France Abortion Right

• Recently, France becomes the only country to explicitly

guarantee abortion as a constitutional right.

• The measure was approved in a 780-72 vote in the Palace of

Versailles.

• The move was proposed by President Emmanuel Macron as

a way to prevent the kind of rollback of abortion rights seen in
the United States in recent years.
 France Abortion Right

• Both houses of France’s parliament, the National Assembly

and Senate, had separately adopted a bill to amend Article 34
of the French Constitution.

• However, the amendment needed final confirmation by a

three-fifths majority in the special joint session.

• The measure specifies that “the law determines the conditions

by which is exercised the freedom of women to have recourse to
an abortion, which is guaranteed.”
 France Abortion Right

• Eiffel Tower in Paris displayed the message

"MyBodyMyChoice" as the result of the vote was announced.

• None of France’s major political parties have questioned the right

to abortion, including Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally
party.

• A group of about 200 anti-abortion protesters gathered soberly in

Versailles, holding a banner reading: ‘’I too was an embryo.”
 France Abortion Right

Legal History –

• The latest French constitution dates from 1958 and the birth
of the Fifth Republic with the presidency of Charles De
Gaulle.

• Since it was enacted, the French Constitution has been

amended 17 times.

• The last time was in 2008, when parliament was awarded

more powers and French citizens were granted the right to
bring their grievances to the Constitutional Court.
 France Abortion Right

• France legalized abortion in 1974 in a La Loi Veil ('The

Veil Act') law championed by health minister and
women's rights icon Simone Veil.

• At the time, there were large protests against the measure

and Veil was personally attacked, in a France that was still a
largely conservative, Catholic country.

• France's time limit on elective abortion was first set at 12

weeks.
 France Abortion Right

• Since 1975 the law has been updated nine times - and on each
occasion with the aim of extending access.

• France's time limit on elective abortion is now set at 14 weeks.

• In a 2001 ruling, the council based its approval of abortion on

the notion of liberty enshrined in the 1789 Declaration of the
Rights of Man, which is technically part of the constitution.
 France Abortion Right

Global Trend –

• A recent poll showed support for abortion rights among the

French public at more than 80%, consistent with previous
surveys.

• Globally, there has been a trend towards liberalisation of

abortion laws and increased access to abortion services.

• Since the early 1990s, nearly 60 countries across the world

have eased abortion laws to expand the grounds under which
abortion is legal.
 France Abortion Right

• The French measure is seen as going a step further than was the
case in the former Yugoslavia, whose 1974 constitution said that “a
person is free to decide on having children.”

• Yugoslavia dissolved in the early 1990s, and all its successor states
have adopted similar measures in their constitutions.

• This legally enable women to have an abortion, though they do not

explicitly guarantee it.
 France Abortion Right

• Only four countries, namely the U.S., El Salvador,

Nicaragua, and Poland have removed legal grounds for
abortion during 1990s.

• Most notably, the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the

constitutional right to abortion in 2022.

• The US overturned the landmark judgement of Roe v Wade

(1973).
 France Abortion Right

• The judgement made abortion a constitutional right allowed

abortion up to the point of foetal viability.

• Foetal Viability is the time after which a foetus can survive

outside the womb.

• Abortion is banned in around 14 states in the US since Roe v

Wade was overturned and two states – Georgia and South
Carolina – have banned abortion past roughly six weeks of
pregnancy.
 France Abortion Right

India’s law on abortion –

• Section 312 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, criminalized

voluntarily causing miscarriage, even when the miscarriage
is with the pregnant woman’s consent.

• However, an exception is made when the miscarriage is caused

to save the woman’s life.

• This means that the woman herself, or anyone else including a

medical practitioner, could be prosecuted for an abortion.
 France Abortion Right

• In 1971, The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act

(MTP Act) was introduced to “liberalise” access to abortion.

• The latest amendment to the act was in 2021.

• Previously, the MTP Act only applied to married women which

was expanded in 2021 to include unmarried women as well.
 France Abortion Right

The Act allows termination of pregnancy in three stages –

• Up to 20 weeks, it's permitted with one doctor's advice.

