“Almost everything you do will seem insignificant, but it is important that you do it.”
Mahatma Gandhi
“आपका कोई भी काम महत्त्वहीन हो सकता है, किंतु महत्त्वपूर्ण तो यह है कि आप कुछ करें।”
महात्मा गांधी
Friday, July 19, 2024
Quote of the Day July 19, 2024
What is Medical Devices Information System(MeDevIS)?
The Medical Devices Information System (MeDevIS), which was just released by the World Health Organization (WHO), is a major step forward in healthcare around the world. This online tool, which anyone can use, aims to improve how medical devices are given out and used around the world.
Objective of MeDevIS
The main reason MeDevIS was created was to help governments, healthcare officials, and end users. This directory has a lot of information to help people make smart choices about buying, choosing, and using different medical equipment.
Scope of Medical Devices Covered
The site has a list of 2,301 different kinds of medical equipment. These cover a wide range of health issues, from reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health to important infectious diseases like Covid-19 and infectious diseases that don’t spread.
Global Impact and Necessity
Over 10,000 different types of medical devices are sold around the world. These range from simple tools to high-tech devices like heart stents and radiotherapy machines. MeDevIS wants to organize this huge amount of data so that healthcare systems around the world can make better decisions more easily. Medical device information used to be spread out among many different foreign and regulatory body databases before MeDevIS came along. Users often had a harder time getting accurate information because of this segmentation.
Features of MeDevIS
MeDevIS has a central, complete database that has important information about every medical gadget. It tells users what kind of technology they need, what level of healthcare system they need, how big it’s supposed to be, and what kind of infrastructure it needs to work with. WHO has made a big step toward making knowledge about medical devices easier to find and accessible to everyone with MeDevIS. This will improve public health and healthcare around the world. This platform not only helps people make better decisions, but it also helps fill in the gaps in healthcare knowledge around the world.
World Population Prospects 2024: UN
The most recent “World Population Prospects 2024” study from the United Nations gives us a lot more information about how many people are expected to live on Earth in the future. According to key findings, the world’s population will hit its peak of about 10.3 billion people in the middle of the 1980s. After that, it will start to slowly decline until the end of the century. The fact that this peak is about 700 million fewer than what was thought ten years ago shows that population trends have changed.
Factors Affecting Population Growth
Lower birth rates in some of the world’s most popular countries, like China, are to blame for the change in population predictions. These changes are having a big effect on the demographic picture and give us a new way to think about how populations will change in the future. The earlier coming of this population peak is also seen as a good thing for the environment because it could reduce the stress that human consumption puts on the planet’s resources.
Global Distribution and Ageing
Over a quarter of the world’s people live in places like China, Russia, Japan, and Germany where population growth has stopped. This group is going to grow because countries like Brazil, Iran, and Turkey are going to have their most populous decades in the next 30 years. Also, after 2054, the populations of more than 120 countries will still be growing. This includes big countries like India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and the United States. The ages of people in the population are also changing. In line with trends seen after Covid, life expectancy will rise from an average of 73.3 years in 2024 to 77.4 years in 2054. It is expected that by the late 2070s, there will be more adults aged 65 and up than people under 18 years old. This means that the world’s population is getting older quickly.
Implications
The world’s population is getting older and will finally go down, which brings both problems and chances. It might help the environment in some ways by lowering total consumption, but it also makes people more aware of the need to live in a way that is good for the environment. Also, governments around the world may face problems because of populations that are getting older, such as a lack of workers and higher healthcare needs. In conclusion, it is important to understand these population trends for policymaking and long-term growth, as they will have big effects on the world’s social, economic, and environmental settings in the future.
About UN Population Prospects
- Global and Regional Trends: The UN Population Prospects study projects the world’s population to peak at about 10.4 billion by 2100, with India surpassing China as the most populous country by 2023. Africa is highlighted for its significant population growth, with Nigeria expected to be the third most populous country by 2050.
- Longevity and Migration: By 2050, the global life expectancy is projected to reach nearly 77 years, reflecting improvements in healthcare. Conversely, Europe’s population may decline due to falling birth rates and increased longevity. Migration plays a crucial but complex role in shaping demographic changes, especially in developed regions.
Nagaland Wins Best State in Horticulture Award 2024
Nagaland won the “Best State in Horticulture Award 2024” at the Agriculture Leadership Awards, which shows how clever its horticulture projects are. Minister Salhoutuonuo Kruse took the award in New Delhi and said that the government’s policies are aimed at promoting prosperity in rural areas and long-term farming.
