About National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS):

• It is an autonomous organisation aided by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India.
• It was established to facilitate cell biology research in the country.
• It is located on the campus of Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune,
• Origin:
  • The institute traces its origin to the National Tissue Culture Facility (1986) and was established as the National Facility for Animal Tissue and Cell Culture Collection (NFATCC) in 1988.
  • It was renamed National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS) in 1996.
• The tripartite mandate of NCCS includes the following as its key functions:
  • To serve as a National Cell Repository.
  • To perform basic research in cell biology.
  • Human resource development through teaching and training.
• NCCS is engaged in cutting-edge research in the diverse areas of modern cell biology, broadly categorized as
  • Cell Biology and Cancer Biology.
  • Structural Biology, Bioinformatics, and Omics.
  • Infectious diseases, Immunology, and Microbiology.
  • Neurobiology & Stem Cell Biology.
• The research addresses challenging health issues like cancer, infectious diseases, metabolic disorders, and regenerative medicine through approaches that integrate modern and conventional disciplines.
• The institute hosts a National Cell Repository that maintains and distributes well-characterized animal cell lines to various colleges, universities, and research institutions in India at affordable costs.
• NCCS hosts the DBT-funded National Centre for Microbial Research for collecting, identifying, preserving, and distributing microbial cultures from various ecological niches across the country.
  • NCCS has the third-largest microbial collection in the world.

About Asan Conservation Reserve:

• It is located in the Dehradun district of Uttarakhand.
• It is situated at the confluence of the Asan and Yamuna Rivers.
• The Asan River, unlike other rivers which flow north to south, flows in a west to east direction.
• The reserve comprises the Asan Barrage and the wetland formed by damming the Asan River in 1967.
• The barrage created a freshwater reservoir with habitats ideal for migratory and resident birds.
• It was declared a Conservation Reserve in 2005 under Section 36A of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• It was declared a Ramsar site in 2020. It is the first Ramsar site in Uttarakhand.
• It is also listed as an Important Bird Area (BNHS and BirdLife International) and is popular for sightings of native and migratory birds.
• This biodiverse wetland lies strategically along the Central Asian Flyway, serving as a critical habitat for numerous migratory and resident species.
• It is home to 330 species of birds, including critically endangered-white-rumped vulture, Baer’s pochard; endangered-Egyptian vulture, steppe eagle, black-bellied tern; and vulnerable-marbled teal, common pochard, Indian spotted eagle, etc.
• The wetland is especially known for hosting large flocks of ruddy shelduck during winter.
• Among the fish, the endangered golden mahseer (Tor putitora) is particularly significant, as the wetland functions as an important feeding, migration, and spawning site.

About English Channel:

• The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is a narrow arm of the Atlantic Ocean.
• It separates the southern coast of England (part of Great Britain) from the northern coast of France.
• It is separated from the North Sea on the north by the Strait of Dover.
• The current name, “English Channel,” dates back to the 18th century. Before then, the English mostly referred to the waterway as a “Narrow Sea.”
• The French refer to the Channel as “la Manche” because of its sleevelike shape.
• Its narrowest part is the Strait of Dover.
• It is the smallest of the shallow seas covering the continental shelf of Europe.
• Climate: Temperate maritime climate, with warm summers and cold winters.
• The main islands are the Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands (a collection of islands including Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark).
• Historical Importance:
  • Served as a natural defensive barrier for Britain.
  • Played a crucial role during:
    • The Norman Conquest (1066)
    • The Napoleonic Wars
    • World War I
    • World War II, including the Dunkirk Evacuation (1940) and the Normandy Landings (1944).
  • It is one of the world’s busiest shipping areas. It accounts for up to 20% of the global maritime trade and connects the Atlantic Ocean to the North Sea.
  • Major Ports:
    • United Kingdom: Dover, Portsmouth, Southampton
    • France: Calais, Cherbourg, Le Havre
  • Channel Tunnel:
    • The Channel Tunnel (also called the Chunnel) is a rail tunnel beneath the English Channel connecting Folkestone in Kent, England, with Coquelles near Calais, France.
    • The Channel Tunnel, 50 km long, consists of three tunnels: two for rail traffic and a central tunnel for services and security.
    • It has the longest undersea portion of any tunnel in the world (37.8 km).
    • It is the only fixed link between the island of Great Britain and the European mainland.

About Rhine River:

• It is a river and waterway of Western Europe.
• It is the 12th longest river in Europe and the longest in Western Europe.
• It is called different names depending on the country it flows through. It is called Rhein in Germany, Rhine in France, and Rijn in the Netherlands.
• Course:
  • Origin: In the Alps of eastern Switzerland, two mountain streams run together to form the Rhine.
  • It flows through six countries–Switzerland, the Principality of Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, France, and the Netherlands before flowing into the North Sea at Rotterdam, Netherlands.
  • The Rhine forms a natural border between Germany and France.
• The Rhine, alongside the Danube, formed the Roman Empire’s northern inland frontier.
• The Rhine served as a formidable German border during World War II, a defensive barrier to Allied troops.
• Tributaries: Some of the notable tributaries include Aare, Tamina, Moselle, Erft, Rein da Tuma, Plessur, Rotach, and Wiese.
• The Rhine Falls near Schaffhausen in Switzerland is Europe's largest waterfall.
• The Upper Middle Rhine Valley in Germany is famous for its castles, vineyards, and the legendary Lorelei Rock.
• The major cities along the Rhine include Basel (Switzerland), Cologne, Bonn, Duisburg, Mainz, Leverkusen, and Neuss (Germany), Strasbourg (France), and Rotterdam and Utrecht (Netherlands).
• It is Europe’s most important commercial waterway, channeling the flow of trade among Switzerland, France, Germany, and the Netherlands.
• It facilitates industrial transportation and supports industrial production, with about 20% of the world’s chemical industries manufacturing along the river.

