• According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as many as 85,765 confirmed and 1,382 probable cases of mpox (monkeypox) were reported from 110 countries since 1st January, 2022.
• The United States was the most affected, recording 29,948 confirmed cases.
• WHO assessed the global risk as ‘Moderate’ and also announced that it would prefer to refer to the disease as mpox rather than monkeypox.

About Monkeypox

• Monkeypox is a zoonotic viral disease with symptoms similar to smallpox but is less contagious.
• It was first diagnosed in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa.
• Vaccines used to eradicate smallpox provide protection against mpox.
  • New vaccines against the disease have also been developed and approved.

• Equatorial Guinea has confirmed its first-ever outbreak of MVD.
• Marburg virus disease is a highly virulent disease that causes haemorrhagic fever, with a fatality ratio of up to 88%. It is in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola virus disease.
  • Though caused by different viruses, two diseases are clinically similar.
• Like Ebola, the Marburg virus originates in bats and spreads between people via close contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, or surfaces, like contaminated bed sheets.
• Symptoms– Illness caused by Marburg virus begins abruptly, with high fever, severe headache and severe malaise. Many patients develop severe haemorrhagic symptoms within seven days.
• There are no authorized vaccines or drugs to treat Marburg, but rehydration treatment to alleviate symptoms can improve the chances of survival.
• MVD was initially detected in 1967 in Marburg and Frankfurt (Germany); and in Belgrade (Serbia)

• Supreme Court issued notices to Centre and five states (Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand) over the failure to elect Deputy Speaker.
• The Deputy Speakers of the Lok Sabha and state assemblies are constitutional offices.
  • As per convention, Deputy Speaker is from the Opposition.
• Article 93 of the Constitution of India establishes the post of the Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha.
• Articles 94-96 detail their appointment, removal, and powers.
• In the absence of the Speaker, the Deputy Speakder serves as the Speaker and wields full powers of the Speaker.
• The election to the post of Deputy Speaker takes place after the Speaker has been elected.
  • There has been no Deputy Speaker in the current Lok Sabha since 2019.
• The Deputy Speaker is not subordinate to the Speaker and is directly responsible to the House.
• Article 178 of the Constitution establishes the post of Deputy Speaker of assemblies and Articles 179-181 deal with their powers and appointment or resignation.

• Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recently presented President’s Colour award to Haryana Police in Karnal, Haryana.
• President’s Colour Award is a unique honour conferred by President on armed forces that have rendered exceptional service to country.
• The award serves as recognition of the sacrifices made by police personnel in the line of duty and a tribute to their unwavering commitment to serve and protect people.
• Indian Navy was the first Indian Armed Force, to be awarded the President Colour in 1951.
• It is given to police after a review of 25 years of continuous service and service with valour and dedication.

• Ministry of Heavy Industries is pushing state governments to place more orders foe e-buses to meet target under FAME-II scheme.
• Presently the deployment of e-buses by states under the plan is at 31% of target.

About Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of(Hybrid and) Electric Vehicles-FAME scheme

• MHI had launched FAME scheme in 2015 under National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) to encourage electric and hybrid vehicle purchase by providing financial support.
• FAME Phase I, functional till 2019, had four focus arease.,
  • technological development, demand generation, pilot project and charging infrastructure components.
• FAME-II was launched in 2019 with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore for three-year period but was extended till March 2024.
  • Generate demand by way of supporting 7000 e-bus, 5 lakh e-3 wheelers, 55000 e-4 wheelers and 10 lakh e-2 wheelers.
  • Implemented through three components i.e., Demand Incentives, Establishment of network of Charging Stations, and Administration of Scheme including Publicity, IEC (Information, Education & Communication) activities.
• NEMMP 2020, unveiled in 2013, is a National Mission document providing the vision and roadmap for faster adoption of electric vehicles and their manufacturing in country.

• Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) conducted a first-of-its-kind experiment to quantify the impact of hot weather on crop yield in Punjab and Haryana by using InfoCrop Version 2.1.
• InfoCrop version 2.1 is India’s only dynamic crop simulation model, developed by IARI in 2015, that study the long-term impact of climate change and crop management practices on yield.
• The model has an 85 per cent accuracy rate, which is on par with widely used dynamic models such as the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer model, developed by the US, and Agriculture Production Systems sIMulator, developed by Australia.
• It has life cycle data for almost all local varieties of 11 crops: paddy, wheat, maize, sorghum, pearl millet, pigeon pea, chickpea, soybean, groundnut, potato and cotton.
• In InfoCrop, Parameters (updated at regular intervals) deal with aspects of
  1. Weather (precipitation, temperature etc.);
  2. Crop growth (grain characteristics, leaf growth etc.);
  3. Soil (water holding characteristics, pH levels etc.); and
  4. Pests and crop management (organic matter, fertiliser and irrigation).

