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Tag: Study

  • Study Reveals Surprising Stability in Indian Dowry Payments Despite Legal Ban

    Study Reveals Surprising Stability in Indian Dowry Payments Despite Legal Ban

    • A recent World Bank study analyzed 40,000 rural Indian marriages spanning five decades, finding that dowry payments have remained consistent, despite being illegal since 1961.
    • Dowry practices persist, putting women at risk of domestic violence and even death.
    • The study examined data from 17 Indian states, which collectively represent 96% of India’s population, focusing on rural areas where most Indians reside.
    • Researchers calculated the “net dowry” by comparing the value of gifts given by the bride’s family to those given by the groom’s family. On average, grooms’ families spent about 5,000 rupees ($67), while brides’ families’ gifts amounted to roughly 32,000 rupees ($429), resulting in an average net dowry of 27,000 rupees ($361).
    • Dowries consume a significant portion of household savings, equivalent to 14% of annual income in rural India in 2007.
    • Researchers noted that while dowry relative to income has decreased over time due to rising incomes, further detailed household income data is required to assess the true impact.
    • Dowry practices were prevalent among all major religious groups, with Christians and Sikhs displaying higher average dowries than Hindus and Muslims.
    • Regional variations were significant, with states like Kerala experiencing persistent dowry inflation since the 1970s, while others saw a decrease in average dowry amounts.
    • Economists studying the phenomenon found that the proportion of Indian marriages involving dowry payments doubled between 1930 and 1975, but post-1975, average dowry size declined.
    • The total value of dowry payments in India from 1950 to 1999 was estimated at nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars.

    Despite Ban, Dowry Payments Remain Unchanged in Rural India, World Bank Study Reveals

    India, July 5, 2021 – A comprehensive study conducted by the World Bank has shed light on the persisting prevalence of dowry payments in rural India, despite being officially outlawed since 1961. The findings reveal that this deeply ingrained practice continues to thrive, leaving women vulnerable to domestic violence and even death.

    To arrive at these conclusions, researchers meticulously examined data from 40,000 marriages in rural India spanning from 1960 to 2008. Shockingly, dowry was exchanged in a staggering 95% of these unions, highlighting the resilience of this social custom.

    Dowry, a centuries-old tradition in South Asia, involves the bride’s family gifting cash, clothing, and jewelry to the groom’s family. The study focused on rural India, where the majority of the population resides, analyzing dowry data from 17 Indian states representing 96% of the country’s inhabitants.

    Economists S Anukriti, Nishith Prakash, and Sunghoh Kwon delved into the value of gifts, both in cash and kind, exchanged during weddings. They calculated the “net dowry” by comparing the value of gifts given by the bride’s family to those given by the groom’s family. The results revealed that, on average, grooms’ families spent approximately 5,000 rupees ($67), whereas brides’ families’ contributions amounted to roughly 32,000 rupees ($429), resulting in an average net dowry of 27,000 rupees ($361).

    Interestingly, despite the outlawing of dowry, it still consumes a significant portion of household savings, equivalent to 14% of annual income in rural India in 2007. Dr. Anukriti, an economist at the World Bank Research Group, noted, “As a share of income, dowry has gone down over time because on average rural incomes have risen in India.”

    The study also revealed that dowry practices transcend religious boundaries, with Christians and Sikhs showing higher average dowries than Hindus and Muslims.

    Regional disparities were evident, with some states like Kerala experiencing a persistent dowry inflation since the 1970s, while others, such as Odisha, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra, saw a decrease in average dowry amounts.

    In conclusion, despite changes in Indian society over the past decades, dowry practices have shown remarkable stability. Experts believe that without significant structural changes in marriage markets, laws, and other factors, these patterns are unlikely to alter substantially. The study has opened new avenues for understanding this deeply rooted social issue, prompting further research into the variations observed across different regions and communitie

    • A World Bank study reveals that dowry payments in rural India have remained unchanged, with dowries exchanged in 95% of marriages, despite being banned since 1961.
    • The practice persists, leaving women vulnerable to domestic violence and death.
    • Researchers analyzed data from 17 Indian states, finding that dowries consume 14% of annual household income in rural India.
    • Dowry practices are prevalent across all major religious groups, with regional variations in dowry amounts observed.
    • This study highlights the need for further research and potential policy interventions to address this deeply rooted social issue.

