• Live cultures of Candida auris have been isolated and documented in the ear canals of hospitalised stray dogs in the capital.

ABOUT CANDIDA AURIS

• It is an emerging oval-shaped fungus that presents a serious global health threat. It is resistant to most antifungal agents and can cause life-threatening outbreaks.
• It was 1^st reported in Japan in 2009.
• The research suggests that pets can act as reservoirs for superbugs, potentially transmitting infections to humans.
• It has been classified as a critical priority group by the World Health Organisation.
• It belongs to the genus Candida which causes Candidiasis in humans.
• Often, candidiasis is acquired in hospitals by patients with weakened immune systems.

• The IceCube Neutrino Observatory has produced the first view of the Milky Way galaxy through the lens of neutrino particles.

ABOUT NEUTRINOS

• Neutrinos are very low mass fundamental particles and they only interact very weakly with other matter.
• They are also called as “ghost particles”.
• Neutrinos are electrically neutral, undisturbed by even the strongest magnetic field.
• The direction from which they arrive points directly back to their original source.
• They are emitted from our galaxy when cosmic rays collide with interstellar matter or they are also produced by some exploding stars, supernovas, gamma-ray bursts and quasars.
• Hence, they can provide us an unprecedented view of highly energetic processes in our galaxy.

ABOUT ICECUBE NEUTRINO OBSERVATORY

• The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a unique detector encompassing a cubic kilometer of Antarctic ice with over 5,000 light sensors.
• It detects high-energy neutrinos, which possess energies millions to billions of times higher than those produced by stellar fusion reactions.

• The Ludhiana-based institution, Punjab Agricultural University, has developed a new variety of wheat called PBW RS1.
• It contains high amylose starch content.
• Resistant starch (RS) won’t cause an immediate and rapid rise in glucose levels.
• The high amylose and resistant starch, instead, ensure that glucose is released more slowly into the bloodstream.
• It is known to reduce risks of type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
• Food prepared from its whole grain flour also have lower glycemic index.

ABOUT GLYCEMIC INDEX

• It is a rating system for foods containing carbohydrates.
• It shows how quickly each food affects your blood sugar (glucose) level when that food is eaten on its own.
• Foods are classified as low, medium, or high glycemic foods and ranked on a scale of 0–100.
• The lower the GI of a specific food, the less it may affect the blood sugar levels.

• Recently, Japan lodged a protest with South Korea over military drills it conducted on disputed Takeshima islands.
• The island is situated in the middle of the Sea of Japan.
• It is lying almost equidistant between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
• It is called Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan.

• In a rare sighting, the Indian grey hornbill (Ocyceros birostris), often found in urban settings, was recently sighted by a bird enthusiast from the Nature and Wildlife Forums in Koodapakkam, near the Sankarabarani river in Puducherry.

ABOUT GREY HORNBILL

• It is a common hornbill found on the Indian subcontinent.
• It is commonly sighted in pairs.
• The male and female look similar.
• It is one of the few hornbill species found in urban areas in many cities where they are able to make use of large trees in avenues.
• These birds are known to be arboreal, i.e. spend most of their time on tall trees, but may descend for food and to collect mud pellets for nesting.
• Protection status
  • IUCN red list- Least Concern

• China launched country’s first open-source desktop operating system (OS) named as OpenKylin 1.0 with the motive to create an independent software system and cut reliance on US technology.

ABOUT OPENKYLIN

• It is a Linux-based operating system built by a community of about 4,000 developers.
• OpenKylin users have access to the software’s lines of code and can modify them as they wish, unlike Microsoft and Apple, which keep the workings of Windows and MacOS systems secret.
• OpenKylin ensures security in critical areas including, government affairs, communications, energy and transportation.
• Openkylin will provide reliable fundamental software services to support the country’s IT industrial chain.

• Recently, World Health Organization (WHO) has warned against the rising incidence of enterovirus infections in a few countries across Europe.
• Enterovirus is an umbrella term used for a group of viruses, including, echovirus, coxsackievirus, enterovirus, and poliovirus.
• Though the virus develops mild infection, it can be lethal among high risk groups like children and immuno-compromised patients.
• They can infect anyone, but are more likely to cause illnesses in people with weak immune systems, as well as infants, children, and teens who don’t have immunity against a virus yet because it’s their first exposure to it.
• Symptoms– The enterovirus infection manifests a range of symptoms among the patients for e.g. Hand, foot, and mouth disease, inflammatory muscle disease, skin rash, viral meningitis, encephalitis etc.
• There are multiple transmission routes, particularly in the neonatal period, including intrapartum by exposure to maternal blood, secretions, and/or stool, or postnatally from close contacts with infected caregivers.
• Treatment:
  • There is no specific treatment for enterovirus infection.
  • The focus is on easing symptoms until the infection has run its course, which usually takes only a few days.

• Amid concerns over fake registrations and fraudulent availment of input tax credit under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, GST Network (GSTN) has launched geocoding for all states and territories.
• Geocoding converts an address or description of a location into geographic coordinates.
• It has been introduced to ensure the accuracy of address details in GSTN records and streamline address location and verification process.
• Submission of geocoding will be a one-time activity and once submitted, revision in the address is not allowed.
• GSTN has already geocoded 1.8 crore principal places of businesses.

ABOUT GSTN

• GSTN is a non-profit organization, which provides IT infrastructure and services to Central and State Governments, taxpayers and other stakeholders for implementation of GST.
• The Board of GSTN in its 49^th Board Meeting held in June, 2022 has approved the conversion of GSTN into Government Company and hence 100% of the shareholding being held by Government (50% with Union Government and 50% jointly with State Governments & UTs) in GSTN.

• The United States has announced that it is sending cluster munitions to Ukraine to help its military push back Russian forces entrenched along the front lines.

ABOUT CLUSTER BOMBS

• A cluster munition is a bomb/canister that carry tens to hundreds of smaller bomblets, also known as sub-munitions.
• The bomblets are designed to take out tanks and equipment, as well as troops, hitting multiple targets at the same time.
• These canisters can be dropped from aircraft, launched from missiles or fired from artillery, naval guns or rocket launchers.
• Canisters break open at a prescribed height, depending upon the area of intended target.
• They are fused by a timer to explode closer to or on the ground.

• US Department of Defense announced recently that the last of the country’s “obsolete” stockpile of chemical weapons was safely destroyed, meeting commitments that were ratified in 1997’s Chemical Weapons Convention.
• US and the Soviet Union agreed in principle in 1989 to destroy their chemical weapons stockpiles and later the US ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 1997.

ABOUT CWC

• It is the world’s first multilateral disarmament agreement to provide for the elimination of an entire category of weapons of mass destruction within a fixed time frame.
• It has 192 state parties and 165 signatories including India.
• It is administered by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

ABOUT ORGANISATION FOR THE PROHIBITION OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS

• It is an international organization established by the CWC in 1997 to implement and enforce the terms of the CWC.
• HQs- Hague, Netherlands.
• It is authorized to perform inspections to verify that signatory states are complying with the convention.
• It also performs testing of sites and victims of suspected chemical weapons attacks.
• The OPCW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013.