Target 140+ Batch!!!

United Nations Forum on Forests

- Establishment: In 2000 by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

- Purpose : Promotes management, conservation, and sustainable development of all forest types.

- Annual Meetings: At UN Headquarters, New York.

● High-level dialogue on technical matters in odd years, policy matters in even years.

- Membership: Comprising all UN Member States and specialized agencies.

● India is a founding member.

UN Strategic Plan for Forests 2017-2030

- Aim: To sustainably manage all forest types and trees outside forests.

- Alignment with Global Agreements:

● 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
● Paris Agreement under UNFCCC.
● Convention on Biological Diversity.
● UN Convention to Combat Desertification.

Source : The Hindu

Sea Anemone

- Characteristics:

● Invertebrate aquatic animal with soft bodies.

● Possess stinging ability.

● Often found in close association with corals and live rocks.

- Physical Features:

● Possesses sticky foot or disc for anchoring to rocks or coral reefs.

● Stinging cells contain nematocysts with small threads, ejected when stimulated.

- Symbiotic Relationships: With clownfish.

● Clownfish reside within anemone's tentacles, receiving protection.

● Anemone benefits from clown fish's leftover meals.

- Variety : Display a variety of colors, resembling a garden of wildflowers in tide pools or reefs.

Source : The Hindu

DigiLocker

● An Indian Government's flagship program under the Digital India initiative.

- Aim : To transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.

- Functionality : Fits into Digital India's vision of providing citizens a shareable private space on a public cloud for storing documents.

- Benefits:

● Convenience : Citizens can access their digital documents anytime, anywhere and share them online, saving time.

● Administrative Efficiency : Minimizing paper usage.

● Authenticity : As it is issued directly by registered issuers.

● Digital Signatures : Self-uploaded documents ,similar to self-attestation.

● Data Security : Encrypted during transit, ensuring secure transmission. User data is not shared with third parties.

Source : Indian Express

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Xenotransplantation

● Refers to any procedure involving the transplantation, implantation, or infusion of live cells, tissues, or organs from a non human animal source into a human recipient.

- Genetic Modifications : The animal organ selected for transplantation must undergo genetic modifications to prevent rejection by the human body.

- Use of Pigs in Xenotransplantation : Pig heart valves have been used to replace damaged valves in humans for over 50 years.

- Comparison :

● Pigs have anatomical and physiological parameters similar to humans.

● Cost-Effectiveness: Pigs are widely bred on farms, making their use in xenotransplantation economically viable.

● Variety Matching: Various pig breeds are available, allowing for the selection of organs that match the specific size needs of human recipients.

- Achievement : In January 2022, the first successful xenotransplantation of a genetically modified pig heart was performed.

Source : Indian Express

Global Report on Internal Displacement 2024

- Publisher: Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.

- Focus: Records internal displacements due to conflict, violence, and disasters.

Highlights of GRID-2024:

● Increase in IDPs: Number of internally displaced people (IDPs) rose to 75.9 million in 2023, up from 71.1 million in the previous year.

- Causes of Displacement:

● Disasters: 7.7 million displaced, with one-fourth caused by earthquakes.

● Conflict and Violence: 68.3 million displaced.

● Top IDP Hosting Countries: Sudan, Syria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Colombia, and Yemen host nearly half of the world’s IDPs.

- South Asia:

● IDPs Due to Conflict and Violence

● Highest displacements due to conflict and violence in India since 2018.

● Displacements Due to Natural Disasters: Sharp decline in 2023: 528,000 compared to 2.5 million in 2022.

Source : Indian Express

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Calcium Carbide (CaC₂)

- Ingredients: Produced by heating a mixture of lime (calcium oxide, CaO) and carbon (coke or anthracite) at high temperatures.

- Process: Heating the lime and carbon mixture to a temperature between 2000 to 2100°C in an electric arc furnace.

Applications :
● Mining and Metal Industries: Generation of acetylene gas, which is used as a fuel and in welding.

● Acetylene Production: Acetylene gas (C₂H₂) has applications in industrial processes.

● Fruit Ripening: The compound releases acetylene gas, which acts as an artificial ripening agent.

- Health Impacts

● Direct Exposure: Dizziness, frequent thirst, irritation, weakness, difficulty swallowing, vomiting, and skin ulcers.

● Fruit Contamination: Leading to ingestion of harmful traces of arsenic and phosphorus.

● Gas Exposure

- Regulation : Its use is prohibited under the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulation, 2011.

Source : The Hindu

Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)

- Establishment: By the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union signed in 2014, in Astana (now Nur-Sultan), Kazakhstan.

- Member Countries: Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.

- Objectives :

● Upgrade and raise the competitiveness of national economies.

● Promote stable development to improve living standards in member states.

● Facilitate the free movement of goods, services, capital, and labor.

● Pursue coordinated, harmonized, and unified policies.

Eurasian Economic Commission:

● Location: Moscow, Russia.

● Function: Acts as the permanent supranational regulatory body

● Purpose: Integration, and oversees implementation of policies.

- Court of the EAEU:

● Location: Minsk, Belarus.

● Function: Serves as the judicial body of the EAEU.

Source : Economic Times

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International Criminal Court (ICC)

● Only permanent international criminal tribunal.

- Establishment : By the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

- Mandate: Investigates and prosecutes individuals charged with the most serious crimes of international concern: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression.

- Headquarters: Hague, Netherlands.

- Membership: 124 nations .

● Notable non- members include the US, China, Russia, and India.

- Funding: Contributions from the States Parties and by voluntary contributions from governments, international organizations, individuals, corporations, and other entities.

- Judges: The court has eighteen judges, each from a different member country, elected to non-renewable nine-year terms.

- Presidency: 3 judges (the President and two Vice-Presidents) elected from among the judges.

Source : Indian Express