Why is it in news?

The Russian President Vladimir Putin announces partial mobilization of the  military by signing a decree for the same. 

Highlights

·        In a rare address to the nation, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the decree on partial mobilisation of military has been signed as the war in Ukraine reaches nearly seven months. The decision, which Putin said was taken “to defend the motherland, its sovereignty and territorial integrity” will be viewed as an escalation by the West.

·        “We are talking about partial mobilization, that is, only citizens who are currently in the reserve will be subject to conscription, and above all, those who served in the armed forces have a certain military specialty and relevant experience,” Putin stressed.

·        The move was necessitated, Putin said, as it was incumbent for Russia to take urgent decision to protect people in the “liberated lands”.

·        Putin’s address to the nation comes a day after Russian-controlled regions in eastern and southern Ukraine announced plans to hold referendums on whether they want to become parts of Russia.

·        On plans for referendums in Ukraine, Putin said, “We support these people", adding that he ordered his government to give legal status to volunteers fighting in Donbas as Russia aims to liberate the region.

·        “We don't have the moral right to give up these people (in Ukraine),” Putin added.

Why is it in news?

The democratically governed Taiwan rejects China's sovereignty.  But China claims Taiwan as its own territory. The China-Taiwan Conflict persists in spite of China’s utmost effort for peaceful 'reunification' with Taiwan.

Highlights

·        China is willing to make the utmost effort to strive for a peaceful "reunification" with Taiwan, a Chinese government spokesperson said on Wednesday, following weeks of military manoeuvres and war games by Beijing near the island.

·        China claims democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory. Taiwan's government rejects China's sovereignty claims and says only the island's people can decide their future.

·        China has been carrying out drills near Taiwan since early last month after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei, including firing missiles into waters near the island.

·        Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, told a news conference in Beijing that China was willing to make the greatest efforts to achieve peaceful "reunification".Read more: US Senate takes first step to direct military aid to Taiwan. China's determination to safeguard its territory is unwavering, he added.

·        China has proposed a "one country, two systems" model for Taiwan, similar to the formula under which the former British colony of Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

·        All mainstream Taiwanese political parties have rejected that proposal and it has almost no public support, according to opinion polls.

·        China has also never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, and in 2005 passed a law giving the country the legal basis for military action against Taiwan if it secedes or seems about to.

·        Taiwan's government says that as the island has never been ruled by the People's Republic of China, its sovereignty claims are void.

Why is it in news?

The closures come against a backdrop of soaring tensions after a series of deadly attacks on Israelis since March.

Highlights

·        Palestinian demonstrators protesting the arrest of two Palestinian militants clash with Palestinian security forces, in Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Tuesday. 

·        Israel will seal off the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip ahead of three Jewish holidays marking nearly a month of religious commemorations, the military said on Tuesday.

·        Palestinians will not be allowed to leave the West Bank or Gaza Strip to enter Israel during the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashana, later this month, as well as the Yom Kippur and Sukkot holidays in October.

·        "During the closure, passage will be allowed only in humanitarian, medical and exceptional cases," said the army, which regularly imposes these measures during the holidays.

·        The closures come against a backdrop of soaring tensions after a series of deadly attacks on Israelis since March.

·        Since then, the Israeli army has stepped up raids in the West Bank, notably in the regions of Nablus and Jenin where Palestinian armed groups are active.

·        The operations, which according to the army are aimed at arresting people suspected of "terrorism", are frequently punctuated by clashes with fighters or residents.

·        Dozens of Palestinians, including members of armed groups, have been killed.

·        On Tuesday, a Palestinian was killed in clashes in the city of Nablus in a rare operation by Palestinian Authority security forces to arrest members of the Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.

·        Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's secular Fatah has been at loggerheads with Hamas since 2007, when the Islamist movement took control of Gaza after a near civil war.

·        Since then, reconciliation efforts have failed.

Why is it in news?

An intense and long monsoon dumped around three times as much rain on Pakistan than on average in recent weeks, causing major flooding which killed 1,559 people.

Highlights

·        At least nine more people have died from water-borne diseases in flood-hit areas of Pakistan, officials said on Tuesday, warning they risked losing control of the spread of infections in a crisis that UNICEF described as "beyond bleak".

·        An intense and long monsoon dumped around three times as much rain on Pakistan than on average in recent weeks, causing major flooding which killed 1,559 people, including 551 children and 318 women, according to the disaster management agency. This figure does not include those killed by disease in the aftermath.

·        Hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the floods are living in the open and as flood waters spread over hundreds of kilometres start to recede, which officials say may take two to six months, stagnant waters have led to diseases like malaria, dengue fever, skin and eye infections and acute diarrhoea.

·        "There is already the diseases outbreak," said Ahsan Iqbal, Pakistan's planning minister, who is also the head of a national flood response centre jointly run by the government and the military.

·        "We fear it may get out of control," he told a news conference in Islamabad.

·        The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the surge in diseases has the potential for a "second disaster".