  • The News Caravan Jobs, JK News, Study – Apps on Google Play

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    The News Caravan is an Android Mobile app of J&K which Updates you with all Latest Government & Private Jobs information , JKChrome of Latest and Breaking News, Mock tests, Exam Guide, Exam Preparations, Current Affairs, Sample Papers, Notes, All J&K Exams Mock test in J&K and Ladakh UT.

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  • India tops list of countries with high maternal, newborn deaths: UN Study

    India tops list of countries with high maternal, newborn deaths: UN Study

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    Cape Town: Owing to its large birth cohort, India leads a list of 10 countries that together account for 60 percent of global maternal deaths, stillbirths and newborn deaths, and 51 percent of live births globally, according to a United Nations report released on Tuesday.

    The latest published estimate in the progress tracking report by the WHO, UNICEF, and the UNFPA was launched at the ongoing ‘International Maternal Newborn Health Conference’ (IMNHC 2023) here. It shows there were a combined 4.5 million deaths — maternal deaths (0.29 million), stillbirths (1.9 million) and newborn deaths (2.3 million) — in 2020-2021.

    Sub-Saharan Africa and central and Southern Asia are the regions experiencing the largest number of deaths, although across all regions, there is variation regarding the pace at which countries are progressing in their efforts to achieve the global 2030 targets.

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    According to the first-ever joint Every Newborn action Plan (ENAP) and Ending Preventable Maternal Mortality (EPMM) progress tracking report, the global progress in reducing deaths of pregnant women, mothers and babies has flatlined for eight years due to decreasing investments in maternal and newborn health.

    “Pregnant women and newborns continue to die at unacceptably high rates worldwide, and the coronavirus pandemic has created further setbacks to providing them with the health care they need,” Dr Anshu Banerjee, Director of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing at the World Health Organisation (WHO), said.

    “If we wish to see different results, we must do things differently. More and smarter investments in primary health care are needed so that every woman and baby – no matter where they live – has the best chance of health and survival,” Banerjee said.

    Addressing media at IMNHC, Dr Allisyn Moran, Maternal Health Lead at WHO, said the maternal, newborn mortality and stillbirths have declined since 2000, but since 2015, there has been significant plateauing of maternal mortality reduction and stillbirth reduction.

    “We really need to work hard as a community to accelerate that progress so that we can achieve the SDG targets by 2030. In order to get there, we need to implement life saving interventions for quality antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care for women and newborns, and preventing stillbirths.

    “We have coverage targets for antenatal, skilled birth assistant, and postnatal care to 2025. We know that the interventions need to be given along with quality and respectful care,” Moran said.

    India saw 7,88,000 maternal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal deaths in 2020, of the total 4.5 million deaths globally. The country also accounts for 17 percent of global live births which could be a factor for the large number of maternal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal deaths.

    It is followed by Nigeria, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Bangladesh and China for maternal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal deaths.

    Trend data revealed that the global progress in reducing maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths has slowed during the last decade. Gains made between 2000 and 2010 were faster than they have been in the years since 2010.

    It is critical to determine the reasons for this slowed pace, and take action to address them.

    “Global challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, conflicts and other emergencies, as well as cost of living increases within countries have the potential to further slow progress in this decade, warranting greater urgency and investment towards maternal and newborn health targets,” the report said.

    As is too often the case, vulnerability, fear, and loss are not spread equally around the world, Steven Lauwerier, UNICEF Director of Health, noted. “Since the COVID-19 pandemic, babies, children and women, who were already exposed to threats to their well-being, especially those living in fragile countries and emergencies, are facing the heaviest consequences of decreased spending and efforts on providing quality and accessible healthcare,” he said.

    Funding shortfalls and underinvestment in primary health care can devastate survival prospects, the report highlighted.

