About National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (NCDIR):

• It is a permanent institute of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), an autonomous organization under the Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India.
• Location: Bengaluru, Karnataka
• It is one of its kind of unique institutions which utilizes information science for health research as its integral component.
• The main broad and overall objective of the centre is to sustain and develop a national research database on cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular Diseases (CVD), and stroke through recent advances in electronic information technology with a national collaborative network so as to undertake aetiological, epidemiological, clinical, and control research in these areas.
• The centre closely works with the Ministry of Health, Government of India, and other Central/State Government or other agencies to provide or plan to provide baseline information and technically help in designing, monitoring, and evaluating control programmes and activities.
• The centre encourages and extends technical support to all Central/Regional/State medical institutions and medical colleges, non-governmental or private centres for constituting and establishing data collection (on cancer, CVD, diabetes, and stroke) in their institutions along internationally acceptable and nationally adaptable formats and standards. Use of the internet and electronic information networking will be a regular feature.
• The centre plan, innovates and integrates recent advances in communications and electronic information technology to develop the emerging field of health/disease informatics and develop software modules for data capture, checking, and analysis.

About Asian Development Bank (ADB):

• It is a multilateral development bank established on 19th December 1966.
• It is the principal international development finance institution for the Asia-Pacific region.
• It envisions a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty in the region.
• Headquarters: Manila, Philippines.
• Functions:
  • It provides assistance to its developing member countries, the private sector, and public-private partnerships through grants, loans, technical assistance, and equity investments to promote social and economic development.
  • ADB maximizes the development impact of its assistance by facilitating policy dialogues, providing advisory services, and mobilizing financial resources through cofinancing operations that tap official, commercial, and export credit sources.
  • The Bank focuses on six key areas that align with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): education, health, transport, energy, finance, and climate change.
  • The ADB also works in partnership with NGOs and private companies to improve capital markets and the business infrastructure of developing countries in the region.
• Membership:
  • Membership in the ADB is open to members and associate members of the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East.
  • It's also open to other regional countries and non-regional developed countries that are members of the U.N. or of any of its specialized agencies.
  • From 31 members at its establishment in 1966, ADB has grown to encompass 69 members, including 49 regional members from Asia and the Pacific, such as India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and many others, and 20 non-regional members from Europe, North America, and other regions.
• Governance:
  • It is operated by a Board of Governors, which is composed of one representative from each member state.
  • The Board then votes to choose 12 of their members to serve as the Board of Directors, with eight members coming from members from the Asia and Pacific region and the other four from non-regional members.
  • The Board of Governors is also responsible for electing a president who serves a five-year term as the chairperson of the Board as well as being responsible for the bank’s operations.
  • Because Japan founded the ADB and remains the largest shareholder of the bank, every single president of the ADB has been from Japan.
• Voting Power:
  • The ADB was modelled closely on the World Bank and has a similar weighted voting system where votes are distributed in proportion to members' capital subscriptions.
  • ADB's five largest shareholders are Japan and the United States (each with 6% of total shares), the People's Republic of China (6.4%), India (6.3%), and Australia (5.8%).
• Source of Funding:
  • It raises capital regularly through the international bond markets.
  • The ADB also relies on member contributions, retained earnings from lending, and the repayment of loans for the funding of the organization.
• In terms of financial commitments to members that are developing countries, India ranks first with 14% of the bank’s financial commitment, followed by China, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Pakistan.

About Lysosomal Storage Disorders (LSDs):

• LSDs are rare genetic conditions that cause a buildup of toxic materials in your body’s cells.
• Examples include Gaucher, Pompe, Fabry, MPS I, MPS II, mucopolysaccharidoses, mucolipidoses, oligosaccharidoses, etc.
• The majority of the LSDs are caused by mutations in the genes encoding a lysosomal enzyme.
  • A lysosome is a membrane-bound cell organelle that contains digestive enzymes.
  • Lysosomes are involved with various cell processes. They break down excess or worn-out cell parts.
  • People with LSDs lack certain enzymes or a substance that helps the enzyme work (enzyme activator or modifier). Enzymes assist your cells’ lysosomes with metabolism.
  • Without functioning enzymes, your body can’t break down fats, sugars and other substances.
  • If those build up in your body, they can be harmful. They cause dysfunction of those organs where they accumulate and contribute to great morbidity and mortality.
• All LSDs except Hunter syndrome (MPS II) and Fabry disease are autosomal recessive This means both parents must carry the abnormal gene that prevents the body from making an enzyme with normal activity.
• LSDs usually appear during pregnancy or soon after birth.
• More rarely, adults may develop
• People usually have more severe cases when an LSD starts early and more mild cases when an LSD starts later.
• Treatment:
  • There are no cures for lysosomal storage diseases.
  • But treatments can help you to manage your symptoms and lessen damage to organs and tissues.

