About World Crafts Council International

• It is a Kuwait-based organisation working on the recognition and preservation of traditional crafts across the globe.
• It was founded by Ms. Aileen Osborn Vanderbilt Webb, Ms. Margaret M. Patch, and Smt Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay at the 1st World Crafts Council General Assembly in New York on June 12, 1964.
• Since its inception, the World Crafts Council AISBL has been affiliated with UNESCO under Consultative Status for many years. 
• Objective: The main objective of the World Crafts Council AISBL is to strengthen the status of crafts in cultural and economic life.
• Aim: The Council aims to promote fellowship among craftspersons by offering them encouragement, help, and advice.
• It fosters and assists cultural exchange through conferences, international visits, research study, lectures, workshops, exhibitions, and other activities.

Key facts about the World Craft City Programme

• It is a groundbreaking initiative launched in 2014 by the World Crafts Council AISBL (WCC-International) in recognition of the pivotal role local authorities, craftspeople, and communities play in cultural, economic, and social development worldwide.
• It establishes a dynamic network of craft cities across the globe, aligning with the principles of the creative economy.
• This initiative responds to the increasing acknowledgment of the valuable contributions made by local entities to the multifaceted dimensions of development.
• Under these initiatives Jaipur (Rajasthan), Mammalapuram (Tamil Nadu) and Mysore have been added as craft cities from India.

Key facts about Kashmir Craft

• Kashmir’s craft is mostly influenced by Central Asian countries, which are in the list of the WCC.

· The distinction of being included in the WCC list will put a spotlight on Srinagar’s craft scene and introduce the centuries-old processes to the global stage.

Q1: What is Namda art?

It is a type of traditional Kashmiri felted carpet that is created using sheep wool and has colourful hand embroidery. The distinct feature of this Kashmiri craft is that wool is felted and not woven.

Source: Srinagar vies for global craft city tag as World Craft Council International team tours craft clusters

About Nagorno-Karabakh Region

• Nagorno-Karabakh, known as Artsakh by Armenians, is a landlocked mountain ousarea in the South Caucasus.
• It was claimed by both Azerbaijan and Armenia after the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917 and has remained a point of tension ever since.
• The territory is internationally recognised as part of oil-rich Azerbaijan, but its inhabitants are predominantly ethnic Armenians and have their own government, which has enjoyed close links to the government in neighbouring Armenia but has not been officially recognised by it or other United Nations member states.
• Armenians, who are Christians, claim a long historical dominance in the area, dating back to several centuries before Christ.
• Azerbaijan, whose inhabitants are mostly Muslim, links its historical identity to the territory, too.
• What is the history?
  • Over the centuries, the enclave has come under the sway of Persians, Turks, Russians, Ottomans, and Soviets.
  • After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Armenia and Azerbaijan fought over the region.
  • When the Bolsheviks took over Azerbaijan, Armenia agreed to Bolshevik control, ushering in the Sovietisation of the whole of the Caucasus.
  • Karabakh, with its borders redrawn to include as many Armenians as possible, remainedpart of the Azeri Soviet Socialist Republic but with autonomy.
  • Its name was “Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast”.
  • Under the Soviet Union, Nagorno-Karabakh became an autonomous region within the republic of Azerbaijan.
  • As the Soviet Union crumbled, what is known as the First Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988-1994) erupted between Armenians and their Azeri neighbours.
  • Azerbaijan lost a chunk of its territory, with Armenians left in control of most of Karabakh, alongside extra territory around Karabakh’s perimeter.
• The 44-day war in 2020:
  • In 2020, after decades of skirmishes, Azerbaijan began a military operation that became the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, swiftly breaking through Armenian defences.
  • Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey, wona resounding victory in the 44-day war, taking back parts of Karabakh.
  • The region is of key strategic importance as well, surrounded by Turkey, Iran, and Russia, and the hydrocarbon deposits of the Caspian Sea.

Q1: Which countries border the Caspian Sea?

The Caspian Sea is bordered by Russia to the northwest, Kazakhstan to the northeast, Turkmenistan to the southeast, Iran to the south, and Azerbaijan to the southwest.

Source: Russian peacekeepers started withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh: Kremlin

About National Security Guard (NSG)

