Loksabha
- The Lok Sabha is the lower house of India’s Parliament and represents the people of the country.
- ·It can have a maximum of 552 members, including up to 530 from states, 20 from Union Territories, and 2 nominated by the President from the Anglo-Indian community (nominations now discontinued after the 104th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2019).
- ·Members are directly elected by citizens through general elections using the first-past-the-post system.
- ·The normal term of the Lok Sabha is five years, but it can be dissolved earlier by the President.
- ·The Speaker of the Lok Sabha presides over its sessions and maintains order during debates.
Dengue
- Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease transmitted mainly by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
- It is caused by the dengue virus (DENV), which has four distinct serotypes (DENV-1 to DENV-4).
- Symptoms include high fever, severe headache, muscle and joint pain, rash, and in severe cases, dengue hemorrhagic fever or dengue shock syndrome.
Annual Ulchi Freedom Shield
- The Annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises are joint military drills conducted by the United States and South Korea.
- They aim to enhance combat readiness and improve coordination between the two countries’ armed forces.
- The 2025 edition focused on countering North Korean threats, including missile attacks and cyber warfare scenarios.
Orbiting Carbon Observatories (OCO) Program
- The Orbiting Carbon Observatories (OCO) program is a NASA initiative designed to measure carbon dioxide (CO₂) in Earth’s atmosphere with high precision.
- Its main goal is to understand sources and sinks of CO₂ and study how they change over time.
- The program includes satellites like OCO-2 (launched in 2014) and OCO-3 (installed on the International Space Station in 2019).
- Data from OCO helps in climate change research and guides policy decisions on carbon management.
- The program plays a crucial role in tracking global greenhouse gas emissions and improving climate models.