• Commemorating World Ocean Day, the UN Director General Antonio Guterres on Thursday highlighted that preserving the earth’s blue is the need of the hour as the oceans are the “greatest reservoir of biodiversity”.

• He adds that humanity is the “worst enemy” of the oceans as it is being tormented by overfishing, exploitation, acidification and pollution.

• An ambitious and unanimous decision was taken by the countries, last December,  to preserve 30% of land, marine and coastal areas by this decade.

• The subtle High Seas Treaty was agreed upon by the countries later in March to propagate conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction for which “a collective commitment”,was imperative to fulfil the above goal. 

• Preserving the blue shall solve the other global issues like poverty, food security and climate change.

• Since oceans and marine biodiversity are the major sources of food and energy, the importance of Aquaculture siting was emphasized by Manuel Barange, FAO Director, focussing on its rapid growth over the last 5 decades and the expectant growth of 25% by this decade.

• The National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) results showed a steep increase in the prevalence of Anemia across all age groups.  

• Expert discussions concluded that the overestimation was due to faulty technique. 

• The Diet and Biomarker Survey in India (DABS-1) will now conduct anemia prevalence estimation to overcome the limitations of NFHS-5. 

• Few advantages of DABS-1 over NFHS includes: 

1. Using venous blood sample instead of the capillary sample; 

2. Use of standardized instruments for measuring hemoglobin. 

• However, DABS-1 will be conducted among 1.8 lakh people using the state and country-representative sampling method, which will only get us a zoomed-out picture of the country.

• The Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are a group of countries with distinct social, economic, health, nutrition, and climate change vulnerabilities. 

• They are primarily dependent on external sources like tourism for the economy. 

• Have the highest prevalence of adult and childhood obesity in the world. 

• >1/2 of the deaths are premature due to NCDs and mental illnesses. 

• Classification as middle- and high-income countries prevents access to financing from global organizations leading to further challenges. 

• The 2023 "Bridgetown Declaration on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and Mental Health " aims to  Reduce premature NCD-related mortalities by 1/3rd using prevention and control strategies under the action principle of Engage,  accelerate, invest,  align,  account.

• Over 2,000 garbage trucks worth of plastic is dumped into oceans, rivers, and lakes daily, posing a threat to both mankind and ocean life. 

• Plastic production contributes to the climate crisis.

• Microplastics, tiny particles up to 5mm in diameter, contaminate what we consume and breathe, with each person consuming over 50,000 plastic particles annually. 

• A new UNEP report shows that plastic pollution can be reduced by a staggering 80 per cent by 2040 – if humankind acts now to reuse, recycle, and pivot away from plastics. 

• We must ‘work as one’ – governments, companies, and consumers alike – to break our addiction to plastics, and build a truly circular economy. 

 • ECOSOC President, Lachezara Stoeva, said that financial support, capacity building and technical assistance should be provided to developing countries to facilitate their transition from unsustainable patterns of consumption and production to circular economic models that promote reusability and reduce waste.

•  Kerala, Karnataka and Telangana garlanded as the top performers in the NITI Aayog’s Annual Health Index in the year 2020-21. 

 • The NITI Aayog shared the fifth health index (2020-21)  report – Healthy States Progressive India Report ranking all States and Union Territories.

 • The incremental and overall performance are the key determinants of the index in which the states and UT are categorized into ‘larger’ and ‘smaller’ states and UTs and then ranked according to their scores.

 •  While Kerala, Karnataka, and Telangana bagged the first, second and third places respectively, Bihar(19), UP(18), and Madhya Pradesh (17) were sloths among ‘larger’ states.

 •   Among smaller states, Mizoram, Tripura and Sikkim took the top three slots in terms of overall performance, while Manipur (6th), Arunachal Pradesh (7th) and Nagaland (8th) were at the bottom in 2019-20.

• Globally, Olympic Day is celebrated every year on 23rd June to celebrate being active. 

