About Corals

• Corals are essentially animals, which are sessile, meaning they permanently attach themselves to the ocean floor.
• Corals share a symbiotic relationship with single-celled algae called zooxanthellae.
• The algae provide the coral with food and nutrients, which they make through photosynthesis, using the sun’s light.
• They use their tiny tentacle-like hands to catch food from the water and sweep into their mouth.
• Each individual coral animal is known as a polyp and it lives in groups of hundreds to thousands of genetically identical polyps that form a ‘colony’.
• Corals are largely classified as either hard coral or soft coral. It is the hard corals that are the architects of coral reefs — complex three-dimensional structures built up over thousands of years.
• Hard corals have stony skeletons made out of limestone that are produced by coral polyps. When polyps die, their skeletons are left behind and used as foundations for new polyps.
• Coral reefs, also referred to as “rainforests of the sea”, have existed on the Earth for nearly 450 million years.
• Significance of corals: Coral reefs have a crucial role in marine ecosystems. Thousands of marine species can be found living on one reef. 

What is Coral Bleaching?

• It happens when corals experience stress in their environment due to changes in temperature, pollution or high levels of ocean acidity.
• Under stressed conditions, the zooxanthellae or food-producing algae living inside coral polyps start producing reactive oxygen species, which are not beneficial to the corals.
• So, the corals expel the colour-giving zooxanthellae from their polyps, which exposes their pale white exoskeleton, giving the corals a bleached appearance.
• This also ends the symbiotic relationship that helps the corals to survive and grow.
• Reasons for Coral Bleaching
  • Change in Ocean Temperature: Increased Ocean temperature caused by climate change is the leading cause of coral bleaching.
  • Runoff and Pollution: Storm generated precipitation can rapidly dilute ocean water and runoff can carry pollutants, which can bleach near shore corals.
  • Overexposure to sunlight: When temperatures are high, high solar irradiance contributes to bleaching in shallow water corals.
  • Extremely low tides: Exposure to the air during extremely low tides can cause bleaching in shallow corals.

Q1: What is Symbiosis?

It is defined as a close, prolonged association between two or more different biological species. This relationship can be symbiotic (mutualistic), where both parties involved benefit from the interaction, or it can be parasitic, where one party benefits while the other is harmed.

Source: Fourth global mass coral bleaching triggered: What are corals and why are they important?

About Panhala Fort 

• It is located in Maharashtra and occupies a prime place in the history of this state.
• Locally, the site was known as the abode of serpents and traditionally associated with the sage Parashar.
• It is strategically placed in proximity to the trade routes connecting the Sahyadri mountains, the Deccan plateau, and the Konkan coast, the fort became the centre of interest for several dynasties.
• The antiquity of the fort goes back to the Shilahara dynasty ruler Bhoja of 11th century CE.
• The fort, as evidenced by the different structures, reflects the transfer of power in the hands of the Yadavas of Devgiri, the Bahamani of Bidar, the Adilshahi of Bijapur, the Marathas and the Mughals.
• Features
  • The fort had 3 double walled gates, of which the eastern side gate; Chaar Darwaja is in ruins.
  • Teen Darwaja, the western gate is the main entrance with a pointed arch opening. Its inner gate is decorated with tracery design and is surrounded by a courtyard with arcade section. “A two-line Persian inscription written in Nasta’liq records its erection during the reign of Sultan Ibrahim Adil Shah I in 954 A.H. (1547-8 CE).
  • The Wagh Darwaja on the north appears hidden camouflaged by natural scarp that leads to a narrow pathway down the hill,
  • Some of the other structures include a three-storied tower called the Nayikinicha Sajja or the dancing girl’s tower, built during the reign of Ibrahim Adil Shah II in 1000 A.H. 1591 C.E., that is endowed with delicate stucco mouldings in the interior.
  • Ambarkhana: It is situated in the centre of the fort which consists of 3 buildings known as the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. It has sixteen bays each with its own flat vault with a hole on top.
  • Another granary is situated to its west called Dharma Kothi. It has a single staircase leading to its top.
  • Sajja Kothi is a double storied structure with upper gallery occupying the prominent and highest position on the hill and dated to the reign of Bijapur King Ibrahim Adilshah A.H. 1016 (1607-08 CE). 

Q1: What is a World Heritage site?

It is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). World Heritage sites are designated by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, scientific or other forms of significance.

Source: ASI educates and promotes Panhala Fort on World Heritage Day in Kolhapur

About Bitcoin halving 

• The halving refers to an alteration in the foundational blockchain technology of Bitcoin, aimed at decreasing the pace of generating new bitcoins.
• Since its creation by the pseudonymous figure Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin has been structured to possess a finite supply of 21 million tokens.
• The process of halving will persist until 2041, by which time all Bitcoins will have been mined.