Horticulture Development Initiatives
Key policies have mostly focused on improving nutrition and the economy by encouraging diverse farming and organic certification. One of the things that was done was to register the Naga Mircha, Naga Tree Tomato, and Naga Sweet Cucumber as Geographical Indications (GI). This made the product more valuable and protected native heritage.
Institution of Farmer’s Producer Companies
13 Farmers’ Producer Companies (FPCs) needed to be set up. These FPCs have helped organic farming on 6800 hectares of land, which has led to world recognition and national awards for crops like pineapple, kiwi, and large cardamom.
About Farmers’ Producer Company (FPCs)
- Formation and Structure: Farmers’ Producer Companies (FPCs), which were made possible by the Companies Act of 2002, let farmers pool their resources and get better deals. They need at least ten producer members or two institutions to work, but there is no limit on the number of members, and each member has one vote in the democratic management system.
- Government Support and Tax Benefits: Schemes like the Equity Grant and Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme help FPCs with help from the government. Also, up to INR 100 crore in income from FPC operations is not taxed. This encourages farmers to work together to get their goods to market and supports environmentally friendly farming methods.
- Impact on Farmers: FPCs have made it much easier for small farms to get into markets, cut down on transaction costs, and use new technologies. Farmers get better prices, more efficient work, and higher total productivity when they pool their resources and work together.
Market Integration and Expansion
The Department of Horticulture has started air shipping services to make it easier for Naga Organic Pineapple and Organic Kiwi to get to markets. Getting Nagaland’s goods to other parts of India has been made easier by this connection. The creation of “100 vegetable villages,” which are meant to help 10,000 families, is an important project. This scheme not only makes more food available, but it also helps communities become self-sufficient.
Promotion of Exotic and Native Horticulture
Nagaland is making progress in sustainable farming by growing unusual plants like Kiwi and Dragon Fruit and coming up with the innovative idea of a “Horticultural Model Village.” Each village is only responsible for growing one crop so that resources are used more efficiently and output is higher.
Great divide: Editorial on NITI Aayog report flagging growing inequality in India
The two indicators flagged by the NITI Aayog point to two different kinds of problem. Economic inequality stems from unequal access to assets and opportunities in a market economy
One of the major consequences of market-led growth in India has been the sharp rise in economic inequality, both in terms of wealth and income. This has been measured and remarked upon by a number of international scholars and think tanks, much to the annoyance of the Narendra Modi-led Central government. But now, the Centre’s own think tank, the NITI Aayog, has come up with a report that has flagged growing inequality in India as an issue of concern. According to the NITI Aayog report, inequality scores as measured by United Nations suggested metrics have worsened from 71 in 2018 to 65 in 2023-24. The report also underlines the worsening of gender inequalities that might pull down India’s sustainability goals that are to be achieved by 2030. Incidentally, according to non-government sources such as Oxfam, 40% of the national income went to the top 1% of Indians while the bottom 50% received only 3% between 2012 and 2021. The level of inequality is supposed to be worse than that which prevailed during the colonial period.
The two indicators flagged by the NITI Aayog point to two different kinds of problem. Economic inequality stems from unequal access to assets and opportunities in a market economy. Poor people have limited access and, hence, they continue to be poor. Unequal opportunities spill over into access to credit, education, health and justice. Such inequalities harden, more so when systematic safety nets provided by the government are not assured. These growing inequalities have political and social consequences that might be quite potent in terms of unrest and violence. Denied of decent, dignified living, the poor often turn to crime and illegal activities. Extreme inequality can also be viewed as unjust and offensive given the opulent exhibitionism of the rich and the famous. Gender inequality, on the other hand, is a consequence of deep-seated social problems that reflect increasing male dominance. The gender bias is manifest in the nation’s political representation, in India’s work culture, and even in its family values. The consequent loss to the nation is in terms of talent and creativity foregone when so many women lack educational and employment opportunities and spend the most productive period of their lives engaged in household chores. Now that the government’s own think tank has raised these issues, the time has come for serious policy action.
Source: The Telegraph, 17/07/24
Tuesday, July 02, 2024
Quote of the Day July 2, 2024
“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”
Robert Brault
“छोटी छोटी बातों का आनंद उठाइए, क्योंकि हो सकता है कि किसी दिन आप मुड़ कर देखें तो आपको अनुभव हो कि ये तो बड़ी बातें थीं।”
रॉबर्ट ब्राल्ट
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