• The Batagaika crater, the world’s largest one kilometre-long permafrost crater, is expanding at a baffling rate due to the thawing of the permafrost.
  • This has been exacerbated by global warming.
• The crater is located in the Sakha Republic in Russia and reaches depths of up to 100 metres.
• In the 1960s, after deforestation led to the melting of the underground permafrost, it caused the land to sink.
• Over the years, the crater has only expanded and is locally called ‘the cave-in’ or ‘mega-slump’ by scientists.
• This is releasing greenhouse gasses like methane stored in the thawed soil which is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
• The thawing permafrost causes very tangible, immediate infrastructural damage as well such as buckling roadways, splitting houses, and disrupting pipelines.
• When a wildfire breaks out, the thawing fastens.
• Russia is warming about 2.5 times faster than the rest of the world. As a consequence, the long-frozen tundra that covers 65 per cent of the country’s landmass is melting.

ABOUT PERMAFROST

• Permafrost is any ground that remains completely frozen — 32°F (0°C) or colder — for at least two years straight.
• It is most common in regions with high mountains and in Earth’s higher latitudes — near the North and South Poles.

• NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, currently on a return journey from asteroid Bennu, has made a critical course adjustment by altering its velocity by a seemingly minuscule but crucial 2.09 kilometers per hour.
• This change in speed and direction is vital for the spacecraft to get close enough to Earth to deliver its precious cargo.
• This trajectory correction maneuver is the final major adjustment required to set up OSIRIS-REx for its Earth return on September 24, 2023.
  • However, two more minor maneuvers are scheduled for September 10 and 17.
• The ultimate goal is a precise landing at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range near Salt Lake City.
• The OSIRIS-REx mission is the first US mission to collect a sample from an asteroid.
• It was launched on Sept. 8, 2016.
• It is presently 38 million km away from earth, hurtling through space at a staggering speed of about 22,000 miles per hour.

• The report, Global Climate Litigation Report: 2023 Status Review, was published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University.
• The report provides an overview of key climate litigation cases from the past two years (2020–2022 period).
• It shows that the number of lawsuits over climate change has more than doubled since 2017, showing that climate litigation is becoming an integral part of securing climate action and justice.
  • Climate change litigation includes cases that raise material issues of law or fact relating to climate change mitigation, adaptation or the science of climate change.
• While most cases have been brought in the US, climate litigation is taking root all over the world, with about 17% of cases now being reported in developing countries, including the Small Island Developing States.
• These legal actions were brought in 65 bodies worldwide: International, regional and national courts, tribunals, quasi-judicial bodies and other adjudicatory bodies, including special procedures of the UN and arbitration tribunals.

• Amid heavy rainfall in Delhi and nearby areas over the past few weeks, conjunctivitis has become a prevalent concern.
• The humid weather offers a favourable environment for bacteria and viruses to grow and spread, contributing to increased cases of highly contagious eye infections.
• Conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye, is the most common type of eye infection.
• It is the swelling or inflammation of the conjunctivae., a clear tissue covering the white part of your eye and the inside the eyelids.
• It can occur due to allergic or chemical reaction or due to Infectious cause caused by bacteria or virus.
  • The conjunctivitis cases are mostly caused by a virus.
• The infection is highly contagious and symptoms last for three to four days.
• However, it doesn’t affect the vision and after the disease has been treated or run its course, the eyes gets completely cured.
• Transmission/spread– direct or indirect contact with an infected person’s eye secretions, contaminated objects like door knobs, towels, tissues, or respiratory droplets.

• Samples found positive for dengue in Delhi has confirmed the presence of Type-2 strain in a majority of them.
• Dengue Virus Type-2 is supposed to be the most severe and has a tendency to cause haemorrhagic fever and mortality.
• DENV 2 can cause dengue shock syndrome and also lead to multi-organ failure.