    In the worst-affected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central and Southern Asia the regions with the greatest burden of newborn and maternal deaths – fewer than 60 percent of women receive even four, of WHO’s recommended eight, antenatal checks, the report stated.

    “This is a silent emergency that we have and we need to change the future. This report is telling us that we need to improve massively if we want to avert maternal deaths, newborn deaths and stillbirths, and not to forget morbidity in mothers and also newborns. We need to focus on quality of care and data as well. More data, better data and data from different levels so that we can gather more information,” Dr Willibald Zeck, Chief Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights at UNFPA, said.

    To increase survival rates, women and babies must have quality and affordable healthcare before, during and after childbirth, the agencies said, as well as access to family planning services. More skilled and motivated health workers, especially midwives, are needed alongside essential medicines and supplies, safe water, and reliable electricity.

    The report also stressed that interventions should especially target the poorest women and those in vulnerable situations who are most likely to miss out on lifesaving care, including through critical subnational planning and investments.

    Improving maternal and newborn health further requires addressing harmful gender norms, biases and inequalities, it added.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • KSP HOME Small Mini Table Trash Bin (Pack of 2), Multi-use Dustbin for Study Table Office Dustbin, Desk, Kitchen, Bedroom Dustbin with Attached lid (Mini) (Multicolor), Plastic, Swing-lid

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  • Study Paper Mentioning Mental Health in J&K Makes It to Prestigious Lancet Journal; Upscaling of Tele-psychiatry Suggested

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    Mental health issues remain unaddressed because of stigma, lack of general awareness and dearth of trained health professionals, says Secretary H&ME Dr. Bhupinder Kumar

    Asif Iqbal

    Srinagar, May 1 (GNS): The Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir, witnessing a complicated political situation over the decades coupled with natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods including impacts from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, has been facing a colossal mental burden, as per a recent paper making it to the prestigious global journal Lancet.

    The paper titled ‘Reducing the mental health treatment gap in Kashmir: scaling up to maximise the potential of telepsychiatry’, assessed by GNS, says that the area has a huge mental health burden and that authorities have tried to address this by increasing the number of trained mental health professionals, despite these efforts the gap remains largely unaddressed.

    To tackle mental health morbidity, the study has suggested up-scaling of telepsychiatry in the region.

    “It is especially relevant in regions such as Jammu and Kashmir that have faced political conflict and natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and including impacts from the ongoing Covid19 pandemic,” the study reveals.

    The study paper says that the policymakers have also initiated the Tele MANAS centre in Kashmir, where mental health needs are being prioritised by introducing more professionals who can provide services in local Kashmiri and Urdu languages.

    “Since its launch on 4th November, 2022, the centre has received 4000 calls as people with mental illness from every district of the Union Territory are seeking professional help.”

    “These numbers convey the enormous demand and needs but also show that TELE Manas is acceptable to people and they are initiating contact with mental health providers. The current step is expected to ensure cost-and-time-effective and comprehensive services for the poorly served population of the region, strengthening mental health, an area that has been historically neglected in Jammu and Kashmir”, remarks the study authored by Dr Arshad Hussain, Secretary Health and Medical Education Bhupinder Kumar alongside two other veteran psychiatrists Manasi Kumar, and Fazle Roub.

    When contacted, Secretary Health and Medical Education (H&ME) Dr. Bhupinder Kumar, who is part of the study paper, remarked that there have been many underlying gaps vis-à-vis the need to access mental health in Kashmir. “This paper mainly talks about the measures aimed at bridging of these gaps, for we have dearth of trained mental health care workers, be it counselors, be it clinical psychologists or the psychiatrists who might otherwise help us in this pursuit”, Kumar was however quick to add that it may be due to regional variations as well. “If we talk about Jammu and Kashmir only, we’ll get to see variation between Kashmir and Jammu, likewise in Kashmir the variation between Srinagar and any other district.”

