About Kanwar Yathra:

• It's an annual pilgrimage, held in the Hindu month of Shravan (typically July–August), where Shiva devotees (known as Kanwariyas), primarily in North India, fetch holy water from the Ganges River and carry it back to their local Shiva temples (often barefoot and walking distances of hundreds of kilometers).
• They visit the temples to offer holy water to Lord Shiva, especially on the auspicious day of Shivratri during the month of Shravan.
• What happens at Kanwar Yatra?
  • The term “Kanwar” refers to a special carrying apparatus, typically a bamboo pole, with two equal loads (usually pots filled with Ganga water) suspended from either end.
  • This pole is balanced on the pilgrim’s shoulde “Yatra” simply means a journey or procession.
  • Thus, the Kanwar Yatra literally means the “journey with the Kanwar.”
  • The core ritual of this pilgrimage is to collect sacred water, known as “Gangajal,” from River Ganga, particularly from places like Haridwar, Gaumukh (the source of the Ganges glacier), Gangotri in Uttarakhand, and Ajgaibinath Temple in Sultanganj, Bhagalpur (Bihar).
  • The devotees then return by carrying Ganga water in kanwars to seek the blessings of Shiva.
  • The water is offered to Shiva temples, including the 12 Jyotirlingas across India and other shrines like the Pura Mahadev Mandir and Augharnath in Uttar Pradesh, the famous Kashi Vishwanath temple, and the Baba Baidyanath Temple in Deoghar, Jharkhand. The ritual is known as Jal Abhishek.
  • Devotees often carry the holy water to offer at temples in their towns and villages.
  • Many pilgrims believe that once the pot is filled with holy water, it should not touch the ground.
  • While carrying the water, devotees walk barefoot; some complete the pilgrimage by lying flat on the ground. Modern times have seen some adaptations, with some using cycles, motorbikes, or even vehicle convoys for parts of the journey, though the purists still prefer walking.
  • Kanwariyas typically dress in saffron-colored robes, a color associated with renunciation and spirituality in Hinduism.
  • Many observe fasts during the pilgrimage, and the consumption of food, water, and salt is restricted.

About Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary:

• It is located in the northern part of Goa in the Western Ghats.
• It spreads over an area of 208 sq.km. and derives its name from the Mhadei river, which flows across this Sanctuary.
• There are a number of picturesque waterfalls within the sanctuary boundaries. The most prominent are the Vazra Sakla Falls and the Virdi Falls.
• The three highest peaks of Goa, Sonsogod (1027 m), Talvche Sada (812 m), and Vagheri (725 m), are located within this Sanctuary.
• Flora:
  • The sanctuary’s dense forests are predominantly semi-evergreen and moist deciduous, hosting trees like teak, sal, and bamboo along with medicinal plants and orchids.
  • The sanctuary is particularly well-known for its sacred groves that protect rare and indigenous trees.
• Fauna:
  • Its fauna includes Bengal tigers, black panthers, leopards, sloth bears, gaur (Indian bison), and a variety of deer.
  • The sanctuary is a huge attraction for herpetologists since it contains a large variety of snakes, including all of the ‘big four’ of Indian venomous snakes, which are the Indian krait, Russell’s viper, Saw-scaled viper, and Spectacled cobra.
  • It boasts over 250 bird species, including the Malabar trogon, great pied hornbill, and Nilgiri wood pigeon, many of which are endemic to the Western Ghats.
  • The cliff face near the Vazra Falls is notable for being the nesting grounds of the critically endangered Long-billed vultures.

About Noctilucent Clouds:

