Current Affairs
- FAR-RIGHT SWING IN EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ELECTIONS –
- In the recent European Parliament elections, right-wing and far-right parties gained ground while left-leaning and liberal parties faced losses.
- Major Political Groups: Members of European Parliament align with Europe- wide political groups based on shared ideological beliefs.
- Major groups include the European People’s Party (EPP), Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), Renew Europe, Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA), European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), Identity and Democracy (ID), and the Left Group (GUE/NGL).
- In the latest elections, although the EPP remained the largest group, there was a notable rise in support for right-wing and far-right parties.
- The European Parliament (EP) is the only directly elected body of the EU, representing the citizens of its member states.
- RECENTLY, INDIA HAS SLIPPED TWO PLACES ON THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM’S (WEF) GLOBAL GENDER GAP INDEX TO 129TH PLACE –
- This year, the 18th edition of the Global Gender Gap Index benchmarks gender parity across 146 economies, providing a basis for the analysis of gender parity developments across two- thirds of the world’s economies.
- As per WEF, at the current pace it would take another 134 years (equivalent to five generations) to achieve full gender parity.
- It annually benchmarks the current state and evolution of gender parity. It is the longest-standing index tracking the progress of numerous countries’ efforts towards closing these gaps over time since its inception in 2006.
- Published by: The World Economic Forum
Four Key Dimensions-
- Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, Political Empowerment.
- Overall, India ranked 129 in this year’s index, scoring marginally lower than the previous edition. With a population of more than 140 crore, India has closed 64.1% of its gender gap in 2024 and the decline of two places from 127th last year.
- India had the best rank (65) in the ‘Political Empowerment’ parameter
- Economic Participation and Opportunity (142)
- Health and Survival (142)
- Educational Attainment (112)
- This slight regression is mainly the result of small declines in ‘Educational Attainment’ and ‘Political Empowerment’, while ‘Economic Participation and Opportunity’ slightly improved.
- Top Rankers: Iceland was followed by Finland, Norway, New Zealand and Sweden in the top five. The majority of the top 10 most gender-equal countries are in Europe, with Ireland and Spain re-entering the top 10 this year.
- ACCORDING TO A GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF NITROUS OXIDE (N2O) EMISSIONS, INDIA IS THE WORLD’S SECOND LARGEST SOURCE OF IT THAT HEATS UP THE ATMOSPHERE FAR MORE THAN CARBON DIOXIDE –
- According to a global assessment of Nitrous Oxide (N2O) emissions, India is the world’s second largest source of it that heats up the atmosphere far more than carbon dioxide.
- Nitrous Oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, its emissions have grown by 40% between 1980 and 2020.
- India was responsible for nearly 11% of the global man-made Nitrous Oxide emissions in 2020, just after China (16.7%).
- The major source of these emissions comes from fertiliser usage, particularly nitrogen-based fertilisers, and animal manure in agriculture. On the other hand, the US (5.7%), Brazil (5.3%) and Russia (4.6%) were the top five emitters, along with China and India.
- However, the per capita emissions (Kg Nitrous Oxide/Person) in India have the lowest (0.8) in comparison to countries like China (1.3), US (1.7), Brazil (2.5) and Russia (3.3).
- The increase in greenhouse gases has already raised the Earth’s average surface temperature by 1.15°C compared to the 1850-1900 average.
- Anthropogenic Nitrous Oxide emissions contribute to about 0.1 degrees of this warming.
- High levels of N2O in the atmosphere can deplete the ozone layer and compound the effects of climate change.
- On the earth, excess nitrogen contributes to soil, water, and air pollution.