IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-01

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In Chandigarh, over 75 per cent women aged between 15 and 49 anaemic

News

• More than 75 per cent women between the ages of 15 and 49, and 73 per cent children between the ages of 6 and 59 months are anaemic in Chandigarh, according to data from the National Family Health Survey-4.

Higher than the national average

• This percentage is much higher than the national average of 51 per cent anaemic women, and 58 per cent anaemic children in India.
• Even the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana have a lower number of women and children suffering from anaemia.
• In Punjab, 56.6 per cent children and 53.5 per cent women, and in Haryana 56.1 per cent women and 72.3 per cent children are anaemic.
• Under Poshan Abhiyan or the National Nutrition Mission, the Chandigarh Administration launched “Mission Anaemia-free Chandigarh” on September 6 in order to battle anaemia through an intervention in the nutritional habits of the city’s population.
• Most recently, officials from the Poshan Abhiyan have initiated a programme to counsel husbands and mothers-in-law of anaemic women.
• Previously, officials from the Poshan Abhiyan launched the “T3” campaign, abbreviated from the three steps identified by experts talking, testing and treating to alleviate and prevent anaemia in the city.
• Policies of the Poshan Abhiyan as well as the guidelines of the Integrated Child Protection and Development Scheme (ICPDS) mandate that frontline health workers, including anganwadi workers and ASHA workers, focus on the health and development of pregnant women, adolescent girls, young mothers and children up to the age of six.
• Apart from providing counselling to women and their families, anganwadis in the city conduct recipe-making competitions every month in order to motivate women to come up with recipes for iron-rich and affordable food that can be made using local produce.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-02

‘Fundamentally discriminatory’: UN body voices concern over Citizenship Amendment Act

News

• Amid protests over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the Human Rights office at the United Nations has expressed concern over the new law saying that it is “fundamentally discriminatory in nature”.

Citizenship Act

• The UN body for human rights said in a statement that, The amended law would appear to undermine the commitment to equality before the law enshrined in India’s constitution and India’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, to which Indian is a State party, which prohibit discrimination based on racial, ethnic or religious grounds. Although India’s broader naturalization laws remain in place, these amendments will have a discriminatory effect on people’s access to nationality.
• The rights body’s reaction over the Act has come days after the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) expressed its apprehensions over the controversial legislation., the commission said that it was “deeply troubled” by the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Lok Sabha, given the religion criterion in the Bill, and recommended that “if the CAB passes in both Houses of Parliament, the US government should consider sanctions against the Home Minister and other principal leadership”.
• The Bill, which was passed in the Rajya Sabha, seeks to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Jains and Parsis it leaves out Muslims who entered the country from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan until December 31, 2014.

 In the following two days, there were violent protests in Assam and two persons were killed in alleged police firing.

Andhra Cabinet clears law to deal with crime against women

News

• The Andhra Pradesh Disha Act and the Andhra Pradesh Special Court for Specific Offences against Women and Children Act 2019 were cleared by the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet and the Bills are scheduled to be taken up for discussion in the Legislative Assembly.

Disha Act

• As per these new laws, if there is conclusive evidence to prove crimes committed against women, the police can wrap up investigation in a week and file the charge sheet within 14 days. The judicial process of awarding punishment would be concluded within 21 days.
• In cases of heinous crimes like rape, the death sentence would be awarded under the new law.
• The Bill will reduce the investigation period from four months to 21 days.
• Also, special courts will be set up to try cases of crimes against women and children in the state. According to officials.
• The Disha Act also empowers the police and courts to take action under Indian Penal Code section 354 (E) against those who upload posts on social media that degrade women or damage their reputation. First time offenders would be sentenced to prison for two years, second time offenders would get four years in jail.
• Also, under the new law, action would be taken under IPC section 354 (F) on those involved in sexual assault on children. Offenders in such cases will be sentenced to 10-14 years in prison and depending on the severity of the crime, the punishment would be extended to life imprisonment.
• The Cabinet also decided to extend the imprisonment for crimes under the POCSO Act. The Act also makes it compulsory for police to register a “Zero FIR’’, which means that police have to register a case anywhere, irrespective of jurisdiction.

Data Bill: Rajya Sabha picks 10 members for joint panel

News

• A resolution to refer the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, to a Joint Select Committee was passed by voice vote in Rajya Sabha, a day after it was approved by the Lok Sabha.
• The panel will have 20 members from Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha. The 10 members were nominated.

More than 1.96 lakh malnourished kids in Gujarat, says govt

News

• Despite the state government providing fortified food through 53,000 anganwadis in the state, which includes flavoured milk, salt and oil, there are over 1.96 lakh malnourished children in Gujarat.
• The highest number of such children are in the predominantly tribal districts of Dahod and Narmada.

