Current Affairs

1. THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE, ORGANIZED AN EVENT ON 31 MAY TO OBSERVE WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY 2024 –

• According to an estimate in 2016-2017 after China, India has the world’s highest number of tobacco consumers, nearly 26 crore.
• A study of WHO finds that India loses 1% of its GDP to diseases and early deaths from tobacco use.
• Additionally, the health of more than 60 lakh people employed in the tobacco industry is also placed at risk because of the absorption of tobacco through the skin, which can cause various diseases.
• A 2021 study estimated that the country incurred a loss exceeding ₹1.7 lakh crore as a result of tobacco’s effects on the health of its consumers in the fiscal year 2017-2018.

Challenges in tobacco control measures in India-

1. Inadequate Penalties: The fines for violating COTPA regulations have not been updated since 2003, with a maximum fine of only ₹5,000 for first-time packaging violations.
2. Affordability of Tobacco: Low tobacco taxes, which have not kept pace with income rises, have made tobacco products more affordable over the years.
3. Government and Industry Ties: Engagement of government officials with the tobacco industry and the Central government’s 7.8% stake in ITC Ltd., India’s largest tobacco company, exemplify conflicts of interest.

 

2. WATER STORAGE AT JUST 23% IN INDIA’S KEY RESERVOIRS –

• Water storage in India’s key reservoirs was down to just 23 per cent of their total capacity amid a relentless heatwave in many parts of the country.
• As per data released by Central Water Commission (CWC) for 150 major reservoirs. At least eight reservoirs had zero storage, These were in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh (AP), and Uttarakhand.
• There were four others which had less than 10 per cent storage — in the states of AP, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Karnataka.
• The southern region — consisting of AP, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu — was the most affected.
• In the northern, eastern, and central region, available storage was just 30 per cent, 28 per cent, and 29.1 percent respectively of the total capacities of reservoirs. Storage in the Ganga river basin was just 31.99 per cent of its capacity.

 

3. JUNE 1 IS THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BEGINNING OF OPERATION BLUE STAR –

• Operation Blue Star was an Indian Armed Forces operation carried out between 1 and 10 June 1984.
• Punjab witnessed insurgency which began in the late 1970s and reached its peak in the first half of the 1980s.
• This insurgency, also known as the Khalistan movement, was led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale for the establishment of an independent Sikh state called ‘Khalistan’.
• In 1983, Bhindranwale along with his followers occupied and fortified the Sikh shrine Akal Takht inside the Golden Temple Complex from which he led the insurgency campaign.
• To counter escalating violence, on June 6, 1984, Indira Gandhi government ordered a military action, known as ‘Operation Blue Star’ into the Golden temple in order to remove militants from the Golden Temple complex.