Current Affair 1:

WHO calls on countries to increase taxes on alcohol and sugary sweetened beverages

 

The World Health Organization has urged countries to apply more taxes on alcohol and sugary sweetened beverages, as latest data show that most countries are not using taxes to incentivize healthier behaviours.

Globally 2.6 million people die from drinking alcohol every year and over 8 million from an unhealthy diet, implementing tax on alcohol and sugary sweetened beverages (SSBs) will reduce these deaths.

News:

How beneficial is the health tax?

Health taxes are levied on products that have a negative public health impact, for example tobacco, alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). These taxes are considered win-win-win policies because they save lives and prevent disease while advancing health equity and mobilising revenue for the general budget. They can also be used for specific priorities such as financing universal health coverage (UHC) or highly cost-effective yet underutilised population health measures.

The aim of health tax policy is to reduce the consumption of products deemed risk factors for noncommunicable diseases by making them less affordable through higher prices. This is achieved with regular tax increases large enough to result in real price increases greater than economic growth.

Current Affair 2:

New partnership to develop global Climate and Health Co-Investment Facility

 

News:

The latest IPCC report highlights that climate change is a serious threat to human well-being and planetary health, and developing countries with weak health infrastructure are particularly vulnerable.  Yet, countries have identified insufficient finance as a barrier to implementing their national health and climate change plans.

To address this gap, GCF, UNDP and WHO have come together in a crosscutting partnership and committed funding to support the development of an ambitious global climate and health investment programme. This programme will establish the Climate and Health Co-Investment Facility.

Current Affair 3:

Coseismic ionospheric perturbations (CIP)

 

A study conducted by scientists from the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism reveals that earthquake processes, even relatively small ones, leave a distinct mark in the ionosphere. The finding can help observing earthquake source processes from the space which may pave the way for deciphering earthquake precursors using space-based observations.

News:

Coseismic ionospheric perturbations (CIP) refer to disturbances in the Earth’s ionosphere caused by seismic activity, specifically by the vertical crustal movements during an earthquake.

These perturbations result from the excitation of acoustic waves (AWs) in the atmosphere due to the vertical movement of the Earth’s crust during an earthquake (acoustic wave is creating disturbance in atmosphere). Such near-field CIP occurs normally within 500–600 km of the source.

Current Affair 4:

CERT-In not under RTI

 

News:

The Central government has added the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) among a list of organisations that are exempted from the ambit of the Right to Information Act (RTI), 2005.

The RTI Act enacted in 2005 said the Act shall not apply to the intelligence and security organisations specified in the Second Schedule, “provided that the information pertaining to the allegations of corruption and human rights violations shall not be excluded.”

But also, as per the section 24 (2) of the RTI Act, 2005 (22 of 2005), the Central government can make further amendment in the Second Schedule to the said Act:

When was the last time it was amended?

The last time an amendment was made to the second schedule of RTI was in 2016 when Strategic Forces Command was added to the list of exempted organisations. Two other organisations of the Ministry of Defence – the Defence Research and Development Organisation and Border Roads Development Board are also placed in the second schedule of the Act.

There are 26 other intelligence and security organisations established by the Central government such as the Intelligence Bureau, Research and Analysis Wing, Directorate of Enforcement, National Technical Research Organisation that are exempt under RTI.

About Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In):

CERT-In is an organisation of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, with the objective of securing Indian cyber space.

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