• World Biosphere Reserve Day is celebrated on November 3 each year to raise awareness of the importance of biosphere reserves and to promote their conservation and sustainable use.
• In the year 2022 at the 41st Session of UNESCO’s general Conference, it was decided that November 3 would be celebrated worldwide as the International Day for Biosphere Reserves.
• Biosphere Reserves are protected areas, meant for the conservation of plants and animals. Not just the flora and fauna, but human beings also depend on these protected areas for their livelihood activities.
• A BR tries to balance economic and social development and maintenance of associated cultural values along with the preservation of nature.
• BRs are nominated by national governments and remain under the sovereign jurisdiction of the states where they are located.
• These are designated under the intergovernmental Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme by the Director-General of UNESCO following the decisions of the MAB International Coordinating Council (MAB ICC).
• The MAB Programme is an intergovernmental scientific programme that aims to establish a scientific basis for enhancing the relationship between people and their environments.

STATS

• According to UNESCO, there are currently 748 biosphere reserves across 134 countries, including 22 transboundary sites, enhancing the friendly cooperation between neighbouring countries.
• They impact the lives of more than 250 million people in 134 countries; 12 sites can be found in India alone.

• The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) under UN has launched an emergency aid appeal seeking $1.2 billion to help some 2.7 million people in Gaza and the West Bank.

ABOUT OCHA

• The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is a United Nations (UN) body established in December 1991.
• It is the successor to the Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Coordinator (UNDRO).
• It has two headquarter locations, Geneva and New York.
• OCHA is led by the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (USG/ERC), who serves a five-year term.
• OCHA core functions include- Advocacy, Coordination, Humanitarian Financing, Information Management and Policy.
• OCHA’s Strategic Plan 2023-2026 outlines six transformational priorities to address the challenges of this rapidly changing landscape-
  • A coherent humanitarian response that is people centred, context specific, contributes to community resilience and promotes concrete protection outcomes.
  • Systematic and predictable leadership on access.
  • Durable solutions to protracted internal displacement.
  • Humanitarian response that is inclusive and leaves no one behind.
  • Catalytic humanitarian financing that delivers impact in people’s lives.
  • Strategic analysis of risks and trends to adapt to an evolving landscape.

• A Legal Identity and Rights-Based Return Management Conference was organised by IOM at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark.
• The initiative was organised within the framework of IOM’s Global Programme Enhancing Readmission and Legal Identity Capacities (RELICA), launched in 2022.
• It aimed to promote dialogue between countries of origin and destination for such people without legal identities.
• About a billion people lack legal identities and are invisible to states, limiting their access to services and restricting their mobility, forcing them to travel longer, more dangerous and irregular routes.

ABOUT IOM

• IOM is an intergovernmental organization that provides services and advice concerning migration to governments and migrants, including refugees, internally displaced persons, and migrant workers.
• It was established in 1951 as to help resettle people displaced by World War II.
• It was granted Permanent Observer status to UN General Assembly in 1992.
• HQ- Geneva, Switzerland
• It has 175 member states (including India) and presence in over 100 countries.
• IOM works in four broad areas of migration management:
  • Migration and development,
  • Facilitating migration,
  • Regulating migration and
  • Forced migration.

• In a bid to address voter apathy among young Indians, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) will both introduce and update textbooks to include content on electoral literacy and will advise State Education Boards and other Boards to follow suit.
• Beginning with classes 6 to 12 in all schools, this integration will also extend to the curricular framework for all colleges and universities.
• The measures are part of a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Election Commission of India and the Education Ministry.
• It is aimed at extending the ECI’s flagship Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) in schools and colleges.

ABOUT SVEEP

• Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation program (SVEEP), is the flagship program of the Election Commission of India for voter education, spreading voter awareness and promoting voter literacy in India.
• It was launched in 2009.
• Its primary goal is to build a truly participative democracy in India by encouraging all eligible citizens to vote and make an informed decision during the elections.
• SVEEP is designed according to the socio-economic, cultural, and demographic profile of the state as well as history of electoral participation in previous rounds of elections.
• The Commission produces several voter awareness materials and disseminates the same through various mediums/platforms of communication e Print Media, Electronic Media, Social Media etc.
• The objectives envisaged for SVEEP as per the strategy document for 2022-25 are-
  • Increase voter turnout to 75% in Lok Sabha elections 2024
  • To enhance the quality of electoral participation in terms of informed and ethical voting through continuous electoral and democracy education.

• The release of the October 2023 Hunger Hotspots report by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows the complexity and interaction of conflict, climate impacts, economic shocks in key contexts by assessing the food security outlook for the next six months from November 2023 to April 2024.
• The report identifies 18 hunger “hotspots” in a total of 22 countries or territories where it is expected a significant deterioration of the already high levels of acute food insecurity, putting lives and livelihoods at stake.
• The report reveals that the countries with the highest level of concern are Burkina Faso, Mali, South Sudan, and Sudan, as well as newly assessed Palestine.

ABOUT WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME

• It is an international organization within the United Nations that provides food assistance worldwide.
• It is the world’s largest humanitarian organization and the leading provider of school meals.
• It was founded in 1961 by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)
• WFP is headquartered in Rome and has offices in 80 countries.
• Vision – Eradicate food insecurity and malnutrition by 2030 (SDG 2 – Zero Hunger)
• The World Food Programme (WFP) has a presence in over 120 countries and territories to bring life-saving food to people displaced by conflict and made destitute by disasters.

• In the backdrop of Zika virus being detected in a mosquito pool collected from the Talakayalabetta village in Chikkaballapura district, the Karnataka Health Department directed the district authorities to step up surveillance measures.

