World Health Day
World Health Day is observed annually on April 7th to commemorate the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948. Each year, this day highlights a specific health topic that is important for people all over the world.
World Health Day 2025: "Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures"
In 2025, the theme for World Health Day is "Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures." This theme focuses on improving the health and survival of mothers and newborn babies. The goal is to encourage governments and health communities to work harder to prevent deaths that can be avoided among mothers and newborns. The campaign also emphasises the importance of caring for women's health in the long term.
Why This Theme Is Important
Every year, about 300,000 women die because of problems related to pregnancy or childbirth. Additionally, over 2 million babies die within their first month of life, and around 2 million more are stillborn (meaning they die before birth). This means that approximately every 7 seconds, a mother or baby dies from causes that could often be prevented.
Many countries are not on track to meet global goals for reducing these deaths by 2030. Specifically, 4 out of 5 countries are not making enough progress to improve maternal survival, and 1 in 3 countries will not meet targets for reducing newborn deaths.
Supporting Mothers and Families
Women and their families must receive high-quality care that supports them both physically and emotionally before, during, and after childbirth. Health systems need to address various health issues that affect mothers and newborns. These include direct complications from childbirth, mental health conditions, chronic diseases, and family planning needs.
Digital Threat Report 2024
On April 7, 2025, India's Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), along with CSIRT-Fin and the cybersecurity company SISA, released the "Digital Threat Report 2024" to enhance cybersecurity in the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) sector. This report examines current and emerging cyber threats and offers strategies to defend against them.
Key Highlights of the Report:
- Growing Cyber Risks: As the BFSI sector rapidly adopts digital technologies, it becomes more vulnerable to cyberattacks. The interconnected nature of financial institutions means that a single cyberattack can affect multiple entities, emphasizing the need for a unified cybersecurity approach.
- Collaborative Defense Strategy: The report underscores the importance of collaboration among regulators, industry stakeholders, and global cybersecurity bodies. By working together, these entities can detect, respond to, and recover from cyber incidents more effectively.
- Economic Implications: Strong cybersecurity measures are essential not only for protecting individual institutions but also for maintaining overall economic stability and public trust in the financial system.
- Proactive Threat Intelligence: The report provides insights into adversarial tactics and emerging vulnerabilities, enabling financial institutions to anticipate and prepare for future cyber threats.
What is the AI RAM Initiative?
The AI Readiness Assessment Methodology (RAM) initiative is a series of five meetings organized by UNESCO and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to understand and improve how prepared India is to adopt AI. The aim is to create a report that outlines India's strengths and opportunities in developing AI ethically.
This initiative is open to policymakers (people who create rules and laws), technologists (experts in technology), academics (scholars and researchers), and practitioners (people who work directly with AI). They can all contribute to shaping a responsible and future-ready AI plan for India. Those interested in participating can register through the provided link.
Why is This Important Now?
India is launching an ambitious plan called the INDIAai Mission, with over ₹10,000 crore in funding. A key part of this mission is the "Safe and Trusted AI" pillar, which emphasizes the government's commitment to developing AI that is ethical (doing what is right), accountable (taking responsibility for actions), and secure (protected from threats).
The mission aims to create frameworks (basic structures), governance tools (methods to manage AI), and self-assessment guidelines (ways for organizations to check their own AI practices). This will help innovators (people creating new AI technologies) and ensure that the benefits of AI reach various sectors, such as healthcare, education, and agriculture.
Palna Scheme
The Palna Scheme is a program by the Indian government to help working mothers by providing safe and nurturing daycare centers, called crèches, for their young children aged 6 months to 6 years. This initiative supports women who want to work but need reliable childcare.
Why the Palna Scheme Was Created
In recent years, more women have started working outside their homes. At the same time, many families have become nuclear, meaning they consist of just parents and their children, without extended family members like grandparents. In the past, extended families often helped take care of children, but with nuclear families, this support is less available. Without proper daycare services, some mothers find it hard to work because they have no one to look after their children. The Palna Scheme addresses this issue by offering daycare facilities where children receive care and protection while their mothers work.
What the Palna Scheme Offers
The Palna Scheme provides several important services for young children:
- Daycare Facilities: Safe places where children can stay during the day, including arrangements for naps.
- Early Stimulation Activities: For children under 3 years old, activities that help their brains develop, like playing with colorful toys or listening to music.
- Pre-school Education: For children aged 3 to 6 years, basic education to prepare them for school, such as learning numbers, letters, and social skills.
- Nutritional Support: Providing healthy meals and snacks to ensure children get the nutrition they need to grow.
- Health Services: Regular health check-ups, growth monitoring, and vaccinations to keep children healthy.
Types of Crèches in the Palna Scheme
There are two main types of crèches under the Palna Scheme:
- Standalone Crèches: Independent daycare centers with one crèche worker and one helper.
- Anganwadi-cum-Crèches (AWCCs): These are part of existing Anganwadi centers, which are government-run childcare centers in India. In addition to the regular Anganwadi worker and helper, these centers have an extra crèche worker and helper to manage daycare services.
Funding and Support
The Palna Scheme is a partnership between the central government and state or union territory (UT) governments. The funding is shared as follows:
- General States: 60% funded by the central government and 40% by the state government.
- North-Eastern and Special Category States: 90% funded by the central government and 10% by the state government.
- UTs with Legislature: 60% funded by the central government and 40% by the UT government.
- UTs without Legislature: 100% funded by the central government.
Goals and Progress
The Ministry of Women and Child Development aims to establish 17,000 new Anganwadi-cum-Crèches under the Palna Scheme in the financial year 2024-25. As of March 2025, 11,395 such centers have been approved across 34 States and UTs.
How This Helps Working Mothers
By providing reliable and safe childcare, the Palna Scheme enables more mothers to pursue employment opportunities without worrying about their children's care during work hours. This support helps increase women's participation in the workforce and contributes to the country's economic growth.
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