How does it happen?

• Blockchain technology involves creating records of information - called 'blocks' - which are added to the chain in a process called 'mining'.
• Miners use computing power to solve complex mathematical puzzles to build the blockchain and earn rewards in the form of new bitcoin.
• The blockchain is designed so that a halving occurs every time 210,000 blocks are added to the chain, roughly every four years.
• At the halving, the amount of bitcoin available as rewards for miners is cut in half. This makes mining less profitable and slows the production of new bitcoins.

Impact the Crypto market

• Experts say that the halving event might impact Bitcoin's price as its heightened scarcity could result in upward pressure on prices and attract a wave of new investors to the cryptocurrency market.

Q1: What is Cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrencies are digital or virtual currencies in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of their units and verify the transfer of funds. These currencies operate independently of a central bank.

Source: Explained | Bitcoin's 'halving': what is it and does it matter?

About Indelible ink

• It contains silver nitrate. It is a colourless compound which becomes visible when exposed to ultraviolet light, including sunlight.
• The higher silver nitrate’s concentration, the higher the ink’s quality.
• For up to 72 hours after application it can remain resistant to soap, liquids, home-cleansing, detergents, etc.
• This water-based ink also contains a solvent like alcohol to allow its faster drying… The precise protocol for making this ink including its chemical composition and the quantity of each constituent is, however, not known to many people.”
• The indelible ink was first manufactured at the Election Commission of India’s request by the government’s Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR).
• Mysore Paints & Varnish Ltd. has been licensed to manufacture the ink and has been in the business since 1962.
• It is exported to more than 25 countries that include Canada, Ghana, Nigeria, Mongolia, Malaysia, Nepal, South Africa and the Maldives
• The Representation of the People Act (RoPA) of 1951mentions the ink.
  • Section 61 states that rules may be made under the Act “for the marking with indelible ink of the thumb or any other finger of every elector who applies for a ballot paper or ballot papers for the purpose of voting at a polling station before delivery of such paper or papers to him.”

Q1: What is Silver nitrate?

It is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula AgNO3. In its solid form, silver nitrate is coordinated in a trigonal planar arrangement. It is often used as a precursor to other silver-containing compounds.

Source: The story of indelible ink, a lasting symbol of Indian elections, and who makes it

About Euvichol-S

• It is the inactivated oral vaccine to treat Cholera.
• This new vaccine is the third product of the same family of vaccines which are there for cholera in WHO prequalification list.
• It is a simplified formulation of the oral cholera vaccine (OCV) Euvichol-Plus.
• Other inactivated oral cholera vaccines are Euvichol and Euvichol-Plus.

Key facts about Cholera

• It is an acute diarrhoeal disease that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.
• It remains a global threat to public health and an indicator of inequity and lack of social development.
• Symptoms
  • It is an extremely virulent disease that can cause severe acute watery diarrhoea. 
  • Profuse watery diarrhoea, Vomiting, Leg cramps etc.
• The disease can spread rapidly in areas with inadequate sewage and drinking water treatment.

Q1: What is vaccination?

Vaccination is a simple, safe, and effective way of protecting you against harmful diseases, before you come into contact with them. It uses your body’s natural defenses to build resistance to specific infections and makes your immune system stronger.

Source: WHO prequalifies new oral vaccine for cholera; Here’s what you need to know

About Llama 3

• Llama or Large Language Model Meta AI is a family of LLMs introduced by Meta AI in February 2023. 
• Features
  • It is claimed to be the most sophisticated model with significant progress in terms of performance and AI capabilities.
  • It is based on the Llama 2 architecture which has been released in two sizes, 8B and 70B parameters. Both sizes come with a base model and an instruction-tuned version that has been designed to augment performance in specific tasks.
  • Reportedly, the instruction-tuned version is meant for powering AI chatbots that are meant to hold conversations with users.
  • It supports context lengths of 8,000 tokens. This allows for more interactions, and complex input handling compared to Llama 2 or 1.
  • It can be used onFacebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and the web. It is readily available for developers as Meta has integrated the LLM into the Hugging Face ecosystem.
  • At present, Meta AI is available in English across the US on WhatsApp. 

Q1: What is a large language model (LLM)?

It is a type of artificial intelligence (AI) program that can recognize and generate text, among other tasks.LLMs are trained on huge sets of data—hence the name "large."

Source: What is Llama 3, Meta’s most sophisticated and capable large language model?

About Global Financial Stability Report

• It is a semiannual report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that assesses the stability of global financial markets and emerging-market financing.
• It is released twice per year, in April and October.
• Itfocuses on current conditions, especially financial and structural imbalances, that could risk an upset in global financial stability and access to financing by emerging-market countries.

