Why in news?

Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh have emerged as the poorest states in India, according to Niti Aayog’s first Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report.

About Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report.

Released by: Niti Aayog

Some important statistics:

• Top five poor states in India: As per the index, 51.91 per cent population of Bihar is poor, followed by 42.16 per cent in Jharkhand, 37.79 per cent in Uttar Pradesh. While Madhya Pradesh (36.65 per cent) has been placed fourth in the index, Meghalaya (32.67 per cent) is at the fifth spot.
• 5 lowest poverty states in India: Kerala (0.71 per cent), Goa (3.76 per cent), Sikkim (3.82 per cent), Tamil Nadu (4.89 per cent) and Punjab (5.59 per cent) have registered the lowest poverty across India and are at the bottom of the index.
• Poverty in Union territories: Among union territories (UTs), Dadra and Nagar Haveli (27.36 per cent), Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh (12.58), Daman & Diu (6.82 per cent) and Chandigarh (5.97 per cent), emerged as the poorest UTs. Puducherry having 1.72 per cent of its population as poor, Lakshadweep (1.82 percent), Andaman & Nicobar Islands (4.30 per cent) and Delhi (4.79 per cent) have fared better.
• Number of malnourished people: Bihar has the highest number of malnourished people followed by Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Bihar is also the worst performer when it comes to the percentage of population deprived of maternal health, percentage of population deprived of years of schooling, school attendance and percentage of population deprived of cooking fuel and electricity.

• Worst in the child and adolescent mortality: Uttar Pradesh ranked the worst in the child and adolescent mortality category, followed by Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.
• Percentage of population deprived of sanitation: Jharkhand performed the worst when it comes to the percentage of population deprived of sanitation, followed by Bihar and

Methodology used:

• India’s national MPI measure uses the globally accepted and robust methodology developed by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
• Importantly, as a measure of multidimensional poverty, it captures multiple and simultaneous deprivation faced by households.

Dimensions and Indicators:

• India’s MPI has three equally weighted dimensions, health, education and standard of living – which are represented by 12 indicators namely nutrition, child and adolescent mortality, antenatal care, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, assets and bank accounts.

Baseline for the report:

• Baseline report of India’s first-ever national MPI measure is based on the reference period of 2015-16 of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS).

Definition of poverty:

• The national MPI, an aggregate measure, defines poverty, in simple terms, as the deprivation in crucial and basic parameters of health, education, and living standards, is a significant departure from the way poverty has been understood and conceptualised historically.

Significance:

• The development of the National Multidimensional Poverty Index of India is an important contribution towards instituting a public policy tool which monitors multidimensional poverty, informs evidence-based and focused interventions, thereby ensuring that no one is left behind.

Why in news?

India’s Minister for Science & Technology Dr Jitendra Singh, who chaired the 9th BRICS Science & Technology Ministers meet held on November 26, 2021, has called for working towards rightful place for BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) in the Global Innovation Index and this, he said, can be achieved through further strengthening the cooperation in the field of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI).

About BRICS

Member countries:

• BRICS is an acronym for 5 emerging economies of the world viz. – Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as “BRIC” (or “the BRICs”) before the induction of South Africa in 2010.

Term coined by:

• The term BRIC was coined by Jim O’ Neil, the then chairman of Goldman Sachs in 2001.

First BRIC Summit:

• The first BRIC summit took place in the year 2009 in Yekaterinburg (Russia).

Significance:

• The BRICS have a combined area of 39,746,220 km2 (15,346,101.0 sq mi) and an estimated total population of about 3.21 billion, or about 26.656% of the world land surface and 41.53% of the world population.
• Four out of five members are among the world’s ten largest countries by population and by area, except for South Africa, the twenty-fourth in both.

Why in news?

Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified a new variant of SARS-CoV-2, currently circulating in South Africa, as a ‘variant of concern’. It also named it Omicron.

About Omicron variant of Covid-19

Identified by:

• The Network for Genomics Surveillance in South Africa (NGS-SA) had identified the variant recently.
• It had detected a group of related SARS-CoV-2 viruses, which belong to a lineage named B.1.1.529.
• Early indications are that this variant is possibly even more transmissible than the highly infectious Delta variant, and that current vaccines may be less effective against it.

What we do know so far about Omicron?

• 1.1.529 has multiple spike protein mutations, and preliminary analysis suggests it is highly infectious.
• South Africa has reported a four-fold increase in new cases over the last two weeks, coinciding with the emergence of B.1.1.529.

What are the mutations that characterise this variant?

