04.02.23 Daily [Assam] APSC Current Affairs

Assamis reeling under a rise in the number ofchild marriagesdespite aprohibition lawso much so that 32 girls among every 100 in the state in the 20-24 age bracket were under 18 years at the time of their marriages and 12 among every 100 such child brides were either pregnant or have already become mothers, as per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) for 2019-21.

According to NFHS-5, West Bengal, Bihar and Tripura top the list of child marriages with more than 40% of Women aged 20-24 years married below 18. Five other states – Jharkhand, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and saw more than 30% child marriages in the said period.

The Percentage of child brides in the same age cohort in the state as recorded in NFHS-4 for 2015-16 was one per cent lower, but the percentage of child brides who were pregnant or mothers was one per cent higher than that recorded in the last survey.

While child marriages are on the rise in Assam, nationally this social menace has reduced from 47 in 2005-06 to 26 in 2015-16, registering a decline of 21% points during the decade. During 2019-21, it declined further by 3% points to reach 23%, against Assam’s 32%.

Percentage of women in the country aged 20 to 24 years, who were married before 18 years of age, was 48 among the Hindus in 2005-06, which was one per cent higher than Muslims. But during 2019-21, the percentage was three notches higher for the Muslims (26) than the Hindus. The percentage for Christians declined from 26 in 2006-06 to 15 in 2019-21.

The Centre, in reply to a question in the Lok Sabha in 2020 said the practice of child marriages is largely due to the prevailing social customs, tradition, illiteracy, POVERTY, low status of women in Society and lack of awareness.

As many as eight national and 40 regional held a discussion with the Election Commission on Remote Electronic Voting Machine(RVM). The development came after the commission extended the date of submission of written views by political parties (on various issues with regard to RVM) to February 28, 2023. Though the parties appreciated ECIs initiative of calling all parties for discussion, they had a plethora of queries on the same.

The new RVM prototype willenable a voter, who is listed in constituencies, to exercise voting rights from a single machine.

Themulti-constituency remote EVM, developed by a public sector undertaking, canhandle up to 72 constituenciesfrom a single remote polling booth.

Migrant voters would not need to travelto their Home districts to exercise their franchise if the remote electronic voting machine is implemented properly.

Over 11 Crore rural households in the country have access to tap water connections as India celebrates its 74th Republic Day. 123 districts and more than 1.53 lakh villages of India have reported Har Ghar Jal which means every household has access to clean drinking water through the tap. Jal Jeevan Mission was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15th August 2019 to provide every rural household with a tap water connection by 2024.

At the time of the launch of the Mission in 2019, out of 19.35 Crore rural households, only 3.23 Crore (16.72%) had access to tap water.

As of date, within a short span of about three years of the life-changing mission, over 11 Crore (56.84%) of rural households have tap water supply in their homes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the achievement of 11 Crore Tap water connections under the Jal Jeevan Mission.

The State Governments and Union Territory administrations celebrated World Wetlands Day (WWD) at all 75 Ramsar sites this year with over 200 events. The was hoisted at the Ramsar Sites. The wetland pledge was administered during these events. Over 50 activities were held with student engagement in which drawing competition, quiz competition, exposure activities, and bird watching were organized.

This is in line with emphasis on participatory management of wetlands by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiwho in Mann ki Baat on January 29, 2023 highlighted the invaluable role played by local communities in conservation of Ramsar Sites.The celebrations held across the country are as follows:

In Jammu and Kashmir, citizens took a pledge to conserve wetlands at Wular Lake.

Chinas Population fell last year for the first time in six decades, a historic turn that is expected to mark the start of a long period of decline in its citizen numbers with profound implications for its economy. The drop, the worst since the Great Famine of 1961, also lends weight to predictions that India will become the worlds most populous nation in this year. The population dropped by roughly 850,000 to 1.41175 billion at the end of 2022. Long-term, UN experts see Chinas population shrinking by 109 million by 2050, more than triple the decline of their previous forecast in 2019.

Last years birth rate was 6.77 births per 1000 people, down from a rate of 7.52 births in 2021 and marking the lowest birth rate on record. The figures also logged the highest death rate since 1974, registering 7.37 deaths per 1000 people compared with a rate of 7.18 deaths in 2021.

India will support Sri Lankas debt restructuring plan as the island nation looks to trim its huge public expenditure to win approval for a crucial bailout from the . India formally notified that it would support Sri Lankas debt restructuring plan. Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948, and policymakers have been grappling with multiple challenges over the past year including a shortage of dollars, runaway Inflation and a steep Recession. Sri LankaowesIndia around $1 billion that will come under the debt restructuring plan. New Delhi also separately providedSri Lankawith about $4 billion in rapid assistance between January and July last year, including credit lines, a currency swap arrangement and deferred import payments.