• It is a special force in India that has primarily been utilised for counter-terrorism activities.
• The NSG is an elite force providing a second line of defence for the nation.
• The NSG members are also known as Black Cats because of the black drill cotton coveralls and balaclavas, or helmets, they wear.
• Establishment: 
  • It was raised in 1984,following Operation Blue Star and the assassination of Indira Gandhi.
  • It was created by the Cabinet Secretariat under the National Security Guard Act of the Indian Parliament in 1986.
  • It was modelled on the pattern of the SAS of the UK and the GSG-9 of Germany.
• The Union Ministry for Home Affairs exercises administrative and operational control over NSG.
• Motto: Sarvatra Sarvottama Suraksa.
• Headquarters: New Delhi.
• Director General (DG): 
  • The head of the NSG, designated as Director General (DG), is selected by the Home Ministry.
  • All the selected DGs have been officers from the Indian Police Service (IPS).
• The NSG's specific goals include:
  • Neutralization of terrorist threats
  • Handling hijacking situations in the air and on land.
  • Bomb disposal (search, detection, and neutralisation of IEDs).
  • PBI (Post Blast Investigation)
  • Hostage Rescue
  • VIP Security
• It is designed to be employed as a specialised counter-terrorism force "only in exceptional situations," not to take over "functions of the State Police Forces or other paramilitary forces."
• The teams of NSG work on a basic philosophy of swift and speedy strike and immediate withdrawal from the theatre of action.
• The force is task-oriented and has two main elements in the form of the Special Action Group (SAG), comprising Army personnel, and the Special Ranger Group (SRG), comprising personnel drawn from the Central Armed Police Forces and State Police Forces.
• The NSG also has a National Bomb Data Centre (NBDC) that maintains a centralised database of bombing activities reported in India and abroad.

The NBDC collects, collates, analyses, and evaluates all terrorist bombing activities and disseminates relevant information to concerned law enforcement agencies.

Q1: What is Operation Blue Star?

Operation Bluestar was an Indian Army operation carried out in June 1984 in the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab, to flush out militants who were led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a one-time leader of the Sikh seminary Damdami Taksal and a key figure in the growing separatist Khalistan movement at the time. While successful in its intended objectives, it caused a furore among some members of the Sikh community, who saw the operation carried out in their shrine as an attack on their faith; it remains a controversial episode of Indian history.

Source: CRPF ADG Nalin Prabhat appointed chief of NSG

About Vasuki Indicus

• The fossils of Vasuki indicus were found in Kutch, Gujarat.
• Vasuki refers to the mythical snake often depicted around the neck of the Hindu god Shiva.
• It lived in the Middle Eocene period (roughly 47 million years ago) in India. 
  • The organism lived at a time when temperatures were relatively warm, at roughly 28 °C. 
• It belonged to the now-extinct Madtsoiidae snake family but represents a unique lineage from India.
  • Madtsoiidae are Gondwanan terrestrial snakes that lived between the Upper Cretaceous (100.5 million to 66 million years ago) and the Late Pleistocene (0.126 million years ago to 0.012 million years ago).
  • These snakes spread from India through southern Eurasia and intonorth Africaafter the Indian subcontinent collided with Eurasia about 50 million years ago.
• Features:
  • It reached lengths between 10 and 15 metres long and 1 tonne in weight.
  • It likely had a broad and cylindrical body, hinting at a robust and powerful build, and was as big as Titanoboa, a massive snake that once roamed the earth and is reportedly the longest ever known.
  • Vasuki was a slow-moving ambush predator that would subdue its prey through constriction, like anacondas and pythons.

Q1: What is Gondwana?

Gondwana, ancient supercontinent that incorporated present-day South America, Africa, Arabia, Madagascar, India, Australia, and Antarctica. It was fully assembled by Late Precambrian time, some 600 million years ago, and the first stage of its breakup began in the Early Jurassic Period, about 180 million years ago.

Source: Fossils of massive prehistoric snake found in lignite mine in Gujarat

About Section 144 of CrPC

• It authorises the Executive Magistrate of any state or territory to issue an order to prohibit the assemblyof four or more people in an area.
• According to the law, every memberof such an 'unlawful assembly'can be booked for engaging in rioting.
• Section 144 is imposed in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger of some event that has the potential to cause trouble or damage to human life or property.
• It generally prohibits public gatherings.
• It has been used in the past to impose restrictions as a means to prevent protests that can lead to unrest or riots.
• The executive magistrate of the given jurisdiction has been conferred the power to issue orders under Section 144 when there is an impending emergency situation.
• Section 144 also restricts carrying any sort of weapon in the area where it has been imposed and people can be detained for violating it.
  • The maximum punishment for such an act is three years.
• According to the order under this section, there shall be no movement of public, and all educational institutions shall also remain closed, and there will be a complete baron holding any kind of public meetings or rallies during the period of operation of this order.
• Moreover, obstructing law enforcement agencies from dispersing an unlawful assembly is a punishable offence.
• Section 144 also empowers the authorities to block internet access.
• It prohibits the conduct of some events that are otherwise allowed during regular times.
• Duration of Section 144 Order:
  • No order under Section 144 shall remain in force for more than two months, but the state government can extend the validity for two months and a maximum up to six months.
  • It can be withdrawn at any point of time if the situation becomes normal.

Q1: What is the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)?

Enacted in 1973 (came into force on 1 April 1974), CrPC is the main legislation on procedure for administration of substantive criminal law in India.It provides a procedure for the investigation of crime, the collection of evidence, and the determination of guilt or innocence. The CrPC also covers the arrest and detention of suspects, the conduct of trials, and the sentencing of convicted individuals.

