📰 H-1B spouse work permits to end, says Trump administration
Over 90% of 1.26 lakh documents issued for visa beneficiaries since 2015 went to Indians
•The Donald Trump administration is moving ahead with a proposal to end work permits for spouses of H-1B workers in the United States, a federal court has been told.
•Spouses of H-1B visa holders whose green card applications have reached a certain milestone can get employment authorisation under a 2015 executive order. Dependents of H-1B visa holders get H-4 visas.
•The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is on track to complete an internal process within the next three months and announce the new regulation, it said in a submission before a federal appeals court in Washington DC on Friday.
•After the new regulations are published, there will be time for public comments and revisions before the new regulation comes into effect. However, the uncertainty over their legal status has already stalled the job prospects of hundreds of H-4 visa holders.
Job prospects of H-4 holders dim
•More than 90% of the 1.26 lakh Employment Authorisation Documents (EAD) issued for H-4 visa beneficiaries since 2015 went to Indians.
•The H-4 EAD programme is being challenged by a group of displaced tech workers in the U.S. A federal court ruled for the continuation of the programme and the Save Jobs USA has moved in appeal.
•The Trump administration that is reviewing all aspects of the H-1B programme had told the court three times earlier this year that it was planning to discontinue EAD for H-4. Save Jobs USA’s attorney told Bloomberg that the administration’s tactic was to “delay, delay and delay”. The next status report is due on 19 November from the administration, before the court.
•The petitioners want hearing, while the administration maintains that it is planning to end the programme regardless.
•“Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s senior leadership reviewed the proposed rule” and returned it to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) this month to make certain changes, it said in the court filing.
•“When the necessary revisions are incorporated, USCIS will return the proposed rule to DHS for final clearance” and submission to the White House Office of Management and Budget within the next three months, the DHS said.
•It said the administration was "making a solid and swift progress in proposing to remove from its regulations certain H-4 spouses of H-1B non-immigrants as a class of aliens eligible for employment authorisation”.
📰 Alcohol intake in India doubles in 11 years
WHO says per capita liquor consumption in India increased from 2.4 litres in 2005 to 5.7 litres in 2016
•Per capita alcohol consumption in India has more than doubled from 2005 to 2016, according to a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
•The consumption of alcohol has increased from 2.4 litres in 2005 to 5.7 litres in 2016 with 4.2 litres being consumed by men and 1.5 litre by women, the report said.
Highest in SE Asia
•The total alcohol per capita consumption (15+ years) is expected to increase in half of the WHO regions by 2025 and the highest increase is expected in the South-East Asia Region. An increase of 2.2 litres is expected in India alone which represents a large proportion of the total population in this region, the report highlighted.
•However, increases, although smaller, are also expected in Indonesia and Thailand (with the second- and fourth-largest largest populations).
•The second-highest increase is projected for the populations of the Western Pacific Region, where the population of China is the largest, with an increase in per capita consumption of 0.9 litres of pure alcohol by 2025.
•Total alcohol per capita consumption has increased globally after a relatively stable phase between 2000 and 2005. Since then, total per capita consumption rose from 5.5 litres in 2005 to 6.4 litres in 2010 and was still at the level of 6.4 litres in 2016, the report stated.
•However, diverging trends were noticed in different regions of the world.
•The harmful impact of alcohol is one of the leading risk factors for populations worldwide and has a direct impact on many health-related targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including those for maternal and child health, infectious diseases (HIV, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis), non-communicable diseases and mental health, injuries and poisonings.
•In 2016, the harmful use of alcohol resulted in some three million deaths (5.3% of all deaths) worldwide and 132.6 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Mortality resulting from alcohol consumption is higher than that caused by diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and diabetes.
2.3 million deaths
•Among men in 2016, an estimated 2.3 million deaths and 106.5 million DALYs were attributable to the consumption of alcohol. Among women 0.7 million died and they experienced 26.1 million DALYs attributable to alcohol consumption.
•The harmful use of alcohol is a causal factor in more than 200 diseases and injury conditions, the report stated. Some 2.3 billion people are current drinkers. Globally more than a quarter (26.5% ) of all 15-19 year-olds are current drinkers, amounting to 155 million adolescents.
📰 Why do Mudra loans have credit risks?
What is the problem?
•Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, in his report to Parliament recently, said that while non-performing assets stemming from corporate loans are a current problem, the government should focus on sources of the next crisis. In particular, he warned, the government should refrain from setting ambitious credit targets or waiving loans.
•He called out Mudra loans as those with potential credit risks. He particularly flagged the culture of meeting targets by rushing through due process and then offering populist sops such as mass waiver of loans. “Credit targets are sometimes achieved by abandoning appropriate due diligence, creating the environment for future NPAs. Both Mudra loans as well as the Kisan Credit Card, while being popular, have to be examined more closely for potential risk. The Credit Guarantee Scheme for the MSME run by the SIDBI is a growing contingent liability and needs to be examined with urgency,” he said in his note.
What is Mudra?
•The Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency Ltd. (Mudra) was set up in 2015 under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) to help develop and refinance the ‘non-corporate business’ sector by supporting finance institutions that lend to micro/small business entities engaged in manufacturing, trading and service activities. It is aimed at using micro finance as an economic development tool that helps to provide income-generating opportunities to the people at the bottom of the pyramid, targeting small manufacturing units, shopkeepers, fruits and vegetable vendors, truck and taxi operators, food-service units, repair shops, machine operators, artisans and food processors.
Is repayment a challenge?
•Critics of the scheme say that too many best practices in loan origination have been neglected while authorising and disbursing loans. Earlier this year, the CBI registered a case against a former official of Punjab National Bank for alleged abuse of official position in sanctioning and disbursing 26 Mudra loans amounting to ₹65 lakh.
•Even if loans are sought by business owners genuinely seeking growth and bankers disburse them with an eye on economic development, ensuring repayment is still a challenge. First, these loans are unsecured — a collateral that could protect the interests of the bank is not required, unless an asset that is purchased can itself serve as collateral. The scheme is meant for those who need small amounts, but do not have access to such funds, but the very nature of the business of such borrowers is susceptible to volatility and annual cycles, not to mention the itinerant ways of some business owners, such as vegetable vendors. They may choose one location for their place of business on a day, and another elsewhere in their city the next day. Further, the public banking system may not be staffed for work this may entail. When it comes to collection, bank staff may choose to go after one loan with outstanding of ₹10 lakh, for example, rather than 10 loans of ₹1,00,000 each.
What is the average loan size?
•Loans under the Mudra scheme are disbursed under three heads, starting from loans up to ₹50,000 and going up to ₹10 lakh. About ₹2.53 lakh crore had been sanctioned for about 4.81 crore PMMY loans under all three heads in the financial year 2017-18. The average size of a sanctioned loan stood at Rs. 52,706 for the year.
•The State Bank of India recently said it had disbursed Rs. 28,556 crore under the PMMY scheme in FY18. Non-performing assets arising out of this scheme is about 5.2% for India’s largest bank, a figure that the bank views as being under ‘acceptable limits’.
•The website dedicated to PMMY does not indicate the quantum of loans that have soured or details of collections. In May, the government said a total of ₹6 lakh crore had been disbursed to 12 crore beneficiaries under the Mudra scheme since its inception in 2015. Of these, 3.25 crore were first-time entrepreneurs and 9 crore borrowers were women.
📰 Maharashtra, where a massive hunt is on to track tigress Avani
•For over a week now, more than 100 Forest Department officials, guards, tranquillising experts, shooters, trackers, rescue teams, veterinarians and two elephants, brought from Madhya Pradesh, have been carrying out a massive hunt for a tigress in the Ralegaon area of Yavatmal district of Maharashtra.
What happened?
•They are looking for a tigress, named T-1, or Avani, who has terrorised the region with her alleged killing spree for over a year now. As they spread out into the forests, hundreds of wildlife activists took out a march in Nagpur, about 180 km from Yavatmal, on Wednesday, protesting against the Forest Department’s move to rope in a “private hunter” who, they believe, will kill the tigress rather than tranquillise her.
When did the problem surface?
•The first human killing, attributed to the tigress, happened in June 2016, and she is said to have killed 13 villagers in the area until August 28, prompting the Forest Department to issue orders to shoot her. Around 20,000 people in 26 villages of the area have been living in fear.
•The earlier orders were to tranquillise and catch the big cat. “The tracking and tranquillising efforts have been going on for eight months. But when three villagers were killed in August, the earlier order was cancelled and a new order was issued that it should be tranquillised and if that fails, then it should be shot,” says A.K. Mishra, Maharashtra’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife). What is making it difficult to track the movement of the tigress is the heavy growth of the forest due to the monsoon rain, he adds.