    “The mental health issues remain unaddressed also because of stigma and lack of general awareness which results that many people face issues of mental awareness which depletes the quality, productivity and efficiency of life of people sufferings from these, not to talk how it affects their overall economic and financial situation”, Kumar said adding “To bridge this gap, a Tele-service by the name of Tele-Manas was launched by GoI in November 2022 in Kashmir, which runs on a toll-free number round the clock throughout the year. Our counselors receive calls on the number with due diligence to maintain the confidentiality of the callers’ and in turn counsel anyone in need and we have been receiving calls from people who are facing different situations particular to them.”

    “Since the time we have started this helpline, we have received more than ten thousand calls and off-late we have witnessed a trend that we are receiving repeat-callers (callers calling more than once) even as the duration of average call is also increasing. Though still in its infancy stage, it nevertheless has fetched us quite good results till we recruit and appoint more psychiatrists in our medical colleges. We have proposed a similar and separate call centre exclusive for Jammu to overcome linguistic barriers, if any, coming in way for an effective redressal of the issue.”

    “Off-late we have been receiving a good number of calls from females as well and it would be apt to say there are more female callers as compared to male callers over a while now”, Kumar said adding this shows that there perhaps was some constraint or some sort of shyness by the females before this initiative was taken.”

    Asked as from which region the calls have been more, Kumar said they have seen more calls from Kashmir as compared to Jammu. “If seen within Kashmir, Srinagar people have more calls followed by Anantnag, Baramulla and Pulwama and the other districts as well.”

    “The acceptance of this paper is a testimony that it is an acknowledgement and an important step towards the expansion of tele-mental health services, otherwise we have a very acute shortage of psychiatrists as we have many districts where there is no trained psychiatrist at all.”

    “This is a step towards the bigger pursuit and larger cause and hopefully we will see better results in coming times.”

    “I genuinely and wholeheartedly appreciate and compliment all the doctors who have been part of this study paper”, Kumar further said. (GNS)

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    ( With inputs from : thegnskashmir.com )

  • AI has better ‘bedside manner’ than some doctors, study finds

    AI has better ‘bedside manner’ than some doctors, study finds

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    ChatGPT appears to have a better ‘bedside manner’ than some doctors – at least when their written advice is rated for quality and empathy, a study has shown.

    The findings highlight the potential for AI assistants to play a role in medicine, according to the authors of the work, who suggest such agents could help draft doctors’ communications with patients. “The opportunities for improving healthcare with AI are massive,” said Dr John Ayers, of the University of California San Diego.

    However, others noted that the findings do not mean ChatGPT is actually a better doctor and cautioned against delegating clinical responsibility given that the chatbot has a tendency to produce “facts” that are untrue.

    The study, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, used data from Reddit’s AskDocs forum, in which members can post medical questions that are answered by verified healthcare professionals. The team randomly sampled 195 exchanges from AskDocs where a verified doctor responded to a public question. The original questions were then posed to the AI language model, ChatGPT, which was asked to respond. A panel of three licensed healthcare professionals, who did not know whether the response came from a human physician or ChatGPT, rated the answers for quality and empathy.

    Overall, the panel preferred ChatGPT’s responses to those given by a human 79% of the time. ChatGPT responses were also rated good or very good quality 79% of the time, compared with 22% of doctors’ responses, and 45% of the ChatGPT answers were rated empathic or very empathic compared with just 5% of doctors’ replies.

    Dr Christopher Longhurst, of UC San Diego Health, said: “These results suggest that tools like ChatGPT can efficiently draft high-quality, personalised medical advice for review by clinicians, and we are beginning that process at UCSD Health.”

    Prof James Davenport, of the University of Bath, who was not involved in the research, said: “The paper does not say that ChatGPT can replace doctors, but does, quite legitimately, call for further research into whether and how ChatGPT can assist physicians in response generation.”

    Some noted that, given ChatGPT was specifically optimised to be likable, it was not surprising that it wrote text that came across as empathic. It also tended to give longer, chattier answers than human doctors, which could have played a role in its higher ratings.

    Others cautioned against relying on language models for factual information due to their tendency to generate made-up “facts”.

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    Prof Anthony Cohn, of the University of Leeds, said that using language models as a tool to draft responses was a “reasonable use case for early adoption”, but that even in a supporting role they should be used carefully. “Humans have been shown to overly trust machine responses, particularly when they are often right, and a human may not always be sufficiently vigilant to properly check a chatbot’s response,” he said. “This would need guarding against, perhaps using random synthetic wrong responses to test vigilance.”