Source: Is Section 144 during polls justifiable? Plea in SC

About Salas y Gómez

• It is an underwater mountain chain in the Southeastern Pacific Ocean.
• It lies in a west-east orientation. Its western end intersects the East Pacific Rise inside the Chilean Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Easter Islands and its eastern end adjoins the western end of Nazca ridge.
• Ecosystems in this region are isolated by the Atacama Trench, the Humboldt Current System, and an extreme oxygen minimum zone.
• Waters surrounding the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges are mostly located in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ), with smaller portions located in the national waters of Chile and Peru.
• This region hosts unique biodiversity with some of the highest levels of marine endemism on Earth.
• It is one of the many global locations under consideration for being designated as a high seas marine protected area upon the ratificiation of the UN High Seas Treaty.

Key facts about United Nations High Seas Treaty

• It is known as the ‘Paris Agreement for the Ocean’, and the treaty to deal with Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction has been under discussion for several years.
• The proposed treaty concerns the ocean existing beyond the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) that lie from the coast of a country to about 200 nautical miles into the sea (Countries have special rights for exploration till 200 nautical miles).
• The treaty was to be negotiated under the United Nations Convention on Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982.

Q1: What is an Exclusive Economic Zone?

It is an area of the ocean extending up to 200 nautical miles (370 km) immediately offshore from a country's land coast in which that country retains exclusive rights to the exploration and exploitation of natural resources.

Source: Scientists find ‘pristine’ ocean mountain range with 50 unknown species

About Ringwoodite

• It is a fascinating mineral that exists in the Earth’s transition zone.
• It has a unique crystal structure that allows it to absorb water and hydrogen, acting like a sponge. This mineral can hold a significanat amount of water.
• It is a rare type of mineral that forms from olivine under very high pressures and temperatures.
• The weight of hundreds of kilometers of rock and very high temperatures above 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 Fahrenheit) break down water into its components.
• When the minerals containing this water reach certain depths, they break down in a process called dehydration and release the water to form magmas.
• Such "dehydration melting" is common in the shallow mantle and forms the source for magmas in many volcanoes.

Implications for Earth’s water cycle

• The discovery of this deep water reservoir has significant implications for our understanding of the Earth’s water cycle.
• It suggests that water can be transported to the Earth’s surface from deep within its mantle, contributing to the water found in oceans, rivers, and lakes.

This internal water source could also play a role in volcanic activity and the formation of new crust.

Q1: What are Critical Minerals?

A mineral is critical when the risk of supply shortage and associated impact on the economy is (relatively) higher than other raw materials.These minerals are essential for economic development and national security.

Source: Gigantic Ocean Discovered 700 km Below Earth's Surface, Holds Three Times More Water Than All Oceans Combined

About Ethylene Oxide

• It is a flammable gas with a somewhat sweet odor. It dissolves easily in water.
• It appears as a clear colorless gas with an ethereal odor.
• Ethylene oxide is a man-made chemical that is used primarily to make ethylene glycol.
• Applications: A small amount (less than 1%) is used to control insects in some stored agricultural products and a very small amount is used in hospitals to sterilize medicalequipment and supplies.

Health impacts: It mainly impacts human central nervous system depression and irritation of the eyes and mucous membranes. Chronic exposure to ethylene oxide in humans can cause irritation of the eyes, skin, nose, throat, and lungs, and damage to the brain and nervous system.

Q1: What is ethylene glycol?

Ethylene glycol is a colourless and odourless alcoholic compound that can be fatal if consumed. The sweet-tasting ethylene glycol is a syrupy or viscous liquid at room temperature.

Source: Singapore recalls Everest Fish Curry Masala over alleged pesticide content

About Parkinson Plus Syndrome

• It is a neurodegenerative disorder that manifest in a similar fashion to Parkinson’s Disease.
• It is also called atypical parkinsonism, refers to a group of neurodegenerative movement disorders that resemble idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) with certain distinguishing clinical and pathophysiological features.
• They attack the brain cells and nerves and lead to movement disorders, just like Parkinson’s.
• There are several conditions that are categorized as Parkinson’s Plus Syndrome, some of which include;
  • Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), Lewy Body Dementia (LBD), and Corticobasal Ganglionic Degeneration (CBGD).
• The cause of Parkinson’s Plus Syndrome is unknown, with a combination of genetic and environmental factors usually held responsible.
• Symptoms
  • Tremors in one hand
  • Balance and coordination problems
  • Difficulty walking or shuffling gait
  • Stiffness in the jaw or reduced facial expressions

Treatment: Medication can help some people move more easily and feel less stiff.

Q1: What is the nervous system?

The nervous system is a complex network of cells, tissues, and organs that coordinate and control the functions of the body. It is responsible for receiving, processing, and responding to sensory information from the environment.

Source: 65-year-old patient from France receives India’s first high cervical spinal cord stimulation for Parkinson Plus Syndrome