• Between 20-24 weeks, it's allowed exceptionally based on

two registered medical practitioners' recommendations for
specific categories.

• After 24 weeks, a medical board in approved facilities

decides on termination, considering substantial foetal
abnormality.
 France Abortion Right

• Specific categories of exceptions are listed in Section 3B of

the MTP Act rules, 2003.

• Exceptions cases such as rape involving minors,

pregnancies involving women with disabilities, and
changes in a woman's marital status during pregnancy.

• The Act mandates that abortion should be performed

exclusively by doctors with specialization in gynaecology or
obstetrics.
 France Abortion Right

• The Act maintains the confidentiality of women seeking

abortion.

• The breach of confidentiality will lead to Fine and/or

imprisonment of 1 year which was earlier a fine up to Rs.
1000.

• The act states that a gestation period is the period of time

between conception and birth.
 France Abortion Right

Termination beyond 24 weeks -

• In several instances, the courts have allowed abortion beyond

the usual limits

• In August 2022, a special sitting was held to permit the

termination of pregnancy for a rape survivor at 27 weeks and
three days.

• In September 2022, a Bench led by Justice Chandrachud

allowed abortion for an unmarried woman in a consensual
relationship who was 24 weeks pregnant.
 France Abortion Right

• Bench cited “transformative constitutionalism” that promotes

and engenders societal change.

• There have also been cases where the court overruled a

medical board's decision to deny termination.

• One such case is 'Bhatou Boro v. State of Assam' (2017),

involving a minor rape survivor's pregnancy of over 26 weeks.
MethaneSAT
 MethaneSAT

• Recently, MethaneSAT was launched aboard a SpaceX

Falcon9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Bas, California.

• The MethaneSAT is a satellite which will track and measure

methane emissions at a global scale.

• These satellites are designed to combat climate change by

providing data on emissions of the invisible but potent
greenhouse gas (GHGs).
 MethaneSAT

• The entity behind MethaneSAT is the Environmental

Defense Fund (EDF) — a US-based nonprofit
environmental advocacy group.

• To develop the satellite, EDF partnered with Harvard

University, the Smithsonian Astrophysical
Observatory, and the New Zealand Space Agency.

• This new satellite is backed by Alphabet Inc's Google.

 MethaneSAT

Features -

• The satellite is washing-machine-sized and has a camera

view of 200 by 200 kilometer.

• The satellite cost $88 million to build and it’s instrument

measures 140 metres.

• MethaneSAT will orbit the Earth 15 times a day at an altitude

of 590km and collect data in a 200km swathe, monitoring the
oil and gas sector.
 MethaneSAT

• It will create a large amount of data, which will tell “how much
methane is coming from where, who’s responsible, and are those
emissions going up or down over time”, according to by EDF.

• Google Cloud will provide the computing capabilities to process

the information.

• The data collected by MethaneSAT will be made public for free

in near real-time.
 MethaneSAT

• Equipped with a high-resolution infrared sensor and a

spectrometer, the satellite will fill critical data gaps.

• It can track differences in methane concentrations as small as

three parts per billion in the atmosphere, which enables it to
pick up smaller emissions sources than the previous satellites.

• MethaneSAT also has a wide-camera view — of about 200 km

by 200 km — allowing it to identify larger emitters so-called
“super emitters”.
 MethaneSAT

• It will identify and quantify emissions from large, intermittent

sources over 500 kg/hr.

• It will create Heatmaps of 1 km2 areas across targets that are

200 km x 200 km, with a native pixel size of 100m x 400m.

• It is expected to contribute to the UN’s international methane

emissions observatory, which will collate and publish data on
leaks.
 MethaneSAT

• The first results after the commissioning process are expected at

the start of the summer with the full flow of data being available
from early 2025.

• The first MethaneAIR flights took place over the Permian

Basin in August 2021.

• The initial flight covered over 9,000 square miles in just 2.2
hours.
 MethaneSAT

• MethaneSAT will fill significant data gaps left by other satellite

systems that are currently planned or recently deployed.

• Nasa’s Emit mission also collects high-resolution data, but with

lower precision methane measurements than MethaneSat.