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    ( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

  • Social media particularly damaging to mental health of Gen Zers, says study

    Social media particularly damaging to mental health of Gen Zers, says study

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    New data on the impact of social media use on mental health across the world shows just how damaging it is to Gen Zers.

    The study, conducted by the McKinsey Health Institute, reported: “Gen Zers, on average, are more likely than other generations to cite negative feelings about social media.”

    Some 42,000 respondents in 26 countries across continents were surveyed about the four dimensions of health: mental, physical, social and spiritual. Gen Zers ranked worst across all of these categories.

    Millennials were next, followed by Gen Xers and baby boomers. One in seven baby boomers said their mental health has declined over the past three years, compared with one in four Gen Z respondents.

    Although millennials reported being more active on social media – 32% said they posted at least once a day – Gen Z spends the most amount of time on the apps, but more passively. The study shows that 35% of Gen Z respondents spend over two hours on social media daily compared with 24% of millennials and 14% of baby boomers.

    Studies have shown that passive social media use, like endlessly scrolling on TikTok or Instagram, could be linked with declines in wellbeing over time. The negative impact of social media increases substantially for younger ages overall.

    At 21%, female Gen Zers, in particular, were almost twice as likely to report poor mental health when compared with their male counterparts, 13% of whom reported poor mental health.

    A higher portion of female Gen Zers reported poor or distorted body image and self-confidence as negative impacts of social media. The American Psychological Association found “reducing social media use significantly improves body image in teens and young adults”.

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    But social media is not all bad – respondents across all generations overwhelmingly reported positive impacts of social media when it comes to self-expression and social connectivity.

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    ( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

  • Florida surgeon general altered key findings in study on Covid-19 vaccine safety

    Florida surgeon general altered key findings in study on Covid-19 vaccine safety

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    Researchers with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and University of Florida, who viewed Ladapo’s edits on the study and have followed the issue closely, criticized the surgeon general for making the changes. One said it appears Ladapo altered the study out of political — not scientific — concerns.

    “I think it’s a lie,” Matt Hitchings, an assistant professor of biostatistics at the University of Florida, said of Ladapo’s assertion that the Covid-19 vaccine causes cardiac death in young men. “To say this — based on what we’ve seen, and how this analysis was made — it’s a lie.”

    The newly released draft of the eight-page study, provided by the Florida Department of Health, indicates that it initially stated that there was no significant risk associated with the Covid-19 vaccines for young men. But “Dr. L’s Edits,” as the document is titled, reveal that Ladapo replaced that language to say that men between 18 and 39 years old are at high risk of heart illness from two Covid vaccines that use mRNA technology.

    “Results from the stratified analysis for cardiac related death following vaccination suggests mRNA vaccination may be driving the increased risk in males, especially among males aged 18-39,” Ladapo wrote in the draft. “The risk associated with mRNA vaccination should be weighed against the risk associated with COVID-19 infection.”

    In a statement to POLITICO, Ladapo said revisions and refinements are a normal part of assessing surveillance data and that he has the appropriate expertise and training to make those decisions.

    “To say that I ‘removed an analysis’ for a particular outcome is an implicit denial of the fact that the public has been the recipient of biased data and interpretations since the beginning of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine campaign,” he said. “I have never been afraid of disagreement with peers or media.”

    He also said that he determined the study was worthwhile since “the federal government and Big Pharma continue to misrepresent risks associated with these vaccines.”

    The DeSantis administration referred questions to Florida’s Department of Health.

    Ladapo, a Harvard-trained doctor who held professorships at UCLA and NYU, specializes in cardiovascular diseases and gained attention nationally during the pandemic after he authored op-eds in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today questioning the safety of Covid-19 vaccines and the effectiveness of mask-wearing and lockdowns.

    He was also a supporter of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug that former President Donald Trump often praised as a treatment for Covid. The FDA later withdrew emergency authorization for its use.

