The Central Government recently approved to build a plastic park at Ganjimutt, Managaluru, Karnataka. The park will be created at Rs 62.77 crores. It is to be built by the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) land.

Fund allocation

Of the total estimated cost of 62.77 crores of rupees, the union government will share 50%, that is, 31.38 crores of rupees. The rest of the 50% is to be borne by the KIADB.

What is the plan?

The KIADB will be create a special purpose vehicle under its purview to implement the project. Also, KIADB is the major promoter.

Ifs and Buts in the project

The Central Government, that is, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has set a criteria in the project implementation. If the project is not completed within three months, the resources allocated will be re – allocate to other deserving projects.

About the Plastic park

• The park is to generate hundreds of employment for the local youths.
• A poly propylene unit is to be set up in the park. This unit will provide raw materials to the polymer and plastic units inside the park. Polypropylene is a thermoplastic polymer. It is mainly used in plastic packaging.
• Also, the park will help reduce transport costs. This is because, 32 companies are to be established within the park. This includes entrepreneurs from other districts as well.
• The park will include admin building, export building, warehouse facility, etc.

Plastic Park Scheme

The plastic parks are industrial zones. They play a key role in the growth of machinery supplies and plastic manufacturing, plastic recycling and plastic processing companies. The plastic parks have so far been created in Tamont village in Madhya Pradesh, Billaua village in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, Pradeep village near Jagatsinghpur in Odisha, Gellapukhuri in Assam, Devipur in Jharkhand, Voyallur in Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu.

Need for plastic parks

India’s share in global plastic exports I just 1%. The Indian plastic industry is big. However, it is highly fragmented. The plastic parks will help to consolidate the industry.

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The United Nations recently announced that the world is to face five major risks in 2022. These risks are referred to five – alarm global fire. The five alarms are COVID-19, lawlessness in cyberspace, climate crisis, bankrupt global financial system and diminished peace and security.

What is the solution?

• The UN has suggested that in order to prevent or reduce these risks, the countries should go into emergency mode. Also, they should go into emergency mode.
• “Avalanche action” is the need of the moment to tackle climate crisis. The global emissions should be reduced by 45% by the end of the decade.

Current Scenario

• According to the United Nations, the pandemic favours the rich and is punishing the poor. The global financial system is bankrupt. Actually, a good reliable and strong financial system should support countries through their financial shocks. Unfortunately, this is not happening now. Lopsided investments are being made. This is leading to lopsided recovery. Lopsided means one side is bigger and the other is smaller.
• There is a need to expand internet access. More than three billion people are still offline, that is, do not have the access to internet.
• The world governments should take immediate actions to data misuse, cybercrime and misinformation.
• The middle income countries are denied of debt relief. The poorer countries are facing slowest growths or no growth at all.
• The women and the girls form the major part of the poor in the world.
• The poor and middle income countries are facing forced migration.
• The personal information is being misused and manipulated all over the world. There is huge violation of human rights and undermining of democratic institutions.

Climate Crisis

The world is completely off track in limiting the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Paris agreement signed in 2015 aimed to reduce the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius as compared to the pre – industrial levels.

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The Delhi Government is to begin a redeveloping, streetscaping and beautification project. Around 540 km of roads in the national capital are to be beautified.

About the project

• Under the project, the roads in the country capital will be redeveloped to European standards, that is, 30 metres or above. Also, the project will make the roads safe for the pedestrians.
• The project will make the roads balanced for the transit vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.
• The project is to be implemented in Hybrid Annuity Mode. It is to be implemented by the Public Welfare Department of Delhi.
• The government will pay 60% of the project cost to the agencies implementing the project. The rest is to be paid in thirty bi – annual instalments in hybrid annual mode. Also, the agencies will look after the maintenance of these roads.

What is the plan?

The Public Welfare Department of Delhi has appointed nine consultants. These consultants will advise the government on streetscaping. Also, the consultants will analyse the data, study the traffic patterns and will frame solutions. Also, they will make sure the roads are sustainable and lay within equitable spaces.

Why is the project launched?

According to the Centre for Science and Environment, the national capital faces highest number of fatal accidents. On an average, five deaths occur in Delhi due to road accidents in a day. This is mainly because the road width is irregular all over the city. Also, in some places the extra spaces along the road sides are not utilised properly.

Significance

Each road in the capital is unique and different. The project will realign the roads. It will provide equal space for pedestrians. All the Delhi roads will have special lanes for cycles under the project. Also the project will allocate spaces for toilets, water coolers, green spaces, rainwater harvesting systems, libraries, street furniture, e – rickshaw and last mile connectivity.

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The All India Institute of Medical Sciences, AIIMS recently conducted a study on children suffering from COVID-19. According to the study, adolescents suffered from lower mortality and lesser symptoms as compared to the adults.

Key findings

• 1% of the adolescents suffer from moderate COVID-19 disease. 84.6% suffered from mild COVID-19. 11.5% suffered from body aches. 14.9% of the children suffered from fever and cough. 6.3% suffered from severe COVID-19 disease. 6.2% of the children faced breathing difficulties.
• The study also said that 50.7% of the adults suffered from breathlessness during the second wave. 7.3% of the children were in need of oxygen support. 2.3% required invasive ventilation. 2.8% wanted non – invasive ventilation. Invasive ventilation is pressure delivered through endotracheal tube. Non – Invasive ventilation is the oxygen support provided by face mask.
• 1% of the children were medicated with steroids. 16.9% of the children were given with Remdesivir.
• Currently, the in – hospital death rates of children in the age of 15 years to 17 years is 3.1%. During the second wave, it was 19.1%. This shows that the in – hospital mortality rates in children has decreased as compared to that of second wave.

Why was the study conducted?

Children of the age group 15 years to 17 years are being vaccinated since January 3, 2022. And doctors wanted to study the COVID profile of these children before the vaccination programme begins.

MIS – C

MIS – C is a multisystem inflammatory syndrome. It is condition, where antibodies turn violent and attack human body. MIS – C has been observed in children. 12 out of 10,000 COVID-19 infected children suffered from MIS – C. The MIS – C condition develops in four to six weeks after the children recover from COVID-19.

Other observations

The children suffering from organ cancers are likely to develop moderate to severe disease.

Way forward

India should focus more on creating paediatric infrastructure.

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