Syllabus

• Prelims & Mains – CURRENT EVENT

Context: The Union Health Ministry has released draft guidelines on withdrawing or withholding medical treatment in terminally ill patients.

Background: –

• The draft guidelines have not gone down well among a section of the medical fraternity, citing concerns that it exposes doctors to legal scrutiny and puts them under stress.

Key takeaways

• Euthanasia refers to the practice of an individual deliberately ending their life, oftentimes to get relief from an incurable condition, or intolerable pain and suffering. Euthanasia, which can be administered only by a physician, can be either ‘active’ or ‘passive’.
• Active euthanasia involves an active intervention to end a person’s life with substances or external force, such as administering a lethal injection. Passive euthanasia refers to withdrawing life support or treatment that is essential to keep a terminally ill person alive.
• In 2011, the Supreme Court for the first time recognised the legality of passive euthanasia in the case of Aruna Ramchandra Shanbaug v Union of India.
• After being sexually assaulted by a ward attendant of Mumbai’s KEM Hospital in 1973 and suffering a brain injury in the process, nurse Aruna Shanbaug was left in a ‘persistent vegetative state’. A petition was filed in SC in 2009, seeking an end to the life-supporting treatment the hospital was providing to Shanbaug, arguing that she should be allowed to die peacefully.
• The court, while ruling out passive euthanasia in this case, held that Shanbaug was still alive as she did not require life support. However, the court recognised the legality of passive euthanasia.
• In 2018, the Supreme Court recognised the legality of ‘passive euthanasia’ for terminally-ill patients, holding that the ‘right to die with dignity’ forms a part of the right to life under Article 21. The court also laid down guidelines for passive euthanasia, both in cases where the patient left an ‘advance directive’ or a ‘living will’ and in cases where no such directive was left behind.
• For long there was no dedicated legislation in India on withholding/ withdrawing life-sustaining treatment. However, the Supreme Court’s judgment, and now the draft guidelines, make it clear that withholding/ withdrawing life-sustaining treatment is legal in India under a defined framework.
• Withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment refers to discontinuing life-sustaining medical interventions such as ventilators and feeding tubes, etc., when these no longer help the condition of the patient or prolong their suffering.  The withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment also includes ‘do-not-attempt-resuscitation’ orders.
• It is crucial to note that when a do-not-attempt-resuscitation order is in place, every effort should be made to continue treating the underlying condition of the patient. The order is limited to not initiating resuscitation efforts.
• Life-sustaining treatments are medical treatments that artificially replace bodily functions essential to the life of the person. These interventions are withheld or withdrawn with the intention of providing comfort care, allowing the underlying illness to take its course while providing symptomatic relief.

Source: Indian Express

 Syllabus

• Prelims & Mains – CURRENT EVENT

Context: The government is set to conduct the much-delayed Census next year, and to complete the process by 2026. Following the completion of the Census, the government will go ahead with delimitation, for redrafting of constituencies.

Background: –

• Delimitation would have its own share of problems, with the South worried about the impact on its political share in a Parliament where a disproportionate number of seats will be from the North due to its heavily populated states.

Key takeaways

• In 2002, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee govt had delayed delimitation by 25 years via the 84th Amendment, saying this would be carried out only after “the relevant figures for the first Census taken after the year 2026 have been published”. This meant delimitation to be carried out after the 2031 Census.
• However, as per sources, the government now plans to begin the delimitation process by 2027 and finish it within a year, so that the next Lok Sabha elections (in 2029) can be done post-delimitation.
• Although there is demand by various quarters that caste enumeration be included in the Census, the government has not been able to finalise a formula for it.
• The amendments required for a delimitation process include changes to Article 81 (which defines the composition of the Lok Sabha), Article 170 (composition of Legislative Assemblies), Article 82, Article 55 (deals with the presidential election process for which value of each vote in the electoral college is decided on the population basis), Articles 330 and 332 (covering reservation of seats for the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies, respectively).

Source: Indian Express

 Syllabus

• Mains – GS 2 & GS 3

Context: UK’s last coal-based generation plant at Ratcliffe-on-Soar was taken off the grid.

Background: –

• The UK has made some progress in the decarbonisation of the power sector though it hasn’t got rid of carbon footprints completely. It is highly dependent on gas which is half as dirty as coal.

Key takeaways

• The UK government has been pursuing a policy of closing down coal mines since the 1990s for reasons other than climate change — mainly political.
• In 2015, the government decided to completely phase out all coal-based plants by 2025 — the deadline was later advanced to 2024.
• To get rid of coal-based generation, the government relied on market drivers and regulatory interventions.
• UK have increased the cost of carbon dioxide emissions. The government also introduced mandatory use of carbon capture and storage for all new coal-based plants. These measures ensured that coal-based generation became unprofitable.
• UK also had cheap gas as an alternative to coal. Equally important is the fact that UK has already peaked its electricity generation and is now on the way down, both in terms of total generation and also in per capita terms. Generation in 2000 was 377 billion units (BUs) and it was down to 286 BUs in 2023. Similarly, per capita electricity consumption came down from 6 megawatt hours (MWHs) in 2000 to 4.1 MWHs in 2023. There was thus enough excess capacity to phase out coal-based generation.
• Another point merits consideration. The UK imports a fair amount of electricity. The UK was not dependent on domestic coal-based generators and the country could easily fill the gap through imports.

Can India follow in the UK’s footsteps?

