• India-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and National Environment Management Council (NEMC), Tanzania conducted a multination stakeholder consultation to decide on strategies to restore the Lake Victoria.
• It is world’s second-largest and the largest freshwater lake in Africa.
  • Largest freshwater lake in the world is Lake Superior.
• Three countries share the lake’s borders and resources for fisheries, freshwater and transportation: Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.
• Lake Victoria and its flora and fauna support the livelihoods of about 45 million people.
• Lake Victoria touches the Equator in its northern side.
• It covers a total area of 68,800 sq. km and with a maximum depth of 80 m.

• The death anniversary of pioneering Indian physicist Homi Jehangir Bhabha was observed on 24th January.

ABOUT HOMI JEHANGIR BHABHA

• He was born on 30^th October 1909.
• He is regarded as the father of India’s nuclear programme.
• He founded and directed two major institutions involved in Nuclear sciences-
  • Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and
  • the Atomic Energy Establishment (later renamed the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in his honour)
• He was also the first person to become Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission of India.
• India’s three-stage nuclear power programme was formulated by Homi Bhabha in the 1954.
• Bhabha was the first Indian to receive the Adams Prize in 1942, for his “theory of the elementary particles and their interactions”.
  • It is the highest honour given by the University of Cambridge.
• He was also awarded the Padma Bhushan.

• The National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) is going to inspect the Big Four audit firms (Deloitte Haskins & Sells BSR & Co (EY), SRBC & Co (KPMG) and Price Waterhouse Chartered Accountants, Walker Chandiok and Co) as well as other top auditors of large listed entities in 2024.

ABOUT NFRA

• It is the country’s sole independent audit regulator.
• Constituted in 2018, under the Companies Act, 2013.
• It comes under the purview of Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
• Its goal is to enhance the country’s financial statement quality and consistency and to guarantee that businesses and financial institutions report accurate and fair information.
• It has the same powers as are vested in a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, while trying a suit.
• The Chairperson is a Chartered Accountant and a person of eminence having expertise in accountancy, auditing, finance or law (appointed by the Central Government) and a maximum of 15 members.
• All the members, including the chairperson, who are in full-time employment, should not be associated with any audit firm (including related consultancy firms) during their term of office and 2 years after their term.
• Functions include-
  • Recommend accounting and auditing policies and standards to be adopted by companies for approval by the Central Government;
  • Monitor and enforce compliance with accounting standards and auditing standards;
  • Oversee the quality of service of the professions associated with ensuring compliance with such standards and suggest measures for improvement in the quality of service;
  • Perform such other functions and duties as may be necessary or incidental to the aforesaid functions and duties.
• For inspection, the NFRA adheres to the regulations outlined in the Companies Act, 2013 meant for auditors to follow, and the audit standards and guidelines established by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
  • These include the Code of Ethics, which enumerates potential threats such as those associated with self-interest, self-review, advocacy, familiarity, and intermediation.

• The Central government has approved a new treatment regimen for leprosy, aiming to stop its transmission at the sub-national level by 2027, three years ahead of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
• Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has decided to introduce a three-drug regimen for Pauci-Bacillary (PB) cases in place of a two-drug regimen for six months.

ABOUT LEPROSY

• Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by the Mycobacterium leprae bacteria.
• The disease predominantly affects the skin and peripheral nerves.

• Left untreated, it may cause progressive and permanent disabilities.
• The bacteria are transmitted via droplets from the nose and mouth during close and frequent contact with untreated cases.
• Leprosy, reported from all the six WHO regions, is curable with multi-drug therapy (MDT).
  • The WHO’s recommended treatment regimen consists of three drugs — dapsone, rifampicin and clofazimine.
  • The duration of treatment is six months for PB and 12 months for MB cases.
  • MDT kills the pathogen and cures the patient.
  • The WHO has been providing MDT free of cost.
• The majority of new cases detected annually are from South East Asia.
• It is classified into two types for treatment purposes-
  • Pauci-Bacillary (PB) cases have fewer bacteria visible and show no signs of advanced disease in biopsies.
  • Multibacillary (MB) patients have visible bacteria and may show signs of more advanced disease in biopsies.

• The 54^th statehood day of Himachal Pradesh was celebrated in Dharampur in Mandi district.
• Parliament on December 18th, 1970, had passed the State of Himachal Pradesh Act and the new state came into being on 25th January, 1971.
• Thus, Himachal Pradesh emerged as the 18^th state of India.

• The Centre has recently appointed senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Daljit Singh Chaudhary as the Director General of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved his appointment for a period up to November 30, 2025 i.e. the date of his superannuation.
• SSB guards India’s frontiers with Nepal and Bhutan.

• The Andhra Pradesh government has started “caste survey”, aimed at creating a comprehensive caste-based database of people.
• The comprehensive caste census is scheduled for 10 days in one phase and if needed, it will be extended by four or five days.
• Andhra Pradesh has become the second state after Bihar to take up the caste census.
• During the ‘caste survey’, volunteers will visit every home to collect the caste details, which will be relayed to the village secretariat system.
• A mobile application has been created to collect details of individuals instantaneously during the visit of village and ward secretariat staffers to the households.

• Odisha CM recently announced that the state will set up an exclusive Melanistic Tiger Safari, which would be the first of its kind in the world.
• The Safari will be set up near the Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) in Mayurbhanj.
• Similipal Tiger Reserve is said to be the only home for melanistic tigers in the wild in the world.

• Every year, International Day of Education is observed on January 24^th.
• In 2018, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution to make January 24 as the International Day of Education to create awareness on the accessibility of education and why it is significant for everyone.
• The resolution was authored by 59 member states, and since then, January 24 has been observed as International Day of Education.
• The theme of the year 2024 is – “Learning for lasting peace”.

• Researchers have conducted experiments which show hot water freezes faster than cold water, as per a phenomenon known as Mpemba Effect.
• It is named after Tanzanian student Erasto Mpemba, who brought attention to this counterintuitive phenomenon in 1969.
• According to it, hot water evaporates more rapidly, reducing its mass and inducing a cooling effect.
  • Possible causes include microbubbles, evaporation, the presence of frost in cold water, and the effect of compounds precipitated by boiling.
• When heated, Hydrogen bonds in water break, causing water molecules to move apart and facilitating quicker freezing due to energy loss.