1. AMRUT MISSION (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – Govt. Policies & Interventions)

Context: Recently, the World Bank estimated that $840 billion is needed for urban infrastructure in India, where city dwellers are expected to surpass 50% of the population by 2047. The AMRUT scheme has been a flagship program addressing this urban transformation.

AMRUT Mission

• Full Form: Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation
• Launched: On 25th June 2015
• Selected Cities: 500 cities and towns
• Ministry: Housing and Urban Affairs
• Focus:(i) ensure that every household has access to a tap with assured supply of water and a sewerage connection (ii) increase the value of cities by developing greenery and well-maintained open spaces such as parks and (iii) reduce pollution by switching to public transport or constructing facilities for non-motorised transport.
• State Annual Action Plan (SAAP): It is a consolidated plan that is a combination of all the city-level SLIPs(Service Level Improvement Plans) of all proposed AMRUT cities in the respective states.
• AMRUT 2.0: It will promote circular economy of water through development of City Water Balance Plan (CWBP) for each city focusing on recycle/reuse of treated sewage, rejuvenation of water bodies and water conservation.

o Ambitious targets were set up such as providing 100% sewage management in 500 AMRUT cities.

o Timeline: 2025-26.

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2. RUDRAM-II (Syllabus GS Paper 3 – Sci and Tech)

Context: India recently conducted a successful flight test of the RudraM-II air-to-surface missile from the Su-30 MK-I platform. 

RudraM-II Air-to-Surface missile

• About: It is an indigenously developed solid-propelled air-launched missile system.
• Developed by: Defence Research and Development Organisation
• Missile Type: It is an Air-to-Surface missile designed to neutralize various types of enemy assets.
• Strategic Importance: This development marks a crucial advancement in India's indigenously-developed missile technology.
• Tracking Instruments: Range tracking instruments, including electro-optical systems, radar, and telemetry stations, were used to capture the data.
• Deployment Locations: These tracking instruments were deployed at various locations, including on-board ships.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

• About: It is dedicated to empowering India with cutting-edge defence technologies. Its mission is to achieve self-reliance in critical defence technologies and systems.
• Formation: Established in 1958 through the amalgamation of existing entities, including the Technical Development Establishment (TDEs) and the Directorate of Technical Development & Production (DTDP).
• Headquarters: New Delhi.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Defence.
• Focus: DRDO operates a network of laboratories spanning aeronautics, armaments, electronics, land combat engineering, life sciences, materials, missiles, and naval systems.

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3. MARINE PROTECTED AREAS (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Env and Eco)

Context: A new study has found that 62% of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) dedicated to protect rare migratory fish species (Diadromous fish) fall outside their core habitats.

Marine Protected Areas (MPA)

• About: It is a section of the ocean where a government has placed limits on human activity. Many MPAs allow people to use the area in ways that do not damage the environment. MPAs are regarded as one of the most potent conservation tools for protection of marine habitats and their resources.
• Goals of MPAs: The main focus of many MPAs is to protect marine habitats and the variety of life that they support.
• Global Coverage: 8.16%
• Global Distribution: More than 5,000

Marine Protected Areas (MPA) in India

• MPAs in India has been used as a tool to manage natural marine resources for biodiversity conservation and for the well-being of people dependent on it.
• Regulation: Wild Life (Protection), Amendment Act of 2002, Coastal regulation zone (CRZ), UN high seas treaty etc.
• Economic and Environmental Importance: More than 30% of India’s population depends on these areas. India is the 3rd largest fish producing and 2nd largest aquaculture nation in the world after China. 
• MPAs in Peninsular India: 24
• MPAs in Islands of India: 106.

Key Points of Study

• Diadromous fish are those which migrate between saltwater and freshwater environments.

o These are sensitive to anthropogenic pressures. 

o They are subjected to terrestrial, freshwater, and marine pressures such as agricultural and pollutant runoffs, habitat destruction, barriers to migration, fishing, bycatch, and climate change.

• Only 55% of modelled core habitats identified for diadromous fish overlapped with Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
• They were observed during their at-sea migration in the southern North Sea, Bay of Biscay, French Mediterranean waters, and the English Channel.

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4. VIRUS (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Sci and Tech)

Context: Recently, researchers from Harvard University, Cambridge, and Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, reported developing one such tool: it can detect if cells have been infected by a virus using only light and some knowledge of high-school physics.

Virus

• About: Virus are infectious agent of small size and simple composition that can multiply only in living cells of animals, plants, or bacteria.

oThe name is from a Latin word meaning “slimy liquid” or “poison.”

• Discovery: By Russian scientist Dmitry I. Ivanovsky in 1892.
• Taxonomic Position: Viruses occupy a unique taxonomic position, distinct from plants, animals, and prokaryotic bacteria, often placed in their own kingdom.
• Composition: All true viruses contain nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) and protein, with the nucleic acid encoding the genetic information unique to each virus.
• Parasitic Nature:

o Viruses are obligate parasites, dependent on host cells for replication and almost all life-sustaining functions.

o Lack of ribosomes prohibits protein synthesis, necessitating the use of host cell ribosomes for viral mRNA translation.

