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Delhi children grow up with smaller lungs due to pollution, says study

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Delhi children grow up with smaller lungs due to pollution, says study

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Children growing up in polluted environments of Delhi have reduced lung growth compared to the children in developed countries like the US, a study published in the Journal of Indian Paediatrics has revealed.

The study was conducted by Prof SK Chhabra, former Director-Professor at Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute and current Head of Department, Pulmonary Medicine, Primus Hospital, New Delhi.

The study shows that while children in both India and the US have nearly the same lung size till the age of about 8 years, when lungs complete their normal physical growth, subsequent growth is progressively different in both nations. Indian children show slower lung growth and reach a final size that is lower than the growth and size found in Caucasian children in the US.  Lung size in both Indian boys and girls is about 10% smaller when they reach adulthood.

The study highlights that air quality and childhood infections adversely affect lung growth besides genetic factors. Smaller lungs translate into poorer exercise capacity and greater vulnerability to respiratory symptoms and diseases. Given the fact that 40 percent of Indian children reside in cities, this is a serious situation.

The state level record, said a release from Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), also exposes the following:

— Since 1990 overall life expectancy has gone up from about average 64 years to 73 years in 2016 in Delhi. But the quality of life shows significant decline as the overall disease burden in the city has increased.

The share of non communicable diseases that are largely affected by the environmental risk factors including air pollution are increasing very rapidly affecting all age groups. Even though the share of communicable diseases has come down, this benefit has been offset by the dramatic increase in non-communicable dieses.

— Diseases that are worst affected by air pollution including cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases (COPD), and cancers have shown dramatic increase since 1990. In 1990 COPD was ranked 13 among leading causes of illness and lost life years. But this has now shot up to rank 3. Similarly, Ischemic heart disease that greatly influenced by air pollution has gone up from rank 5 to number 1; and diabetes from rank 22 to rank 5 and stroke from rank 16 to rank 15.

—  Making mockery of the population dividend, the younger age group in the city (40-69 years age), more than 60 per cent of them, are affected in varying proportion by chronic respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, and cancers.  This age group contributes 41 per cent of total deaths in the city.

— Ischemic heart disease and lower respiratory infections are the top two leading causes of deaths among female and males. In fact the GBD has already established that in India more than 50 per cent of the premature deaths that is triggered by air pollution are from ischemic heart disease.

“If this does not wake us up to the health emergency, what will? Those who are in denial of environmental pollution-related deaths and illness in India should understand that the scary death tally and illness of Indians and children makes a mockery of India’s growth story,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment.

“India will have to do drastically a lot more to reduce pollution exposure and not less of it. It will be criminal not to act on the mounting health evidences and ask for more evidences from our own children, elderly and vulnerable. Indian lung is not different from others.”

Air pollution takes six million lives each year worldwide, and India tops the list where 1.9 million premature deaths occur due to outdoor and indoor air pollution, says the Report of the Lancet Commission on Health and Pollution.

The release issued by the CSE noted that leading medical and public health experts came together on Tuesday under the aegis of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to release the first-ever systematic assessment of burden of disease at both the national and State-level in India. The report notes the progress in increasing life expectancy across the country and in all States, although improvements vary substantially across States. However, the report warns that air pollution remains the second most important risk factor nationally.

The CSE release also noted that the Report of the Lancet Commission on Health and Pollution has looked at the full range of environmental health risks reporting, based on the systematic Global Burden of Disease estimate. This shows some 9 million deaths occur each year worldwide due to air water and chemical exposures. Air pollution is at the top of the list, with outdoor and indoor air pollution contributing the lion’s share, some 6 million deaths. India remains one of the worst affected where 1.9 million premature deaths occur due to outdoor and indoor air pollution.

The group noted that the evidence makes it clear that comprehensive and long-term strategies for reducing air pollution are critical to protect public health. At the same time, they note that this is likely an underestimate and that there are many exposures for which data is not yet strong enough to quantify the effects.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Tihar jail extortion case: MHA sanctions CBI inquiry against AAP leader Satyendar Jain

Satyendar Jain and former Tihar Jail DG Sandeep Goel were accused of running an extortion racket from Tihar and demanding protection money from high profile inmates

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In another setback for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Ministry of Home Affairs accorded sanction for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry against Satyendar Jain, jailed AAP leader, for allegedly extorting Rs 10 crore from conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar as protection money. 

Satyendar Jain and former Tihar Jail DG Sandeep Goel were accused of running an extortion racket from Tihar and demanding protection money from high profile inmates allegedly. The development follows as Delhi chief minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal is in Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam.

