Current Affairs: Prelims

National Broadband Mission

Why in news?

Some of the objectives of the Mission are:

Broadband access to all villages by 2022.
Laying of incremental 30 lakhs route km of Optical Fiber Cable and increase in tower density from 0.42 to 1.0 tower per thousand of population by 2024.
Develop innovative implementation models for Right of Way (RoW) and to work with States/UTs for having consistent policies pertaining to expansion of digital infrastructure including for RoW approvals required for laying of OFC.
Develop a Broadband Readiness Index (BRI) to measure the availability of digital communications infrastructure and conducive policy ecosystem within a State/UT.
Creation of a digital fiber map of the Digital Communications network and infrastructure, including Optical Fiber Cables and Towers, across the country.
Investment from stakeholders of USD 100 billion (Rs 7 Lakh Crore) including Rs 70,000 crore from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).

Living arrangements by religious affiliation

Why in news?

Pew Research Center analysis released a new report titled “Religion and Living Arrangements Around the World.” The report analyses how Household living arrangements – how many people share a dwelling and how these people are related – varies by religion.

Important facts of the report:

Worldwide, Muslims live in the biggest households. The average Muslim lives in a home of 6.4 people, followed by Hindus (5.7), Christians (4.5), Buddhists (3.9), the religiously unaffiliated – also known as “nones” (3.7) – and Jews (3.7).
Extended-family households – where relatives such as aunts, parents and grandparents live together – are the most common living arrangement around the world. This arrangement accounts for 38% of all people, including a majority of Hindus (55%).
Worldwide, Jews are the most likely to live alone (10%), while Muslims and Hindus are the least likely to do so (1% for each).
Christians are the most likely to live in single-parent households. Buddhists are the least likely to live in two-parent families.
In sub-Saharan Africa, 11% of all people live in polygamous households, including a quarter of Muslims. Outside of sub-Saharan Africa, the country having the highest share of people in polygamous households is Afghanistan (5%).
Women, regardless of their religious affiliation, are more likely than men to be single parents.

Global Refugee Forum

Why in news?

The first Global Refugee Forum (GRF), a two-day gathering of United Nations member states, began in Geneva, Switzerland, on December 17.

News summary

The Forum is jointly hosted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Refugee Agency, and the government of Switzerland.
The GRF will be held every four years at the Ministerial level.
It aims to debate and discuss the response of the world’s countries to the global refugee situation. The first GRF has been organised around six areas of focus: burden- and responsibility-sharing, education, jobs and livelihoods, energy and infrastructure, solutions, and protection capacity.
Background: According to the UNHCR, the first GRF is being held “at the end of a tumultuous decade in which the number of refugees has risen to over 25 million people worldwide”.

Global Gender Gap Index

Why in news?

The annual Global Gender Gap Index for 2020 has been published by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

News summary

Iceland, Norway, and Finland occupy the top three spots in the Report.
Yemen is ranked the worst (153rd), while Iraq is 152nd and Pakistan 151st.
India is ranked 112th among 153 countries. India has moved down the ladder from its 108th position last year to rank below countries like China (106th), Sri Lanka (102nd), Nepal (101st), Brazil (92nd), Indonesia (85th) and Bangladesh (50th).
India is among countries with very low women representation on company boards (13.8 per cent), while it was even worse in China (9.7 per cent).
Globally, the average (population-weighted) distance completed to gender parity is at 68.6%, which is an improvement since last edition.
The largest gender disparity is in political empowerment. Only 25% of the seats in parliaments around the world are occupied by women, and only 21% of the ministers are women.
The overall global gender gap will close in 99.5 years, on average, across the 107 countries covered continuously since the first edition of the Report.

Bone Ossification test

Why in news?

In Mumbai, investigators said they might apply for a bone ossification test to determine whether the prime accused in the murder of Vakola guitarist Bennett Rebello (55) is a minor or not.

News summary

Bone ossification, or osteogenesis, is the process of bone formation.
This process begins between the sixth and seventh weeks of embryonic development and continues until about age twenty-five; although this varies slightly based on the individual.
There are two types of bone ossification, intramembranous and endochondral.
Intramembranous ossification directly converts the mesenchymal tissue to bone and forms the flat bones of the skull, clavicle,
and most of the cranial bones.
Endochondral ossification begins with mesenchymal tissue transforming into a cartilage intermediate, which is later replaced by bone and forms the remainder of the axial skeleton and the long bones.
In 2016, the Bombay high court ruled that a bone ossification test is by itself not conclusive proof of age.