About Raigad Fort:

• It is a hill fort situated in Raigad district, Maharashtra.
• It is situated in the Sahyadri mountain ranges, or the western ghats.
• It stands at an elevation of 2,700 feet (820 meters) above its base and 4,449 feet (1,356 meters) above sea level.
• Raigad, surrounded by valleys shaped by the Kal and Gandhari rivers, stands as an isolated massif without connections to neighbouring hills.
• The fort also overlooks an artificial lake known as the ‘Ganga Sagar Lake’.
• It is only accessible by a pathway on one side, through several steps in a stiff climb.
• There is a famous tower built on a high valley near Raigad Fort, which is called “Hirkani Buruj”.
• It is one of the strongest-ever fortresses of the Deccan Plateau and is known as the ‘Gibraltar of the East’ across the world.
• It was seized by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in 1656 from Chandraraoji More, the King of Jawali.
• Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj renovated this fort and declared it the capital of the Maratha Empire in 1674 AD.
• The fort’s layout is strategically designed to maximize its defensive capabilities, with multiple layers of fortification, bastions, and gateways.
• The fort was the location for an armed campaign executed by the British East India Company in 1765.
• On May 9, 1818, the fort was looted and subsequently destroyed by British.

About MERCOSUR:

• The Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR for its Spanish initials) is a South American regional economic organization.
• It was created in 1991 by signing the Treaty of Asunción.
• Objective: facilitating the free movement of goods, services, capital, and people among the member countries.
• Members:
  • It originally comprised Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay as its members.
  • Bolivia and Venezuela joined it later. (Venezuela has been suspended since December 1, 2016).
  • Mercosur also counts Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Suriname as associate members.
• Headquarters: Montevideo, Uruguay.
• Its official working languages are Spanish and Portuguese.
• Governance:
  • The bloc’s highest decision-making body, the Common Market Council, provides a high-level forum for coordinating foreign and economic policy.
  • The group consists of the foreign and economic ministers of each member state, or their equivalent, and decisions are made by consensus.
  • The group’s presidency rotates every six months among its full members.
• It is the fourth largest integrated market after the European Union (EU), North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and ASEAN.
• India and MERCOSUR signed a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) in 2004.

About International Air Transport Association:

• It was founded in Havana, Cuba, on 19 April 1945.
• It is the prime vehicle for inter-airline cooperation in promoting safe, reliable, secure and economical air services - for the benefit of the world's consumers. 
• Members: At its founding, IATA had 57 members from 31 nations, mostly in Europe and North America. Today it has some 350 members from 120 nations in every part of the globe.
• The modern IATA is the successor to the International Air Traffic Association founded in the Hague in 1919.
• The last AGM in India was held 42 years ago in 1983.
• Objectives
  • Promote the development and growth of international air transportation.
  • Promote and guarantee collaboration between the different international air transport companies.
  • Strengthen safety within all areas of air transportation.
  • Creation of international air traffic rules and regulations.
• Head Office: Montreal, Canada.

About First-Person View Drones:

• These drones are unmanned aerial vehicles enhanced with artificial intelligence to perform advanced tasks with greater precision and autonomy. 
• By processing real-time video data through AI algorithms, FPV drones are able to avoid obstacles, and carry out mission-specific operations such as surveillance and search and rescue.
• First-person view (FPV) means that a person piloting a drone can see what the drone sees, through a camera attached to its body.
• The live video can be seen through specialised goggles, or on smartphones and other kinds of screens, and the drone can be manoeuvred remotely.
• Before FPV drones are deployed, a reconnaissance drone with a larger range first goes to survey the area and zero in on a specific region that needs to be targeted.
• FPV drones have a much smaller range, of a few kilometres.
• Features
  • GPS-independent navigation: Operates without relying on satellite-based GPS, enhancing resilience against jamming or signal loss.
  • SmartPilot system:Utilises advanced visual-inertial navigation, interpreting camera data to determine position and movement.
  • LiDAR technology:LiDAR technology complements the SmartPilot system, boosting precision in complex or cluttered environments.
• Advantage: The key advantages are cost and deep strike capabilities while remaining largely undetected.
• Challenge: One major challenge is that the drones’ movement through their surroundings cannot be seen by the drone operator.
• This can limit situational awareness and may lead to disorientation. At times, another person, a visual observer, may be needed to guide the person controlling the drone.
• Uses: Such drones are also used in filming and other non-defence purposes.

About BharatGen:

• It is India’s first-of-its-kind, indigenously developed, Artificial Intelligence (AI) based, government-funded, Multimodal Large Language Model (LLM) for Indian languages.
• It is developed under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) and implemented through TIH Foundation for IoT and IoE at IIT Bombay.
• BharatGen aims to revolutionize AI development across India’s linguistic and cultural spectrum.
• The initiative is supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and brings together a robust consortium of leading academic institutions, experts, and innovators.
• The platform integrates text, speech and image modalities, offering seamless AI solutions in 22 Indian languages.
• This initiative will empower critical sectors such as healthcare, education, agriculture, and governance, delivering region-specific AI solutions that understand and serve every Indian.
• The BharatGen initiative is being executed through a network of 25 Technology Innovation Hubs (TIHs), four of which have been upgraded to Technology Translational Research Parks (TTRPs).
• The Mission’s four pillars include technology development, entrepreneurship, human resource development, and international collaboration.
• Key features of  BharatGen:
  • Multilingual and multimodal models
  • Bhartiya dataset-based training
  • Open-source platform
  • Generative AI research ecosystem in India.

About Caspian Gull:

• It is a monotypic, large, white-headed gull and is one of the rarest gulls to be seen in India.
• Habitat: It typically nests on flat, low-lying ground by water. 
  • During the breeding season the species nests near lakes surrounded by reedbeds in steppe and semi-desert (Central Asia) reservoirs, rivers, and on grassy or shrubby river islands
• Diet: Its diet consists of fish, invertebrates including insects, molluscs etc.
• It is very difficult to identify since it closely resembles the Steppe Gull.
• The Caspian Gull, usually found in Central Asia, visits northwestern India, such as Gujarat, in winter.
• They move from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea, then to southern and eastern Kazakhstan and western China. They winter in Asia and Africa.
• Traditionally, its wintering areas are from the eastern Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf and western India but increasing numbers now disperse into Europe, into countries such as Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
• Conservation status
  • IUCN: Least Concern.

About Phytoplankton:

• Phytoplanktons are microscopic plants, but they play a huge role in the marine food web.
• Phytoplankton, also known as microalgae, are similar to terrestrial plants in that they contain chlorophyll and require sunlight in order to live and grow.
• Most phytoplankton are buoyant and float in the upper part of the ocean, where sunlight penetrates the water.
• They require inorganic nutrients such as nitrates, phosphates and sulfur which they convert into proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.
• The two main classes of phytoplankton are dinoflagellates and diatoms.
  • Dinoflagellates use a whip-like tail, or flagella, to move through the water and their bodies are covered with complex shells.
  • Diatoms also have shells, but they are made of a different substance and their structure is rigid and made of interlocking parts. Diatoms do not rely on flagella to move through the water and instead rely on ocean currents to travel through the water.
• In a balanced ecosystem, phytoplankton provide food for a wide range of sea creatures including shrimp, snails, and jellyfish.
• When too many nutrients are available, phytoplankton may grow out of control and form harmful algal blooms (HABs).
• These blooms can produce extremely toxic compounds that have harmful effects on fish, shellfish, mammals, birds, and even people.
• Ecological significance
  • Phytoplankton is estimated to produce about 50 percent of Earth’s oxygen.
  • They have a crucial role in the global carbon cycle.
  • They provide an essential food source for organisms like zooplanktons.
  • Just like land plants, they grow more in certain seasons.