    Ladapo was picked by DeSantis in September 2021 to become the state’s surgeon general as DeSantis waged war against President Joe Biden’s Covid-related restrictions and ordered the state to ban mask-wearing requirements in schools and employer-issued vaccine mandates.

    Ladapo drew criticism in part because he was affiliated with the conservative America’s Frontline Doctors, a group founded to fight Covid restrictions by anti-vaccine advocate Simone Gold. Ladapo devoted an entire chapter to his friendship with Gold in a memoir he published last year titled “Transcend Fear.”

    Yet the researchers who viewed a copy of the edits said Ladapo removed an important analysis that would have contradicted his recommendation. Daniel Salmon, director of the Institute for Vaccine Safety at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, called Ladapo’s changes “really troubling.”

    “He took out stuff that didn’t support his position,” Salmon said. “That’s really a problem.”

    Hitchings chastised the integrity of Ladapo’s study after it was released last fall but is now much more critical.

    “What’s clear from the previous analysis, and even more clear from Dr. L’s edits, is that absolutely there was a political motivation behind the final analysis that was produced,” Hitchings said. “Key information was withheld from the public that would have allowed them or other experts to interpret this in context.”

    Ladapo’s edits also shed new light on an anonymous internal complaint he faced last year. The complaint, which the Florida Department of Health’s inspector general investigated, accused Ladapo of “scientific fraud” for allegedly manipulating the final draft of the study.

    The inspector general stopped probing the complaint after the anonymous person failed to respond to emails. In a previous interview with POLITICO, Ladapo said the accusations were “factually false.”

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    ( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

  • ChatGPT fails when it comes to accounting, finds major study

    ChatGPT fails when it comes to accounting, finds major study

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    New Delhi: AI chatbot ChatGPT is still no match for humans when it comes to accounting and while it is a game changer in several fields, the researchers say the AI still has work to do in the realm of accounting.

    Microsoft-backed OpenAI has launched its newest AI chatbot product, GPT-4 which uses machine learning to generate natural language text, passed the bar exam with a score in the 90th percentile, passed 13 of 15 advanced placement (AP) exams and got a nearly perfect score on the GRE Verbal test.

    “It’s not perfect; you’re not going to be using it for everything,” said Jessica Wood, currently a freshman at Brigham Young University (BYU) in the US. “Trying to learn solely by using ChatGPT is a fool’s errand.”

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    Researchers at BYU and 186 other universities wanted to know how OpenAI’s tech would fare on accounting exams. They put the original version, ChatGPT, to the test.

    “We’re trying to focus on what we can do with this technology now that we couldn’t do before to improve the teaching process for faculty and the learning process for students. Testing it out was eye-opening,” said lead study author David Wood, a BYU professor of accounting.

    Although ChatGPT’s performance was impressive, the students performed better.

    Students scored an overall average of 76.7 per cent, compared to ChatGPT’s score of 47.4 per cent.

    On a 11.3 per cent of questions, ChatGPT scored higher than the student average, doing particularly well on AIS and auditing.

    But the AI bot did worse on tax, financial, and managerial assessments, possibly because ChatGPT struggled with the mathematical processes required for the latter type, said the study published in the journal Issues in Accounting Education.

    When it came to question type, ChatGPT did better on true/false questions and multiple-choice questions, but struggled with short-answer questions.

    In general, higher-order questions were harder for ChatGPT to answer.

    “ChatGPT doesn’t always recognise when it is doing math and makes nonsensical errors such as adding two numbers in a subtraction problem, or dividing numbers incorrectly,” the study found.

    ChatGPT often provides explanations for its answers, even if they are incorrect. Other times, ChatGPT’s descriptions are accurate, but it will then proceed to select the wrong multiple-choice answer.

    “ChatGPT sometimes makes up facts. For example, when providing a reference, it generates a real-looking reference that is completely fabricated. The work and sometimes the authors do not even exist,” the findings showed.

    That said, authors fully expect GPT-4 to improve exponentially on the accounting questions posed in their study.

