Chhattisgarh Affairs
Chhattisgarhs total fertility rate (TFR) or the average number of children a woman gives birth in her lifetime has come down from 2.2 to 1.8, an important factor in population stability, states the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-21) (NFHS-5).
The report states that there has also been an increase in the Contraceptive Prevalence Rate, which has increased from 57 percent (2015-16) to 67 percent now.
But there is drop in sex ratio of the total Population (females per 1,000 males), with Average 1,015 as compared to 1,019 of NHFS-4.
The average total females per 1,000 males born in the state is 960, compared to 977 in the last survey. The drop is higher in urban areas (933) as compared to rural (967).
The state has also performed better in terms of marriage of girls below the age of 18 years. In NFHS-5, the rate is 12 percent as compared to NFHS-4 rate of 21 percent, a decrease of 9 percent.
There was also a decrease in the neonatal and infant mortality rate.
The neonatal mortality rate (1-28 days old infants) has come down from 42 to 32 for 1,000 live births while the infant mortality rate (infants from 1 month to one year) has fallen from 54 to 44 per 1,000 live births.
The mortality rate of infants below 5 years has slid from 64 to 50, a decrease of 14 points.
Apart from it, institutional deliveries in the state have reached 80 percent. It was 70 percent in NFHS-4. Similarly, complete immunization has increased from 76 percent to 79 percent in children.
The NFHS-5 data indicates that children under 5 years of age in urban areas are more likely to be obese or overweight than those in rural areas. The Percentage of obese children is 5.7 percent in urban and 3.6 percent in rural areas.
National and International Affairs
Dhawan-1: Indias First Privately Built Cryogenic Rocket Engine
Indias first privately built cryogenic rocket engine called Dhawan-1 was test-fired privately by Skyroot Aerospace.
Highlights:
Skyroot Aerospace exhibited the upper stage of its Vikram-2 launch vehicle.
The cryogenic rocket engine is 3D printed and made in India.
It has been named after Satish Dhawan, the third chairman of ISRO, as he pioneered the development of advanced launch capabilities of India.
Vikram Rocket has been identified after Vikram Sarabhai, who started India’s space program and conducted advanced nuclear research.
The rocket uses a mixture of Liquid Natural Gas, more than 90 per cent methane and Liquid Oxygen.
It is called “Methalox”, in the combined state, which forms a cryogenic rocket fuel.
This provides high performance and a low cost. The fuel is environmentally friendly, which is dubbed “Fuel of the future”.
Dhawan-1
The Dhawan-1 engine includes a vacuum thrust of about 1.5kN. The engine was tested on a specially built testbed at Solar Industries in Nagpur.
The engine is the upper stage of the Vikram-2 launch vehicle that uses Environment-friendly compounds called LNG and LOX. It is entirely 3D printed.
Pixxel 1 satellite is set to be launched in 2022, the first private satellite in an Earth Observation constellation in low Earth orbit.
The UNESCO recently presented two Heritage Awards to the Nizamuddin Basti Project. The project was awarded for its conservation efforts. It was awarded with the Special Recognition for Sustainable Award and Award of Excellence.
The project restored more than 20 historic monuments located around 14thcentury Sufi Saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya.
The Nizamuddin area consists of and Batashewala Tomb and tomb of a 16thcentury poet Rahim (Khan I Khanan). These regions were segregated and damaged. They were also renewed by the Nizamuddin Basti Project.
The project was started in 2007 by the Aga Kahn Trust for Culture, Archaeological Survey of India, Delhi Urban Heritage Foundation and the Delhi Municipal Corporation.
The Nizamuddin Basti Project is an Urban Renewal Project. It successfully unified the segregated zones of the seven-century old settlement of the Nizamuddin Basti and its surrounding 70 acres.
It integrated socio Economic Development, conservation and environmental development objectives in these areas.
India International Science Festival – 7 Edition
Panaji, Goa will host the 7th India International Science Festival From 10 to 13 December.
Highlights
From December 10 to 13, 2021, the 7th edition of the four-day India International Science Festival (IISF) will be placed in Panaji, Goa.
“Celebrating Creativity in Science, Technology, and Innovation for a Prosperous India” is the festival theme for 2021. In 2015, the inaugural IISF was conducted in New Delhi.
The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) in Goa, which is part of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, is the organising body for IISF 2021.
Barbados Is The Worlds Newest Republic
Barbados is the Worlds newest republic, 400 years after it became a British colony.
Highlights
Barbados, the Caribbean Island nation, dismissed Queen Elizabeth II as the head of the state.
Dame Sandra Prunella Mason became President of Barbados and was selected to become the first president of Barbados in October 2021.
She was announced by Speaker of the House of Assembly, Arthur Holder.
The British made Barbados a slave Society when it first became an English colony in 1625. It gained its independence in 1966.