Learn with NITISH KUMAR

🗞 Rajasthan becomes first State to implement blindness control policy: • Rajasthan has become the first State to implement a policy to control blindness, with the objective of ensuring the “right to sight”. A massive drive will be undertaken in the State to reduce the rate of blindness, and bring light into the lives of over 3 lakh people suffering from visual impairment. • The State government’s Medical & Health Department released the policy document here over the week-end. • The prevalence rate of blindness, which was 1.1% in 2020, will be brought down to 0.3%, through the policy. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/rajasthan-becomes-first-state-to-implement-blindness-control-policy/article66378536.ece

🗞 Delhi most polluted city in India in 2022, report says: • Four years since the introduction of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) — is India’s first national policy on curbing air pollution — air quality has improved in only 49 out of 131 cities in FY 21-22, compared to the previous year, according to a report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), on January 10. • The 2022 data was released on NCAP’s fourth anniversary and is available as the NCAP Tracker, run by Climate Trends and Respirer Living Sciences • A recent data by Central Pollution Control Board claimed Delhi to be India's most polluted city in 2022 with PM 2.5 levels more than double the safe limit and the third highest average PM10 concentration. • The Centre launched the National Clean Air Programme on January 10, 2019 to reduce PM2.5 and PM10 levels in 102 cities by 20% to 30% by 2024 (with 2017 being the base year). Some more cities were added to the list, while some were dropped subsequently. • In September 2022, the government set a new target of a 40% reduction in particulate matter concentration by 2026. • Now there are 131 cities which are called non-attainment cities, as they did not meet the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for the period of 2011-15 under the National Air Quality Monitoring Programme. • The country's current annual average safe limits for PM2.5 and PM10 are 40 micrograms per cubic metre and 60 micrograms per cubic metre, respectively. • Among the most polluted cities with respect to PM2.5 levels, Delhi (99.71 micrograms per cubic metre) ranked first, Haryana's Faridabad (95.64 micrograms per cubic metre) ranked second and Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad (91.25 micrograms per cubic metre) third, according to the analysis of CPCB data. • PM10 is any particulate matter in the air with a diameter of 10 micrometers or less, including smoke, dust, soot, salts, acids, and metals. • PM2.5 is tiny particulate matter that is less than 2.5 microns in diameter and can enter the lungs and bloodstream. • For disbursing funds, the Central Pollution Control Board, which coordinates the programme, only considers levels of PM10, the relatively larger, coarser particles. • However PM2.5, the smaller, more dangerous particles, aren’t monitored as robustly in all cities, mostly due to the lack of equipment. • In 2021, Ghaziabad was the most polluted with respect to PM2.5 levels while it ranked third in terms of PM10 levels.