IPM Indore 2024 Question Paper

Recently, India was in the news again as a world leader - but this time for the wrong reason. According to the Swiss firm IQAirʼs assessment of the air quality of world cities 2023, New Delhi is back to being the worldʼs most polluted capital. New Delhiʼs annual air quality rating is 19 times the World Health Organizationʼs annual limit recommended in 2021 for its pollutant level. The picture is no better as far as the larger Union Territory of Delhi is considered - its annual record of pollutant levels makes it the third most polluted region globally.

Delhi may have hogged the headlines on air pollution, but the problem is far from unique to metropolises. IQAirʼs findings reveal that even lower-tier cities and towns in India are choking because of very poor air quality. Indeed, Begusarai in Bihar is the worldʼs most polluted city. Partly industrialized, housing among others an oil refinery, Begusarai is primarily agrarian. And Begusarai is not an outlier: Mullanpur in Punjab, which is
transitioning to an urban settlement, and Siwan in Bihar are among the 42 Indian cities/towns that are among the 50 most polluted globally.

Many judicial pronouncements have upheld “the right to clean airˮ as a corollary to the fundamental right to life and pushed governments to act. But Delhiʼs bad air is despite the introduction of CNG in public transport and the building of a metro network in the early years of this decade, and in spite of the presence of a Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) that kicks in when the air quality turns bad and becomes more stringent as the air quality worsens.

Improving air quality across Indian cities requires three fundamental changes. One, governments must turn to science to understand, measure, and monitor the problem. Two, they have to understand that the response will have to include behavioural changes and use a combination of incentives and penalties to achieve this. And three, clean air has to be seen as a common public good. To be sure, it is not just the responsibility of the Centre or a battle for courts to wage, but a fight that states and municipal governments have to be a part of. This is the battle for our future.

Anxiety is an emotion that all people experience from time to time, and we do that for good reasons. It has been built into us; we have inherited it from our evolutionary past because, in general, anxiety has a survival function. It kicks in whenever we sense danger - we freeze, we devote all of our attention to the danger, and our bodies react with a big release of adrenaline, an increase in blood flow to the muscles, getting us ready to run as fast as we can or fight as fiercely as we might.

Anxiety also helps us to focus on things when we have deadlines, and if someone is driving too fast when we cross the road, it helps us to jump out of the way quickly. So, there is nothing wrong with anxiety in general, and in fact, we would have difficulties if we did not experience it to some extent. However, it can get problematic if the danger is imagined rather than real, or is something that is exaggerated. In those cases, particularly if the perceived danger is out of proportion to the real danger, and it is persistent and disabling, then there is a danger of an anxiety disorder.

Scientists are looking at what role genes play in the development of these disorders and are also investigating the effects of environmental factors such as pollution, physical and psychological stress, and diet. Several parts of the brain are key actors in the production of fear and anxiety. Using brain imaging technology and neurochemical techniques, scientists have discovered that the amygdala plays a significant role in most anxiety disorders. By learning more about how the brain creates fear and anxiety, scientists may be able to devise better treatments for these disorders.

The first psychotherapy treatment that was shown to be effective was ‘exposure therapyʼ, which essentially encourages people in a graded way to go into their feared situations and stay in them for as long as they can and build their confidence that way. Another is ‘group cognitive behaviour therapyʼ, a talking therapy that helps people to understand the link between negative thoughts and mood and how altering their behaviour can enable them to manage anxiety and feel in control. There are, of course, drugs that can help people with anxiety, but medication will not cure an anxiety disorder, it can only help to keep it under control while the person receives psychotherapy.

There is plenty of evidence that exercise can help with anxiety problems. When stress affects the brain, with its many nerve connections, the rest of the body feels the impact as well. Exercise and other physical activity produce endorphins, which are chemicals in the brain that act as natural painkillers. Additionally, getting physically tired can help people fall asleep faster and have deeper, more relaxing sleep. As many people suffering from anxiety often have problems with insomnia, just the ability to get a good nightʼs rest can change their perspectives.

Anxiety is a normal but highly subjective human emotion. While normal anxiety serves a beneficial and adaptive purpose, it can also become the cause of tremendous suffering for millions of people. It is important that people recognise excessive anxiety in themselves at the earliest, as treatment can be very successful. Leaving it untreated can be a misery.

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