About Foot-and-Mouth Disease:

• It is a highly contagious viral infection that affects cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, buffaloes, sheep and goats.
• Cause: It is caused by an Aphthovirus of the family Picornaviridae.
• It is a transboundary animal disease (TAD) that deeply affects the production of livestock and disrupts regional and international trade in animals and animal products.
• Intensively reared animals are more susceptible to the disease than traditional breeds.
• Transmission: It is transmitted through:
  • Infected animals newly introduced into a herd (carrying virus in their saliva, milk, semen, etc.); 
  • Contaminated pens/buildings or contaminated animal transport vehicles; 
  • Contaminated materials such as hay, feed, water, milk or biologics; 
  • Contaminated clothing, footwear, or equipment; 
  • Virus-infected meat or other contaminated animal products (if fed to animals when raw or improperly cooked); 
• Treatment: Vaccination is the only effective preventive measure against FMD.

About Perylene diimide:

• It is a derivative of perylene.
• It initially synthesized and explored as an organic dye, has since gained significant recognition for its outstanding optical and electronic properties.
• Properties:
  • PDIs exhibit exceptional optical characteristics.
  • It has strong absorption and high fluorescence quantum yield, along with remarkable electronic properties, such as high electron affinity and superior charge carrier mobility. 
  • It has a role as a fluorochrome. It is a dicarboximide and an organic heteropolycyclic compound.
  • The molecular architecture and electrical properties are closely related in semiconducting organic electronic materials
• Applications:
  • PDI derivatives are considered as potential candidates for photovoltaic applications and organic electronics.
  • They behave as n-type organic semiconductor materials and have been used in fabrication of solar cells, photovoltaic devices, dye lasers.

About Endometriosis:

• It is a complex disease where tissue lining the uterus overgrows outside it.
• It is caused by a mix of genetics, hormones, environment, and lifestyle.
• People with endometriosis have higher rates of other immune-mediated conditions, such as lupus, multiple sclerosis, and inflammatory bowel disease.
• Treatment: There is no cure for endometriosis, but treatments are available for the symptoms and problems it causes.
• Global Burden: It affects about 10 per cent of women of reproductive age globally; India accounts for an estimated 50 million cases, representing nearly 18 per cent of the global burden.

About Resplendent Shrub Frog:

• It belongs to the family Rhacophoridae.
• Habitat: It is normally, cold-climate-adapted frogs move to higher elevations as temperatures rise.
• Distribution: It is endemic to the high-altitude shola-grassland ecosystems of the Anamudi region in Kerala’s Eravikulam National Park.
• Characteristics:
  • It is characterized by pronounced crawling behaviour. It is a ground-dwelling species.
  • They are nocturnal and hide from artificial light sources.
  • Reproduction: It undergoes direct development, without a free swimming tadpole stage.
• Conservation Status
  • IUCN Red List: Critically Endangered

Key Facts about Eravikulam National Park:

• Location: It is an important protected area located in the Western Ghats of Kerala.
• It is also surrounded by other protected areas like Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary, Pampadum Shola National Park, Anamudi Shola National Park, and Kurinjimala Sanctuary.
• It is most famous for being the largest habitat of the endangered Nilgiri Tahr.
• It is also known as the “Land of Neelakurinji”, a rare flower that blooms once every 12 years.
• It is dominated by high-altitude grasslands and rolling plateaus.
• Anamudi Peak (2695 m), which is the highest peak in South India, often called the “Everest of South India” is present here.
• It consists of three types of vegetation: Grasslands, Shrublands and Shola forests.
• Flora: The Park supports a wide range of plant diversity, including grasses, shrubs, and trees adapted to high-altitude conditions.
• Fauna: Elephants, Gaur, Sambar Deer, Leopard, Tiger, Sloth Bear, and Wild Dog.

About ORV Sagar Manthan:

• It is an indigenous ocean research vessel.
• It is an all-weather, multidisciplinary platform.
• It is designed, engineered, and constructed by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE) for the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR).
• It is constructed under Vertical-4 (Deep Ocean Survey and Exploration) of the Government of India's flagship Deep Ocean Mission (DOM).
• It is engineered to operate in extreme oceanic environments, including the Southern Ocean, with a projected service life of 30 years.
• Key Technical & Operational Features:
  • Advanced Equipment: It is integrated with dynamic positioning, multibeam bathymetry, multichannel seismic systems, sub-bottom profiling, weather radar, drop keels, and deployment facilities for Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV).
  • Research Spectrum: It will support multidisciplinary exploration along the Indian Ocean mid-oceanic ridges to identify multi-metal hydrothermal sulphide mineralisation, establish environmental baselines, collect upper-air data, and undertake CTD profiling.
  • Dual-Class Certification: It is built in full compliance with international regulatory standards under dual-class certification by the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) and the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS).