Why are activists irked?
•Wildlife activists allege that there is no proof to attribute 13 killings to the tigress. Jyrryl Banait, a wildlife lover, twice moved court to save it. According to Mr. Banait, there is no concrete evidence. “There is no DNA analysis, and other scientific data are missing. The evidence is based on visual citing, pugmarks and camera traps, which does not mean that she is a man-eater.” He points out that there are seven other tigers roaming in the same territory, besides two cubs of the tigress as well.
What happened in court?
•When the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court rejected the petitions of Mr. Banait and other activists, they moved a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court. It refused to interfere with the High Court’s order and dismissed the petition on September 11.
•“The efforts to tranquillise and capture the T-1 tigress will be continued, and if unsuccessful, it shall be eliminated by shooting to avoid any further loss of human life. The CCF(T), Yavatmal, is authorised to carry out this order and he shall not declare any prize or incentive for the responsible person,” a Bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur and Deepak Gupta ordered.
What lies ahead?
•The activists say they respect the Supreme Court’s order but want the Forest Department to follow a proper procedure to track the animal. The activists’ opposition has forced the State government to send back private hunter Nawab Shafaat Ali Khan from Hyderabad, who was roped in by the Forest Department.
•The activists had described Mr. Khan as being “trigger happy with a notorious record.” Mr. Banait says the tigress should be tranquillised and brought back to safety. The Forest Department, which had been backing the hunter despite several allegations by the activists, has sought the help of shooters from Madhya Pradesh to help catch the tigress by tranquillising her.
📰 Positive TB test ‘not always cause for worry’
The belief that 40% of Indians may be infected with the bacterium is based on a ‘misunderstanding’
•You have tested positive for tuberculosis (TB) but not shown any symptoms for two years. Are those germs likely to persist and make you sick years later? Most likely not, suggests a study that has combed published research from over half-a-century on the incubation period of the TB bacterium and the time it usually takes to manifest into the disease.
•Globally, nearly 10 million people developed TB disease in 2017 and about 1.7 billion people, or 23% of the world’s population, are estimated to have a “latent TB infection, and are at risk of developing active TB disease during their lifetime”, according to the World Health Organisation’s Global Health Report 2018, made public last week.
Advice to high burden nations
•The canonical belief, it emerges from the study, that 40% of Indians may be infected with the bacterium is based on a “misunderstanding” and “simply wrong,” one of the researchers involved told The Hindu. She added that countries such as India with a high disease burden would do well to focus on treating active TB cases (that is those clinically confirmed and manifesting symptoms), than trying to stamp out latent TB.
•These numbers, from which India’s latent-TB burden are also derived, are based on results from the popular diagnostic tests employed — the ‘skin test’ and the Interferon Gamma Release Assay, or IGRA (a blood test) — that only indicate whether a person had generated immunity in response to TB exposure. They do not say whether the germ lies latent or will manifest into active disease. “Most of them are not latently infected. They were infected at one time, cleared the infection and may even be somewhat protected against new infection,” said Lalita Ramakrishnan, one of the study authors and Professor of Immunology at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University of Cambridge. “In short, the statement that 40% of Indians are latently infected is simply wrong, and based on confusing immunoreactivity to TB with latent infection.”
•The conventional wisdom regarding TB — including the WHO’s — is that only about 5-10% of those infected by the bacterium will likely become sick by it. “We agree with this. The main conclusion of our study is that these 5-10% will develop TB within a few months to at most two years. Only a very small minority of these 5-10% will develop TB later than that,” the authors said in an e-mail. She and her co-authors (Marcel Behr from McGill University and Paul Edelstein from the University of Pennsylvania) do not specify how small that minority might be. But even accounting for the low numbers, that somebody might fall sick from an infection acquired, say decades ago, is higher in ‘low-incidence’ countries (such as Norway, Denmark and Canada) than ‘high transmission’ countries like India, suggests the paper that was published in the peer-reviewed British Medical Journal on August 23.
•At 2.7 million cases, India has the most number of TB patients in the world. It accounts for 32% of global TB deaths among HIV-negative people, and for 27% of the total TB deaths in HIV-negative and HIV-positive people in 2017.