• Methane data from the commercial GHGSat is not freely

available.
 MethaneSAT

Falcon 9 –

• Falcon 9 is a reusable, two-stage rocket designed and

manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of
people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond.

• Falcon 9 is the world’s first orbital class reusable rocket.

• Reusability allows SpaceX to refly the most expensive parts of the

rocket, which in turn drives down the cost of space access.
 MethaneSAT

• It can also be used as an expendable heavy-lift launch

vehicle.

• The first Falcon 9 launch was on 4 June 2010.

• Currently the total launch of Falcon 9 stands at 302 with 260

total landings and 234 total reflights.
 MethaneSAT

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) -

• Environmental Defense Fund or EDF is a United States-based

nonprofit environmental advocacy group.

• The group focuses on global warming, ecosystem restoration,

oceans, and human health, advocating for environmental solutions
based on sound science, economics, and law.

• The headquarter of EDF is based in New York.

 MethaneSAT

• The Founders of EDF are Dennis Puleston, Art

Cooley, Charles F. Wurster.

• They founded the organisation in 1967.

• The current president of the organisation is Fred Krupp.

 MethaneSAT

Methane -

• Methane is an invisible but strong greenhouse gas, and the

second largest contributor to global warming after carbon
dioxide.

• It is responsible for 30 per cent of global heating since the

Industrial Revolution.

• According to the United Nations Environment Programme,

over a period of 20 years, methane is 80 times more potent at
warming than carbon dioxide.
 MethaneSAT

• The gas also contributes to the formation of ground-level ozone

— a colourless and highly irritating gas that forms just above the
Earth’s surface.

• According to a 2022 report, exposure to ground-level ozone

could be contributing to one million premature deaths every
year.

• The main culprit: fossil fuel operations, which account for

about 40 per cent of all human-caused methane emissions.
 MethaneSAT

• Earlier EDF measurements from planes show methane emissions

were 60% higher than calculated estimates published by US
authorities and elsewhere.

• The Guardian revealed more than 1,000 methane “super-

emitter” sites in March 2023.

• The worst single leak was spewing the gas out at a rate
equivalent to 67m running cars.
 MethaneSAT

• More than 150 countries in 2021 have signed a global

methane pledge to cut their emissions of the gas by 30% from
2020 levels by 2030.

• Some oil and gas companies have made similar pledges, and new
regulations to limit methane leaks are being worked on in the US,
EU, Japan and South Korea.

• At last year’s COP, more than 50 companies committed to

virtually eliminating methane emissions and routine flaring.
Passage :