·        In Sindh, the region worst hit by the floods, the provincial government said nine people died of gastroenteritis, acute diarrhoea and suspected malaria on Monday, bringing the total number of deaths from diseases to 318 since July 1.

·        Over 2.7 million people have been treated for water-borne diseases at makeshift or mobile hospitals set up in flood-hit regions since July 1, it said, with 72,000 people treated at these facilities on Monday alone.

·        Three other provinces have also reported thousands of disease cases.

·        The influx has overwhelmed Pakistan's already weak health system. Sindh provincial government has said that over 1,200 medical facilities were still marooned in flood water.

·        Malaria and diarrhoea are spreading fast, said Moinuddin Siddique, director at the Abdullah Shah Institute of Health Sciences at Sehwan city, which is surrounded by the flood waters. "We're overwhelmed," he told Reuters.

·        Also read: On Taliban vs Pak over Masood Azhar, some officials advocate cautious approach

·        At the news conference, planning minister Iqbal appealed to the affluent members of society to come forward to help the flood relief efforts, and asked medical volunteers to join hands with the government.

·        He appealed for two million nutrition packs for mothers who are expecting and new born babies, saying the government was setting up more mobile hospitals and clinics in the affected areas.

·        Record monsoon rains and glacial melt in northern Pakistan triggered the flooding that has impacted nearly 33 million people in the South Asian nation of 220 million, sweeping away homes, crops, bridges, roads and livestock in damages estimated at $30 billion. Scientists say the disaster was exacerbated by climate change.

·        The government says GDP growth is likely drop to 3% from a previous estimate of 5% for the 2022-23 financial year.

·        NICEF has termed the situation of the families "beyond bleak."

·        It says an estimated 16 million children have been impacted, and at least 3.4 million girls and boys remain in need of immediate, lifesaving support.

·        Gerida Birukila, the UNICEF Pakistan Chief field Officer in southwestern Balochistan province, described the situation "utterly heartbreaking."

·        The children were surrounded by pools of stagnant water poisoned with fertilizers and faeces and swarming with diseases and viruses, sometimes meters away from where they sleep, she told a news briefing in Geneva on Tuesday, according to a statement.

·        "Many families have no alternative but to drink the disease-ridden water," she said, adding, "Everywhere we go, we see desperation and despair growing."

·        Actor Angelina Jolie arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday, said deputy commissioner Murtaza Ali Shah, adding she visited flood victims in Dadu district in southern Pakistan.

·        Jolie visited Pakistan after deadly flooding in 2010.v

Why is it in news?

Chinese government is grappling with both a falling and ageing population, having reversed its decades-old one-child policy to a three-child one last year to arrest the fall in birthrates and avoid a looming demographic crisis.

Highlights

·        China will become a “moderately ageing” country with over 300 million people above 60 years by 2025 and a “severely ageing” one by 2035 when 400 million of its citizens will be 60 and above, accounting for 30% of its total population, a top health official said on Tuesday.

·        By the end of 2021, the number of the elderly citizens aged 60 and above was over 267 million, accounting for 18.9% of the population, Wang Haidong, director of the department of ageing at the national health commission (NHC), said at a press conference on Tuesday.

·        At 300 million by 2025, the number will be around 20% of the population.

·        The number will peak by 2050, Wang said.

·        The number of elderly people in my country is large, and the population is ageing rapidly,” Wang was quoted, citing the numbers at a press conference, by the news website, The Paper.

·        China’s population stood at 1.4 billion people in 2021, census data showed.

·        The Chinese government is grappling with both a falling and ageing population, having reversed its decades-old one-child policy to a three-child one last year to arrest the fall in birthrates and avoid a looming demographic crisis.

·        Given China’s average life expectancy is now 78.2 years, as per NHC latest data released in July, the number of elderly citizens is increasing.

·        Experts have said the rise in the number of elderly, and a fall in the working-age population, will severely impact the economy in the coming years.

·        Wang said as China’s elderly population continues to rise, and the degree of population ageing continues to deepen, it will challenge “the supply of public services and the sustainable development of the social security system”.

·        National medical expenses and loss in productivity are also set to rise with the incidence of degenerative diseases among the elderly.

·        Wang said Alzheimer’s disease has become the most common type of dementia detected among the elderly in China.

·        “There are about 15 million dementia patients in the country (among) aged 60 and above, of which 10 million are Alzheimer’s disease patients,” Wang said.

·        Wang added that the elderly population in rural regions is more than in urban clusters.

·        Citing 2020 data collected from 10 provincial-level regions in the northeast and southwest of China, Wang said more than 20% of its population were above 60 years.

·        Earlier this month, an official report said Beijing too had entered the stage of a “moderately ageing society since 2021”.

·        “By the end of last year, Beijing saw over 4.4 million people of its permanent resident population aged 60 or above, accounting for more than one-fifth of the total,” said a report jointly compiled by the office of the Beijing government’s municipal working committee on ageing and the Beijing Association on Ageing.

·        The population aged 65 or above was around 3.12 million, accounting for 14.24 % of the total, an increase of 204,000 compared with 2020, the report added.