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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • 90% of India, entire Delhi in ‘danger zone’ of heatwave impacts: Study

    90% of India, entire Delhi in ‘danger zone’ of heatwave impacts: Study

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    New Delhi: Heatwaves in India are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change, with over 90 percent of the country in the “extremely cautious” or “danger zone” of their impacts, according to a new study.

    The study, conducted by Ramit Debnath and colleagues at the University of Cambridge, also revealed that Delhi is particularly vulnerable to severe heatwave impacts, though its recent state action plan for climate change does not reflect this.

    It suggested that heatwaves have impeded India’s progress towards achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) more significantly than previously thought, and that the current assessment metrics may not fully capture the impacts of heatwaves linked to climate change on the country.

    MS Education Academy

    Heatwaves claimed more than 17,000 lives in 50 years in India, according to a paper authored by M Rajeevan, former secretary of Ministry of Earth Sciences, along with scientists Kamaljit Ray, S S Ray, R K Giri and A P Dimri.

    The paper published in 2021 said there were 706 heatwave incidents in the country from 1971-2019.

    Thirteen people died from heatstroke at a Maharashtra government award function in Navi Mumbai on Sunday, making it one of the highest death tolls from a single heatwave-related event in the country’s history.

    To assess India’s climate vulnerability and the potential impact of climate change on SDG progress, researchers at the University of Cambridge conducted an analytical evaluation of the country’s heat index with its climate vulnerability index.

    The heat index (HI) is a measure of how hot it feels to the human body, taking into account both temperature and humidity. The climate vulnerability index (CVI) is a composite index that uses various indicators to account for socioeconomic, livelihood, and biophysical factors to study the impact of heatwave.

    The researchers accessed a publicly available dataset on state-level climate vulnerability indicators from the government’s National Data and Analytics Platform to classify severity categories.

    They then compared India’s progress in SDGs over 20 years (2001-2021) with extreme weather-related mortality from 2001-2021.

    The study showed that more than 90 percent of India is in the “extremely cautious” or “danger” range of heatwave impacts through HI, otherwise considered “low” or “moderate” vulnerability through CVI.

    States that were categorized as “low” in CVI rankings were found to be in “danger” HI categories, indicating that heatwaves put more people at extreme climate risk across India than estimated by CVI.

    The authors concluded that the use of CVI may underestimate the actual burden of climate change concerning heat, and suggested that India should consider reassessing its climate vulnerabilities to meet the SDGs.

    They warned that if India fails to address the impact of heatwaves immediately, it could slow progress towards achieving sustainable development goals.

    The study also highlighted that the current heat-action plans designed and implemented according to the Delhi government’s vulnerability assessment do not include HI estimations, which is concerning since even the “low” climate-vulnerable areas in Delhi are at high heatwave risks.

    The high intensity of development in Central, East, West, and North-East districts can further elevate the HI risks through heat island formation, it said.

    The authors said some of the critical variables in Delhi that will aggravate heat-related vulnerabilities include concentration of slum population and overcrowding in high HI areas, lack of access to basic amenities like electricity, water and sanitation, non-availability of immediate healthcare and health insurance, poor condition of housing and dirty cooking fuel (biomass, kerosene and coal).

    The threshold for a heatwave is met when the maximum temperature of a station reaches at least 40 degrees Celsius in the plains, at least 37 degrees Celsius in coastal areas, and at least 30 degrees Celsius in hilly regions, and the departure from normal is at least 4.5 degrees Celsius.

    Earlier this month, the India Meteorological Department predicted above-normal maximum temperatures for most parts of the country from April to June, except parts of the northwest and the peninsular regions.

    Above-normal heatwave days are expected in most parts of central, east, and northwest India during this period.

    In 2023, India experienced its hottest February since record-keeping began in 1901. However, above-normal rainfall in March kept temperatures in check.

    March 2022 was the warmest ever and the third driest in 121 years. The year also saw the country’s third-warmest April since 1901.

    In India, about 75 percent of workers (around 380 million people) experience heat-related stress.

    A report by the McKinsey Global Institute warns that if this continues, by 2030, the country could lose between 2.5 percent to 4.5 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per year.

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    #India #entire #Delhi #danger #zone #heatwave #impacts #Study

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )