About Cholera:

• Cholera is a disease that is caused by the bacteria Vibrio cholerae.
• Cholera can cause serious diarrhea and dehydration. Without treatment, the disease can be fatal within hours, even in people who are healthy.
• Transmission:
  • People can get cholera by drinking water or eating food contaminated with cholera bacteria.
  • The disease is most common in places with poor sanitation, crowding, war, and famine. Cholera outbreaks are more common in warm climates.
  • Cholera bacteria also can live in brackish (slightly salty) and coastal waters. Eating raw shellfish like shrimp and crab can be a source of cholera.
  • Cholera is not likely to spread from person to person or from casual contact with someone with cholera.
  • It is often predictable and preventable. It can ultimately be eliminated where access to clean water and sanitation facilities, as well as good hygiene practices, are ensured and sustained for the whole population.
• Treatment:
  • Treatment for cholera includes drinking plenty of fluids or getting intravenous fluids to prevent dehydration.
  • Healthcare providers also sometimes prescribe antibiotics like doxycycline, erythromycin, or azithromycin to help you feel better.
  • Providers also treat kids between the ages of 6 months and 5 years with zinc supplements.
  • Antidiarrheal medicines aren’t recommended for cholera and could make symptoms worse.

About Bagdara Wildlife Sanctuary:

• It is situated in the Sidhi and Singrauli districts of Madhya Pradesh.
• The sanctuary was established in 1978 for the conservation of blackbuck and other wildlife species, including wild boar, jackal, fox, porcupine, hyena, and sambar.
• Son River makes the southern boundary of the sanctuary.
• Natural caves and rock shelters are part of the Sanctuary.
• Vegetation: The sanctuary hosts a very dense cover of dry deciduous mixed forest.
• Flora:
  • The dominant trees include Gigantic Creepers, Mango Groves, Orchids, Teak Trees, and many more.
  • Lendia, Khair, Dhawda, and Tendu are also common.
• Fauna: It boasts a number of wild animals, including Tiger, Panther, Deer, Sambhar, Hyenas, Chinkara, Cheetal, Wild Boar, Black Buck, along with an incredible diversity of birds.

About Dhimsa Dance:

• It is a popular tribal dance performed by tribes, including Bagata, Valmiki, Poraja, Khond, Gadaba, Kondadora, Mukadora, and Kotia in Andhra Pradesh.
• It is performed during festivals, weddings, and at the time of the “hunting festival” in April when men and women dance for hours together.
• There are 12 varieties of Dhimsa and the origin can be traced to the Koraput area, the home of the Ghond Tribe.
• Performance:
  • Typically performed by a group of 15 to 20 women dressed in traditional, colorful ethnic sarees and ornaments, the dancers move in synchronous circles to the rhythm of native instruments played by male community members.
  • The beauty of this dance centres on the movements of the dancers without much emphasis on expression or literary texts.
  • The feet and the hand movements dominate the dance.
  • It is accompanied by wind and percussion instruments; the dance changes with the music.
  • Unique tribal musical instruments accompanying this dance form include the Mori (a wind instrument), Thudum (drum), and Dappu.
• Themes: Various themes of the Dhimsa, are woven around their mythologies, folktales, ethos, mores, economic activities, and kinship and marital life, etc.

About Republic of Naoero:

• It is an island republic located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.
• It is the world’s smallest independent republic.
• Its closest neighbor is the island of Banaba, in Kiribati.
• Nauru has no official capital.
• Nauruan is the national language.
• Currency: Australian dollar
• Economy:
  • Historically one of the world's wealthiest countries per capita because of phosphate mining.
  • Phosphate reserves have been largely depleted, leading to economic challenges.
  • Agriculture (with the exception of coffee and copra plantations along the coastal and lagoon perimeters), fishing, manufacturing, and tourism are of minor value to the overall economy.

About Pseudolaguvia khairii:

• It is a new species of freshwater catfish.
• It was discovered in the Budhabalanga River in the Mayurbhanj district, Odisha.
• It was named in honour of the legendary tigress Khairi, who became the face of wildlife conservation and a unique human-animal bond in Odisha nearly five decades ago.
• It belongs to the genus Pseudolaguvia, a group of small hillstream catfishes inhabiting the clear, fast-flowing rivers of India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Myanmar.
• Only a few centimetres long, Pseudolaguvia khairii can be distinguished from all its known relatives by a unique fleshy protuberance at the base of its dorsal fin, a feature not previously recorded in the genus.