• India’s demand for power is still growing and has not peaked. So the country need to add to its installed capacity every year.
• India does not have access to cheap gas to substitute coal. Several issues have crippled the growth of the hydro sector. The nuclear sector contributes less than 3 per cent to the electricity mix. Growth in renewable generation may look spectacular but its far less than what is required to meet the demand in 2030. So, India needs to rely on coal.
• The country is delaying the retirement of coal-based plants and wants them to operate beyond the tenure of the power purchase agreements — usually 25 years.
• Guidelines on environment norms were issued in 2015 and over time, they have been relaxed to accommodate more coal-based generation. This is exactly the reverse of what was done in the UK where norms became more and more stringent.
• India’s track record in installing flue-gas desulfurisers (FGDs) is very bad — less than 5 per cent of the identified capacity in the central sector has installed FGDs. Amongst the state sector generators, not a single plant has installed FGDs.

Source: Indian Express

 Syllabus

• Prelims & Mains – ENVIRONMENT

Context: World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released the Greenhouse Gas Bulletin No. 20.

Background:

• The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin reports on greenhouse gas concentrations, rather than on emission levels. The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin complements the UN Environment Programme’s Emissions Gap report. Both were published ahead of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Key takeaways

• The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin has been published annually since 2004.
• The publication presents the latest analysis of observations from the WMO Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) Programme on concentrations of long-lived greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
• The Bulletin reports globally averaged surface mole fractions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). It compares these values to those of the previous year and pre-industrial levels.
• Additionally, it provides insights into changes in radiative forcing — the warming effect on the atmosphere by long-lived greenhouse gases and details the contribution of individual gases to this effect.
• The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin is released yearly to inform the United Nations Climate Change negotiations, the annual Conference of the Parties (COP).

Key findings of latest bulletin

• The globally-averaged surface concentration of CO2 reached 420.0 parts per million (ppm), methane 1934 parts per billion and nitrous oxide 336.9 parts per billion (ppb) in 2023. These values are 151%, 265% and 125% of pre-industrial (before 1750) levels.
• In 2023, the increase in CO₂ levels was driven by three main factors: large amounts of CO₂ released from wildfires, a possible decline in how much CO₂ forests can absorb, and persistently high CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels due to human and industrial activities.
• During El Niño years, greenhouse gas levels tend to rise because drier vegetation and forest fires reduce the efficiency of land carbon sinks.
• Given the extremely long life of CO2 in the atmosphere, the temperature level already observed will persist for several decades even if emissions are rapidly reduced to net zero.
• The last time the Earth experienced a comparable concentration of CO2 was 3-5 million years ago, when the temperature was 2-3°C warmer and sea level was 10-20 meters higher than now.

Source: WMO

 Syllabus

• Prelims – INTERNATIONAL

Context: On October 5, two earthquakes struck Iran’s Semnan province, sparking rumours of a nuclear test. This fuelled uncertainty across West Asia but the claims were promptly refuted by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO)

Background: –

• CTBTO monitors nuclear activities to detect any possible nuclear tests. It has established an International Monitoring System (IMS) to ensure that no nuclear explosion goes undetected.

About CTBTO

• The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) was established under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), adopted in 1996 by the United Nations General Assembly.
• The CTBT bans all nuclear test explosions everywhere, by everyone, and for all time. Adherence to the Treaty is nearly universal, with 187 States Signatories and 178 ratifying states. However, to enter into force, the Treaty must be ratified by all 44 States listed in its Annex 2, for which nine ratifications are still required.
• CTBTO Headquarters: Located in Vienna, Austria.
• Verification Regime: The CTBTO has a comprehensive International Monitoring System (IMS) comprising:
  • Seismic monitoring stations to detect underground tests.
  • Hydroacoustic sensors for underwater tests.
  • Infrasound sensors for atmospheric tests.
• Radionuclide stations to detect nuclear particles in the air.
• India has not signed or ratified the CTBT, and is not a member of the CTBTO. India initially participated in negotiating the CTBT, but later walked away from the negotiations. India believes the CTBT’s current format is discriminatory.

Source: New Indian Express

Q1.) With reference to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), consider the following statements:

1. The CTBTO was established under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).
2. India is a full member of the CTBTO and contributes to its International Monitoring System (IMS).
3. The CTBTO’s headquarters is located in Geneva, Switzerland.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A) 1 only
B) 1 and 2 only
C) 2 and 3 only
D) 1, 2, and 3

Q2.) With reference to the World Meteorological Organization’s Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, consider the following statements:

1. The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin reports on both greenhouse gas concentrations and emission levels of short term climate pollutants to provide a complete picture of atmospheric changes.
2. In 2023, the global average surface concentration of carbon dioxide (CO₂) reached its highest recorded level at 420 parts per million (ppm).
3. During El Niño years, greenhouse gas concentrations tend to increase due to a reduction in the effectiveness of land carbon sinks.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A) 1 and 2 only
B) 2 and 3 only
C) 1 and 3 only
D) 1, 2, and 3

Q3.) With reference to euthanasia and the legal framework in India, consider the following statements:

1. Passive euthanasia was first legally recognized in India by the Supreme Court in the Aruna Shanbaug case.
2. Active euthanasia is legal in India.
3. The Supreme Court has ruled that the ‘right to die with dignity’ is a part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A) 1 and 2 only
B) 1 and 3 only
C) 2 and 3 only
D) 1, 2, and 3

Comment the answers to the above questions in the comment section below!!

ANSWERS FOR ’  30th October 2024 – Daily Practice MCQs’ will be updated along with tomorrow’s Daily Current Affairs

Q.1) –  b

Q.2) – c

Q.3) – c