Malnourished children

• The state government stated that there are 1,96,660 malnourished children in the 33 districts of Gujarat. The highest number, 42,488 children are in Dahod, followed by Narmada with 14,722 children, stated the government in a written reply.
• The lowest number of malnourished children were found in Porbandar (709) and Botad (938).
• There were a total of 53,029 anganwadis in Gujarat and the malnourished children were inclusive of those attending the anganwadis.
• The government also stated that in order to improve the condition of malnourished children in Gujarat, it has been supplying fortified flavoured milk in 20 districts under the Doodh Sanjeevani Yojana. In order to improve the nutritional levels, it has also been supplying fortified salt and oil to aganwadis in the state.
• The government has been providing hot breakfast and fruits to children between the ages of 3-6 years twice in a week. For malnourished children aged between 3-6 years, the government has also been giving “ladoos” as a third meal, which is a carry-away meal.
• For these malnourished children, the government has been giving wheat, green gram and oil for them to take home. In 23 districts, the children aged between 6 months to three years are given “Balshakti” as take home ration.

Despite the presence of 3,056 anganwadis in Dahod, the third highest after Ahmedabad and Banaskantha, the district recorded the highest number of malnourished children.

Assam protests: After Bangla ministers cancel India visit, Japan PM Abe’s summit deferred.

News

• India and Japan mutually decided to defer the annual summit talks which were slated to take place in Guwahati from December 15-17.

Protests

• The announcement comes in the wake of widespread protests in the Assam capital and elsewhere in the northeastern state in the last two days against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
• Two senior Bangladesh ministers Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan have already cancelled their visits to India.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-03

Gold smuggling on the rise as high prices boost appeal in India

News:

Illegal inflows of gold have jumped after the Indian government increased import taxes in July and prices surged to record highs in September.

Beyond News:

• Customs officials have arrested people for attempting to smuggle in gold by concealing it in bags, clothes and their rectums.
• Gold Appetite in India Seen at Lowest Since 2016 as Prices Bite
• Gold in India touched a record high of 39,885 rupees ($563) per 10 grams in early September on higher import taxes and as the US-China trade conflict and looser monetary policy boosted global benchmark spot prices. While bullion has since retreated from the all-time high, it’s still up 20% this year.
• A previous spate of smuggling occurred after India, which imports almost all of its gold, increased the tax three times in 2013 to control a record current-account deficit. Illegal inflows peaked at 225 tons in 2014 as smugglers attempted to bring in bullion, including via planes and trains.
• In just the two months of September and October this year, nearly 40% more gold was seized than the same period in 2018 from airports, railway stations and border states.
• Bullion is also increasingly being smuggled in from countries bordering India, including Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, China and Bangladesh.

For second time since November, Mumbai air enters ‘poor’ category

News

• For the second time since November, the Air Quality Index (AQI) for Mumbai entered the ‘poor’ category.
• According to the System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting (SAFAR), the AQI was ‘poor’ during the day but ‘moderate’ (199) in the evening.

Air Quality Index

• Of the 10 stations in Mumbai, three recorded ‘poor’ AQI, while one recorded ‘very poor’.
• The last time the city’s AQI was in the ‘poor’ category was on November 22, when the Central Pollution Control Board recorded 202 (poor) AQI. This is the third time this year that Mumbai has recorded poor category AQI. On March 24, SAFAR had measured it as 254.
• The minimum temperature in the city dipped. The India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Santacruz observatory recorded a minimum temperature of 21.4 degrees Celsius, three degrees below normal.

NASA finds traces of water ice just an inch below the surface of Mars

News

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) takes a step ahead in its Mars mission.
• The agency is undoubtedly moving in the right direction as it finds traces of water ice beneath the surface of the red planet.

Traces of water ice

• NASA is currently working towards finding water on Mars so that its astronauts can survive when they reach Mars in the years to come.
• NASA quoted a research paper and said that it will help them accomplish the Mars mission. The agency believes that the paper will assist their astronauts to find water ice locations when they reach the red planet.
• The research notes that water ice deposits have been found around one inch below the surface of Mars in several locations. The paper also hints that there is water ice all across the Martian poles and mid-latitudes.
• Due to less air pressure in Martian atmosphere water can’t last for very long on the surface of Mars and evaporates from solid to gas in the blink of an eye.
• This is the reason water ice deposits of Mars are located below the surface and not above. Under the ground is the only place where the water ice can survive.
• Martian water ice is locked away underground throughout the planet’s mid-latitudes.These regions near the poles have been studied by NASA’s Phoenix lander, which scraped up ice, and MRO, which has taken many images from space of meteor impacts that have excavated this ice.
• Another research paper reveals that a region shaped by ancient lava flows on Mars can be a good location for the landing of astronauts as it has lots of water ice that can be used instead of carrying water from Earth.
• Research around water ice is still ongoing. Currently, the researchers want to continue to study the underground water ice on Mars and record the change that happens in different seasons.

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