• Viral Infection: It can stress cells and change their shapes, sizes, and features. As the infection gains the upper hand and the body becomes ‘diseased’, the changes become more stark.
• Parameters of the Fingerprint: The contrast between the light and dark stripes and the inverse differential moment, a mathematical value that defined how textured the diffraction pattern was.
• Differentiation of Cell States: The method can differentiate between uninfected, virus-infected, and dead cells. 
• Virus-infected cells were elongated and had more clear boundaries than uninfected cells. This changed the contrast between light and dark stripes of the diffraction fingerprint, and increased the differences in light intensity.
• Comparison with Standard Techniques: The researchers compared their new technique with this standard for accuracy, time, and cost. 
• They reported that their light-based method could detect viral infections as accurately or even more accurately than the standard method.
• Current methods to detect virus infections in cells are not straightforward.

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5. KAZA TFCA (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Env and Eco)

Context: Recently, over 400 delegates gathered in Livingstone, Zambia, for the inaugural KAZA TFCA summit, where five southern African countries reviewed progress and planned future initiatives for the conservation area.

Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA)

• About: It is Africa’s largest conservation landscape and the world’s largest trans-frontier conservation area (520,000km2).

o It incorporates parts of five countries; Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and is home to one of the largest remaining populations of cheetah.

• Establishment: The Treaty formally establishing KAZA TFCA was signed in Luanda, Angola, in August 2011.
• Coverage: 520,000-square kilometre wetland.
• Countries: Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe
• Species Diversity: KAZA is endowed with a wide range of species diversity – flora and fauna.
• Flora Diversity: There are more than 3,000 plant species throughout the TFCA, of which 100 are endemic to the sub-region.
• Megafauna Migrations: KAZA also caters to large-scale migrations of megafauna, hosting the largest contiguous population of African elephant on the continent, making the African elephant a flagship species of the TFCA.
• Conservation of Threatened Species: KAZA is a key conservation area for threatened species such as the lion, cheetah, and African wild dog, of which an estimated one quarter of the population is found in the TFCA.
• Avian and Reptile Diversity: Over 600 bird species have been identified, as well as 128 reptile species and 50 amphibian species.

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6. TELE MANAS INITIATIVE (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – Health)

Context: The National Tele Mental Health Programme Tele-MANAS Helpline received over 10 lakh calls since its launch in October 2022.

Tele MANAS initiative

• About: It stands for Tele Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across the States.
• To provide universal access to equitable, accessible, affordable and quality mental health care through 24X7 tele-mental health services as across all Indian States and UTs with assured linkages.

o Digital component of the National Mental Health Programme (NMHP). 

• Launched in: Union budget 2022-23.
• Nodal ministry: Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
• Objective:

o To exponentially scale up the reach of mental health services to anybody who reaches out, across India, any time by setting up a 24x7 tele-mental health facility in each of the States and UTs of the country.

o To implement a full-fledged mental health-service network that, in addition to counselling, provides integrated medical and psychosocial interventions including video consultations with mental health specialists, e-prescriptions, follow-up services and linkages to in-person services.

o To extend services to vulnerable groups of the population and difficult to reach populations

• Over 42 functional Tele MANAS Cells across 31 States and UTs, the service is currently catering to 1,300+ calls per day in 20 languages.
• The Government of India has launched the National Mental Health Programme (NMHP) in 1982.
• World Mental Health Day: 10 October.

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7. HEATWAVE (Syllabus: GS Paper 1/3 – Geography/Disaster)

Context: Recently, the Meteorological Department (IMD) issued heatwave warnings, urging caution, as Delhi reached a record-breaking temperature of 52.3 degrees Celsius.

Heatwave

• Meaning: It is a period of abnormally high temperatures, more than the normal maximum temperature that occurs during the summer season in the North-Western parts of India. 
• Conditions for Declaring a Heatwave: When the temperature exceeds 40°C in the plains or 37°C in coastal regions.

o if the temperature is 4.5°C above the normal temperature.

• Duration and Consistency: The declaration requires at least two consecutive days of these extreme temperatures.
• At least two weather stations in a sub-division must record such temperatures.
• Severe Heatwave Criteria: The temperature must exceed the normal by 6°C.
• Causes:

o El Nino's Influence: One significant factor contributing to heatwaves is the El Nino weather pattern, characterized by abnormal warming of waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.

o High-Pressure Systems: Another factor contributing to heatwaves is the presence of high-pressure systems over the Southern peninsula and South-Eastern coastal areas.

o Atmospheric Dynamics: These high-pressure systems push warm air closer to the Earth's surface, intensifying heat levels and hindering the incoming sea breeze that typically cools the land.

o Cumulative Effects: The combined influence of El Nino and high-pressure systems creates a potent environment conducive to prolonged heatwaves and extreme heat events.

