- India press freedom score fell over the last year: RSF
- India’s score in the World Press Freedom Index fell over the last year from 36.62 to 31.28 according to the reporters without borders.
- It puts together an annual index on the freedom enjoyed by journalists in 180 jurisdictions.
- India’s rank improved from 161 in 2023 to 159 in 2024. However this was because other countries had slipped in their rankings.
- Norway and Denmark topped the table while Eritrea was at the bottom with Syria just ahead of it.
- The government has in the past dismissed international rankings of freedoms in India as misinformed and propaganda driven.
- Static takeaway: The WPFI is an annual ranking of countries compiled and published by RSF (a France based international NGO) since 2002. It only deals with press freedom and does not measure the quality of journalism in the countries it assesses, nor does it look at human rights violations in general.
2. India, Indonesia agree to enhance defence industry collaboration
- India and Indonesia agreed to enhance collaboration in areas of Defence Industry along with maritime security and multilateral cooperation at the 7th Indian Indonesia Joint Defence Cooperation Committee meeting.
- Both sides expressed satisfaction at the expanding scope of Defence Cooperation between the two countries.
- Static takeaway: The multi-faceted relationship of India and Indonesia got an added fillip with the signing of the ‘Joint Declaration on Establishing a Strategic Partnership’ in 2005 during the State Visit of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The closest distance between India and Indonesia is about 17 nautical miles
3. Organ donation hit by poor identification of brain death cases
- Poor identification and certification of brain stem death or brain death cases is keeping the rate of organ donations at low levels in India, despite the availability of many potential cases
- The rate of organ donation in the country is less than one donor per million population in a year.
- The Directorate General of Health Services issued a standard operating procedure under the provisions of the transplantation of human organs and tissues act 1994 and said the doctor on duty in hospitals should make necessary inquiries after the brain death cases are certified by the competent authority.
- Static takeaway: Organ donation in India is regulated by the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act of 1994, allowing everyone to donate organs, regardless of age, caste, religion, or community, though preferably people over 18 years of age are considered.
4. March mining output growth slows to 1.2% in signal for IIP
- India’s mining output growth slid to a 19 month low of 1.2% in March from February 8% pace.
- This is hinting at a possible slowing in the months overall industrial output the data for which is due to be released by the National Statistical Office.
- Mining constitutes 14.3% of the index of industrial production.
- In financial year 2024 mining output rose 7.5% faster than 5.8% in financial year 2023. Static takeaway: IIP is an indicator that measures the changes in the volume of production of industrial products during a given period. It is compiled and published monthly by the National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
5. China sends a probe to get samples from the far side of the moon
- China launched a lunar probe to land on the far side of the moon and return with samples that could provide insights into differences between the less explored region and the better known near side.
- It is the latest advance in China’s increasingly sophisticated space exploration programme.
- China also has a three member crew on its orbiting space station and aims to put astronauts on the moon by 2030.
- Static takeaway: The far side of the Moon is the lunar hemisphere that always faces away from Earth, opposite to the near side, because of synchronous rotation in the Moon’s orbit. Compared to the near side, the far side’s terrain is rugged, with a multitude of impact craters and relatively few flat and dark lunar maria (“seas”)
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- Tansen is the first person in Tamil Nadu to get a driver’s license to drive a car with no hands.
- Tamil Nadu is the third state in the country to launch PUCC Version 2.0 issuing pollution control certificate to vehicles
