Current Affair 1:

First dataset on tree-moss dwelling diatoms from Mizoram’s Blue Mountains

 

News:

But important here is to learn

1. Diatoms
2. About Blue Mountains

Invisible to the naked eye, diatoms are single-celled alga with a transparent, intricately designed cell wall made of silica.

Diatoms are critical to the marine food chain and Earth’s carbon cycle, sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide to the ocean interior through the gravitational sinking of particles (biological carbon pump).

Diatoms have light-absorbing molecules (chlorophylls a and c) that collect energy from the sun and turn it into chemical energy through photosynthesis.

Through carbon fixation, diatoms remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. The CO2 is converted to organic carbon in the form of sugar, and oxygen (O2) is released. We breathe the oxygen that diatoms release.

Diatoms produce long-chain fatty acids. Diatoms are an important source of these energy rich molecules that are food for the entire food web, from zooplankton to aquatic insects to fish to whales.

Diatoms are particular about the quality of water in which they live. For example, species have distinct ranges of pH and salinity where they will grow. Diatoms also have ranges and tolerances for other environmental variables, including nutrient concentration, suspended sediment, flow regime, elevation, and for different types of human disturbance. As a result, diatoms are vital for assessment and monitoring biotic condition of waters.

About Blue Mountain:

Phawngpui, also known as Blue Mountain, is the highest mountain peak in the Mizo Hills (Lushai Hills) and in the state of Mizoram, India,[3] with an elevation of 2157m. It is in Lawngtlai district, in the south-eastern region of Mizoram near the Myanmar border.

Current Affair 2:

Wassenaar Arrangement (WA)

 

News:

How are regulations on export controls implemented in the Wassenaar Arrangement?

Export controls are implemented by each individual Wassenaar Arrangement Participating State. Although the scope of export controls in Participating States is determined by Wassenaar Arrangement lists, practical implementation varies from country to country in accordance with national procedures.

 

How are Wassenaar Arrangement decisions taken?

All decisions are taken by consensus and the deliberations are kept in confidence.

The Secretariat is located in Vienna (Austria).

 

Current Affair 3:

International Lusophone Festival

 

News:

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in partnership with Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the Government of Goa is organizing the International Lusophone Festival in Goa from 03-06 December 2022. The festival seeks to further India’s connect with the Lusophone world.

Goa has had historical linkages with the Lusophone world, which has been nurtured through the presence of Portuguese cultural institutions which promote Portuguese language and culture in India. This has deepened our economic, cultural co-operation and people-to-people ties with the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) member countries.

The Community of Portuguese Language Countries also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth, is a multilateral forum, founded on 17 July 1996 at the 1st CPLP Heads of State & Government Summit in Lisbon.

The founding members were Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and Sao Tome and Principe; while Timor Leste and Equatorial Guinea joined later. These 9 Lusophone countries comprise approximately 300 million people in 4 different continents (Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe).

India joined CPLP as an associate observer in July 2021. As part of India’s engagement with CPLP, the Ministry of External Affairs celebrated the World Portuguese Language Day in Delhi on 05 May 2022, soon after joining CPLP. This festival is also part of our efforts to further this engagement.

Current Affair 4:

Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)

 

The Indian Ocean Rim Association is an inter-governmental organisation which was established on 7 March 1997.

The vision for IORA originated during a visit by late President Nelson Mandela of South Africa to India in 1995, where he said:

Member States:

 

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