Governments must ensure local-level interventions to deal with heat stress
• The India Meteorological Department’s forecast of above-normal maximum and minimum temperatures across the country during the pre-monsoon March-May period is a timely alert for State authorities to review their preparedness.
• Even a marginal rise above the normal will lead to enormous heat stress for millions of Indians, given the deprived conditions in which they live.
• The advent of hot weather this year is marked by temperatures rising between 1.6° Celsius and 5° C above normal in States such as Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh; other northern, central and eastern States also show a small increase from March 1.
• One scientific estimate of annual mortality attributable to heat waves between 2010 and 2015 ranges between 1,300 and 2,500.
• A heat event thus has serious implications for public health: it can lead to fatal heat stroke in a small percentage of people, while many more could encounter exhaustion, cramps and fainting.
• It is vital for governments to ensure that all stakeholders, including the health-care system, are prepared to deal with the phenomenon.
• Taking the long-term view, India has to pursue mitigation of greenhouse gases vigorously, since there is a perceived link between increases in average temperature caused by climate change and the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.
Title: A gathering storm
• With the assault on freedoms intensifying, it is crucial to engage more with international human rights law
• The World Justice Project released its Rule of Law Index 2017-18 report, which measures the extent to which 113 countries have adhered to the rule of law in that period.
• (India’s rank was 62, better than China, Pakistan, Myanmar and Bangladesh; Denmark occupied the top spot.)
• Every country’s performance was assessed in eight areas, including fundamental rights, which is measured by “absence of discrimination, right to life and security, due process, freedom of expression and religion, right to privacy, freedom of association, and labour rights.”
• The survey found that 71 out of the 113 countries have dropped in score.
• It indicates the serious erosion of international human rights law in recent times.
Story across the world
• In Turkey and China, the assault on civil liberties and freedoms has intensified.
• There is increasing hostility towards civil society organisations and hardening of attitudes towards minorities in Poland and Hungary.
• The human rights of refugees are routinely negated, including in Australia and the U.S.
• The rise of majoritarian attitudes, hate speech and hate crimes is a growing concern, including in India.
• Mass atrocities (genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity) are or have been committed in Iraq, Myanmar, Central African Republic, and Burundi.
• It is not just the erosion of human rights but the normalisation of it that is of concern.
Conclusion
• The gradual erosion of rights can result in a landslide unless efforts are made to halt and reverse this process. While not a panacea, effective engagement with international human rights law is necessary in an era where rights are increasingly being stifled in many countries.
Vocabulary words:
Enormous (adjective) = very large in size, quantity, or extent. (बहुत बड़ा )
Deprived (adjective ) = Disadvantaged, Underprivileged (वंचित)
Advent (noun) = Arrival, appearance (आगमन)
Attributable (adjective) = Regarded as being caused by (कारण)
Assault (verb) = Make a physical attack on (हमला)
Adhered (verb) = Follow the practices of (पालन करना)
Hostility(noun) = Unfriendliness or opposition (विरोध)
Negated (verb) = Make ineffective (नकारना)
Atrocities (noun) = an extremely wicked or cruel act, typically one involving physical violence or injury (क्रूरता)
