14 October 2022

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

1 – Inflation: GS III – Topic Economy-related issues

Context:

• Food prices dramatically increased from 7.62% in August to 8.6% in September, according to a study released on Wednesday by the National Statistical Office (NSO), which caused India’s retail inflation to increase from 7% to 7.41%.

Inflation: What is it?

• The rate at which prices for goods and services increase within a particular economy is known as inflation.
• When costs associated with production, such as those for labour and raw materials, rise, inflation results.
• If consumers are willing to pay more for products and services, rising demand could lead to inflation.

Inflation’s effects:

 Positive Impacts:

• In most circumstances, businesses that produce things gain from inflation. They can sell their goods for more money, thus they make more money.
• Periods of inflation give investors and business owners more incentives to fund successful ventures. They gain from higher returns as a result.
• Producers generate more goods and services when they receive the appropriate finance. As a result, production of goods and services rises as a result of inflation.

Unfavourable Impacts:

• Groups with fixed incomes experience a decline in real income.
• The purchasing power of a person’s income can be used to estimate their genuine income. By dividing money income by price level, real income is calculated.
• Thus, for those on fixed incomes like pensioners and paid employees, real income will decline. Or, to put it another way, they will have less money to spend.
• Inflation increases profits for business owners and entrepreneurs.
• As a result, income disparity is currently increasing.
• However, for those in fixed-income groups, actual income declines.

Source The Hindu

 2 – Nord Stream 2: GS – III Topic Science and Technology

Context:

• On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin argued in favour of resuming gas shipments to Europe via the remaining portion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
• “The EU now owns the project. He claimed that all they needed to do to obtain what they wanted was turn on the faucets in a speech at a Moscow energy summit.

About:

• The finished Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines will provide Germany with 110 billion cubic meters of gas annually.
• Along with five other European firms, the big Russian energy company Gazprom constructed the Nord Stream 2.
• The estimated value of Nord Stream 2 is $11 billion.
• Parallel to Nord Stream 1 will be the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
• The pipeline, which crosses Germany and Denmark in the European Union, is more than 98 percent complete.

The Nord Stream 2 has a number of problems:

• The Nord Stream 2 pipeline has drawn criticism from the US. This strategy aims to make Europe more dependent on Russian natural gas, which will give Vladimir Putin more self-assurance. Currently, 40% of the natural gas used by EU countries comes from Russia.

In light of Nord Stream 2:

• Gas and oil must be imported into Germany from foreign nations. Germany is more likely to have a steady industrial sector and aims to gradually transition to renewable energy sources, so this pipeline will assist to stabilise the situation.

Source The Hindu

 3 – Section 66A of the IT Act: GS – II Topic Government Policies and Interventions

Context:

• The Supreme Court determined seven years ago that Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, which forbids the prosecution of free speech on social media, is unconstitutional. The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the state police agencies must stop looking into these instances.
• In the well-known ruling Shreya Singhal v. Union of India, the supreme court ruled that the Act was too unclear and unconstitutionally vague to impose restrictions on online free speech. The Act was consequently declared unlawful by the court in 2015.

What does Section 66A aim to achieve?

• In 2008, the IT Act of 2000 was amended to give the government the power to imprison and penalise someone for making allegedly “offensive and dangerous” words online.
• The maximum prison sentence for transmitting communications via a computer or another piece of communication equipment, like a cell phone or tablet, is three years if found guilty.

What gave rise to the law’s controversy?

• It was a challenge to define what was “offensive.” The fact that the term has so many varied connotations allows for a wide range of interpretations.
• It was argued in the petitions that the clause may be used to restrict the freedom of expression guaranteed by the constitution online because the Act does not expressly define most of the terminology used in the section.

Source The Hindu

 4 – DART Mission: GS III – Topic Science and Technology

Context:

• NASA determined that the asteroid Dimorphos’ course was effectively shifted by the impact of the DART satellite after analysing the data gathered over the previous two weeks. This is the first time that a celestial object’s motion has been altered by humans. Additionally, this is the first time the “kinetic impactor” asteroid mitigation strategy has been used.

About:

• DART was the first mission ever created specifically for the study and demonstration of an asteroid deflection technique that modifies an asteroid’s spaceborne velocity by kinetic contact.
• In order to alter DART’s speed and trajectory, this strategy will cause it to purposefully collide with a target asteroid that doesn’t pose a threat to Earth.
• The Didymos near-Earth asteroid system, which contains the larger “Didymos” (diameter: approximately 2,560 feet) and the smaller “Dimorphos,” is the target of DART (diameter: around 530 feet).
• Dimorphos’ orbit inside the binary system will shift in the event of a DART collision.
• DART is also carrying a cubesat, which will capture video of the impact and send it to researchers on Earth.
• DART will collide with Didymos at a distance of 6.8 million miles (11 km) from Earth, which is far enough to do minimal damage and close enough to be observed for scientific research.

The DART mission’s objectives are:

• Use Dimorphos to show a kinetic impact.
• Dimorphos’ binary orbital period has to be changed.
• Using the use of observations made with ground-based telescopes both before and after an impact, it is possible to determine Dimorphos’ period change.
• Analyze Dimorphos’ reactions to the strike and the ejecta that followed.

Significance of the DART mission:

• This research, a cornerstone of NASA’s defence strategy, aims to determine whether an asteroid or comet’s course can be altered in the event that it is headed for Earth. The minor asteroid can then be moved into a position that is appropriate for space mining using the “kick” method that deflects asteroids. Precious mineral resources required for decades may be easily found if one could reroute a mineral-rich asteroid and have it circle close to the Moon or construct a space mining station between the orbits of Earth and Mars.

Negative aspects of the DART Mission:

• More trash has been found in orbit.
• A national space competition will start as a result.

Source Indian Express