Earlier, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena sanctioned the CBI inquiry into extortion charges against Satyendar Jain. In a letter seeking the LG’s nod to probe the extortion charges, the CBI in November last year wrote that Satyendar Jain was accused of running a high-profile extortion racket from Tihar Jail and demanding Rs 10 crore as protection money from Sukesh Chandrashekhar to enable him to live peacefully and comfortably in jail.

The aforesaid allegations were made by the conman who said Satyendar Jain extorted money in various tranches during 2018-21, either personally or through his accomplices to enable Chandrashekar to live comfortably in different jails of Delhi namely Tihar, Rohini and Mandoli.

AAP leader Satyendar Jain was arrested in May 2022 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Jain’s last bail plea was dismissed by the Supreme Court on March 18 this year and the top court asked him to surrender in connection with the money laundering case. The AAP leader was given an interim medical bail on May 26, 2023 after he fell in the jail bathroom. Jain underwent a spinal operation during his bail period.

Beside Satyendar Jain, AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, and Vijay Nair are also in Tihar Jail.

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Rahul Gandhi warns ED, CBI of strong action whenever government changes

The Congress leader’s statement follows after the Income Tax department’s fresh notices asking the party to pay Rs 1,823.08 crore.

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Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused central agencies of working at the behest of the BJP-led government at the Centre and warned them that strict action will be taken against these institutions when the government changes.

The senior Congress leader asserted that if the institutions had done their jobs properly there would have been no problem. He added that these agencies should think that some day the BJP government will change and after that there will be action. He further said that it is his guarantee that the action will be so strong that no institution will dare to do such things again.

Taking to social media platform X, Rahul Gandhi wrote that when the government changes, action will definitely be taken against those who destroyed the democracy. Mentioning that it is his guarantee, Rahul Gandhi said that such actions will be taken that no one will dare to do all this again.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s statement follows after the income tax department’s fresh notices asking the party to pay Rs 1,823.08 crore. The party has accused the ruling BJP of indulging in tax terrorism to financially cripple the opposition party ahead of Lok Sabha polls.

While addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters along with Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, party treasurer Ajay Maken alleged that the BJP is in serious violation of income-tax laws. He said the I-T department should raise a demand of Rs 4,617.58 crore from the saffron party for such violations.

Ajay Maken said that the income-tax returns filed by Congress for eight years have been reopened on baseless and manufactured grounds to levy illegal I-T demand orders totalling thousands of crores of rupees. He stated that the timing of the I-T department’s action in February and March, days before and even days after the Lok Sabha election were announced on March 16, speaks for itself about the mala-fide nature of these actions.

Furthermore, the opposition party will hold nationwide protests over the weekend against fresh income tax demand of over Rs 1,800 crore, which it has described as an egregious attack on democracy and imposition of tax terrorism amid the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

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Jammu and Kashmir: 10 killed as taxi rolls into gorge at Ramban, PM Modi announces ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh

Ramban deputy magistrate said that it was pitch dark and raining heavily when the accident occurred near Battery Chashma around 1.15am.

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In an unfortunate incident, ten passengers were killed when a taxi veered off the road amid heavy rain and fell into a gorge in Ramban district on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway early on Friday.

Baseer-ul-haq, Ramban deputy magistrate said that it was pitch dark and raining heavily when the accident occurred near Battery Chashma around 1.15am. He added that while the vehicle, believed to be a Chevrolet Tavera, has not been traced yet, 10 bodies have been recovered from the steep slope from where it went down 500 metres.

Police along with quick reaction teams, the local tehsildar, assistant commissioner, revenue, and other officials were at the spot supervising rescue work. Reports said that two identity cards were recovered from two bodies. 

The bodies were identified as taxi driver Balwan Singh, 47, of Amb Gharota in Jammu district, and Vipin Mukhiya, of Bhairagang in West Champaran district of Bihar. The identified bodies were taken to Ramban district hospital. Police asserted the taxi was on its way to Kashmir from Jammu.

Expressing grief over the accident in Ramban, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF, which would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. Furthermore, the injured would be given Rs 50,000.  PM Narendra Modi also extended condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for a quick recovery of the injured. 

Taking to social media platform X, President Droupadi Murmu said that the news of many people getting killed after a vehicle fell into a ditch in Ramban area on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway is very sad. She also offered condolences to the bereaved families.

Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir police shared on social media platform that a passenger taxi rolled down a deep gorge on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway near Battery Chashma in Ramban area. It added that Police, SDRF and civil QRT Ramban reached on spot, rescue operation is going on.

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