About Xtreme Weather Grade Diesel:

• It is a specialised diesel fuel developed for operations in extremely low temperatures.
• It is designed to remain usable at temperatures as low as minus 42 degrees Celsius.
• It is developed jointly by the Indian Army and Oil Marketing Companies.
• Characteristics:
  • It can withstand a wide temperature range, with a pour point of minus 42 degrees Celsius and a flash point of around 50 degrees Celsius.
  • It is also compliant with BS-VI emission standards and IS 1460:2025 specifications.
  • It allows it to be used in the Indian Army's existing fleet without requiring engine modifications or re-homologation.
  • It is the specialised fuel will enhance the mobility, safety and operational availability of combat and logistics vehicles in extreme climatic conditions.
• Significance: The technology also has wider civilian use in high-altitude and severe winter regions and represents a significant step towards Atmanirbhar Bharat.

About Magellanic Bridge:

• It is a stream of stars and gas created by the close encounter of two nearby galaxies, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.
• It is mainly a gaseous feature connecting the two galaxies, with a small fraction of in situ formed young stars.
• The MB is believed to be composed of tidally stripped material from the SMC during its last encounter with the LMC, approximately 200-300 Myr ago.
• Significance:
  • Magellanic Bridge can help us understand how close encounters between galaxies influence the way binary stars form, evolve and survive.
  • Researchers will be able to compare stellar evolution in the Bridge with that in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, and gain a clearer picture of how interactions between neighbouring galaxies shape their stars over time.

Key Features of eROSITA X-ray Telescope:

• eROSITA (extended ROentgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array) is a wide-field X-ray telescope on-boarded the Russian-German "Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma" (SRG) observatory.
• It was developed under the leadership of the Max-Planck Institute for extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) in Germany (DE).
• eROSITA is a sensitive X-ray telescope capable of delivering deep, sharp images over very large areas of the sky in the energy range ~0.2-8 keV.
• It is placed in a halo orbit around the L2 point.
• Function: It has been performing an all-sky survey, in which the whole celestial sphere is mapped once every six months.

About Pygmy Hog:

• It is the smallest and rarest species of wild pig.
• It is one of the very few mammals that build its own home, or nest, complete with a ‘roof’.
• It is an indicator species as its presence reflects the health of its primary habitat.
• Habitat: It prefers undisturbed patches of grassland dominated by early succession riverine communities, typically comprising dense tall grass intermixed with a wide variety of herbs, shrubs and young trees.
• Distribution: Currently, they survive only in the grasslands of Assam’s Manas and Orang national parks.
• Diet: They feed on roots, tubers, shoots and ground vegetation, along with worms and other invertebrates.
• Ecological Role:
  • Enhances Soil Quality: It digs for roots, tubers, wild fruits, termites, earthworms, eggs and other food sources found in grasslands which aerates the soil and enhances its quality.
  • Disperses Seeds: It also helps dispersing seeds through its dietary and foraging habits.
• Conservation Status:
  • IUCN: Critically Endangered
  • The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule I.

Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats Scheme

• It is a centrally sponsored scheme provides financial assistance to states to protect certain species or wildlife areas through its recovery programme for critically endangered species and habitats.
• Components of the scheme:
  • Support to Protected Areas (National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Conservation Reserves and Community Reserves)
  • Protection of Wildlife Outside Protected Areas
  • Recovery programmes for saving critically endangered species and habitat.

About Samudra Manthan Scheme:

• It is also called a as the National Offshore Exploration Scheme.
• Nodal Ministry: It is a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.
• Implementation Period: Up to FY 2030–31.
• The scheme aims at unlocking India’s vast offshore energy potential.
• Features of Samudra Manthan Scheme:
  • It encompasses a comprehensive set of interventions across the offshore exploration value chain.
  • It provides for large-scale acquisition, processing and interpretation of high-quality seismic data, accelerated deep water and ultra-deep water exploratory drilling, scientific drilling in frontier basins.
  • It involves development of common offshore production and evacuation infrastructure, and establishment of an integrated Oil & Gas Manufacturing and Services Zone.
  • It also includes dedicated provisions for digital programme management, capacity building, technology adoption, stakeholder engagement and international outreach, creating an integrated ecosystem to accelerate offshore exploration and production in the country.