• This year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), has come up with a new initiative termed “Let’s Move.”  

• The movement aims to :

1.  Motivate and support individuals to include any form of activity in their busy lives.  

2. Emphasize the beneficial effects of sport on an individual’s physical and mental health. 

• A digital invitation will be sent from fellow Olympians to move for 30 minutes daily with them.

• Many countries have included additional events to celebrate this Day, such as the “Have a Go” activity in Australia and the “Glow 2k” activity in Barbados.

•  In a span of a few years, the Delhi metro, which began its first service in December 2002, faces the challenge of being overly crowded during peak business hours.

 • The strategies adopted by the government of Israel and Tokyo are very efficient in tackling overcrowdedness. 

•  One of the biggest problems that get the least attention is the lack of focus on last-mile connectivity in Delhi public transportation as well as the unutilized parking spaces. 

• The new budget proposal tabled by the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi makes promises of upscaling the bus transport system and augmenting its electric bus fleet. This will not only be the efficient way to tackle overcrowdedness but also a sustainable step towards saving environment. 

• The ‘mohalla bus’ scheme will ensure the last mile connectivity and the development of three ISBTs (Inter-State Bus Terminus) with airport-like facilities in Delhi will help in addressing Delhi’s transportation woes.

◦  The Kerala Chief Minister, Sri. Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurates the first phase of Kerala Fibre Optic Network (K-FON) on June 5, 2023.  

◦  This is an initiative to provide free and fast internet services to 20 lakhs below poverty-line families and 30,000 government institutions at affordable rates. 

◦  This could keep the people in Kerala linked by the thread of network irrespective of their monetary and social status and offer non-discriminatory services.     

◦  The Rs 1,611-crore KFON project is a joint venture of Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) and Kerala State IIT Infrastructure Limited.     

 ◦  It was announced in 2017 and implemented in 2021 led by Central PSU Bharat Electronics Limited and PriceWaterhouseCoopers International Limited is the consultant of the project.    

◦  Hopefully this trailblazing intervention would definitely bear fruits.

• Anemia is an important component related to mortality and morbidity as far as MCH(Maternal and Child Health) care is concerned. So, accurate estimates are needed to tackle the crisis. 

•  Comparing data of NFHS-4(2015-16) and NFHS-5(2019-21) anemia burden in India increased by nearly 4% and 8% in women of reproductive age group and children of age 6 to 59 months.

• This created fear of over diagnosis of anemia in India. 

• The method already followed in NFHS uses capillary blood(diluted one) for Hb estimation rather than venous blood which is more accurate. Hence questions related to anemia are dropped from NFHS-6 which is scheduled to commence in July. 

• Diet and Biomarkers Survey in India (DABS-I) launched last year to map diet, nutrition and health status, shall provide the correct estimate of anaemia among the rural and urban population. 

• The 4th Annual Health for All Film Festival (HAFF), held at WHO headquarters, in Geneva, has announced this year’s winning films. 

•  Films are a powerful way to raise awareness, improve understanding and encourage positive behaviour changes.

 •  Since 2020, the Health for All Film Festival has gathered more than 4300 submissions from 110 countries. 

 •  This year, 93 films were shortlisted and the topics ranged from depression and anxiety to the effects of climate change on health and challenges faced by people with disabilities. 

 •  The three main categories for the competition were - Universal Health Coverage, Health emergencies and Better health and well-being, aligning with WHO’s Triple Billion Targets.

 •  Link to watch the films -  https://www.who.int/initiatives/health-for-all-film-festival

• If the mobile number of the person is administered in the portal, his ID details and centre from where he was vaccinated can be taken out.

• Details could be accessed even with the Aadhar number.

• Union IT ministry stressed that the data breached was previously stolen but not from COWIN portal.

• Another arena of worry is that CoWIN has been integrated with UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) and Aarogya Setu app.  

• Union IT Ministry has asked CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) to investigate the matter.