30.11.22 Daily [Andhra Pradesh] APPSC Current Affairs

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has lauded the significant decline in the Maternal Mortality Ratio from 130 per lakh live births in 2014-16 to 97 per lakh live births in 2018-20. The Prime Minister emphasised that all aspects relating to women’s empowerment remain very strong.

As per the statistics derived from Sample Registration System (SRS), the country has witnessed a progressive reduction in MMR from 130 in 2014-2016, 122 in 2015-17, 113 in 2016-18, 103 in 2017-19 and to 97 in 2018-20.

Upon achieving this, India has accomplished the National Health Policy (NHP) target for MMR of less than 100/lakh live births and is on the right track to achieve the SDG target of MMR less than 70/ lakh live births by 2030.

The outstanding progress made in terms of the number of states which have achieved Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target, the number has now risen from six to eight leading with Kerala (19), followed by Maharashtra (33), then Telangana (43) and Andhra Pradesh (45), subsequently Tamil Nadu (54), Jharkhand (56), Gujarat (57) and lastly Karnataka (69).

The Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to launch the project titled History of Indian Science and Technology. Similar project will be launched by the ICHR to trace the economic history of India. The ICHR will also launch another project in collaboration with the AYUSH Ministry to trace Indias contributions in the field of medicine.

The History of Indian Science and Technology project aims to trace the history of Indias contribution to the field of science and technology using evidence from ancient scriptures. Its goal is to establish India as a vishwa guru (global leader) in various scientific domains.

The project will enable historians to tap into the vast information provided by religious scriptures in India and understand their historic and scientific content.

TheCentral Water Commission(CWC) has found that only around 65 per cent of the total water available in the Krishna basin is utilized by different states. Absence of reservoirs and flash floods are resulting in loss of nearly 40% water flowing in the river.

The CWC in its latest study found that more water is going into the ocean in the last few years due to the downpour in the river basin in a short duration. Although the CWC did not spell out anything about the impact of climate change, experts are of the view that it was the result of climate change.

The Global Technology Summit is Indias flagship annual event on geotechnology that brings together industry experts, policymakers, scientists and other key stakeholders from across the world to discuss technology and changing geopolitics. Its main purpose is to develop new ways to address various concerns of all parties without hindering technological growth and new ideas. The inaugural edition of the summit was held in 2016.

The theme for the 2022 edition of GTS is Geopolitics of Technology. It focused on the impact of the weaponization of technology amid geopolitical disruptions like data disruption and inaccessibility, supply chain disruptions, semi-conductor shortages and the race to lead on data-related technologies.

With India taking up the G20 presidency, the Global Technology Summit seeks to explore the present status of international alliances and emerging technologies and their impact on geopolitics.

Mauna Loa is among the 5 volcanoes that together make up the Big Island of Hawaii the Hawaiian archipelagos southernmost island. Its name means long mountain in Hawaiian. This volcano takes up more than 50 per cent of the Big Islands land mass and it rises 30,000 feet from the bottom of the sea, much higher than the Mount Everest. It is the largest (not tallest) volcano in the world. The tallest volcano is Mauna Kea.

Mauna Loa last erupted in 1984. It has erupted 33 times since 1843. The recent 2022 eruption is the 34^thsince the written history began in 1843. This volcano is situated at immediate north of Kilauea Volcano, which is infamous for the 2018 eruption that destroyed 700 homes and sent lava that purged farms before entering into the ocean.