Present scenario

• Currently, the country does not have a system to forecast crop loss due to heatwaves or most other extreme weather conditions.
  • The Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre, under the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, provides pre-harvest forecasts for 8 major crops at the national, state and district levels.
  • The agency also puts out forecasts accounting for drought events, but not for other extreme weather conditions.
  • The agency forecasts with static crop models, which cannot factor in real-time changes.

• It has been released by World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
• Report highlighted how global sea-level changes induced by climate change and melting of major ice masses will impact small island dwelling states, and densely populated low-lying urban areas.

Key findings

• India, China, Bangladesh and Netherlands face highest threat of SLR globally.
  • Mumbai, Dhaka, London, New York among metros in line of sea-level rise threat.
• Global mean sea level increased by 0.20 metres from 1901 to 2018.
  • Sea levels rose by 4.5 millimeters a year on average between 2013 and 2022 — over three times higher than the rate at which they rose between 1901 and 1971.
  • The average yearly rise in sea levels was 1.3 mm a year between 1901 and 1971, which increased to 1.9 mm a year between 1971 and 2006, and 3.7 mm a year between 2006 and 2018.
• Almost 11% of global population (896 million people) lived within Low Elevation Coastal Zone in 2020, potentially increasing to beyond 1 billion people by 2050.

Contributors to SLR from 1971-2018

• Thermal expansion contributed to 50% of sea level rise during 1971-2018, while ice loss from glaciers contributed to 22%, ice-sheet loss to 20% and changes in land-water storage 8%.
• The rate of ice-sheet loss increased by a factor of four between 1992-1999 and 2010-2019. Together, icesheet and glacier mass loss were the dominant contributors to global mean sea level rise during 2006-2018.

Impact

• Rising sea levels cause the erosion of coastal ecosystems, worsening the intensity of storm surges and flooding.
• It can also lead to the contamination of soil and groundwater with salt, further impacting food security.

About World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

• It is an intergovernmental organization established by the ratification of the WMO Convention in 1950. It is a specialized agency of the United Nations.
• Headquarters- Geneva Switzerland
• Members-193 Member States and Territories including India.
• Its supreme body is the World Meteorological Congress.

• The Fagli festival is being celebrated with great fervour in the rural areas of the Tirthan valley in Banjar subdivision of KUllu.
• It is being celebrated in Pekhadi, Nahin, Tinder, Dingcha, Fariyadi, Sharchi, Basheer and Kalwari villages of the valley.
• Mask dance organised during the ‘Phalgun Sankranti’ in different villages of the valley from February 13 to 15 is one of the major attractions of the festival.
• Locals believe that the mask dance, performed by a few selected people, drives out demonic forces from the area and brings happiness and prosperity.
  • The Tirthan valley is famous for the Great Himalayan National Park and trout fish. Small but beautiful villages situated in the remote hilly areas, rivers and waterfalls, forests and snow-capped mountain ranges add to the beauty of the valley.
• Tourists from outside states like West Bengal, Punjab, Delhi and Rajasthan were left spellbound by the ancient tradition of mask dance.

• A snow marathon will be organised at Sissu in Lahaul and Spiti district on March 12.
• The organisers of the event met Lahaul and Spiti MLA to chalk out a strategy for the marathon, which will be organised at an altitude of around 10,000 ft.
• Over 300 participants from different states will take part in the marathon. The move is aimed at promoting winter sports in Lahaul and Spiti, which receives heavy snow during winter months.
• The Rich India organisation has evinced interest in organising the marathon.
• After the opening of the Atal Tunnel on the Manali-Leh highway, Lahaul and Spiti district has become a tourist hub.

• Nikos Christodoulides was elected as the President of Cyprus after a second and final round of voting.
• Christodoulides, took 51.9% of the vote, compared with runoff rival Andreas Mavroyiannis, taking 48.1%.
• Christodoulides ran as an independent with the backing of centrist and right-of-center parties.
• The new President also happens to be the former Foreign Minister of the country.