Highlights of the report

• It has warned about the risks to the global financial system from persistent high inflation, rising lending in the unregulated credit market, and increasing cyber-attacks on financial institutions.
• Geopolitical risks such as the ongoing war in West Asia and Ukraine could affect aggregate supply and lead to higher prices. This, it believes, might stop central banks from lowering rates anytime soon.
• In calendar year 2023, India was the second-largest recipient of foreign capital after the U.S. But things could change quickly if western central banks signal that they could keep interest rates high for a long time.
• In its report also noted that the growing unregulated private credit market, in which non-bank financial institutions lend to corporate borrowers, is a growing concern as troubles in the market might affect the broader financial system in the future. 
• The borrowers in the private credit market may not be financially sound and noted that many of them do not have current earnings that exceed even their interest costs.

Q1: What Are Financial Markets?

Financial markets refer broadly to any marketplace where securities trading occurs, including the stock market, bond market, forex market, and derivatives market. Financial markets are vital to the smooth operation of capitalist economies.

Source: What is the outlook on the global economy? | Explained

About Soil Acidification

• It is a process where the soil pH decreases over time. This process is accelerated by agricultural production and can affect both the surface soil and subsoil.
• Acidic soils in India are widespread in the humid southwestern, northeastern and Himalayan regions.
• Some contributing factors to soil acidification include:
  • the application of high levels of ammonium-based nitrogen fertilisers to naturally acidic soils
  • leaching of nitrate nitrogen, originally applied as ammonium-based fertilizers
  • harvesting plant materials (plant material is alkaline so when it is removed the soil is more acidic than if the plant material had been returned to the soil).
• Impacts
  • Acidification creates an environment ripe for depletion of soil inorganic carbon, which is important for soil health, ecosystem services
  • Acidic soils affect crop growth and productivity by reducing the availability of plant nutrients. It also predisposes plants to other biotic and abiotic stress factors.

What is soil inorganic carbon?

• Inorganic carbon is found in ores and minerals, as opposed to organic carbon, which can be found in nature through plants and animals.

Q1: What is Pedology?

It is a scientific discipline concerned with all aspects of soils, including their physical and chemical properties, the role of organisms in soil production and in relation to soil character, the description and mapping of soil units, and the origin and formation of soils.

Source: Acidification may strip Indian soils of 3.3 billion tonnes of essential carbon, affecting crop growth, sequestration: Study

About Longevity India Initiative

• It is a project focused on efforts to extend human 'health span' and tackle ageing-related challenges.
• The initiative has also started a large-scale clinical study that will involve researchers from multiple IISc departments, clinicians, industry, philanthropists and civil society.
• This initiative seeks to enhance the understanding of ageing through both fundamental and applied research, and to develop solutions that can improve quality of life.
• It will leverage advanced research to develop interventions that can help manage age-related diseases more effectively, with an emphasis on promoting healthy ageing across India.
• Funding: The initiative has received initial grant funding support from Prashanth Prakash, Founding Partner, Accel India.
• Significance
  • India's elderly population projected to surge to 347 million by 2050, it is imperative that there is a need to leverage technology to provide accessible geriatric healthcare, nurture the silver economy and invest in digital systems that support ageing populations.

Q1: What is the Demographic dividend?

It refers to a period in a country's demographic transition when the proportion of the working-age population (typically ages 15 to 64) is larger than the dependent population (young children and elderly).

Source: IISc Launches 'Longevity India Initiative' to Pioneer Ageing Research in India

About World Heritage Day 

• It is also referred to as International Day for Monuments and it is observed on April 18.
• Objective: To raise awareness about monuments and other sites which form a part of our history and culture.
• Background
  • In 1982, The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) proposed the idea of observing World Heritage Day on April 18 every year. The following year, the proposal was approved at UNESCO's General Conference.
• Theme of 2024: The theme for this year's World Heritage Day is - Discover and experience diversity.
• Significance
  • The purpose of World Heritage Day is to raise awareness among local communities about protecting our cultural heritage. People from various places and backgrounds come together and exchange knowledge about their histories and customs.

What is the International Council on Monuments and Sites?

• It is a non-governmental organization, was founded in 1965 after the adoption of the Charter of Venice, in order to promote the doctrine and the techniques of conservation.
• It provides the World Heritage Committee with evaluations of properties with cultural values proposed for inscription on the World Heritage List, as well as with comparative studies, technical assistance and reports on the state of conservation of inscribed properties.

Q1: What is the World Heritage Committee?

It is a committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).The Committee is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund, and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States Parties.

Source: World Heritage Day 2024: Date, history, significance and all that you need to know