Daily Current Affairs : 27th and 28th August 2023

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

1. Care protocol for babies in India
2. International space Station
3. Kashi Culture Pathway
4. Climate Change and health centre
5. Facts for Prelims

1 . Care Protocol for babies in India

Context : Former British nurse Lucy Letby was sentenced to life in prison earlier this week after being found guilty in the worst child serial killer case in the history of the U.K. Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies and trying to kill six others while working at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016. She was first arrested in 2018. Letby killed infants by injecting them with air, others were force-fed milk and two were poisoned with insulin, court documents said as per news reports.

What are patient safety provisions in India?

• Patient safety is a fundamental element of public healthcare and is defined as the freedom for a patient from unnecessary harm or potential harm associated with provision of healthcare, as per the Union Health Ministry document titled, ‘National Patient Safety Implementation Framework (2018-2025).’
• Patients in India are protected under multiple layers of law that are largely fragmented. The first idea of patient safety is enshrined in the Hippocratic Oath itself.The Hippocratic Oath is an oath of ethics historically taken by physicians.
• Consumer Protection Act deals with medical negligence and deficiency of services; legal rights of the patients are set out in the Clinical Establishment Act, and the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority and Drugs Controller General of India have mechanisms to see that patients’ rights in terms of medication and devices are protected and that they are not overcharged, among other things.

How is neonatal safety maintained?

• While there are no exclusive rules for neonatal care and safety, or protection against external harm in Indian hospitals, there are provisions and checks against issues like inadvertent mix-up of babies at birth and abduction.
• The healthcare staff is also trained to counsel parents and provide emotional support, contributing to the safety and development of neonates.
• Proper equipment for respiratory support, temperature regulation, and monitoring vital signs are readily available. Neonates are typically kept in controlled environments to avoid exposure to external infections and temperature fluctuations. Parental involvement is encouraged but with precautions to prevent the spread of infections.

What are some of the issues neonates face?

• Although the global number of neonatal deaths declined from 5 million in 1990 to 2.4 million in 2019, children face the greatest risk of death in their first 28 days, according to the World Health Organization. Its data shows that in 2019, 47% of all under-five deaths occurred in the newborn period with about one third dying on the day of birth and close to three quarter dying within the first week of life.
• The current infant mortality rate for India in 2023 is 26.6 deaths per 1,000 live births, a 3.89% decline from 2022. The infant mortality rate for India in 2022 was 27.6 deaths per 1,000 live births, a 3.74% decline from 2021. Children who die within the first 28 days of birth suffer from conditions and diseases associated with lack of quality care at birth or skilled care and treatment immediately after birth and in the first days of life.
• Pre-term birth, intrapartum-related complications (birth asphyxia or lack of breathing at birth), infections and birth defects cause most neonatal deaths.
• Women who receive midwife-led continuity of care (MLCC) provided by professional midwives, educated, and regulated to internationals standards, are 16% less likely to lose their baby and 24% less likely to experience pre-term birth, it explained.
• The global organisation has also advised families that prompt medical care should be sought in case of danger signs, including feeding problems, or if the newborn has reduced activity, difficult breathing, a fever, fits or convulsions, jaundice in the first 24 hours after birth, yellow palms and soles at any age, or if the baby feels cold. Families are also required to register the birth and bring the baby for timely vaccination, according to national schedules. “Some newborns require additional attention and care during hospitalisation and at home to minimise their health risks,” it says.

2 . International space Station

Context : NASA and SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft blasted off on Saturday carrying four astronauts to the International Space Station.

What is International Space Station

• The International Space Station is a large spacecraft. It orbits around Earth. It is a home where astronauts live.
• The space station is also a science lab. Many countries worked together to build it. They also work together to use it.
• The space station is made of many pieces. The pieces were put together in space by astronauts. The space station’s orbit is approximately 250 miles above Earth. NASA uses the station to learn about living and working in space. These lessons will help NASA explore space.

How Old Is the Space Station?

• The first piece of the International Space Station was launched in 1998. A Russian rocket launched that piece. After that, more pieces were added. Two years later, the station was ready for people.
• The first crew arrived on November 2, 2000. People have lived on the space station ever since. Over time more pieces have been added. NASA and its partners around the world finished the space station in 2011.

How Big Is the Space Station?

• The space station is as big inside as a house with five bedrooms. It has two bathrooms, a gymnasium and a big bay window. Six people are able to live there. It weighs almost a million pounds. It is big enough to cover a football field including the end zones. It has science labs from the United States, Russia, Japan and Europe.

What Are the Parts of the Space Station?