• Duration of heatwaves: Earlier, heatwaves used to last four to eight days.

o In the last two years alone, India has seen an unprecedented 328 heatwave days.

o 2023 was the hottest year on record.

• India’s Initiative: India’s first heatwave action plan was developed three years after a heatwave claimed 800 lives in Ahmedabad in May 2010. 

o It involved setting up an early warning system, improving the healthcare system and creating awareness.

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8. ASSET RECONSTRUCTION COMPANY (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Economy)

Context: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has come down heavily on asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) for violating norms and warned them of regulatory or supervisory action in extreme cases.

Asset Reconstruction Company (ARC)

• About: It is a financial institution that buys the Non Performing Assets (NPA) or bad assets from banks and financial institutions so that the latter can clean up their balance sheets.
• Regulatory Framework: RBI issues the Master Direction - Reserve Bank of India (Asset Reconstruction Companies) Directions, 2024, to ensure prudent and efficient functioning of ARCs and to protect investor interests.
• Capital Requirements: ARCs are required to have a minimum net owned fund (NOF) of Rs 300 crore to commence the business of securitisation or asset reconstruction, and maintain this level on an ongoing basis.
• Investment Restrictions: ARCs are restricted from investing in land or buildings, except for their own use, up to 10% of their owned funds.
• Limitations: Prohibited from raising money through deposits, ARCs must maintain a capital adequacy ratio of at least 15% of their total risk-weighted assets.
• Government Initiatives: In the Union Budget 2021-22, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the establishment of Asset Reconstruction Companies in India to address Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) of stressed banks. 

o These companies are set up by both state-owned and private-sector banks, without equity contribution from the government.

• Role of ARCs: To facilitate the cleaning up of bank balance sheets by acquiring financial assets through auctions or negotiations, and then securitizing and reconstructing these assets to inject liquidity into the system.

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9. MAGELLAN MISSION (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Sci and Tech)

Context: Scientists recently discovered new lava flows on Venus through analysis of archived data from NASA’s Magellan mission, indicating volcanic activity on the planet between 1990 and 1992.

Magellan Mission

• launched by: NASA in 1989
• It holds the distinction of being the first spacecraft to capture images of the entire surface of Venus. It also marks the first deep space probe ever launched from a space shuttle. 
• Objective: To produce detailed images of Venus' surface.
• Mapping: The Magellan spacecraft, reaching Venus in 1990, achieved the historic feat of creating the first global map of Venus's surface using radar imaging.
• Surprising Discoveries: The mission unveiled unexpected findings about Venus, hinting at a relatively youthful surface potentially shaped by extensive lava flows from widespread volcanic activity.
• Other countries Venus Mission: India - Shukrayaan I, USA - VERITAS, European Union – EnVision.

Venus

• About: It is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty.
• Position in the Solar System: It's the second planet from the Sun and sixth in size and mass, with a brightness second only to the Moon in the night sky.
• Characteristics:

o Unusual Spin: Unlike most planets, Venus and Uranus spin clockwise on their axes.

o Extreme Heat: Its atmosphere, rich in carbon dioxide, creates a potent greenhouse effect, making Venus the hottest planet in the solar system.

o Long Days: A day on Venus is longer than its year, taking 243 Earth days to rotate once on its axis and 224.7 Earth days to orbit the Sun.

• Comparison With Earth: Despite being referred to as Earth's twin due to similar size, mass, and density, Venus starkly contrasts with Earth in its scorching temperatures and inhospitable atmosphere.

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10. HIMALAYAN SEROW (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – Env and Eco )

Context: Recently, a Himalayan serow was spotted in the central part of Nameri National Park and Tiger Reserve.

Himalayan Serow

• About: It is a cross between a goat, a donkey, a cow, and a pig.
• Physical Features: It’s a medium-sized mammal with a large head, thick neck, short limbs, long, mule-like ears, and a coat of dark hair.
• Distribution: Typically found at altitudes between 2,000 metres and 4,000 metres.

o Known to inhabit the eastern, central, and western Himalayas, but not the Trans Himalayan region.

o The Trans-Himalayas Mountain Region, or Tibet Himalayan Region, lies to the north of the Great Himalayas and includes the Karakoram, Ladakh, Zaskar, and Kailash mountain ranges.

• Conservation Status:

o IUCN Red List: Vulnerable

o CITES: Appendix I

o The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule I

Nameri Tiger Reserve

• Location: Situated in the northern part of the Sonitpur district of Assam, along the foothills of Arunachal Pradesh.
• Bounded by: Jia-Bhoreli river in the west and Bor-Dikorai river in the east.
• Habitat: Pakke Tiger Reserve of Arunachal Pradesh lies to the north, creating a contiguous habitat.

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