Daily Current Affairs and News Analysis 04-02-2025

Gyan Bharatam Mission Announced: The Union Budget 2025-26 launched the Gyan Bharatam Mission, focusing on the survey, documentation, and conservation of India’s manuscript heritage.

Scope: The mission aims to cover over one crore manuscripts.

Objective: To preserve manuscripts held by academic institutions, museums, libraries, and private collectors.

Key Component: Digital Repository: A national digital repository of the Indian knowledge system will be created.

Repository Function: The repository will facilitate knowledge sharing by digitizing and centralizing India’s traditional knowledge. It will be accessible to researchers, students, and institutions worldwide.

Manuscript Definition: Manuscripts are handwritten compositions (on various materials) dating back at least 75 years with scientific, historical, or aesthetic value. Lithographs and printed volumes are excluded.

NMM Revived & Budget Hike: The budget allocation for the National Manuscripts Mission (NMM), which was established in 2003, has been increased significantly from ₹3.5 crore to ₹60 crore. NMM aims to identify, document, and make manuscript heritage accessible.

Culture Ministry Allocation: The overall allocation for the Culture Ministry has been increased by approximately ₹100 crore.

Purpose of the mission: The mission will enable India to preserve and protect the invaluable wisdom and knowledge held by these manuscripts found across the country.

GARBH-INi-DRISHTI Launch: The launch of GARBH-INi-DRISHTI, a data repository, is a significant advancement. It’s South Asia’s largest maternal and child health database, providing extensive data on pregnant women, newborns, and postpartum mothers.

Comprehensive Data: The platform offers access to clinical data, images, and biospecimens from over 12,000 participants.

Research Empowerment: It aims to empower researchers globally, enabling transformative research to improve maternal and neonatal health outcomes.

Collaboration and Discovery: GARBH-INi-DRISHTI facilitates collaboration and promotes impactful discoveries in maternal and child health.

Focus on Preterm Birth: The initiative focuses on Maternal and Child Health and develops prediction tools for preterm birth.

Department of Biotechnology Initiative: It’s an initiative under the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science & Technology.

THSTI Leadership: The program is led by the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), NCR Biotech cluster, Faridabad.

Part of UNaTI: It’s part of the Atal Jai Anusandhan Biotech Mission – Undertaking Nationally Relevant Technology Innovation (UNaTI).

First Ferret Research Facility: Alongside GARBH-INi-DRISHTI, India’s first Ferret Research Facility was dedicated, enhancing the fight against infectious and non-communicable diseases.

Technology Transfer Agreement: A Technology Transfer Agreement was executed between THSTI and M/s Sundyota Numandis Probioceuticals Pvt. Ltd. for commercialization of innovative consortium for applications.

Trump’s Withdrawal and its Impact: The WHO is facing a significant crisis due to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the agency. This has caused financial concerns as the U.S. is the biggest donor, providing approximately 14% of the WHO’s budget ($988 million for 2024-2025). The WHO chief has asked global leaders to lean on Washington to reverse this decision.

Financial Strain and Program Cuts: The agency’s health emergencies program is heavily reliant on U.S. funding. With the U.S. exit, numerous programs in the Middle East, Ukraine, Sudan, polio-eradication, and HIV programs are at risk. WHO officials have warned of potential cash flow problems by 2026 and the need to cut costs.

U.S. Contributions & Dependence: The U.S. funds crucial work such as tuberculosis efforts in Europe (95%) and Africa (60%+). The U.S. has also yet to settle its owed contributions for 2024.

Reactions and Future Plans: Countries are asking about WHO’s plans to cope with the loss of U.S. funding and the health programs that will be cut. A document suggests a proposal to reduce each major department or office. The WHO Director-General has said that they are still providing the U.S. some data. The WHO chief also states that the U.S. exit is more about the “void” in outbreak details and other critical health information.

WHO’s Role: The World Health Organization is a United Nations specialized agency established in 1948, with the objective of the attainment by all people of the highest possible level of health. It provides leadership on global health, sets norms, offers technical support, and monitors health trends.

Nesting in Chennai: Black kites have been found nesting in tower structures in Chennai, which is unusual as compared to their migrating counterparts.

Opportunistic Hunters: Black kites are known for their opportunistic hunting behavior, often scavenging for food.

Appearance and Habitat: They are medium-sized raptors with brown plumage, dark eyes, and a hooked beak. They inhabit diverse habitats including wetlands, grasslands, and woodlands across Australasia, Eurasia, and Africa.

Graceful Flight: The article emphasizes the black kite’s graceful flight, contrasting it with the more aggressive behavior displayed when defending their nests. Their flying skills are mimicked by crows.

Breeding and Nesting Behavior: Some black kites build nests and raise young in Chennai, unlike migratory birds. The nests are constructed from materials like metal wires and stones, a common trait for raptors.

Conservation Status: Classified as “Least Concern” by IUCN and protected under Schedule-II of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

New Cardamom Cousins Identified: An international research team has discovered six new species closely related to Elettaria cardamomum (green cardamom). This brings the total number of species in the Elettaria genus to seven.

Reclassification: Four of the newly identified species were previously classified under the Alpinia genus.

New Species from Kerala: Two new species, Elettaria facifera and Elettaria tulipifera, were discovered in Kerala’s Western Ghats region, specifically the Periyar Tiger Reserve and Agasthyamalai hills.

Economic Importance: Green cardamom is a highly valuable spice globally, ranking among the top most valuable, after saffron and vanilla, making these findings significant for future spice production.

Conservation Concerns: Researchers emphasize the importance of conservation efforts for the newly discovered species, which face threats from both natural and human activities.

Botanical Significance: The discovery expands the understanding of the Elettaria genus, potentially leading to further studies on the uses and variations within this ginger lineage.

Origin and Cultivation: Cardamom is native to the Western Ghats in South India. It is cultivated mainly in Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. It thrives in forest loamy, acidic soils at elevations of 600-1500 m, with temperatures between 10-35°C and rainfall of 1500-4000 mm.

Location: Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve is situated in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh.

Notable Tiger Death: “Chhota Bheem”, a well-known tiger from Bandhavgarh, recently died while receiving treatment for injuries.

Geographical Features: The reserve is nestled in the Satpura and Vindhya mountain ranges and features valleys, hills, and plains.

Historical Significance: The park is named after the ancient Bandhavgarh Fort. Legend says the fort was given to Lakshmana by Lord Rama, thus the name “Bandhavgarh” (Brother’s Fort).

Area: It spans 1536 sq. km., including a 716 sq. km. core zone and an 820 sq. km. buffer zone.

Tiger Density: Bandhavgarh is known for having one of the highest densities of tigers globally.

Flora: The region’s vegetation primarily consists of evergreen Sal forests, mixed forests, and grasslands.

Fauna: Besides tigers, the reserve is home to leopards, sloth bears, Indian bison (gaur), and various deer species.

• Why: Projects lacked necessary approvals from key environmental bodies (MoEF&CC, CZMA, PCB, NBWL) and were launched without sufficient ecological or hydrological studies.

• Why: The lake is a crucial flood-balancing reservoir and provides habitat for migratory birds, falling within the Central Asian Flyway.

• Why: These projects threaten the lake’s hydrology, biodiversity, and eco-sensitive zone.

• Why: The NGT considered the potential adverse impacts and mandated
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  a comprehensive evaluation of the projects.

• Why: Due to Kolleru lake’s ecological significance and the obligations under Ramsar Convention and domestic environmental law.