KERALA

• Audit indicates single-digit infant mortality rate

• Initial indications of an infant death audit in the districts point to a single-digit Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in the State, a major public health care achievement. IMR is the number of deaths per 1,000 live births.

• Launched in September 2017 as an initiative of the government and the Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP), Kerala, the audit has been completed in three districts. The audit puts the IMR of Kozhikode at 5.47, Ernakulam 3.62, and Alappuzha 5.76. It will take a couple of months for all districts to compile the audited data.

• Public health experts had doubted the IMR of 6 generated from the National Family Health Survey and the Civil Registration System data, while the Sample Registration System data put the mortality rate at 12. The State could earlier claim that the IMR had come down to 10 for the last couple of years even as there was a stagnation at 12 for over a decade. The debate on the actual IMR initiated the infant death audit to assess the mortality rate

• The goal of bringing down the IMR from 12 to 8 became a reality as the Navajatha Shishu Suraksha Karyakram equipped doctors and nurses in infant care to meet emergencies. 

  INTERNATIONAL

   

  ·        China launched first satellite for space-based broadband to rival Google

   

  • The satellite was launched from a Long March 11carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in north-western China.
  • The satellite is the first in the Hongyun projectplanned by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC).
  • The Hongyun project, started in September 2016, aims to build a space-based communications network to provide broadband internet connectivity to users around the world, especially those in the underserved regions.

   

  ·        Italy’s Mount Etna Volcano erupts

   

  • Italy’s Mount Etna volcano erupted on 24th December 2018 resulting in more than 130 earthquakes of up to 4.3 in magnitude. The volcanic lava and ash spewed from a new fracture near its south-eastern crater for the first time in a decade and was visible for miles.

   

  • Mount Etna is Europe’s highest and most active volcano outside the Caucasus. Mount Etna is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy. The last major eruption was in 1992.

   

  • The volcano lies above the convergent plate margin between the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate. Mount Etna is in an almost constant state of activity. United Nations has designated Mount Etna has a Decade Volcano by the United Nations and it was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

   

   

   

  NATIONAL

   

  ·        India’s first music museum to be set up in Thiruvaiyaru

   

  • The country’s first music museum will be set up with assistance from the Central government in Thiruvaiyaru, Tamil Nadu, the birth place of Saint Tyagaraja, one of the Trinities of Carnatic music.
  • The other two of the Trinity are Muthuswami Dikshitarand Syama Sastri.
  • The Tyagaraja Aaradhana Music Festival which is held annually in January in Thiruvaiyaru attracts musical talents from all over the world.

   

   

  ·        Govt extended ban on import of milk products from China for 4 months will April 23, 2019: DGFT

   

  • The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) announced the extension of the ban on import of milk and its products, including chocolates, from China for four months till April 23, 2019.
  • The ban was first imposed in September 2008 and later extended due to the suspicion of the presence of melamine in some milk consignments from China.

   

  • Three Andaman islands to get new names now

   

  • The government has decided to announce the change of name for the three islands —Havelock Island, Neil Island and Ross Island — as a tribute to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and will rename the Havelock Island to Swaraj Dweep, Neil Island to Shaheed Dweep and Ross Island to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Island. The three islands are part of the Andamans.

   

  • As part of the action plan, National Resource Centre for MSME Exporters will engage with various international agencies including UN organisations to promote procurement from Indian MSMEs and further enhance their capabilities.

   

  • On 30 December 1943, Bose had hoisted the national flag at the Gymkhana Ground (now Netaji Stadium) in Port Blair and announced that the islands were the first Indian territory to be freed from British rule. The islands at the time were captured by the Japanese during World War II.

   

  ·        Child Care Institutes being run in the state renamed as ‘Jagannath Ashrams’ in Haryana

   

   

  • Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on 25th December 2018 has announced the renaming of Child Care Institutes being run in the state as Jagannath Ashrams.
  • The announcement was made by the chief minister at the during a dance competition organised by women wing of All India Vaish Federation.

   

  Said since all the Child Care Institutions have a similar goal of all-round development of the children, it would be appropriate to give a single name to all.