Mixing depth is the vertical height at which pollutants are suspended in the air. It reduces on cold days with calm wind speed

Pollution levels dipped in the national capital on Wednesday morning, primarily due to increased wind speed, but the relief could be short-lived.

At 10 am, the city recorded an air quality index (AQI) of 281, which falls in the “poor” category. Prior to this, the air quality remained “very poor” for five days on the trot.

The 24-hour average AQI was 312 on Tuesday, 353 on Monday, 349 on Sunday, 345 on Saturday and 366 on Friday.

An AQI between 0and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’,201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.  A senior scientist at the India Meteorological Department said favourable wind speed helped in dispersion of pollutants on Tuesday evening.

However, the wind speed has reduced again which will allow pollutants to accumulate, he said.

The air quality may slip into the “very poor” category by Thursday, the scientist said.

According to the Ministry of Earth Sciences’ air quality monitor, SAFAR, the share of stubble burning in Delhi’s PM2.5 concentration rose to 23 percent on Tuesday, the maximum this season so far.

It was 16 percent on Monday, 19 percent on Sunday and 9 percent on Saturday.

The wind direction and wind speed were favourable for the transport of pollutants from farm fires in Punjab, Haryana and neighbouring regions on Tuesday.

The number of farm fires in neighbouring states was 1,943 on Monday – the highest so far this season, SAFAR said.

According to the India Meteorological Department, the predominant wind direction was westerly-northwesterly and the maximum wind speed was 4 kilometers per hour. The minimum temperature was recorded at 13.8 degrees Celsius.

Calm winds and low temperatures trap pollutants close to the ground, while favourable wind speed helps in their dispersion. The air quality index (AQI) is likely to improve slightly on Wednesday but pollution levels will rise again on Thursday, SAFAR said.

The central government’s Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi said the national capital’s air quality was likely to remain “very poor” till October 31.

The air quality warning system said the ventilation index – a product of mixing depth and average wind speed – is likely to be around 4,000 metre square per second on Wednesday – unfavourable for dispersion of pollutants.

Mixing depth is the vertical height at which pollutants are suspended in the air. It reduces on cold days with calm wind speed.

A ventilation index lower than 6,000 sqm/second, with the average wind speed less than 10 kmph, is unfavourable for dispersal of pollutants. PTI 

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In September this year, the peak power demand was just 5.9 per cent lower as compared to the corresponding month last year

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New Delhi: Findings of India Heart Study (I.H.S) show that 21.10% of the respondents were white-coat hypertensive while 18.90% were found to have masked hypertensionthereby putting 40% people at the risk of misdiagnosis and ‘missed’ diagnosis. There were 1228 participants from Delhi with 804 males and 424 females.

Masked hypertension is a phenomenon when an individual’s blood pressure reading is normal at the doctor’s office but high at home; white-coat hypertension is defined as a condition in which people exhibit a blood pressure level above the normal range in a clinical setting only. White-coat hypertensives who are misdiagnosed and put on anti-hypertension drugs have to take unnecessary medication.

India Heart Study (I.H.S) findings highlight a high prevalence of masked hypertension and white-coat hypertension in Indians at 42% on the first office visit (doctor’s clinic). It was also found that Indians have a higher average resting heart rate of 80 beats per minute, higher than the desired rate of 72 beats per minute. Another striking finding of the study is that unlike other countries, Indians have higher blood pressure in the evenings than in mornings which should guide doctors to rethink the timing of advising anti-hypertensive drug dosage. “India Heart Study points to a need for better clinical management of hypertension in India. This is India-specific data and should help shape the best practices for the diagnosis of high blood pressure among Indians. 

The study presents exhaustive data on the various aspects of hypertension,” said Dr. Upendra Kaul, Cardiologist, Chairman and Dean Academics and Research of Batra Hospital & Medical Research Centre, who was the Principal Investigator of I.H.S.

Throwing light on the study, Dr. Willem Verberk, PhD., Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM), and a key investigator, said, “For the ‘correct’ detection of hypertension, home blood pressure monitoring is advised. However, different patients may have different co-morbidities, like diabetes, which makes the use of validated devices for home blood pressure monitoring important. Home blood pressure monitors for pregnant women, adolescents and people with kidney disorders needs to be validated separately.” 

What sets this study apart is that it was conducted on ‘drug-naive’ set (people not on any hypertension drug) of participants using a comprehensive process of taking blood pressure readings. The investigators examined the blood pressure of 18,918 participants (male and female) through 1233 doctors across 15 states over a period of nine months. The participants’ blood pressure was monitored at home four times in a day for 7 consecutive days.

Eris Lifesciences commissioned the India Heart Study that was conducted under the aegis of Batra Hospital & Medical Research Centre.

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On August 5, the Lok Sabha passed the Transgender Persons (Protection Of Rights) Bill, however, news about the legislation got buried as it was the same day that the Centre decided to revoke special status for Jammu and Kashmir.

While the nation grappled with the implications of amending Article 370, the transgender community took a closer look at the Bill that was supposed to protect their rights, and found that barely any of their demands had been included.

“The government makes rules without consulting us and it does not make any difference to our lives,” says Payal, a transgender from north Delhi.