About Navier-Stokes Equations:

• The Navier-Stokes equations are a set of partial differential equations that describe the motion of viscous fluids.
• They are named after the French mathematician and physicist Claude-Louis Navier and the Irish mathematician and physicist George Gabriel Stokes, who developed them in the 19th century.
• The Navier-Stokes equations are based on the conservation of mass, momentum, and energy.
• They use Newton’s second law of motion (F = m x a) to describe how fluids move.
• Importantly, they treat a fluid as a continuous medium rather than tracking individual molecules.
• Equation:
  • The Navier-Stokes equation, in modern notation, is
    • ∂u/∂t + u·∇u = -∇P/ρ + v∇² u
  • where u is the fluid velocity vector, P is the fluid pressure, ρ is the fluid density, υ is the kinematic viscosity, and ∇² is the Laplacian operator.
• Navier-Stokes equations have been used to model a wide variety of fluid flows, including the flow of water in pipes, the flow of air around airplanes, and the flow of blood in the human body.
• The Navier-Stokes equation is used in a wide variety of applications, including:
  • Weather forecasting
  • Climate modeling
  • Ocean circulation
  • Aerodynamics
  • Fluid dynamics
  • Hydraulics
  • Lubrication
  • Combustion
  • Chemical engineering
  • Biomedical engineering
• There are a number of challenges associated with solving these equations, including:
  • The equations are nonlinear, which means that they cannot be solved using linear methods.
  • The equations are coupled, which means that they cannot be solved independently of each other.
  • Whether smooth solutions in three dimensions continue to exist for all time — the problem of global existence and smoothness — is still an unsolved mathematical question.
• Is the Navier-Stokes equation solved?
  • The Navier-Stokes equation is one of the most important unsolved problems in mathematics.
  • In 2000, whether smooth, reasonable solutions to the Navier-Stokes equation in three dimensions exist was designated a Millennium Problem, one of seven mathematical problems selected by the Clay Mathematics Institute of Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., for a special award.
  • The solution for each Millennium Problem is worth $1 million.
  • Despite these challenges, there has been significant progress in solving the Navier-Stokes equations in recent years.
    • This progress has been due in part to the development of new numerical methods and the use of high-performance computers.

About Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB):

• It is a statutory body established by the Government of India to combat organized wildlife crime in the country.
• It was constituted under Section 38Y of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. It became operational in 2008.
• It is a multidisciplinary body with officials from Police, Forest, Customs, and other intelligence & enforcement agencies.
• It functions under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
• Headquarter:
  • Its headquarters is situated in New Delhi.
  • There are five regional offices located at Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, and Bhopal.
• Functions:
  • Collect and collate intelligence related to organised wildlife crime activities and disseminate the same to state and other enforcement agencies for immediate action so as to apprehend the criminals and to establish a centralised wildlife crime data bank.
  • Coordination of actions by various officers, state governments, and other authorities in connection with the enforcement of the provisions of this Act, either directly or through regional and border units set up by the Bureau.
  • Implementation of obligations under various international conventions and protocols that are in force at present or which may be ratified or acceded to by India in the future.
  • Assistance to concerned authorities in foreign countries and concerned international organisations to facilitate coordination and universal action for wildlife crime control.
  • Develop infrastructure and capacity building for scientific and professional investigation into wildlife crimes and assist state governments to ensure success in prosecutions related to wildlife crimes.
  • Advise the government of India on issues relating to wildlife crimes having national and international ramifications, and suggest changes required in relevant policy and laws from time to time.
• The WCCB assists in the enforcement of the CITES, to which India has been a party since 1976, and develops capacity through training programmes and species-identification support for frontline officers and prosecutors.
• It maintains liaison with the INTERPOL Environmental Crime Programme and the World Customs Organization to track cross-border trafficking routes.
• It has developed an online Wildlife Crime Database Management System to get real-time data in order to help analyse trends in crime and devise effective measures to prevent and detect wildlife crimes across India.
  • This system has been successfully used to analyse trends, helping put in preventive measures as well as for successfully carrying out operations such as Operation SAVE KURMA, THUNDERBIRD, WILDNET, LESKNOW, BIRBIL, THUNDERSTORM, LESKNOW-II.

About International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):

• It is the world’s leading intergovernmental organisation for scientific and technical cooperation in the nuclear field.
• The Agency’s genesis was U. S. President Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 1953.
• The IAEA Statute was approved in 1956 and came into force in 1957.
• It is an autonomous organization within the United Nations system.
• It reports to both the UNGA and the UN Security Council.
• Its primary goal is to ensure that nuclear energy is not diverted for weapons purposes.
• The IAEA works with its Member States and multiple partners worldwide to promote the safe, secure, and peaceful use of nuclear technologies.
• It is widely known as the world’s “Atoms for Peace and Development”​ organization.
• Member Countries: The agency currently has 180 member states, reflecting its wide international mandate and credibility.
• The IAEA is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and has regional and liaison offices in Toronto, Tokyo, New York, and Geneva.
• Functions:
  • Promoting Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy: The IAEA encourages the use of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, emphasizing sustainability and safety.
  • Safety and Security: The agency establishes safety standards and provides assistance to ensure that nuclear operations are conducted safely and securely.
  • Verification: The IAEA conducts inspections and monitoring to verify compliance with nuclear non-proliferation agreements.
    • The IAEA is not a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) but is entrusted with a key verification role under it.
    • As part of the NPT, all non-nuclear powers are required to negotiate a safeguards agreement with the IAEA; as part of that agreement, the IAEA is given authority to monitor nuclear programs and to inspect nuclear facilities.
    • The IAEA has no power to force the cooperation of its member states; however, each state can choose to follow or ignore the guidelines set by the IAEA.
  • Governance Structure:
    • General Conference: The General Conference, composed of all member states, meets annually to approve budgets and set general policy directions.
    • Board of Governors: The Board of Governors, comprising 35 members, meets about five times a year to: approve safeguards agreements, carry out statutory functions, and appoint the Director General.
    • Secretariat: The Secretariat, led by the Director General, handles the IAEA’s daily operations.