• Lake Retba, better known as Lac Rose (the Pink Lake), is located near Dakar, Senegal (West Africa).
• It sits in a depression with a shoreline 6.5 metres below sea level.
• The lake is isolated from the sea by about 1km of sand dunes.
• Its fresh water comes from the seasonal water table in the dunes, which are higher than the lake.
• Thus the sea provides most of the lake’s water and all of its salt.
• The lake’s waters are virtually devoid of life, with the exception of a few microscopic algae and bacteria.
• The Pink Lake is one of the main tourist destinations in the Dakar region, primarily because of the pink colour of its waters.
  • The pink coloration is due to the proliferation of halophilic green algae (living in a salty environment), Dunaliella salina, which contain red pigments.

• The 71^st plenary session of the North Eastern Council (NEC) was recently held in Shillong.

ABOUT NORTH EASTERN COUNCIL

• NEC is not a constitutional body, but a statutory organization established under the North Eastern Council Act, 1971, as amended in 2002.
• It is the nodal agency for the social and economic development of the North Eastern Region in India consisting of the 8 States of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, Nagaland and Tripura.
• The Council comprises Governors and Chief Ministers of constituent States and three members nominated by the President.
• It works under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Development of the North-Eastern Region (MDoNER).
• Chairman- Union Home Minister
• HQ- Shillong

• The Andhra Pradesh government has unveiled the world’s tallest statue Dr BR Ambedkar.
• The statue has been erected at Swaraj Maidan grounds in Vijaywada.
• Andhra government has called it the, “Statue of Social Justice”.
• In comparison to Sardar Vallabhai Patel’s Statue of Unity (597 feet tall), the height of BR Amdekar’s statue is 206 feet.
• The Ambedkar statue that is 125-foot on an 81-feet pyramidical base making the statue complex 206-foot tall.
• The project incurred a cost of ₹404.35 crore and is spread over 18.81 acres.
• Alongside the statute, there will be six water bodies in the forecourt, a musical water fountain in the centre, and 3 sided peripheral waterbody for the pedestal building and greenery.

BRIEF ON DR B R AMBEDKAR

• Born on April 14, 1891, Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar – popular among his followers as Babasaheb – was the chairman of the Constituent Assembly’s most crucial Drafting Committee that earned him the moniker Architect of the Indian Constitution.
• He died on December 6, 1956, months after he embraced Buddhism on October 14 that year.

• India’s first indigenously developed Hepatitis A vaccine ‘Havisure’ was recently launched in Hyderabad.
• It has been developed by Hyderabad-based Indian Immunologicals Ltd (IIL), a wholly owned subsidiary of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and a leading biopharmaceutical company in India.
• This indigenously developed vaccine is poised to play a crucial role in preventing Hepatitis A, a highly contagious liver infection that poses a significant public health challenge.
  • Hepatitis A is a viral infection primarily spread through the fecal-oral route, meaning that it is transmitted through the ingestion of contaminated food or water.
• It has been reported that the vaccine is effective in preventing the disease and is recommended for children in routine immunization.
• It is a two-dose vaccine wherein the first dose is administered at above 12 months of age and the second dose is given at least after 6 months of the first dose.
  • The vaccine is also recommended for individuals who are at risk of exposure or travel to the regions with high hepatitis A prevalence.
  • In addition to this people with occupational risk of infection and suffering from chronic liver diseases also need Hepatitis A vaccination.

• Every millimetre increase in rainfall could lead to a 5 to 0.7 per cent rise in monthly scrub typhus cases, according to a new study conducted in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore.