About African Swine Fever (ASF):

• It is a highly contagious viral disease affecting pigs and wild boar.
• It is caused by the African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV), a DNA virus from the Asfarviridae family.
• Characterised by high fever, haemorrhages, and mortality rates that may approach 100 percent, the disease has caused severe socio-economic losses to the global pig farming sector.
• The disease does not infect humans (not zoonotic) or other livestock species.
• Global Distribution:
  • Originally found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, ASF is now prevalent in many countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa.
  • India notified the first outbreak of the ASF virus in 2020 in the Northeastern States of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
  • Since its first detection in India, ASF has spread to several States and Union Territories.
• Transmission:
  • The virus is highly resistant in the environment, meaning that it can survive on clothes, boots, wheels, and other materials.
  • It can also survive in various pork products, such as ham, sausages, or bacon.
  • Therefore, human behaviours can play an important role in spreading this disease.
  • Infection can occur through direct contact between infected pigs or boars but also, for example, through soft ticks in (sub)tropical regions or through contaminated materials or contaminated feed.
• Treatment: Currently, there is no treatment available against ASF, so prevention by adopting strict biosecurity measures, such as culling the animals, is the only way to prevent ASF.
• Prevention:
  • A couple of commercially licensed ASF vaccines are available in Vietnam.
  • ICAR–National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (ICAR-NIHSAD), Bhopal, recently developed India's first indigenous MA-104_Cell_Line-Based Live Attenuated ASF vaccine for pigs.

About MSME Sustainable ZED Certification Scheme:

• It aims to help MSMEs improve manufacturing processes, adopt higher quality standards and reduce their environmental footprint.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises
• Features:
  • It focuses on encouraging women entrepreneurs, with the government providing a 100 per cent subsidy on the cost of ZED certification for women-owned MSMEs, effectively making the certification free for eligible enterprises.
  • The ZED framework offers Bronze, Silver and Gold certifications, allowing MSMEs to progressively improve their quality and sustainability standards.
  • Eligible enterprises can avail financial assistance of up to 75 per cent of the cost of testing, system or product certification.
• The scheme has also gained support across the country, with 22 States and Union Territories integrating ZED into their industrial policies and offering additional incentives to certified MSMEs.

About Clouded Leopard:

• It is a wild cat inhabiting dense forests of the Himalayas through mainland Southeast Asia into South China.
• There are two species of clouded leopards:
  • The clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), found on the mainland of southeastern Asia, and the Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi), found on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo.
• Distribution:
  • It is found from Nepal, Bangladesh, and India through Indochina to Sumatra and Borneo, and northeastward to southern China.
  • In India, it is found in Sikkim, northern West Bengal, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, Assam, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh.
• Habitat:
  • They prefer to live in lowland tropical rainforests.
  • However, they can also be found in dry woodlands and secondary forests, and in Borneo.
• Features:
  • It is named after the distinctive ‘clouds’ on its coat – ellipses partially edged in black, with the insides a darker colour than the background colour of the pelt.
  • It has an exceptionally long tail for balancing, which can be as long as the body itself, thick with black ring markings.
• They are arboreal and nocturnal inhabitants.
• Conservation Status:
  • IUCN Red List: Vulnerable

Key Facts about Clouded Leopard Conservation Action Plan:

• It is prepared under the Government of India–GEF–UNDP initiative.
• It provides a comprehensive framework for securing habitats, restoring forest connectivity, strengthening scientific monitoring and empowering local communities for conservation of the species.
• Key components: Identification of 14 priority conservation landscapes across Northeast India, along with landscape-scale habitat restoration and corridor conservation to strengthen connectivity between forest habitats.
• The CAP provides for standardised scientific monitoring through camera traps, occupancy surveys, genetics and environmental DNA (eDNA).
• It also encourages transboundary cooperation with neighbouring range countries for coordinated conservation of the species across its range.

About Nitrosamines:

• Nitrosamines are organic compounds that contain alkyl and an aryl group with the following nitrogen and oxygen group: N–N=O.
• It is formally named N-nitrosamines.
• Formation:
  • These compounds get formed when amines react with nitrites or nitrates (often found in preservatives, food additives or environmental sources) under specific conditions, such as acidic environment, heat and presence of oxidising agents.
  • Formation of nitrosamine in foods occurs either during preparation or storage, or in the stomach.
  • The concentration of nitrosamines tends to increase over time, and their formation is enhanced by high temperatures.
• Human exposure to nitrosamines:
  • It can be through ingestion, inhalation and dermal contact.
  • The other major sources of nitrosamines are contaminated water, pharmaceuticals and tobacco products. (One of the most concerning nitrosamines in water is NDMA (N nitrosodimethylamine)
• Impact on Human Health: These compounds have been linked to potential health risks, including cancer, even at very low concentrations over long-term exposure.

About Kazakhstan:

• It is a transcontinental country located in Central Asia.
• Bordering Countries: It is bordered by 5 nations; the Russia in the north and west; China in the east; Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in the south.
• Water Bodies: The Aral Sea is located along the southern border and the Caspian Sea is situated along the western border.
• Capital City: Astana
• Geographical Features of Kazakhstan:
  • Topography: It features lowlands, hilly plateaus, plains, low mountainous regions, and deserts.
  • Highest Point: The highest point is Mount Khan Tengri
  • Major Rivers: River Ural and Irtysh drains this country.
  • Mountains: Its main mountain ranges are Tien Shan Range and Altai mountains.
  • Kazakh Steppe is world’s largest dry steppe region.
  • Natural Resources: It is the world’s leading producer of uranium.