YEARBOOK OF SIPRI 2022

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) published the findings of SIPRI Yearbook 2022, which evaluate the current state of armaments, disarmament, and the status of international security.

SIPRI: SIPRI is an independent international body which is specialized in research into conflict, armaments, arms control, and disarmament.

It came up in the year 1966 in Stockholm. It gives the data analysis, and recommendations, which are based on open sources, to policymakers, researchers, and media.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE REPORT:

Nuclear warheads:

• Global Scenario:

Nine nuclear-armed states —that is  United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea)—are still modernizing their nuclear arsenals and although the total number of nuclear weapons decreases slightly between January 2021 and January 2022, the number will increase probably next decade.

• INDIA

India had a total of 160 nuclear warheads as of January 2022 and it still appears to be increasing its nuclear arsenal.

Nuclear warheads are the explosive head of a missile that uses nuclear energy.

India’s nuclear stockpile has changed from 156 in January 2021 to 160 in January 2022

• CHINA

China had TOTAL  350 nuclear warheads both in January 2021 and January 2022.

MAJOR ARM IMPORTER: SIPRI find out 164 states as importers of major arms from 2016 to 2020

• Country Wise:

The top five largest arms importers are Saudi Arabia, India, Egypt, Australia, and China, and together they accounted for 36% of total imports.

• Region-wise:

 The region which received the maximum volume of major arms supplies in 2016-20 was Asia and Oceania, accounting for 42% of the global total, followed by the Middle East, which received 33%.

 Russia and USA possess the 90% of the total nuclear weapon.

MAJOR ARM SUPPLIER: The largest five suppliers in 2016-20 were the United States, Russia, France, Germany, and China and they accounted for a total of 76% of the volume of exports of major arms.

ASSESSMENT OF National e-Governance Service Delivery 2021

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions come up with the second edition of the National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment 2021,( NeSDA 2021).

NeSDA 2021: For Digital Government excellence, the National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment (NeSDA) responsibility has been undertaken by the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG).

NeSDA was launched in the year 2018,  which was based on the Online Service Index (OSI) of the UNDESA eGovernment Survey (UN E-Government Survey 2020 by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, since 2001).

 This is the second edition of NeSDA, and the first edition was launched in 2019

NeSDA STRUCTURE :

• The structure covers six sectors, which are Finance, Labour & Employment, Education, Local Government & Utilities, Social Welfare (including Agriculture & Health), and Environment (including Fire) sectors.
•  It structure cover the services under G2B (Government to Businesses) and G2C (Government to Citizens) segments, in all these six sectors.
• The NeSDA structure primarily evaluates all the service portals (State/UT and Central Ministry service portals) on major 7 key Variables. In NeSDA 2021, the framework has been enhanced to include an additional 6 variables.

The portals evaluation were classified into one of two categories:

• State/UT/Central Ministry Portal, the designated portal of the respective government which provides single window access to information and service links, (first categories).
• The second category consists of the State/UT/Central Ministry Services Portals which focus on the digital delivery of services and provide service-related information.

2021 ASSESSMENT: In the Central Ministry Services Portals, scores have improved for 6 portals while among various States and UTs, scores have been better for 28 of the State / UT Portals and 22 of the State / UT Services Portals.

• In the segment of the State/UT portal, among group A states- Kerala became a front runner and massive progress was made by Tamil Nadu followed by Punjab.
• Among the group B states- Odisha is at the top then Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
• Among Nort-Eastern states, Nagaland followed by Meghalaya and Assam are at the top.
• Among UTs, J&K topped with the second A&N, Puducherry, Delhi, and Chandigarh.

E-Governance defines the government’s functioning with the application of information and communication technology. It is a move towards a smart government. It is also based on the concept of minimum government and maximum governance.        

BENEFITS OF RICE FORTIFICATION

Center to boost the supply of fortified rice started the second phase of the distribution of fortified rice from April 1. Its main aim is to supply fortified rice to beneficiaries of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and the Pradhan Mantra Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM-POSHAN) Scheme.

 Food cooperation of India had procured about 90 lakh tonnes of fortified rice and about 2.2lakh tonnes had been supplied to 90 districts in 16 states.

Rice fortification is a centrally sponsored pilot scheme for the fortification of rice and its distribution under the public distribution system for 3 years starting from 2019.

OBJECTIVE

1. To tackle the problem of anaemia and micronutrient deficiency in the country, a special focus has also been given first to aspirational districts of the country.

2. It increases learning and mental activity and helps to achieve a more healthy way of life.

3. The fortification of rice is a cost-effective and complementary strategy to increase vitamin and mineral content in diets.

4. Every second woman in the country is anaemic and every third child is stunted. Even India ranked has also slipped to 101 positions in the Global Hunger Index 2021 out of 116 countries, which is a matter of concern.

5. hidden hunger which is the deficiency of micronutrients is a serious health risk, and can be solved by fortification of rice as rice is one of India’s staple foods consumed by two-thirds of the population.

According to the FSSAI norm, 1kg fortified rice will contain:

1. Iron (28mg-42.5mg),
2.  Folic acid (75-125mg)
3.  Vitamin B12 (0.75-1.25 mg)

It also contains Zinc, Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, and vitamin B6.