GK/CA

10/03/2024

In recent years, studies and surveys have flagged a distinct shift in India’s disease burden. Non communicable diseases such as diabetes, strokes and heart ailments claim more lives in the country compared to infectious diseases. Experts have also underlined the links between these lifestyle-related diseases and obesity. Long thought to be an urban problem, obesity has become a health threat in rural parts of the country in the last decade. Now, a study published in the medical journal, The Lancet, has revealed that it also affects children. More than 12 million children (7.3 million boys and 5.2 million girls) in the country, aged between five and 19, were grossly overweight in 2022, up from 0.4 million in 1990. A gender skew also marks the rise in obesity levels: The Lancet study found 44 million women and 26 million men aged above 20 in India to be obese, up from 2.4 million women and 1.1 million men in 1990.

Source-The Indian Express

18/12/2023

Following the footsteps of cricket legends, the BCCI has retired the No.7 jersey of MS Dhoni, the former captain who led India to many victories. This is a tribute to his legacy and achievements, similar to the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar’s No.10 in 2017. Both Dhoni and Tendulkar are widely regarded as two of the greatest players in the history of Indian cricket.

16/12/2023

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently released the Global Status Report on Road Safety, which revealed that while there has been a 5% reduction in global road crash deaths from 2011 to 2021, India’s recorded fatalities increased in the same period. The total number of deaths in road crashes across the globe dropped from 1.25 million to 1.19 million in the ten-year period. However, India’s road safety record deteriorated, with fatalities increasing from 134,000 in 2010 to 154,000 in 2021. India’s share in global road fatalities also rose from 11% to 13%.Therefore, there is an urgent need to enhance road safety in India, by adopting a holistic, multisectoral, and evidence-based approach, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030.

14/12/2023

Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced three redrafted Bills in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday to replace the existing British-era criminal laws, after withdrawing the three Bills that were introduced in August. The three Bills seek to replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, respectively.

01/10/2023

India's population is ageing in line with the majority of the global population. According to the India Ageing Report 2023 published by the UN Population Fund, there will be twice as many people over 60 in 2050 than there were in 2022 (10.5% or 14.9 crore), or 20.8% or 34.7 crore. There will be effects on society, the economy, and the health of one in five people as they get older. As children migrate in search of better opportunities, elderly people who live alone are becoming more prevalent, for example in Kerala and West Bengal. There are difficulties in raising children as life expectancy rises as a result of advances in disease prevention and reductions in fertility rates in many nations, including India.

25/12/2022

India has stepped up its fight against cervical cancer, with the Central Government announcing that it will provide vaccinations to girls aged 9 to 14 through schools. The decision comes at a critical juncture, as a study published this month in The Lancet found that India has the highest number of cervical cancer cases in Asia, followed by China. More than 58% of all cervical cancer cases and deaths worldwide were estimated to have occurred in Asia, with India accounting for 21% of cases and 23% of deaths, followed by China (18% and 17%). Cervical cancer is both preventable and treatable. It is caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, and there are vaccines available to protect against carcinogenic HPV.

20/12/2022

A recent study resulted in the addition of three medicinal plant species from the Himalayas to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. According to assessments, Dactylorhiza hatagirea is "endangered," Fritilloria cirrhosa is "vulnerable," and Meizotropis pellita is "critically endangered."

09/09/2022

Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch and a symbol of stability in a turbulent era that saw the decline of the British empire and disarray in her own family, died Thursday after 70 years on the throne. She was 96.

08/09/2022

08/09/2022

Poshan Maah celebrations from 1st September–30th September with a focus on“Mahila aur Swasthya”and“Bachaaur Shiksha”.

01/09/2022

Registered violent crimes such as r**e, kidnapping, crimes against children and robberies increased again across India in 2021, after pandemic-related restrictions led to a decline in these severe offences in 2020. Murders, which did not come down even in 2020, continued to increase last year too.
The number of registered r**e cases increased from 28,046 in 2020 to 31,677 in 2021, closer to the 2019 figure of 32,032 cases. Cases related to kidnapping and abduction fell to 84,805 in 2020 from 1,05,036 cases in 2019, but again rose to 1,01,707 in 2021. On the other hand, murder cases continued their consistent increase with 29,272 cases in 2021, up from 29,193 in 2020 and 28,915 in 2019.
However, the number of overall registered cognisable crimes decreased from 66 lakh in 2020 to 60.9 lakh in 2021, a 7.6% decrease. The crime rate (crimes per 1 lakh people) also decreased from 487.8 in 2020 to 445.9 in 2021.

01/09/2022

Marking a steady increase since 2014, the share of daily wagers among those who die by su***de in the country has crossed the quarter mark for the first time, according to the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) — one in four of the recorded 1,64,033 su***de victims during 2021 was a daily wage earner.
The report — “Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India” — shows that daily wage earners remained the largest profession-wise group among su***de victims in 2021, accounting for 42,004 su***des (25.6 per cent).

10/06/2022

Carbon dioxide measured at the Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory, Hawaii, run by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), peaked for 2022 at 421 parts per million in May. This has pushed the atmosphere further into territory not seen for millions of years, scientists from NOAA and Scripps Institution of Oceanography announced last week.
NOAA’s measurements averaged 420.99 parts per million (ppm), an increase of 1.8 ppm over 2021. Scientists at Scripps independently calculated a monthly average of 420.78 ppm.

01/04/2022

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad Sangma signed an agreement in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Tuesday to end the 50-year-old border dispute between the two northeastern states.

31/03/2022

Apple’s “CODA” wins historic Oscar for Best Picture at the Academy Awards :

“CODA” landed three Academy Awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, with wins for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Troy Kotsur, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Siân Heder. The winners were revealed this evening at the 94th Annual Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.

31/03/2022

The Ayurveda medical practitioner Dr Pramod Sawant will lead the BJP second time as Goa chief minister

27/03/2022

The government of India has convened a multi-Ministerial group to look into how to overcome challenges in trade with Russia, including managing payments for exporters and importers, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar said in Parliament on Thursday, in comments that indicate a possible revival of “Rupee-Rouble trade” in the wake of economic sanctions against Russian banks and entities by more than 40 U.S. and European allies.

19/03/2022

India on Thursday extended a $1 billion credit facility to Sri Lanka to assist the island nation through its worst foreign exchange crisis and enable it to procure food, medicines and other essential items.