“Our problems go much beyond a Bill. Only educated people know about the legislation,” says Shivanya, a transgender who has been associated with the Srijan Foundation for over two years.

Started in August 2008, the foundation, located near Adarsh Nagar metro station, has worked incessantly for the welfare of the transgender community.

Recalling the painful process to get an Aadhaar card that ended up involving the District Magistrate, MLA, a doctor and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Shivanya adds: “I know my problems will not be solved. I cannot even use washrooms when I go out in public.”

Fareen, another transgender associated with the foundation, says: “People do not give us jobs and insult us behind our back. What do we do if no one employs us?”

On the day Parliament announced the amendment to Article 370, the Lok Sabha also passed the revised transgender Bill.

The legislation has been criticised by the transgender community for replacing district screening committees with bureaucratic impediments.

They have also highlighted that the provisions against discrimination have no enforceability. The Bill has also attracted disapproval for only providing separate definitions for intersex persons but no provisions for transgenders.

According to the Bill, a transgender is a person whose gender does not match with the one assigned at birth and includes transman or transwoman (whether or not such person has undergone sex reassignment surgery or hormone therapy or laser therapy), person with intersex variations, gender-queer and person having such sociocultural identities as ‘kinner’, ‘hijra’, ‘aravani’ and ‘jogta’.

Online media platform, Feminism in India, posted an elaborate critique highlighting the shortcomings of the Bill in an article published on August 5.

“The Bill has come to Parliament in this context of apathy, neglect and secrecy. A series of betrayal of assurances and a convolution of a law that would do nothing for the trans community and would rather snatch away the bare minimum that existed [sic],” it stated.

“An ideal Bill would be different and have separate provisions for transgender, transsexual and intersex persons,” said Umesh, manager of the foundation.

He claims that transsexual persons lead a very different life compared to a transgender. On the subject, Payal added that intersex persons more often than not align themselves with one of the sexes and “do not possess talents like that of a transgender”.

The new Bill states that transgenders, while obtaining a certificate, “shall be entitled to change the first name on the birth certificate”. This clause has not been well received in the community. “Our families often do not wish to associate with us. The community is our family. We should be allowed to take our guru’s name. They have given us everything,” says Shivanya.

Feminism in India believes that this provision alludes to the “impervious nature of caste in Indian society”.

Talking about Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS), Payal pointed out that “in Delhi, these surgeries are only cosmetic and can cost up to ₹1 lakh, making them unaffordable”.

She added that a proper surgery is done only in Thailand, citing the example of celebrity Gauri Arora, who underwent a sex change surgery there.

Chandini, a transgender linked with the foundation since its nascent stage, dismisses the Bill saying “there always are problems”. Shivanya, however, still harbours some hope that the Bill could have a positive impact despite its many flaws.

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NEW DELHI:  The lack of sufficient number of sponsored Sex Reassignment Surgeries (SRS) in state-run hospitals and the delay in getting dates for treatment are the most common issues faced by the transgender community, said the Delhi Commission of Women (DCW).

The cost of sex reassignment surgery for male-to-female in private hospitals vary from around Rs 2 to 5 lakh, while the bill may come anywhere between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 8 lakh for female-to-male sex change surgery. The same surgeries are provided free of cost in government hospitals. The DCW, which had recently set up a Transgender Cell to look into complaints of violence, abuse, harassment and discrimination faced by the community, held a meeting where DCW chief Swati Maliwal learnt about the problems faced by the community.

Maliwal has written to the Delhi government seeking information about hospitals that provide free surgeries and those which charge. The Commission has also sought information on surgeries performed, successful surgeries conducted and pending cases. “Considering the immense stigma and trauma suffered by the community, it is imperative that the choice of sex reassignment is readily available. It is the duty of the state to provide for such basic necessity of a large but marginalised community,” she stated.

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Before Sanjana underwent the male-female sex reassignment surgery (SRS) 20 years ago, resistance from the family and society was not the only obstacle before her — arranging the money required for the surgery seemed like an equally insurmountable task.

Fast forward to now, and the 47-year-old is among the many transgenders whose voices were taken into account by the Delhi Commission for Women, which issued notices to the Centre, pressing for government-sponsored SRS.

“Considering the stigma suffered by the community, it is imperative the choice of sex reassignment is available to those who want to exercise it. It is the duty of the state to provide for such basic necessity of a large but marginalised community,” said Maliwal.

Recalling her plight 20 years ago, Sanjana said, “ No one in my family supported me, so I had to arrange all the money by myself. I took several loans. I have so many friends of different ages that want to undergo surgery but are unable to because it costs Rs 2-3 lakh in private hospitals in Delhi,” said Sanjana. She has been regularly attending meetings of the newly formed Transgender Cell of the DCW.

Maliwal said the notice was issued after she, along with DCW member Promila Gupta, interacted with hundreds of transgender people, in addition to members of the newly formed Transgender Cell of the DCW. Among the issues raised by the community are presence of just a handful of hospitals in Delhi to perform SRS. The officials were further told that the hospital that perform SRS are not efficient.

In the notice, the commission has also asked the government to clarify by July 31 whether the surgery is provided free of cost in Delhi hospitals and requested for details on the number of such surgeries undertaken. The government has also been asked to provide the steps taken to expand the provision of SRS in all government hospitals.

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