• Textbooks have said for decades that haemoglobin is found in the red blood cells (RBCs), that it makes blood red, carries oxygen, and is essential for our survival.
• In a study published in Nature, scientists from China have reported that chondrocytes – cells that make cartilage, the connecting tissue between bones – also make haemoglobin and seem to depend on it for their survival.

ABOUT HEMOGLOBIN

• It is an iron-containing protein found in the red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to the body’s tissues and returns carbon dioxide from the tissues back to the lungs.
• It is made up of four protein molecules (globulin chains) that are connected together.
• Haemoglobin forms an unstable reversible bond with oxygen.
  • In oxygenated state, it is called oxyhemoglobin (bright red) and in reduced state it is called deoxyhemoglobin (purple-blue).
• It is present in RBCs of vertebrates.
• All vertebrates except cold-water ice fish transport oxygen via haemoglobin.
• Haemoglobin develops in cells in bone marrow that become RBCs.
• Haemoglobin levels vary from person to person. Men usually have higher levels than women.
• A low haemoglobin level is referred to as anemia or low red blood count.
  • Reasons include- loss of blood, nutritional deficiency, bone marrow problems, suppression by red blood cell synthesis by chemotherapy drugs, kidney failure, and abnormal hemoglobin structure (sickle cell anemia or thalassemia).

• The Prime Minister launched ‘Mera Yuva Bharat (MY Bharat)’ platform for youth of the country on October 31^st, at Kartavya Path on the National Unity Day.

ABOUT MERA YUVA BHARAT (MY BHARAT)

• Mera Yuva Bharat (MY Bharat), an autonomous body will benefit the youth in the age group of 15-29 years, in line with the definition of ‘Youth’ in the National Youth Policy.
  • In the case of programme components specifically meant for adolescents, the beneficiaries will be in the age group of 10-19 years.
• It is ‘Phygital Platform’ (physical + digital) comprising physical activity along with an opportunity to connect digitally.
• Nodal Ministry- Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports
• ‘Mera Yuva Bharat (MY Bharat)’ is envisioned as a pivotal, technology-driven facilitator for youth development and youth-led development, with the overarching goal of providing equitable
• It envisions a framework where the youth of our country can seamlessly connect with programs, mentors, and their local communities.
• Objectives-The primary objective of Mera Yuva Bharat (MY Bharat) is to make it a whole of Government platform dedicated to the advancement of the youth. Its objectives include-
  • Leadership Development in the Youth
  • Better alignment between the aspirations of the youth and the community needs
  • Enhanced efficiency through Convergence of existing programmes
  • Act as a one-stop shop for young people and Ministries
  • Create a centralized youth database
  • Improved two-way communication to connect youth government initiatives and activities of other stakeholder that engage with youth
  • Ensuring accessibility by creating a Phygital Ecosystem – a blend of physical and digital experiences.

• The Uttarakhand government has decided to establish Rajaji Tiger Reserve Conservation Foundation to accelerate the ecological, economic, social and cultural development of the landscapes in and around the reserve.

ABOUT RAJAJI NATIONAL PARK/TIGER RESERVE

• Rajaji National Park is an Indian national park and tiger reserve spread over three districts of Uttarakhand- Haridwar, Dehradun and Pauri Garhwal.
• It is named after the famous freedom fighter Rajgopalachari popularly known as “Rajaji”.
• It is situated along the hills of Shiwalik ranges and in transition zone between temperate western Himalaya and central Himalaya.
• Rajaji National Park was established in the 1983 after amalgamating three sanctuaries in the Uttarakhand i.e. Rajaji, Motichur and Chila.
• It was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2015 as the 48^th tiger reserve of the country.
• The Ganga and Song rivers flow through this.
• Vegetation– forest types range from semi-evergreen to deciduous and from mixed broad-leaved to Terai grassland and has been classified as Indus-Ganges Monsoon Forest type.
• Flora includes species like Rohini, Palash, Shisham, Sal, Sandan, Khair, Arjun, Baans, Semul, Chamaror
• Fauna includes Tiger, Asian Elephants Leopard, Jungle cat, Himalayan Black Bear, Sloth Bear, Striped Hyena, Goral, Sambar, Wild Pig, Spotted Deer, Barking Deer
  • Large number of butterflies and small birds are also observed.

• NASA launched a new sounding rocket to study a stellar event in the Cygnus Loop, which is a supernova remnant that took place 20,000 years ago.
• The sounding rocket mission, named the Integral Field Ultraviolet Spectroscope Experiment (INFUSE) was launched from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
• The INFUSE mission will study the Cygnus Loop and try to understand the life cycle of stars.
• The INFUSE mission is expected to collect information about the remnant for a few minutes from a height of 150 miles (240 km).
• Specifically, the instrument will gather light streaming from the Cygnus Loop in far-ultraviolet wavelengths.
• INFUSE will observe how the supernova dumps energy into the Milky Way by catching light given off just as the blast wave crashes into pockets of cold gas floating around the galaxy

ABOUT CYGNUS LOOP

• The constellation Cygnus (Latin for “swan”) used to appear every few months each year in the northern hemisphere’s night sky.
• Just above this constellation exists the favourite spot of professional scientists and backyard astronomers alike- the Cygnus Loop or the Veil Nebula.
• The Cygnus Loop is the remnant of a star that was once 20 times the size of our Sun.
• Some 20,000 years ago, that star collapsed under its own gravity and erupted into a supernova.
• After this supernova, some matters of the explosion remain suspended in the universe, which is known to astronomers as the Cygnus Loop.
• Even from 2,600 light-years away, astronomers estimate the flash of light would have been bright enough to see from Earth during the day.