• On the mutation profile of the new variant, the NGS-SA has said that B.1.1.529 has “very unusual constellations of mutations” — with 30 in the region that encodes the spike protein, which is responsible for the virus’s entry in human cells.
• It has said that some of the mutations are well characterised with a known phenotypic impact, affecting transmissibility and immune evasion. Some of these mutations have already been detected in the Alpha and Delta variants.
• But many other mutations, the NGS-SA said, have been “rarely observed until now and not well characterised”.
• So, the full significance of these mutations remain uncertain at this point.
• “More investigations are underway to determine the possible impact of these mutations on the capacity of the virus to transmit more efficiently, to impact vaccine effectiveness and evade immune response, and/or to cause more severe or milder disease,” the Africa Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has said.

Why in news?

Recently, the 6th edition of the biennial India-France Army exercise ‘Ex Shakti-2021’ culminated after 12 days of intense joint military training, which the Army said proved to be “another remarkable milestone towards the pledge of terrorism-free world”.

About ‘Ex Shakti-2021’

What is it?

• The 6th edition of the biennial India-France Army exercise

Hosted by:

• This edition of the exercise hosted by France saw the two sides exhibiting their combat power and dominance over the extremist groups in simulated counter-insurgency, counterterrorism environment.

Phases of exercise:

• The exercise was conducted in two phases involving combat conditioning and tactical training of counterterrorism operations, culminating with validation of training in semi-urban environment.

Significance:

• India and France have steadily deepened their defence cooperation, and France has emerged as one of India’s top strategic partners.

• He has already been the PM since 2019.
• He was reappointed by an Emiri order (Head of the State) issued by Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah.
• Kuwait is an emirate, the Emir is the head of state and the Al Sabah is the ruling family which dominates the country’s political system
• Kuwait is a Western Asia country. It borders Iraq and Saudi Arabia

Why in news?

• India’s Top 10 Police Stations for2021 released by the Ministry of Home Affairs(MoHA)
• Gangapur PS in Ganjam, Odisha is adjudged as 2nd best followed by Bhattu Kalan PS, Fatehabad, Haryana as the 3rd best.

Conference

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah presented the trophies to the Station House Officers(SHOs) of the top 3 stations at the Directors General of Police (DGP) conference organised by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

Reason behind Growth

• Expected a growth in Indian economy due to increasing rate of vaccination
• Consumer demand, spending and manufacturing activity is recovering
• To boost India’s economic growth, Moody’s suggested increased government spending on infrastructure to support demand for cement and steel.

• November 26, 2021, marks the 100th birth anniversary of Dr VergheseKurien, who is also known as the ‘Father of White Revolution’ in the country.
• Every year since 2014, Kurien’s birth anniversary has been observed as the National Milk Day.
• The late social entrepreneur, who was born on November 26, 1921, in present day- Kozhikode, Kerala, played an instrumental role in making India the largest milk producer in the world.
• He was also the brains behind ‘Operation Flood,’ which led to dairy farming becoming the country’s largest self-sustaining industry, as well as the largest rural employment sector.
• Kurien also helped set up the Amul cooperative society in 1946, in Gujarat’s Anand
• He was thus a recipient of several awards, including the Padma Vibhushan (1999), World Food Prize (1989), Krishi Ratna (1986), Padma Bhushan (1966), Padma Shri (1965), Ramon Magsaysay Award (1963) etc.

• According to the (GNR, 2021) 2021 Global Nutrition Report: The state of global nutrition, India is making no progress or worsening to meet the targets on Anaemia & Childhood wastingIndia Made No Progress on Anaemia & Childhood Wasting
• Childhood stunting:
• India is among 53 countries ‘on course’ to meet the target for childhood stunting, yet around 34.7 % of children under 5 years of age are still affected
• This is higher than average for Asia, where nearly 21.8% are affected by stunting.
• Anaemia
• India is among the 161 countries that have made no progress or worsening in terms of reducing anaemia.
• Around 50% of Indian women between the age group of 15-49 are anaemic.
• Childhood Overweight:
• India is among the 105 countries that are ‘on course’ to meet the target for ‘childhood overweight’.
• Exclusive breast feeding:
• India is among the 53 countries that are ‘on course’ to meet the target for ‘exclusive breastfeeding’.
• Childhood wasting:
• India is among the 23 countries that have made no progress or worsening in terms of reducing childhood wasting.

• Constitution Day also known as ‘Samvidhan Divas’, is celebrated in our country on 26th November every year to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India.
• On 26th November 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted the Constitution of India, which came into effect from 26th January 1950.
• This year the Constitution Day will be celebrated in the central hall of the Parliament as part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
• The Union Cabinet announced in May 2015 that Constitution Day will be marked on 26 November to promote the constitutional values amongst countrymen.