• The space station has many parts. The parts are called modules. The first modules had parts needed to make the space station work. Astronauts also lived in those modules. Modules called “nodes” connect parts of the station to each other. Labs on the space station let astronauts do research.
• On the sides of the space station are solar arrays. These arrays collect energy from the sun. They turn sunlight into electricity. Robot arms are attached outside. The robot arms helped to build the space station. They also can move astronauts around outside and control science experiments.Airlocks on the space station are like doors. Astronauts use them to go outside on spacewalks.
• Docking ports are like doors, too. The ports allow visiting spacecraft to connect to the space station. New crews and visitors enter the station through the docking ports. Astronauts fly to the space station on the Russian Soyuz. The crew members use the ports to move supplies onto the station.

Why Is the Space Station Important?

• The space station is a home in orbit. People have lived in space every day since the year 2000. The space station’s labs are where crew members do research. This research could not be done on Earth.
• Scientists study what happens to people when they live in space. NASA has learned how to keep a spacecraft working for a long time. These lessons will be important in the future.
• NASA has a plan to send humans deeper into space than ever before. The space station is one of the first steps. NASA will use lessons from the space station to get astronauts ready for the journey ahead

Space X

• Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is a commercial company aiming to launch cargo, and eventually people, to low-Earth orbit.
• The firm is developing its Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 booster under contracts from NASA’s Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program and its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program.

Dragon Capsule

• Dragon is a free-flying spacecraft designed to deliver both cargo and people to orbiting destinations.
• It is the only spacecraft currently flying that is capable of returning significant amounts of cargo to Earth.
• Currently Dragon carries cargo to space, but it was designed from the beginning to carry humans.

3 . Kashi Culture Pathway

Context : The G-20 nations arrived at a consensus on cultural issues such as the need to address the destruction of cultural heritage in situations of conflict, the curbing of illicit trafficking of artefacts, the restitution of cultural property and the need to protect living heritage, specially of indigenous people.

Key Features of the outcome document

• Outcome document is titled as ‘Kashi Culture Pathway’
• “The Outcome Document comprises the entire text, which was unanimously agreed to by all G-20 members, except for Paragraph 15 (dealing with Ukraine),”
• The Outcome Document said the nations were united against destruction of cultural heritage “whether intentional or collateral, notably in situations of conflict”.
• They called for a strengthened and effective global coalition to bolster the fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural property.
• The document sought cooperation among nations and strengthening of appropriate tools to increase the effectiveness of law enforcement collaboration and investigations through voluntary data and information exchange for better support to investigations and prosecution on cultural crimes.
• It sought enhanced research, documentation, awareness-raising and capacity-building of specialised cultural professionals, judiciary and law enforcement authorities, and other relevant stakeholders to the fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural property.
• The document also sought preventive action and regulation of illicitly exported cultural property specially in online trade. It sought an inclusive dialogue on the return and restitution of cultural property by building on a broad historical perspective that renews relationships between countries

5 . Facts for Prelims

the point where the Vikram lander of Chandrayaan-3 landed will be called ‘Shiv Shakti’, and the point where Chandrayaan-2 left its footprint on the lunar surface will be called ‘Tiranga’.

Terai Arc Landscape

• The Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) is an 810km stretch between the river Yamuna in the west and the river Bhagmati in the east, comprising three major habitat types — Shivalik covering parts of the lower Himalayas, Bhabar covering the foothills of the lower Himalayas marked by pebbles and boulders, and Terai comprising the lowland region below the Himalayan foothills and north of the Indo-Gangetic plains covering the entire Uttar Pradesh, southern parts of Uttarakhand, and Bihar.
• It is spread across the Indian states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and the low lying hills of Nepal.
• About 22% of the wild tiger population in India is found across the TAL, living amid some of the highest human and livestock densities on the subcontinent. The landscape boasts of some of India’s most well-known Tiger Reserves and Protected Areas such as Corbett Tiger Reserve, Rajaji National Park, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, Valmiki Tiger Reserve and Nepal’s Bardia Wildlife Sanctuary, Chitwan National Park, and Sukhla Phanta Wildlife Sanctuary. In total, the landscape has 13 Protected Areas, nine in India and four in Nepal, covering a total area of 49,500 km2, of which 30,000km2 lies in India.
• The landscape also has a high mammalian diversity with herbivores such as gaur, nilgai, sambar, northern swamp deer, wild pig, chital and goral, some primates, carnivores such as leopard, wild dog, and hyena apart from the tiger, and omnivores including the sloth bear and Asiatic black bear.

Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX) mission

• The Lunar Polar Exploration Mission is a planned joint lunar mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The mission would send an uncrewed lunar lander and rover to explore the south pole region of the Moon no earlier than 2026