Daily Current Affairs Prelims 01 May 2024

Recently, three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth after six months aboard China’s Tiangong space station. This space station is about 20% of the size of the International Space Station.

• The mission was China’s 12th astronaut flight overall and the sixth crewed visit to Tiangong, which China finished assembling in late 2022.
• As of 2024, only the United States, China and Russia have independent manned space capabilities.
• Gaganyaan is India’s space agency ISRO’s mission to send three astronauts into low-earth orbit for a three-day trip, and then safely return them to Earth.

Dig Deeper: Learn about Artemis Mission, International Space station and Mir Space station

It is a statutory body that was established in August 2021 to manage air quality in the National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi and adjoining areas.

• Adjoining areas have been defined as areas in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, adjoining the National Capital Territory of Delhi and NCR, where any source of pollution may cause adverse impact on air quality in the NCR.
• The rulings by the commission on air pollution will override anything contained in any other law.
• In cases where conflict may arise between orders or directions issued by the other state governments, state pollution control boards or even the Central Pollution Control Board, the orders of the commission will prevail.

Dig Deeper: Read about Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) and National Green Tribunal

• It is caused by paramyxovirus, a member of the Rubulavirus family, mumps usually affect the parotid glands, which make saliva, on each side of the face.
• The disease spreads through infected saliva. Close contact in crowded environments, such as schools, universities, or workplaces, can also elevate the risk of transmission.
• Furthermore, compromised immune systems, stress, or fatigue may lower your body’s defence mechanisms, potentially increasing susceptibility.
• Mumps treatment primarily aims to manage symptoms, as no antiviral medications specifically target the mumps virus.

Dig Deeper: Learn about Communicable, Non-communicable diseases and Neglected Tropical Diseases

• Recently, Indians became the largest group of foreign students in Germany. In 2023, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reported that 132,495 Indian students were pursuing higher education abroad.
• Last year, India surpassed China to become the largest source of international graduate students in the USA for the first time since 2009-10 and accounted for more than 25% of the foreign students in the US (Open Doors report).
• Operation Ganga & Operation Ajay are two notable examples of operations launched recently where Government of India evacuated Indian students.

Dig Deeper: Read about Indian Diaspora in Western countries and West Asia

• Article 39(b) of the Directive Principles of State Policy mandates the state to ensure that the ownership and control of community material resources are distributed to serve the common good.
• This article raises interpretive debates, particularly regarding the inclusion of private property as “material resources of the community.”
• The Supreme Court is currently adjudicating the scope of Article 39(b), specifically whether it permits the state to acquire and redistribute private property for community welfare.

Dig Deeper: Learn about Right to property and 44^th Constitutional Amendment Act

• Public investment in India is primarily done in sectors like agriculture, infrastructure, health, and education.
• The public investment contributes around 2.2% to the GDP of India, which is likely to increase up to 2.9%.
• The outlay for capital expenditure in the Union Budget has been stepped up sharply by 35.4% to Rs. 7.50 lakh crore in 2022-23.
• India as the World’s Fastest Growing Major Economy India is on track to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2027, surpassing Japan and Germany.
• As per IMF, increasing public investment by 1% of GDP could strengthen confidence in the recovery and boost GDP by 2.7%, private investment by 10%, and employment by 1.2%.

Dig Deeper: Read about Savings rate in Indian Economy and Private investments

Methane is the second most abundant anthropogenic greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide (CO2) but it warms the planet more.

• Over a century, methane has a global warming potential 28-times greater than CO2, and even higher over shorter periods like two decades.
• At the U.N. climate talks in 2021, member countries launched the ‘Global Methane Pledge’ to cut the gas’s emissions and slow the planet’s warming.
• Recently, it was reported that microbes have been the biggest sources of methane in the atmosphere, not the burning of fossil fuels.

While methane is a potent greenhouse gas, its production by methanogens is an essential part of natural ecosystems.

• But human activities like agriculture, dairy farming, and fossil fuel production have further increased methane emissions.
• Both biogenic and thermogenic activities produce different isotopes of methane. Tracking the isotopes is a way to track which sources are the most active
• Studies in the past have pointed to microbes like anaerobic archaea as potentially top contributors of atmospheric methane using satellite data, but this information contains gaps that ground-based models can bridge.

Dig Deeper: Learn about Methane as a fuel in SpaceX’s new engines in Starship