13.06.23 Daily [Andhra Pradesh] APPSC Current Affairs

TheAndhra Pradeshhealth department is planning to launch a month-long leprosy case detection campaign from June 26. About 5 crore people will be screened for the infectious disease during this campaign. Even though the chronic, progressive bacterial infection can be cured, late detection can cause permanent deformities and disabilities. This would often lead to discrimination against the affected persons in the Society.
Andhra Pradesh reports about 3,000 to 5,000 new leprosy cases every year. However, the Covid-19 pandemic had its impact on leprosy screening as the new cases were limited to 1,811 in 2020-21 and 1,888 in 2021-22. About 3,160 new cases surfaced in 2022-23. The Health department wants to detect about 50% of the years total new caseload in this month-long screening alone.

The Union Government launched a national strategic plan (NSP) and roadmap for leprosy (2023-27) in January 2023 to achieve zero transmission of leprosy by 2027. The NSP and roadmap contains implementation strategies, year-wise targets, public health approaches and overall technical guidance for the programme.
These will focus on awareness for zero stigma and discrimination, promotion of early case detection, prevention of disease transmission by prophylaxis (leprosy post exposure prophylaxis), etc.

(CAG) Girish Chandra Murmu said that Supreme Audit Institutions should develop new techniques and capabilities to audit marine life or the Blue economy to ensure Sustainable Development.

In order to fulfil their commitment towards sustainability goals in consonance with SDG 14 Life below Water the governments are reorienting policies and regulatory structures to conserve and sustainably use the Oceans, seas and <a href="https://exam.pscnotes.com/marine-Resources“>Marine Resources for sustainable development.

In order to manage overall and to prevent hoarding and unscrupulous speculation, the government has decided to impose stock limits on wheat for traders, wholesalers, retailers, big chain retailers and processors. The order will be applicable with immediate effect and will be applicable until March 31, 2024.

In order to manage overall food security and to prevent hoarding and unscrupulous speculation, the government has decided to impose stock limits on wheat for traders, wholesalers, retailers, big chain retailers and processors. The order will be applicable with immediate effect and will be applicable until March 31, 2024.

Stock limits will be applicable for each entity individually such as: traders/wholesalers- 3000 tonne; Retailer- 10 tonne for each of the retail outlets; Big Chain Retailer- 10 tonne for each outlet and 3000 tonne at all their depots and Processors – 75 per cent of annual installed capacity.

Further, the centre has also decided to offload 15 lakh tonnes of wheat in the first phase from central pool stock under Open Market Sale Scheme to control retail prices of wheat.

Wheat will be sold in lot sizes of 10-100 tonnes. Registration for this auction is open on the Fci‘s e-auction platform. It has also been decided to offload rice under the open market scheme in order to moderate the prices.

The size of Chinas nuclear arsenal increased from 350 warheads in January 2022 to 410 in January 2023, and it is expected to keep growing, according to estimations by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The key finding in SIPRI Yearbook 2023 is that the number of operational nuclear weapons started to rise as countries long-term force modernisation and expansion plans progressed.

According to SIPRI estimates, the nuclear arsenals of India grew from 160 in 2022 to 164 in 2023 and that of Pakistan from 165 to 170.

The nine nuclear-armed states the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea) and Israelcontinue to modernise their nuclear arsenals and several deployed new nuclear-armed or nuclear-capable weapon systems in 2022

The powerful lower house of Japan’s parliament on June 13 passed a bill to promote understanding ofLGBTQ+ issuesamid protests by activists that last-minute revisions by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s conservative party favoured opponents of sexual instead of guaranteeing equal rights.

Japan is the only member of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations which does not have LGTBQ+ legal protections.