About Scrub typhus

• Scrub typhus is an infectious disease caused by bacteria called Orientia tsutsugamushi and transmitted through infected mites.
  • Mites carrying the disease are generally found in the bush, jungle and paddy areas, so the disease is also called jungle or bush typhus.
• Humans pick up the infection when they walk, sit, or lie down on the ground infested by mites.
• Symptoms include fever, headache, body ache and sometimes a rash.
  • In severe cases, the infection can lead to respiratory distress, brain and lung inflammation, kidney failure and multi-organ failure, ultimately resulting in death.
• Several factors, like vector abundance, climatic factors, exposures like farming and owning domestic animals, outdoor activities and sanitation, affect its prevalence.
• The disease tends to be seasonal in the endemic areas.
  • Scrub typhus incidence is associated with relative humidity, temperature and rainfall.
• No vaccine is available to prevent scrub typhus.
• Treated with the antibiotic doxycycline.

• India has been elected as the First Vice Chair of the Food and Agriculture Organization FAO COFI Sub-Committee on Fisheries Management.
• India will serve as member of a FAO Fisheries Bureau on ‘Capture Fisheries’ for the first time in 57 years.
• Being one of the top fishing nations with over 28 million inland and marine fishers, India’s role in this crucial subcommittee as the representative of the Global South would give much-needed balance and perspective to the global narratives concerning fisheries governance and management (especially for artisanal and small-scale fisheries).

ABOUT THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON FISHERIES MANAGEMENT

• It is a forum for discussing fisheries management issues at national, regional and global levels.
• It deals with technical and policy matters in line with FAO’s mission and actively collaborates with relevant regional and international organisations, countries, stakeholder groups, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), forging new collaborations where needed.
• The primary functions of the Sub-Committee on Fisheries Management are to provide essential technical and policy guidance on fisheries governance and management, with the aim of advancing the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.

ABOUT COFI

• COFI is a subsidiary body of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Council, was established in 1965.
• COFI is an intergovernmental forum that addresses issues on
  • International fishing and aquaculture,
  • Providing policy guidance on fisheries management,
  • Promoting collective solutions to ensure environmental,
  • economic and social sustainability of fishing industry
• The Sub-Committee on Fisheries Management was established during the Thirty-Fifth session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI), held in Rome, Italy, from September 5 to 9, 2022.
• The Sub-Committee collaborates closely with both the Sub-Committee on Aquaculture and the Sub-Committee on Fish Trade, further enriching the scope of its engagement in fisheries-related matters.

• In a move aligning with the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020, Himachal Pradesh has unveiled the ‘My School-My Pride’ campaign under the ‘Apna Vidyalay’ programme, aimed at revolutionising the quality of education in government schools.
• This initiative will encourage active participation from individuals and organisations to adopt schools and contribute to various aspects of students’ growth.
• The stakeholders will be urged to provide career counselling, offer remedial teaching, coach students for examinations, and engage in community support services.
• The initiative also involves monetary contributions for infrastructure development, event sponsorship, scholarships, and support for the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) programme.

• The Assam Government revived the traditional buffalo fight (Moh-Juj), nine years after it was stopped following the Supreme Court’s ban on Tamilnadu’s Jallikattu and bullock cart races in Maharashtra.
• On December 8, 2023, the state cabinet approved traditional buffalo fights under strict SOP.
• It is said that Moh-Juj was introduced to Assamese culture by 30^th Ahom king Swargadeo Rudra Singha nearly 200 years ago.

• “Conversations with Aurangzeb” is a novel by Tamil literary icon Charu Nivedita, translated into English by Nandini Krishnan.
• This book represents a unique fusion of historical narrative and satirical commentary, offering readers a fresh perspective on both historical and contemporary themes.

• The Cochin Port Joint Trade Union Forum has appealed to Prime Minister to revive commercial activities on Willingdon Island.
• Kochi’s iconic Willingdon Island is one of the largest man-made islands in the country, created (1920-1940) using dredged soil.
• It is named after the then British Viceroy of India, Lord Willingdon.
• It once served as a vital transportation centre, accommodating both Cochin Airport and the Harbour Railway terminus.
• It is also home to the Kochi Naval Base of the Indian Navy and the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology
• The island is connected to the mainland by the Venduruthy Bridge.