ABOUT DENGUE

• It is a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by the dengue virus i.e Genus Flavivirus, transmitted by several species of female mosquito within the genus Aedes, principally Aedes aegypti.
  • The mosquito also transmits chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika infection.
• There are 4 distinct serotypes of the virus that cause dengue (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4).
  • Serotypes are separate groups within a species of microorganisms that all share a similar characteristic.
• Symptoms – fever, headache, muscle, and joint pain, and a characteristic skin rash that is similar to measles. There is also a drop in platelets.
  • It is also called Break bone fever.
• There is no specific medicine to treat dengue infection.
• Vaccine– Dengvaxia or CYD-TDV approved by US FDA,
  • It is a live, attenuated dengue virus which is administered to people who have been infected by dengue once.
• Biological control– breeding a species of mosquito which carries a type of bacteria, called Wolbachia that prevents viruses like dengue from growing inside them.
• Precautions
  • Wear body covering clothes, and apply mosquito repellent creams to protect yourself from mosquito bites.
  • Adequate water intake is also very important if one is down with dengue.

• The Reserve Bank of India’s Digital Payments Index (RBI-DPI), which measures the growth of online payments in India, showed a 13.24% growth in the year ending March 2023.
• The RBI introduced the composite Digital Payments Index (RBI-DPI) in January 2021 with March 2018 as the base, to capture digitisation of payments.
• The index has since been steadily rising, crossing the 300-point mark in September 2021.
• It is published on a half-yearly basis.
• The RBI-DPI comprises five parameters to measure the deepening and penetration of digital payments over different time periods. These include-
  • Payment enablers – 25% weightage,
  • Payment infrastructure – demand-side factors – 10% ,
  • Payment infrastructure – supply-side factors– 15%,
  • Payment performance – 45%,
  • Consumer centricity – 5 %
• As per the Economic Survey 2022-23, India has the highest fintech adoption rate of 87% among the public compared to the global average of 64 per cent.
• Further, India has gained the third place in digital payments, coming only after US and China.

• RECEIC was launched recently on the sidelines of the 4^th G-20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) and Environment and Climate Ministers’ meeting in Chennai.
• Conceptualized under India’s G20 Presidency, RECEIC is an industry-driven initiative aimed at promoting resource efficiency and circular economy practices
• The government would only play a supporting role.
• 39 companies headquartered in 11 different countries have joined the coalition as its founding members.
• The MNCs from sectors such as steel, FMCG, electronics came together to pledge to adopt resource efficiency and circular economy principles to address environmental challenges rising from waste, including plastics, microplastics, e-waste, and chemical waste.
• The coalition is envisioned to be a self-sustaining entity that will continue to operate beyond India’s G20 Presidency, making a lasting impact on environmental sustainability.
• As a collaborative platform, RECEIC aims to facilitate knowledge-sharing, best practice sharing, and sustainable practices among the participating industries.

• The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has given approval for setting up a world-class zoological park and a safari at Bankhandi in Kangra district.
• Around 195 hectares of forestland has already been demarcated for the park project and forest clearance will not be required for it.
• The proposal includes a tiger safari, besides bringing a host of other animals like various species of crocodiles.
• At present, there are only three zoos at Gopalpur in Kangra, Renukaji in Sirmaur and the Kufri Nature Park in Shimla.

• A flood in the Sainj river has left many families homeless in Sainj under Banjar subdivision of Kullu district.The flooded river washed away 30 houses and 40 shops at Sainj on July 10, forcing residents to take refuge in temporary shelters.
• The V-shaped Sainj Valley rises from the lower ranges of the main Himalaya to the east of Kullu.
• The Sainj River flows past a series of interlocking spurs and widens as it travels southwest to join the River Beas at the small village of Larji.

• Tuvalu, the world’s least visited nation, is likely to disappear soon due to rising sea levels.
• Although the entire nation is coral atolls, the inhabitable stretches of land are maximum just 2 m above sea level.
• It’s an island country in the west-central Pacific Ocean, and sits around halfway between Hawaii and Australia.
• Tuvalu, formerly called the Ellice Islands, receives just more than two thousand tourists a year, has only one international airport.