Daily Current Affairs Quiz 14 March 2023

d) World Health Organization

The World Health Organization (WHO) Global Report on Sodium Intake Reduction states that nations must make “massive efforts” to get people to consume less salt, which can lower their risk of developing cancer, heart disease, and stroke.
i. The WHO remarked in its first-of-its-kind global report on sodium intake reduction that the world is falling short of its global target of reducing sodium intake by 30% by 2025.
ii. For the first time, a Sodium Country Score is assigned to each Member State based on the level of implementation of sodium reduction policies and other measures, ranging from 1 (the lowest level) to 4 (the highest level).
• As per the report, India’s Sodium intake is about 9.8 g salt/day and its Sodium Country Score was 2.
• According to the report, just 5% of WHO Member States are protected by mandatory and comprehensive sodium reduction policies, and 73% including India lack full implementation of such policies.

b) Hardeep Singh Puri (Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs)

On 7th March 2023(eve of International Women’s Day- 8th March), Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched the 1st edition of “Women Icons Leading Swachhata’ (WINS) Awards” 2023 to highlight the impact of women in sanitation and waste management.
Aim: To recognize, celebrate and disseminate inspiring and exemplary initiatives in urban sanitation and waste management by women-led organizations and individual women.
i. Swachh Bharat Mission Urban [SBM (U)] was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2014.
• SBM-U 2.0 was launched in 2021 to achieve “Garbage Free” status for all cities through 100 per cent source segregation and door-to-door collection of waste.
ii. The applications of the WINS Awards 2023 will be considered under 10 thematics areas.

d) Data intermediaries

Safe harbor as prescribed under Section 79 of the IT Act, 2000 – is legal immunity that online intermediaries enjoy against content posted by users on their platforms. This is available as long as these platforms abide by certain due diligence requirements, such as censoring content when asked by the government or courts. It is a crucial tenet for ensuring free speech on the Internet since platforms only have to act on speech that is deemed illegal.

There is an ongoing debate whether the new Digital India bill must incorporate this provision.

b) India

India hosted the third session of the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) at New Delhi.
Over 1200 subject experts, practitioners, academicians and delegates deliberated upon various cross cutting issues on disaster risk reduction based on the 10-point agenda on Disaster Risk Reduction given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sendai Framework.

c) Neither 1 nor 2

The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is a government organisation in India that assesses and accredits Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). It is an autonomous body funded by the University Grants Commission and headquartered in Bangalore. Hence, statement 1 is incorrect.

NAAC grades institutes on an eight-grade ladder. The ratings of institutions range from A++ to C. If an institution is graded D, it means it is not accredited. At present, the Assessment and Accreditation by NAAC is done on a voluntary basis. Hence, statement 2 is incorrect.

A recent report by the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) pointed out glaring discrepancies in the assessment and accreditation of higher education institutions by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).