About Zika Virus

• Zika virus is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that was first identified in Uganda in 1947 in Rhesus macaque monkeys.
• The virus is spread by Aedes mosquitoes, the same vector of Dengue and Chikungunya.
  • It usually bites during the day.
• Symptoms include rashes, fever, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, malaise and headache.
• Zika virus infection during pregnancy can cause infants to be born with microcephaly (smaller than normal head size) and other congenital malformations, known as congenital Zika syndrome.
• Zika virus infection can also cause neuropathy and myelitis, particularly in adults and older children.
• In outbreaks over the last decade, Zika virus infection was found to be associated with increased incidence of Guillain-Barré syndrome.
• Currently, there is no vaccine or specific treatment available for this infection.
  • Therefore, treatment is symptomatic and suspected / confirmed cases should remain isolated and take sufficient rest, consume a lot of liquids and sleep under the mosquito nets.

• According to a report in the CNN, in northeastern France, two scientists, Jacques Pironon and Phillipe De Donato, embarked on a mission to assess the amount of methane in the subsoils of the Lorraine mining basin but unexpectedly discovered hydrogen concentrations deep underground.
• Their findings indicated a vast reservoir of hydrogen, potentially one of the largest deposits of white hydrogen ever discovered.

ABOUT WHITE HYDROGEN

• White hydrogen, also known as “natural,” “gold,” or “geologic” hydrogen, is a naturally occurring form of hydrogen found in the Earth’s crust.
• Hydrogen, when burned, only produces water, making it an ideal clean energy source.
• Industries such as aviation, shipping, and steel-making, could benefit from hydrogen as an alternative to renewables like solar and wind.
• However, most commercially produced hydrogen is derived from energy intensive processes powered by fossil fuels.
• The various types of hydrogen are categorized by colors–
  • “grey” from methane gas,
  • “brown” from coal, and
  • “blue” hydrogen, similar to grey but with captured emissions.
  • “Yellow” hydrogen refers to hydrogen that is specifically produced through electrolysis using solar energy.
  • Purple/pink hydrogen is generated from electrolysis using nuclear power.
  • The most eco-friendly is “green” hydrogen, produced using renewable energy to split water.
    • However, its production is limited and costly.
  • White hydrogen has several advantages-
    • Causes no CO₂ emissions when used as a fuel.
    • Is compatible with existing infrastructure and technologies for hydrogen production and utilization.
    • Is cheaper and more efficient than steam reforming or electrolysis.
    • Is abundant and renewable in nature.

• The Adaptation Gap Report is an annual publication from United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), released just ahead of the year-ending climate change conference, and presents the global situation of adaptation to climate change.
  • It has been published each year since 2014 by the UNEP.
• This year’s report focuses on adaptation finance, or the availability of money to carry out the adaptation projects.

MAJOR FINDINGS

• Climate adaptation finance flows from public multilateral (like the World Bank) and bilateral sources (from a developed to a developing nation) declined by 15 per cent to around $21 billion in 2021.
• Domestic budgets seem to be the largest source of funding for adaptation in many developing countries shelling out between 0.2 per cent to over 5 per cent of their government budgets.
• 85% of countries have at least one national-level adaptation planning instrument such as a policy, strategy, or plan in place to cope with climate change.
• Current global adaptation finance gap (difference between needs and actual financial flows) is $194-366 billion per year.
• The finance needs of developing countries are now 10-18 times as big as international public finance flows.
• Only 2% of gender-tagged international adaptation finance is gender-responsive.

ABOUT UNEP

• The UNEP is a leading global environmental authority.
• It was founded in 1972 following UN Conference on the Human Environment.
• It sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the sustainable development within the United Nations system, and serves as an authoritative advocate for global environment protection.
• Objective– To contribute to the building of a culture of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development, and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication, and information.
• Headquarters- Nairobi, Kenya.
• Major initiatives- Beat Pollution, UN75, World Environment Day, Wild for Life.
• Major Reports– Emission Gap Report, Adaptation Gap Report, Global Environment Outlook, Frontiers, Invest into Healthy Planet.

• Pre-World Cup paragliding championship, which was organised at Bir Billing, concluded recently.
• As many as 93 participants from 18 countries participated in the championship.
• There were 13 participants from the Indian Army, including 8 women.

RESULTS

• Overall, America’s Austin Cox stood first, America’s Owen Shoe Menker stood second and France’s Cotton Lamy bagged the third
• In the junior category, Ashwani Thakur of India stood first while Sushant Thakur stood second and Noah Kanner of Switzerland bagged the third position.
• In the sports category, Owen Schumacher bagged the first position, Subir Sidhu stood second and Christopher Moody third.
• In the senior category, Switzerland’s Michael Sewri won the first place, Noah Kinnar stood second and Veera Shivari bagged the third position.
• In the team category, Northwest Paragliding team stood first, The First Frog team won the second place while Akash Adventure team bagged the third place.
• In the Indian category, Ashwani Thakur stood first, Yash Paul stood second and Ranjit Singh third.
• In the women’s category, America’s Jenny Onal bagged the first place, Switzerland’s Veer Shevari stood second and Isabelle Messenger third.

• Lionel Messi secured his eighth Ballon d’Or, a record in football history, and Aitana Bonmati claimed the Ballon d’Or Féminin Award for her exceptional contributions to Spain’s Women’s World Cup win and Barcelona’s success.

ABOUT THE AWARD

• The Ballon d’Or is an annual football award presented by French news magazine France Football since 1956.
• The Ballon d’Or awards are based on a player’s individual performance in the previous season.
• Previously players were adjudged based on performance during the calendar year.