09.07.19 Assam (APSC) Daily Current Affairs

ASSAM

Alcohol is the most used psychoactive substance in Assam and cocaine the least, according to a survey conducted by the Union ministry of social justice and empowerment in collaboration with the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC) and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.
The report, which was recently published, states that 8.8% of the state’s population between 10 and 75 years – which is 27 lakh people – use alcohol. Nationally, about 14.6% of the population in the same age group use alcohol. In terms of absolute numbers, there are about 16 crore persons who consume alcohol in the country.
States which show a high consumption of alcohol are Chhattisgarh (35.6%), Tripura (34.7%), Punjab (28.5%) Arunachal Pradesh (28%) and Goa (28%).

Assam is among the top 10 states which have more number of people who need help for cannabis-related problems, which is stated to be 1.9 lakh.

There are about 10.7 lakh current users of cocaine in the country. In Assam, 0.01% of the population have been found to be cocaine users.

Assam also has 17,466 PWIDs (people who inject drugs) against the national figure of 8,54,296. Manipur (34,344) and Nagaland (33,888) are also among the top states with a high number of PWIDs.

INTERNATIONAL

TheBudj Bim Cultural Landscape in south-west Victoriahas received UNESCO’s World heritage list. It is the first in Australia to be in the list. UNESCO’s desicion recognises Budj Bim’s significance to all of humanity. Budj Bim is the 20th site in Australia to make it on to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The landscape is marked for its Aboriginal culturalimportance after a decades-long campaign run by traditional owners, some of whom were present for the decision.
It is considered as one of the oldest aquaculture sites in the world. More than a decade of fervent lobbying, the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape has finally been added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The landscape was cared for over 6,600 years and is important to the Gunditjmara People.
There are also remains of about 300 stone huts. These are the only remaining permanent houses built by an indigenous community in It challenges the common perception that all Aboriginal people were nomadic.

Italy’s Prosecco hills northeast of Venice cultivated for centuries added to the World Heritage list by the UN cultural Organization.
The grapes produce the famous prosecco sparkling wine are grown.
The landscape is characterized by hogback hills, ciglioni and small plots of vines on narrow grassy terraces, forests, small villages and farmland.
The region became Italy’s 55th World Heritage site.
The prosecco sparkling white has the highest classification available to Italian wine.
It is produced in a territory spread over nine provinces in Italy’s northeast.
The sales of the wine rose six per cent in 2018 to 460 million bottles
Around 75 percent were exported.

NATIONAL

Rajya sabhapassed the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 on 8 July. It allows the voluntary linking of the 12-digit identification number as part of know your customer (KYC) guidelines to open bank accounts or get a mobile connection. The bill will become a Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) law after President’s approval.
The amendments in the law will enable the authorityresponsible for issuing Aadhaar numbers to hold back the misuse of 12 digit identification numbers by aadhar. An Aadhaar holder can now opt for offline verification through QR code with consent.
An individual can not be compelled to provide proof of possession of Aadhaar number or undergo authentication for the purpose of establishing their identity unless it is so provided by alaw made by Parliament.
The cost of e-KYC verifications for banks, financial technology companies and telecom service providers had increased substantially after the Supreme Court ruled in September that Aadhaar could only be used in direct benefit transfer for welfare schemes.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) board has finalized Utkarsh 2022, a medium term strategy, to improve regulation and supervision, among other functions of the central bank.

To accomplish theglobal central banks’ plan, every country is formulating a long-term plan and a medium-term plan. RBI’s Utkarsh 2022 will be in line with the global central banks’ plan to strengthen the regulatory and supervisory
New internal committee:

To implement Utkarsh 2022, RBI has formed an internal committee. It is to be headed by the outgoing Deputy GovernorViral Acharya. The committee will identify issues that needed to be addressed over the next three years. Among the identified areas of issues, the committee will select and address the vital areas for the implementation in the next three years.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) carried out three successful test firings of the Nag missiles in the Pokhran firing ranges.

The NAG missile is a third generation anti-tank guided missile, which has top attack capabilities that can effectively engage and destroy all known enemy tanks during day and night.

The Defence Acquisition Council in 2018 had approved the procurement of DRDO-designed-and-developed NAG Missile System (NAMIS) at a cost of Rs 524 crore.

Uttarakhand named among best performing states in ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ scheme

Uttarakhand is one of the country’s five best-performing states under the National Programme Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme .
The main aim is to address declining child sex ratio and issues of women empowerment.
As per the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, the recognition for its consistent performance in respect of sex ratio at birth.
Haryana bagged three awards which include one state-level and two district-level awards for consistent performance in respect of the Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB).
The two districts of Haryana won the awards are Bhiwani and Mahendragarh.
The state felicitated in recognition of its consistent performance in respect of sex ratio at birth.

BBBP scheme launched on 22 January 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
It is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
It is a campaign of the Government of India