25.02.23 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%.

The NFHS, over the years, shows thatchild marriagein the country has been relatively lower among Christians and other religious groups.

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 government has given in-principle approval for 95 more ethanol projects under the new window of Ethanol Interest Subvention Schemes. The decision is expected to add an annual ethanol production capacity of around 480 crore liters in the country.

The Department of Food and Public Distribution said, out of these projects, 68 are grain-based, 20 are molasses based, and seven projects are based on dual feedstock. These projects have the potential to bring an of about 12,000usand crore rupees and will create hundreds of EMPLOYMENT opportunities in rural India.

The National Health Authority (NHA) under its flagship scheme Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) has achieved another milestone in building a digitally connected healthcare ecosystem. Over 25 crore health records of individuals have been linked to their ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account).

These records can be easily accessed and managed by the individuals using any of the ABDM-enabled health apps. The digitally available health records will enable the ABHA holders in availing paper-less health Services across the ABDM Network.

In a boost to the governments plans to achieve greater self-reliance in DEFENCE, India will spend 75 per cent of its defence capital in 2023-24 on procurement from the domestic , up from 68 per cent in 2022-23, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said.

The announcement was made at the Bandhan ceremony on the sidelines of the five-day Aero India, 2023. As many as 266 partnerships were forged during the event, including 201 MoUs, 53 major announcements, nine product launches and three Transfers of Technology, worth around Rs 80,000 crore, the Defence Ministry said.

The overall Defence budget earmarked for 2023-24 is Rs 5.94 lakh crore, including pensions of Rs 1.38 lakh crore, up by 12.9 per cent from Rs 5.25 lakh crore allocated in the previous (2022-23) fiscal. This is 13.18 per cent of the total Budget outlay of Rs 45,03,097 crore.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the TRIFEDsAadi Mahotsavtribal festival in New Delhi, saying that the coming together of the diverse tribal cultures of India at an event such as this one was giving new heights to unity in diversity.

Inaugurating the nearly two-week-long showcase and exhibition of tribal artefacts, handicrafts, handlooms and other products at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, the Prime Minister first paid floral tributes to a statue of tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda along with Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda, before taking a walk through the stalls set up by over 1,000 tribal artisans and craftspeople, from all over the country.

Due to Russia-Ukraine war, Russia slipped to 48th position in the index. The report highlighted the privatisation of Air India, elimination of pricing guidelines for transfers of between residents and non residents, and restriction of foreign participation in certain Services sectors.

Reflecting presence of huge market barriers in the country, India stood at 47th position in Services Trade Restrictiveness Index(STRI) conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for the year 2022. However, there was an improvement from last year’s ranking by one position.