• They are thin, wispy clouds that glow with a blue or silvery hue at night when illuminated by sunlight from below the horizon.
  • Horizon refers to the apparent line that separates the Earth from the sky—specifically, the point below which the Sun appears to set.
• The name ‘noctilucent’ is derived from the Latin words "nocto" and "lucent" which translates to "night" and "shining" respectively.
• They are sometimes referred to as polar mesospheric clouds.
• Most of our planet's clouds form in the Earth's troposphere. Noctilucent clouds are located in the third layer of Earth's atmosphere, the mesosphere, making them Earth's highest clouds.
• They only appear during the summer months, and only at latitudes between about 45 and 80 degrees north or south of the equator.
• In the Northern Hemisphere, they can appear from the end of May to the beginning of August, with sightings more likely during June and July.
• In the Southern Hemisphere, noctilucent cloud sightings are much rarer, but they can be visible from the end of November to the beginning of February, with sightings most likely during December and January.
• In these months and at the right latitudes, the Sun only just sets below the horizon at nighttime.
  • That means these very high clouds can still be lit by bright sunlight from below, even though the rest of the surface is in darkness – making the clouds appear to glow.
  • The Sun sets increasingly less below the horizon the further north you go, which means northern latitudes will experience noctilucent clouds for longer during the night.

How are noctilucent clouds formed?

• They are formed of ice crystals; in the summer the mesosphere becomes cold enough to allow ice to form on suspended dust particles floating in the atmosphere.
• The dust particles may originate from micrometeorites falling to Earth from space, or the dust left over from volcanic eruptions.
• Humans have also accidentally seeded our own noctilucent clouds through the exhausts of rockets propelled into space.
• The ice crystals that form reflect the sunlight when the Sun hits them from below, causing the clouds' characteristic shimmer.

About Cysteine:

• It is a sulfur containing amino acid with diverse roles in protein function and oxidative metabolism.
• It is a non-essential amino acid.
• It is one of the least abundant amino acids, yet it is frequently found as a highly conserved residue within functional (regulatory, catalytic, or binding) sites in proteins.
• It is abundant in beta-keratin, a key structural protein in nails, skin, and hair.
• Importance:
  • Cysteine is important for making collagen. It affects skin elasticity and texture.
  • It helps make antioxidants like glutathione, which protect our cells from harm.
  • It also plays a role in creating taurine, a substance that helps with things like digestion and keeping our heart healthy.
  • Cysteine is also involved in helping our body get rid of harmful substances through a process called detoxification.
• Low cysteine levels might mean that your body isn't making enough of this semi-essential amino acid, or you're not getting enough from foods like meat, dairy, and eggs.
• Symptoms of low levels of Cysteine may include fatigue, weakness, slow growth in children, and a weakened immune system.

What are Amino Acids?

• An amino acid is the fundamental molecule that serves as the building block for proteins.
• There are 20 different amino acids.
• A protein consists of one or more chains of amino acids (called polypeptides) whose sequence is encoded in a gene.
• Essential amino acids:
  • Essential amino acids cannot be made by the body. As a result, they must come from food.
  • The 9 essential amino acids are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine.
• Non-Essential amino acids:
  • Nonessential means that our bodies can produce the amino acid, even if we do not get it from the food we eat.
  • Nonessential amino acids include alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamic acid, glutamine, glycine, proline, serine, and tyrosine.

About Sigandur Bridge:

• The Sigandur Bridge, also known as the Ambaragodlu-Kalasavalli Bridge, is constructed across Sharavati River backwaters in Sagar taluk of Shivamogga district in Karnataka.
• It is India's second-longest cable-stayed bridge. It is 44 km long and16 metre wide.
• It was built at a cost of Rs 473 crore.
• This bridge will reduce the distance from Sagara town to Sigandur where the famous Chowdeshwari temple is situated.
• The new bridge restores a critical link disrupted since the construction of the Linganamakki Dam in the 1970s, which submerged key land corridors and left many communities isolated.
  • With no proper bridge over the backwaters, villagers often relied on boats or had to make long road detours to reach taluk centres.

Key Facts about Sharavati River:

• It is an important west-flowing river in the state of Karnataka.
• A major part of the Sharavati river basin lies in the Western Ghats.
• Course:
  • Rising in the Western Ghats, it flows in a northwesterly direction to the Arabian Sea at Honavar in Uttara Kannada District.
  • The length of the river is 128 km, and the river basin covers 2,985 sq km.
  • On its way, the Sharavathi forms the Jog Falls, one of the highest waterfalls in India, where the river falls from a height of 253 m.
• Diverse geological features mark the river’s course, including rocky outcrops, fertile plains, and deep gorges.
• Major Tributaries: Nandihole, Haridravathi, Mavinahole, Hilkunji, Yennehole, Hurlihole, and Nagodihole.