Indian tourists can now purchase tickets for the iconic [1] and pay via (UPI).
NPCI International Payments Limited partnered with [2] , a French leader in
securing e-commerce and proximity payments, to launch a UPI payment
mechanism in France. This service will soon be extended to other merchants in
the tourism and retail space. This will make it significantly easier for touring
Indians to remotely book hotels, museum visits, etc. for their stay in France.
The acceptance of UPI in France opens up more opportunities for merchants
across France and Europe operating in the tourism and retail sectors, NPCI
International mentioned. "At NIPL, our ambition is to enable acceptance of
NPCI's payment solutions in international markets and create a truly
interoperable global payment system. We aim at actively collaborating with
financial institutions worldwide to establish partnerships and provide consumers
with convenient and secure cross-border payment solutions," said , CEO of
NIPL.
[Source – The Hindu]
Which of the following will replace [1] in the above
passage?
a) Statue of Liberty
b) Louvre Museum
c) Palace of Versailies
d) Eiffel Tower
Correct Answer: d) Eiffel Tower
Which of the following will replace [2] in the above
passage?
a) PayPal
b) Lyra Network
c) CurrencyCloud
d) Fintecture
Correct Answer: b) Lyra Network
Who is the CEO of NIPL?
a) Ritesh Shukla
b) Dilip Asbe
c) Rajeeth Pillai
d) Vishal Anand
Correct Answer: a) Ritesh Shukla
What is the full form UPI?
a) Universal Payment Interface
b) Union of Payment Institution
c) Umbrella of Payments Interface
d) Unified Payments Interface
Correct Answer: d) Unified Payments Interface
NPCI was founded in which year?
a) 2016
b) 2014
c) 2008
d) 2012
Correct Answer: c) 2008
Passage:
Each year, more than half a million women are diagnosed with cervical cancer
and the disease results in over 300 000 deaths worldwide. High-risk subtypes
of the HPV are the cause of the disease in most cases. The disease is largely
preventable. Approximately 90% of cervical cancers occur in low-income and
middle-income countries that lack organised screening and HPV vaccination
programmes. In high-income countries, cervical cancer incidence and
mortality have more than halved over the past 30 years since the introduction
of formal screening programmes. Treatment depends on disease extent at
diagnosis and locally available resources, and might involve radical
hysterectomy or chemoradiation, or a combination of both. Conservative,
fertility-preserving surgical procedures have become standard of care for
women with low-risk, early-stage disease. Advances in radiotherapy
technology, such as intensity-modulated radiotherapy, have resulted in less
treatment-related toxicity for women with locally-advanced disease
[Source – The Lancet]
India intends to institute vaccination against cervical
cancer for girls of which age group?
a) 9 to 14 years
b) 0 to 5 years
c) 5 to 10 years
d) 7 to 12 years
Correct Answer: a) 9 to 14 years
What is the name of Serum Institute of India’s HPV
vaccine?
a) CERVAVAC
b) CERVAIND
c) GARDSAIL
d) WOCERVA
Correct Answer: a) CERVAVAC
What is the full form of HPV?
a) Human Parasiticvirus
b) Human Paranoidicvirus
c) Human Pathogenvirus
d) Human Papillomavirus
Correct Answer: d) Human
Papillomavirus
Which actress recently did a publicity stint spreading fake
news of her death to spread awareness about Cervical
Cancer?
a) Poonam Pandey
b) Mallika Sherawat
c) Preeti Nair
d) Adah Sharma
Correct Answer: a) Poonam Pandey
Who is the current Health and Family Welfare
Minister?
a) Smriti Zubin Irani
b) Mansukh L. Mandivya
c) Piyush Goyal
d) Arjun Meghwal
Correct Answer: b) Mansukh L. Mandivya
Passage:
India and Saudi Arabia on Sunday signed a bilateral agreement under which New Delhi
has been allocated a quota of [1] pilgrims for the annual Haj pilgrimage in 2024.
Discussions also encompassed plans for the enhancement of medical facilities, ensuring
the comprehensive well-being of all pilgrims. During the meeting, India’s digital initiatives
in facilitating and promoting ease and convenience for the Haj pilgrims were greatly
appreciated by the Saudi side and the Gulf Kingdom offered to extend all possible help.
Ms. [2] , also serving as the Union Minister for Women and Child Development, will also
meet the Indian business community and Indian diaspora in Saudi Arabia.On Monday, she
will attend the opening ceremony of the third edition of ‘Haj and Umrah Conference’ in
Jeddah being organised by the Saudi Ministry of Haj and Umrah Affairs.The Indo-Saudi
partnership has deepened in recent years, marked by sustained engagement across
various sectors. The visit will further strengthen the strategic partnership placing Haj as a
vital dimension in this relationship, the statement said.
[Source : The Hindu]
Which of the following will replace [2] in the above
passage?
a) Nirmala Sitharaman
b) Smriti Irani
c) Renuka Singh
d) Meenakshi Lekhi
Correct Answer: b) Smriti Irani
Which of the following will replace [1] in the above
passage?
a) 1.75 Lakh
b) 1 Lakh
c) 1.25 Lakh
d) 1.85 Lakh
Correct Answer: a) 1.75 Lakh
The Haj is the sacred pilgrimage to which holy city?
a) Medina
b) Mecca
c) Multan
d) Bukhara
Correct Answer: b) Mecca
The Haj Committee of India was established in which
year?
a) 2016
b) 1998
c) 2002
d) 2004
Correct Answer: c) 2002
What is the Capital of Saudi Arabia?
a) Dubai
b) Muscat
c) Mecca
d) Riyadh
Correct Answer: d) Riyadh