Data search
•For their study, Ramakrishnan and her colleagues looked at evidence from studies from Denmark, Canada and the U.K. to conclude that the incubation period of TB has not noticeably changed over the decades. They did not find similar studies that looked at incubation rates in India, said Ramakrishnan. “The fact is that studies from 1948 to now show the same results, in Europeans (old studies) and in modern studies in London, Netherlands and also Canada — which were likely mostly non-European. So there is no reason to believe that TB incubation periods have changed over time or are different in different ethnic groups. Therefore, there is no reason not to extrapolate these findings to India,” said Ramakrishnan, who works on understanding the biology of tuberculosis by modelling it in zebrafish.
•An independent researcher said that Ramakrishnan’s results did not challenge the current approach to treating TB in India. Active TB cases as well as those who lived in close proximity to them were the prime focus of India’s eradication efforts.
India’s focus
•India has committed to eliminate the disease by 2025, requiring a reduction of 10% a year but, in 2017, it only managed a 2% reduction from the previous year.
•“Treating active TB, HIV patients and children under-5 has been the traditional focus of the Indian programme,” said Srikanth Tripathy, Director, National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, in Chennai, an Indian Council for Medical Research body. “But with the 2025 target, there is a focus on preventive treatment of those who are in contact with those testing positive. Evidence from India also shows that it is the first three years since testing positive that really matter.”
📰 In the grip of a fever
Maharashtra has seen a surge in H1N1 cases since July
•Blame it on the weather. Swine flu continues to hover over Maharashtra, with health authorities attributing 60 deaths to the lethal H1N1 virus since January this year. While this year has seen fewer casualties than last, say doctors and health officials, a less-dominant, non-lethal strain of the virus, called H3N2, has been doing the rounds.
•Maharashtra, which had not recorded a single swine flu-related casualty, suddenly witnessed a dramatic surge in the number of H1N1 afflictions since July — 600 cases. In Pune and Nashik there were 25 and 23 deaths, respectively.
Contributing factors
•Health authorities and medical practitioners ascribe this to prolonged wet spells over the western and northern parts of the State.
•“Both Pune and Nashik experience what climatologists call a ‘cold monsoon’ while areas like Nagpur receive what is termed a ‘warm’ or ‘humid’ monsoon. Since August, there was a month-long stretch where Pune barely received any sunlight, thus creating fertile grounds for the virus to breed,” said epidemiologist Dr. Pradeep Awate, who is the State surveillance officer in the Public Health Department.
•There were also the annual Ganesha festivities that helped the virus spread. “The majority of the cases are from the past two months. The ongoing Ganesha festivities, with large public congregations contribute further to the spread of the virus,” said Dr. Anjali Sabne, assistant medical officer, Pune Municipal Corporation.
•The only States in India with comparable data in terms of a toll, Dr. Awate said, were Rajasthan and Gujarat, with at least 130 deaths this year in both States.
•The H3N2 strain of the influenza ‘A’ virus has also been recorded in Maharashtra since the beginning of this year, but frequently H3N2 cases went unreported. This was because the subtype was not tested in laboratories the way throat swab samples of patients suspected of (H1N1) swine flu were, said a senior scientist from the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.
•“Both these virus types, H1N1 and H3N2, are co-circulating not only across Pune district but also in other parts of the State. They have contributed to the spurt in influenza-like illnesses. Both strains have been in the air with varying intensity since January, but the situation is not alarming per se,” the scientist added
•Since the swine flu pandemic in 2009, health authorities have discerned a pattern to swine flu outbreaks in Maharashtra — a high-casualty year that generally alternated with one with significantly low fatality rates. For instance, in 2017, the H1N1 death toll in the State was as high as 532. Of the 1,100-odd fatalities in the country, Maharashtra recorded the highest swine flu-related deaths.
•In contrast, the State, in 2016, recorded only 25 H1N1-related deaths, with a mere 82 cases diagnosed as swine flu.
•Yet, in 2015, the State again witnessed a resurgence of the H1N1 virus (comparable to the 2009 pandemic), with the total death toll exceeding 900 and 8,240 cases being recorded that year.
•High-risk populations (people with diabetes, those suffering from hypertension, pregnant mothers and children) were screened and vaccinated this year.
•“We have adequate stocks of Tamiflu capsules with the provision of free treatment of those afflicted at the Sassoon General Hospital and at concessional rates at the 65-odd dispensaries under the Pune civic body,” said Dr. Sabne.