About Zographetus mathewi:

• It is newly described skipper butterfly belongs to the family Hesperiidae and adds a new entry to the genus Zographetus Watson.
• It is the 15th species in this oriental group and the fifth to be recorded from India.
• Its proposed common name is Sahyadri Spotted Flitter in reference to the Western Ghats, locally known as Sahyadri.
• Habitat: The species is endemic to the low-elevation forests of Kerala.
• Features of Zographetus mathewi
  • It is part of the Zographetus satwa species-group, characterised by unique features such as wing venation patterns and secondary sexual traits, including swollen forewing veins in males.
  • It can be further distinguished by a basal hair tuft on the underside of the forewing, yellow-ochre scaling on the hindwing underside, and distinct genitalia structures in both males and females.
• Butterflies maintain the ecosystem by acting as pollinators, prey, biological pest control, induce genetic variation in plants, and enhance environmental beauty.
• These are valuable indicators of the environment, whose health can influence their presence, abundance, and diversity.

About Wular Lake:

• It is the largest freshwater lake in India and the second largest freshwater lake in Asia.
• Location: It is located in the Bandipore district of Jammu and Kashmir.
• It is fed by the Jhelum River.
• The lake lies at an altitude of 1,580 m on the foothills of Haramuk Mountain.
• It is spread over a total area of 200 sq.km., covering almost 24 km in length and 10 km in breadth.
• The lake basin was formed as a result of tectonic activity.
• It is also said to be a remnant of Satisar Lake that existed in ancient times. 
• This lake also has a small island in its centre called the ‘Zaina Lank’. This island was constructed by King Zainul-Abi-Din.
• In 1990, it was designated as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention.
• Ecological Significance of Wular Lake
  • The area is important for wintering, staging and breeding birds.
  • Fauna: Terrestrial birds observed around the lake include the black-eared kite, Eurasian sparrow hawk, short-toed eagle, Himalayan golden eagle, Himalayan monal, etc.
  • It is an important habitat for fish, accounting for 60 percent of the total fish production within the state.

About Pradhan Mantri Divyasha Kendra:

• It is a unique initiative aimed at providing integrated services under one roof—including assessment, evaluation, counselling, distribution, and post-distribution care—for eligible Divyangjan (persons with disabilities)and elderly beneficiaries.
• These centres are being established through ALIMCO (Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India), a Central Public Sector Undertaking under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD).
• The newly established PMDK at Badaun would provide assistive aids and appliances under the ADIP Scheme for Divyangjan and the Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY) for senior citizens.
• Devices such as tricycles, wheelchairs, hearing aids, walkers, artificial limbs, and mobility support accessories would be offered free of cost to eligible beneficiaries.
• The initiative has already benefited over 1.40 lakh individuals with assistive devices worth more than ₹179.15 lakh. 
• Significance: It significantly reduces the travel and logistical challenges faced by local beneficiaries, offering them accessible, dignified, and timely services at the regional level.

About RhoDIS India Programme:

• The Rhino DNA Index (RhoDIS) System is a wildlife forensics tool that was specially developed for investigating wildlife crime cases.
• In 2016, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India in partnership with Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the Forest Departments of Assam, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh and WWF India launched this programme.
• The programme seeks to improve the crime investigations scientifically and provide technical support for the scientific management of India’s rhino population.
• The protocol standardised for the RhoDIS India analysis, approved by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, will be followed for creating the DNA profiles from these samples.
• RhODIS uses a DNA indexing system whereby genetic sequences are created to get a signature unique to each individual rhino.
• Significance: It has proven to be a successful tool in aiding crime investigation and strengthening legal presentations.

What is a Rhino horn?

• It is made of keratin.
• It is chemically complex and contains large quantities of sulphur-containing amino acids, particularly cysteine, as well as tyrosine, histidine, lysine, and arginine, and the salts calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate.
• Rhino horns are similar in structure to horses’ hooves, turtle beaks, and cockatoo bills.
• Three of the five rhino species have two horns, whilst the others – Greater one-horned rhinos and Javan rhinos – have only one horn.