World Health Assembly approves draft resolution on health action plan for indigenous people (GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
Why in news?
- Recently, the Member states of the World Health Organization accepted a draft resolution that proposed developing a Global Plan of Action for the Health of Indigenous People during the World Health Assembly hosted on May 29, 2023.
How the plan will be executed?
- The plan will be up for consideration at the 79th World Health Assembly in 2026.
- This should be executed in consultation with indigenous peoples, with their free, prior and informed consent, a document presented at the assembly emphasised.
- The global plan should be done in consultation with member states along “strategic lines of action for the improvement of the health of Indigenous Peoples in the development of the 14th World Health Organization General Programme of Work”.
- The draft resolution was proposed by Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, the European Union and its Member States, Guatemala, Mexico, New Zealand, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the United States of America and Vanuatu.
Indigenous people:
- The world presently has 476 million indigenous people across the world in about 90 countries, according to the United Nations. They speak 7,000 languages and come from 500 different cultures.
- They are marginalised individuals without access to basic infrastructure and oftentimes cannot claim titles over their land and surrounding natural resources.
- However, over the last few decades representation for them has improved on the world's stage. The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues established in 2000, for instance, provides advice and recommendations on indigenous issues to the Economic and Social Council.
- The life expectancy of indigenous people is 20 years lower than that of an average person.
Resolution:
- The resolution that was proposed noted that the “indigenous peoples are disproportionately subject to poverty, poor housing, cultural barriers, violence, including gender-based violence, racism, experiencing disability, pollution and lack of access to education, economic opportunities, social protection, water, and sanitation, as well as appropriate resilience planning for climate change and natural and other emergencies”.
- The resolution put forward that the global plan be formulated “with a particular emphasis on the reproductive, maternal and adolescent health and with a specific focus on those in vulnerable situations, and bearing in mind local context”.
Approach:
- WHO’s 194 member states were urged to develop a collection of ethical data to identify specific requirements of indigenous people and fill in the gaps.
- They were also urged to have an intersectional approach to their politics that overcomes geographical barriers, digital connectivity, information availability, remoteness and disability.
- Another approach proposed was to use evidence-based traditional medicine, along with medical services offered at the primary healthcare level, which also includes mental health and wellness services.
India plans to link prices of domestic lithium with London Metal Exchange
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Why in news?
- India is planning to link the price of domestic lithium to the weekly prices of lithium hydroxide monohydrate published by the London Metal Exchange (LME).
- Currently, there is no uniform criterion for estimating the value of lithium or Rare Earth Elements (REEs) found in India.
Why this move?
- The move to peg the prices comes after the Geological Survey of India (GSI) explored the blocks of REEs and lithium in the country.
- Bidding for these blocks cannot be conducted currently without uniform standards, as the revenue distributed to states from mining is linked to the average sale price (ASP) of a metal.
- An amendment has now been drafted to the Minerals (Other than Atomic and Hydro Carbons Energy Minerals) Concession Rules, 2016 that suggests how to calculate the price of lithium and rare earth elements extracted in the country.
Demand of REEs:
- The Indian Bureau of Mines will be asked to publish the ASP of rare earth oxide after referring to the basis on which prices are published by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
- With the push toward adopting electric vehicles and decarbonisation, the demand for lithium and REEs has risen globally. REEs are widely used in the production of electronic devices.
- The methodology for arriving at the ASP of many in-demand metals has been mentioned in the existing Mineral Concession Rules.
Current parameters:
- The settlement price of copper, lead, nickel, tin, aluminium, and zinc on the LME is used as a parameter to fix Indian prices.
- For gold and silver prices, the London Bullion Market Association auction price is taken.
- India is projected to have 13.07 million tonnes of in-situ monazite (containing approximately 55-60 per cent total rare earth elements oxide) resources in the coastal sands of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat, and in the inland placer deposits in parts of Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu, according to official estimates.
Way Forward:
- If approved, the proposed pricing methodology will help state governments in fixing the ASP and value of estimated resources (VER) mineral blocks.
RBI planned lightweight payments system for emergencies
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Why in news?
- Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has conceptualised a lightweight payment and settlements system, which it is calling a “bunker” equivalent of digital payments, which can be operated from anywhere by a bare minimum staff in exigencies such as natural calamities or war.
- The infrastructure for this system will be independent of the technologies that underlie the existing systems of payments such as UPI, NEFT, and RTGS.
- The central bank has not offered a timeline for the launch of this payments system yet.
Why is such a lightweight payments system needed?
- In its Annual Report for 2022-23, RBI says that the lightweight and portable payment system is expected to operate on minimalistic hardware and software, and would be made active only on a “need basis”.
- Such a lightweight and portable payment system could ensure near zero downtime of the payment and settlement system in the country and keep the liquidity pipeline of the economy alive and intact by facilitating uninterrupted functioning of essential payment services like bulk payments, interbank payments and provision of cash to participant institutions.
- The system is expected to process transactions that are critical to ensure the stability of the economy, including government and market related transactions.
How will the lightweight system be different from UPI?
- There are multiple payment systems available in the country for use by individuals as well as institutions, each of which has its distinct character and application.
- Existing conventional payments systems such as RTGS, NEFT, and UPI are designed to handle large volumes of transactions while ensuring sustained availability. As a result, they are dependent on complex wired networks backed by advanced IT infrastructure.
- However, catastrophic events like natural calamities and war have the potential to render these payment systems temporarily unavailable by disrupting the underlying information and communication infrastructure.
- Therefore, it is prudent to be prepared to face such extreme and volatile situations.
