World Investment Report 2024 released by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Key findings

• Globally, foreign direct investment flows declined by 2% in 2023.
• Sizeable declines were recorded in India.
• Mobilization of funds for SDG investment through sustainable finance products is slowing down.

About UNCTAD

• It is a permanent intergovernmental body established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1964.
• It supports developing countries to access the benefits of a globalized economy more fairly and effectively.

Six Asiatic lions have migrated from Gir Forest to the Barda Wildlife Sanctuary (BWS).

About Asiatic lions

• Protection status
  • IUCN status: Endangered
  • CITES: Appendix I 
  •  Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972: Schedule I and IV
• Characteristics
  • They are slightly smaller than African lions.
  • Males have only moderate mane growth at the top of the head.
  • Lions have no particular breeding season.
• Habitat: Only in Gir forest and other protected areas in Gujarat’s Saurashtra region.

A striped caecilian has been added to fauna in Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.

About Striped caecilian

• Caecilians are a separate group of amphibians classified under order Apoda.
• Characteristics
  • Limbless amphibians that spend most of their life burrowed under soil.
  • Wormlike animals, with smooth, moist skin which appears narrowly segmented.
  • Eyes are small and covered with skin, and their visual perception is limited to determining between light and dark.
  • Able to take in oxygen both through their skin and lungs.
  • Genus Ichthyophis are egg-laying.
• Habitat: Six families of Caecilians are recognised ranging through Africa, South America and Southeast Asia.

According to IUCN, conservation status of Iberian lynx has improved from Endangered to Vulnerable, reflecting significant increase in its population.

About Iberian lynx

• Habitat: Medium-sized wild cat species native to Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe, including Portugal and Spain.
• Appearance: Weighs about half as much as Eurasian species, with long legs, short tail with a black tip, tufted ears and relatively small head.
• Characteristics: Solitary hunter; nocturnal or crepuscular; may temporarily become diurnal during winter; live in small, isolated meta-populations; European Rabbit accounts for 80-99% of its diet.
• Threats: Decreasing food base, Poaching, habitat loss etc.
• Conservation status: Appendix I of CITES.

Karnataka Government cleared the Centre’s proposal on reviving gold mining at KGF.

About KGF

• These gold mines are located  about 100 kilometres from Bangalore in Kolar district of Karnataka.
• These are operated by the Bharat Gold Mines Limited (BGML), a public sector undertaking.
  • BGML was established in 1972, under the Department of Mines with its office at KGF.
• These mines are among the deepest in the world which makes mining of this ore a very expensive process.

A new freshwater diatom genus named Indiconema discovered from Eastern and Western Ghats.

About Diatom

• They’re unicellular algae belonging to a phytoplankton group. 
• They’re eukaryotes and non-motile.
• Only organisms with cell walls composed of transparent, opaline silica. Thus, the walls are indestructible. 
  • Diatom cell wall deposits accumulate over billions of years forming diatomaceous earth.

Significance

• Chief ‘producers’ in oceans and produced 20-30% of global oxygen.
• Excellent indicators of aquatic health.
• Remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from atmosphere, convert CO2 to organic carbon in form of sugar, and release oxygen.
• Serve as a base of aquatic food chain. E.g. Diatoms-Crustaceans-Herrings.
• Help in nutrient cycling of marine and lake waters.

Chad has become the first country in 2024 and 51st globally to eliminate a NTD i.e. gambiense form of Human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness).

• It is a vector-borne parasitic disease caused by Trypanosoma parasite.

About NTDs

• Diverse group of conditions caused by variety of pathogens (including viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi and toxins).

• Examples: Dengue and chikungunya, leprosy, onchocerciasis etc.

• Mainly prevalent among impoverished communities in tropical areas.
• Preventable and treatable when detected early.
• India has eliminated NTDs like guinea worm, trachoma, and yaws.
• Initiatives to eliminated NTDs: London Declaration, and Kigali Declaration on NTDs; World NTD Day (30 January); etc.

Recently, Many people died after consuming hooch (or spurious liquor) in Tamil Nadu.

• Spurious liquor is characterised by  high methanol content.

About Methanol

• It is also known as wood alcohol.
• Appears as a colorless fairly volatile liquid with a faintly sweet pungent odor like that of ethyl alcohol.
• Uses: Solvent in paints, varnishes and chiefly for making formaldehyde.
• Food Safety and Standards (Alcoholic Beverages) Regulations 2018 stipulate the maximum permissible quantity of methanol in different liquors.

Mata ni pachedi is an ancient art form from Gujarat is a religious textile folk art, drawing inspiration from the Kalamkari style of painting.

• It means “behind the idol of Mother Goddess”.
• Another form of Mata-ni-pachedi painting is Matano candarvo.

About Mata ni pachedi paintings

• The Vaghari community is known to paint these pachedis.
• These paintings are used  for rituals and are only painted by men.
• It features the divine feminine at the centre, surrounded by depictions of devotees, flora and fauna. 
• It is drawn with  kalam (pen) made of bamboo sticks.
• Paintings are traditionally in maroon, black, white.

Department of Telecommunications held 1st networking event of Sangam-Digital Twin Initiative at IIT Delhi.

About Sangam: Digital Twin initiative

• Initiative of Department of Telecommunication. 
• It is a Proof of Concept focused on revolutionizing planning & design of infrastructure through integration of Digital Twin technology with Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things 
• Aims to enhance utility value, optimise resource utilisation, and reduce costs through effective data integration.

Twin Technology

• Virtual representation of a physical object or system.
• It is dynamic model that mimics behaviour of its real-world counterpart in real-time or near-real-time.