Text Credits: Aishwarya B S

Every year since 1989, June 26 is being observed as The International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking by the United Nations. This effort to eliminate the use of drugs and spread awareness about its ill effects is encouraged by various NGOs, individuals, communities, social groups, and government organisations. A collaborative effort by them aims to reinforce action and cooperation to accomplish a drug-free society.

Source: shawacademy.com

Formed through a merger between the United Nations Drug Control Programme and the Centre for International Crime Prevention, United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is the chief UN agency concerned with the effort of drug control. This year, they have decided to continue with the last two years’ theme of  “Listen First – Listening to children and youth is the first step to help them grow healthy and safe“. “Think health- not drugs” was the theme for the year 2010, “Say No” for 2011 and “Let’s Develop — Our Lives — Our Communities — Our Identities — Without Drugs” for 2015.

Source: www.unodc.org

Several observations have been made by the agency regarding the threats posed by the abuse of drugs, its supply and illicit trafficking and it has been marked as one of the most alarming hazards to mankind and so the UN has been taking measures to spread their reach with the support of other agencies and organisations. Apart from health issues to the individual, drug abuse also leads to other social, political, and cultural issues which can disrupt the balance and stability of the society.

UNODC aims to give all kinds of support to ensure that such a condition of chaos does not happen. Moreover, by observing the day, through programmes and activities, it aims to provide help to those who are suffering from drug addiction and give them support in the form of rehabilitation plans and other medical aid.

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Text Credit: Shibul Pavithran 

‘Technology Disruption and Inclusion’ is among the major topics for panel discussions at the two-day brainstorming event, to be held at Le Meridien hotel in Kochi on March 22-23, being viewed by the State government as a path-breaking initiative that would offer various innovative solutions for transforming the lives of people by leveraging digital and other emerging technologies.

The event will have heavyweights from technology, finance and academia sharing the stage at Kerala’s first ever Global Digital Summit #FUTURE, to debate and analyze the phenomenal changes in the conduct of businesses that are likely to be unleashed by new age disruptive technologies in the next 5-10 years.

The panel on “Technology Disruptions and Inclusion” has six speakers, and it is to be moderated by noted journalist Sagarika Ghose. The speakers at this session are: Dinu John Parel, Global CIO -Dover Corporation; Harish Krishnan, MD, Public Affairs and Strategic Engagement, Cisco Systems; Dr Subramanian Rangan, Professor, Strategy and Management, INSEAD; Thomas Zacharia, Director, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Vinod Vasudevan, Group CEO, Flytxt; and S D Shibulal, Chairman of Kerala government’s High Power IT Committee (HPIC).

The speakers at #FUTURE will also put their ideas on how Kerala can benefit from such opportunities or contribute to the changes for making technology inclusive and sustainable. The session will look into vital aspects of the emerging global scenario such as the changing needs of the global population in the next two decades, the role of technology in meeting these changing needs and how it can be designed for inclusion at all levels.

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Text credit: Charishma Thankappan

It’s one of the gloomiest countries, but only in terms of climate. Finland has been declared as the happiest country in the world by the United Nations in its annual World Happiness Report.

Topping the list of 156 countries, Finland was chosen as the nation with the best rank in various criteria such as life expectancy, social support, and corruption.

Despite lacking in natural sunshine for a large part of the year with bitter cold winters, which are conventionally linked with high rates of depression; Finland overtook Norway from last year to emerge as the place to find happiness. The information revealed that there was a notable regularity in the state of ‘happiness’ of both natives as well as immigrants in Finland.

Source: Goodfreephotos.com

India performed poorly in the report, ranking at a measly 133, far behind most SAARC countries, including neighbours Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Burundi was announced as the least happy country owing to its rampant poverty and miserable conditions of living. The other countries that make up the top ten include Switzerland, The Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, and Australia. Interestingly, the US has never featured among the top ten.

The Nordic countries, including Denmark and Iceland have constituted the top four slots of the yearly report since 2012 in spite of their adverse climatic conditions. These countries are one of the highest tax-payers in the world, but that has been countered with sizeable social security and considerable amounts of personal liberty accorded to the inhabitants, which contributes to the happiness index. It reflects on the governments’ commitment towards the quality of life of their people.

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