ABOUT SUPERNOVA

• A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star.
• A supernova occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star.
• These are part of a great life cycle.
• They spray heavy metals forged in a star’s core into the clouds of surrounding dust and gas.
• They are the source of all chemical elements in our universe heavier than iron, including those that make up our own bodies.

• The Sixth Assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) was hosted at Bharat Mandapam, in New Delhi and was presided over by the Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy.

• Ministers from 20 countries and delegates from across 116 Member and Signatory countries participated in the Assembly.

MAJOR OUTCOMES

• It was decided to increase viability gap funding for projects from 10% up to 35%.
  • The ISA has a programme for VGF so that viability gap funding is available for projects in developing countries.
• The Global Solar Facility (GSF) is set to receive a capital contribution of $35 million dollars.
  • GSF will provide Payment guarantee fund, insurance fund to mitigate project risks and investment fund for Technical Assistance.
• Four projects set up with ISA’s assistance were inaugurated-
  • Solarisation of the parliament building of the Republic of Malawi
  • Solarisation of two rural health care centres in the Republic of Fiji
  • Installation of 1 solar powered cold storage of capacity 5 MT for the benefit of agricultural stakeholders at La Digue Island, Republic of Seychelles
  • Solarisation of the Nawai Junior Secondary school (JSS) in the Republic of Kiribati

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL SOLAR ALLIANCE

• It is an Indian initiative, jointly launched by India and France in Paris, on the sidelines of COP-21, the UN Climate Conference held in Paris.
• HQ-Gurugram
• Members- 94 countries have signed and ratified (including India).
• It is guided by its ‘Towards 1000’ strategy, which aims-
  • To mobilize USD 1000 billion of investments in solar energy solutions by 2030
  • To deliver energy access to 1000 million people using clean energy solutions
  • To install 1000 GW of solar energy capacity.
  • To mitigate global solar emissions to the tune of 1000 million tonnes of CO2 every year.

• The Tamil Nadu government has decided to commence works on identifying beaches across the State’s coastline to vie for Blue Flag status, which could get their names enlisted among tourist hotspots and attract more travellers.
• At present, Kovalam Beach, is the only site in the State and one of the 12 places in the country, to claim Blue Flag status.
• Other 11 include-
  • Golden Beach – Odisha
  • Shivrajpur Beach – Gujarat
  • Kappad Beach – Kerala
  • Ghoghla Beach – Diu
  • Radhanagar Beach – Andaman and Nicobar
  • Kasarkod Beach – Karnataka
  • Padubidri Beach – Karnataka
  • Rushikonda Beach – Andhra Pradesh
  • Eden Beach – Puducherry
  • Minicoy Thundi Beach – Lakshwadeep
  • Kadmat Beach – Lakshadweep

ABOUT BLUE FLAG CERTIFICATION

• The Foundation for Environment Education in Denmark accords the Blue Flag certification.
• The Blue Flag Programme was initially initiated in France in 1985, aiming to recognize environmentally responsible beaches.
• It has been implemented outside Europe since 2001.
• It is aimed at promoting sustainable development in freshwater and marine sectors.
• It encourages local authorities and beach operators to achieve high standards in the four categories – water quality, environmental management, environmental education and safety.

• Chintpurni shrine in Una district will soon be connected with a Rs 76.50-crore ropeway which will ferry devotees to the ancient temple.
• It would facilitate 700 pilgrims per hour in each direction, significantly enhancing the overall pilgrim experience.
• The Chintpurni temple is recognised as one of the Shakti Peeths and the most sacred shrine in the state.
• The ropeway with a span of 1 km will give impetus to religious tourism in the state.

• World Vegan Day is celebrated every year on November 1^st.
• On this day, vegan organizations promote the environmental and health impacts of the vegan diet.
• A vegan diet consists of eliminating all animal products, including meat, eggs, poultry, and other items derived from animals.
• World Vegan Day began on November 1, 1994, when ‘The Vegan Society’ was founded to encourage veganism and a plant-based diet by a vegan animal rights activist Louise Wallis.

• UNESCO published the list of 55 new creative cities recently on World Cities Day (October 31^st), in which Kozhikode has been given the tag of City of Literature, the first to hold the title in the country.
• Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh is the other creative city on the list, having bagged the City of Music tag.
• The UNESCO Creative Cities Network is a flagship city programme of UNESCO launched in 2004 to promote cooperation among cities which have recognized culture and creativity as strategic drivers of sustainable urban development.
• With the latest additions, there are 350 creative cities in the network, in more than 100 countries, representing seven creative fields; Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts, and Music.
• Other creative cities from India are-
  • Jaipur – Crafts and Folk Arts (2015).
  • Varanasi – Music (2015).
  • Chennai – Music (2017).
  • Mumbai – Film (2019).
  • Hyderabad – Gastronomy (2019).
  • Srinagar – Crafts and Folk Arts (2021).

• Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and Tel Aviv University have developed an aerogel adsorbent that can remove trace pollutants from wastewater.
• Aerogels comprise mostly of air and can be used to remove contaminants.
• The highly porous, low-density materials with adjustable chemistry are referred to as solid air or frozen smoke and can be easily fabricated.
• A method called ‘supercritical fluid deposition’ was employed to prepare these modified aerogels and studied their effectiveness.
• The Graphene-doped modified silica aerogels (GO-SA) were found to exhibit efficiency in purifying water, attracting and removing contaminants due to graphene’s unique molecular structure.
• Under real-life conditions mimicked in their experiments, the material removed over 85% of pollutants in controlled settings and more than 76% in continuous flow conditions
• Aerogels could be customised to target specific contaminants by modifying their surface chemistry, making them versatile.
• They can be generated and reused multiple times, reducing waste and operational costs, making them a sustainable solution for water purification.