1) Hysterectomy: Concerned about the high risk faced by poor and less-educated women, especially in rural areas, who undergo unjustified hysterectomies, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India has initiated measures to address this issue
- A hysterectomy is a surgical procedure that involves the removal of the uterus (womb), the organ in a woman’s body where a baby develops during pregnancy
- Types: partial hysterectomy (when only one uterus is removed), total hysterectomy (when the uterus and cervix are removed), radical hysterectomy (when the uterus, cervix and a wide area of ligaments and tissues around these organs are removed)
- Indications for Hysterectomy in India: performed for gynecological conditions like fibroids (non-cancerous growths that develop in or around the womb), endometriosis (disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus), abnormal bleeding, and pelvic inflammatory disease, when other treatments fail, as well as for cancer treatment
2) Groundwater Extraction and Land Subsidence: Cracks in buildings and ‘sinking’ land in Joshimath, Uttarakhand, made the headlines earlier in 2023
- Digging operations conducted for mining activities demonstrated the occurrence of “soil settlement” or sinking due to voids created from mining. Similar observations prompted researchers to investigate the role of groundwater extraction in land subsidence in India
- Unlike land movement from landslides or earthquakes, subsidence from groundwater extraction was gradual and barely visible annually
- Using data from the Sentinel-1 satellite shows that the National Capital Region (NCR) sank an average of 15 mm per year from 2011-2017
- Kolkata and parts of eastern India also experience overexploited groundwater blocks and land subsidence
3) Rasht-Astara Railway and INSTC: Recently, Russia and Iran have signed a deal to build an Iranian railway line, the Rasht-Astara railway as part of an International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC)
- India sees INSTC as an alternative means of connecting with Central Asia, which is rich in hydrocarbons and has strategic importance
- The INSTC is projected to reduce transit time by 40%, shortening it from 45-60 days to 25-30 days. Additionally, it is expected to decrease freight costs by 30% in comparison to the Suez Canal route
- The Chabahar port is regarded as a doorway to golden chances for India, Iran, and Afghanistan to trade with Central Asian countries
- Suez Canal’s blockage in 2021, which roughly cost 12% of global trade and reportedly held up trade valued at USD 9 billion per day, has amplified the optimistic outlook towards the INSTC as a cheaper and faster alternative multimodal transit corridor
- The INSTC connects India with Central Asia, Russia, and has the potential to expand up to the Baltic, Nordic, and Arctic regions
- The creation of diverse supply chains across Eurasia might surely alter the stereotype of East as the producer and West as the consumer
