese citizens)
were waiting for Green Cards in May 2018, according to US Citizenship and Information Services (USCIS)
data.

These numbers do not include dependent spouses and children whose Green Cards, when granted, also
count against the overall cap.

In 2017, H.R. 392, a bill introduced in the 115th Congress, sought to end the per country cap. Several
groups including the American Hospital Association, National Iranian American Council and Canadian Bar
Association had raised objections to this, concerned that it would crowd out applications from other
countries.

Nevertheless, similar bills have been introduced in the 116th Congress this year. Democratic Senator
Kamala Harris and Republican Senator Mike Lee introduced the Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act
of 2019 which will eliminate country caps for employment-based Green Cards and increase the caps
from 7% to 15% for family-based Green Cards.

A similar bill has been introduced by Zoe Lofgren, a Representative from California in the House of
Representatives.

Not far away from the Sunday’s rally was another group – a handful of American tech workers
protesting against the rally, carrying placards that read, “U.S Tech Workers, your companies think you
are expensive, undeserving and expendable.”

At least one of them was from an organization called Progressives for Immigration Reform, a non-profit
that seeks to “educate the public on the unintended consequences of mass migration”.

The struggle for H1B workers and families may go on for a while yet. Hours before Sunday’s H1B rally,
news had broken that the discussions between lawmakers and the President to avert another shutdown
had broken down over disagreements over border security funding.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/indian-h1b-visa-holders-rally-for-reform-outside-white-
house/article26235370.ece

AI to the aid of child trafficking victims #GS3 #SnT

Scientists are hoping artificial intelligence can help identify and rescue child victims of sex trafficking via
an app and more than a million crowdsourced pictures of hotel rooms.
Researchers launched an app in 2016 to collect photographs of 50,000 hotels around the world that
could be matched up with online advertisements placed by traffickers, who often use selfies taken by
their victims in hotel rooms.

Hotels-50K can be used to identify where trafficking victims are being held — and ultimately to rescue
them, according to a paper written by a group of scientists and presented at a conference on AI in
Hawaii.

Signs of trouble

The initiative comes as hotels around the world are making efforts to stop sexual slavery, teaching
employees signs to look for, including frequent sheet changes and “do not disturb” signs that are never
removed.

There are 4.5 million people in sexual slavery around the world, according to the International Labor
Organization. The idea is to be able to pick out the specific hotel room and use the information to
attempt a rescue.

By getting 150,000 people all over the world to download their app, TraffickCam, and take hundreds of
thousands of pictures, it is easier to get the same view that a trafficking victim’s selfie taken for an ad is
likely to have.

Once Hotels-50K was ready for testing about eight months ago, the scientists shared it with the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), a U.S. non-profit involved in the fight against child
sex trafficking.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/ai-to-the-aid-of-child-trafficking-
victims/article26240929.ece

Pension scheme for unorganised sector could cannibalise APY #GS2

#Governance

The proposed pension scheme for the unorganised sector workers — Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi
Maandhan (PMSYM) — with the government as a co-contributor, has put a big question mark on the
continuity and growth of the existing flagship pension scheme, Atal Pension Yojana (APY), which is also
targeted at the same segment of the population. It has also raised questions about duplication of the
government’s pension initiatives.

The new scheme, promising Rs 3,000 per month pension, will benefit around 42 crore workers in the
sector, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said while presenting the interim Budget on February 1.

In APY, previously known as Swavalamban Yojana and announced in the 2015 Budget speech by Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley, the full contribution is by the subscriber.
APY, administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) under the
National Pension Scheme (NPS), offers monthly pension up to Rs 5,000 under different slabs.

APY has a subscriber base of 1.46 crore. “The new pension scheme has the government as a 50 per cent
co-contributor which is not there in the APY. So, people will be attracted to the new pension scheme.

Insurance sector officials are perplexed by the duplication of efforts on the pension front. “The
government could have made APY more attractive instead of launching one more similar scheme,” said
an official of a private pension fund.

As of now, total corpus of NPS was at Rs 2.95 lakh crore which may cross Rs 3.10 lakh crore by the fiscal-
end. In APY, subscribing workers below the age of 40 are eligible for pension of up to Rs 5,000 per
month on attainment of 60 years of age.

The minimum age of joining APY is 18 years and maximum age is 40 years. This scheme is linked to the
bank accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana scheme and the contribution is
deducted automatically.

While announcing the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan, Goyal said, “An unorganised sector
worker joining new pension yojana at the age of 29 years will have to contribute only Rs 100 per month
(or Rs 1,200 per year) till the age of 60 years.”

Similarly, a worker joining the pension yojana at 18 years, will have to contribute as little as Rs 55 per
month (or Rs 660 total yearly investment) only. The government will deposit equal matching share in the
pension account of the worker every month.

“It is expected that at least 10 crore labourers and workers in the unorganised sector will avail the
benefit of ‘Pradhan Mantri Shram- Yogi Maandhan’ within next five years making it one of the largest
pension schemes of the world,” Goyal had said.

The government has allocated a sum of Rs 500 crore for the scheme and indicated that additional funds
will be provided as needed. The scheme will also be implemented from the current year.

Meanwhile, a Labour Ministry notification said all unorganised sector workers up to 40 years of age can
subscribe to the PMSYM scheme, which entails a minimum monthly pension of Rs 3,000, from February
15.

The monthly contribution by the worker joining the scheme would be Rs 55, with matching
contributions from the government. The contributions would rise at higher age. The worker joining the
scheme at the age of 40 years would contribute Rs 200, while workers at the age of 29 years would pay
Rs 100.

https://indianexpress.com/article/business/pension-scheme-for-unorganised-sector-could-cannibalise-
apy-5578998/
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