According to the Committee on Road Safety appointed by the Supreme Court, around 1.5 lakh people lose their lives every year due to road crashes in India. In the light of this alarming statistic, it is crucial for the National Road Safety Plan (NRSP) to include vision screenings for drivers. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) reveals that uncorrected vision problems are a common issue among drivers. Regular eye testing can help prevent such deadly accidents on the road, contributing to road safety and drivers’ well-being.
The MoHFW fully supports the initiative, and the ball is now in the court of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to incorporate regular vision screenings as part of its road safety measures. As of now, MoRTH’s eye check-up camps are occasional events rather than regular ones. ‘RAAHI – National Truckers Eye Health Programme,’ a project run by Sightsavers India at major National Highways, has been making consistent efforts over the past five years to bring about changes in this regard.
Landslide-prone Districts of India and Their Potential Risks
As per the satellite data from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Rudraprayag and Tehri Garhwal in Uttarakhand have been identified as the most vulnerable districts to landslides in the country. The recent tragedy in Joshimath, Uttarakhand, adds to an alarming string of incidents such as the 2013 Kedarnath disaster and the landslides triggered by the 2011 Sikkim earthquake.
Landslides rank third globally in terms of fatalities caused by natural disasters. India stands amongst the top four nations with the highest risk of landslides. Approximately 0.42 million square kilometers of the country’s land, accounting for 12.6% of the total area, are at high risk of experiencing landslides.
An Outbreak of H3N2 Across India
Since December 2022 and January 2023, India has been grappling with an outbreak of a respiratory illness featuring symptoms like cold, sore throat, fever, and fatigue. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has confirmed that this illness is caused by the Influenza Subtype H3N2. It further noted that the H3N2 virus seems to cause more hospitalizations than other Influenza subtypes.
Influenza A and B viruses are known to trigger seasonal disease epidemics. Of these, influenza A viruses are the only ones known to cause pandemics, i.e., global disease outbreaks like the H1N1 pandemic declared by the World Health Organization in June 2009, also popularly referred to as the swine flu pandemic.
Attukal Pongala: A Massive Women’s Gathering
The annual Attukal Pongala festival held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, is considered one of the world’s largest gatherings of women. Approximately 15 lakh women participate in the festival each year, offering Pongala, a sweet delicacy made from rice, to the deity of the Attukal Bhagavathy Temple.
The ninth day of the ten-day festival sees a massive participation of women making offerings. This ritual found a place in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2009 for being the most significant single-day religious gathering of women, with over 2.5 million participants. The Attukal Temple, often referred to as the “Women’s Sabarimala,” stands unique as it’s the women who perform the rituals, unlike the pilgrimages to Lord Ayyappa’s hill shrine at Sabarimala, predominantly undertaken by men.
