Organization of Islamic Cooperation

• It is an international organization founded in 1969, consisting of 57 member states.
• Its administrative centre is located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
• Turkey currently holds the chairmanship of the organization.
• The organisation works to safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony.
• India is not a member to this organisation but was invited to the meeting as a guest of honour in 2019.
• However, Pakistan skipped the meeting citing the Indian minister‘s presence.
• Recent Developments - The 47th session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers was held at Niamey, Niger.
• India hit out at the OIC for making factually incorrect and unwarranted references to J&K; this necessitates a closer look at India‘s relations with OIC and its member nations.

• Protests were started in Thailand in July, 2020, seeking the removal of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and demanding reform of the Thai monarchy.
• A large yellow rubber duck has become a symbol of Thailand’s protest.
• The inflatable ducks had initially been brought out onto the streets as a joke and to mock the government and the monarchy.
• But they took on a new role as the Thai government’s crackdown on the protests intensified.
• The protestors had used these ducks as shields and advanced towards police lines when police forces began firing water cannons.
• Thai social media users around the world have also taken to various platforms to share content related to the protests using the hashtag #RubberDuck.

• INTACH is pushing to get recognition of a UNESCO Global Geo Park for Visakhapatnam consisting of:

1. ErraMattiDibbalu (red sand dunes),
2. Natural rock formations at Mangamaripeta,
3. Million-years-old Borra Caves,
4. Volcanic ash deposits in Araku Valley.

UNESCO Global Geoparks

• They are single, unified geographical areas where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed with a holistic concept of protection, education and sustainable development.
• A UNESCO Global Geopark uses its geological heritage, in connection with all other aspects of the area’s natural and cultural heritage, to enhance awareness and understanding of key issues.
• A UNESCO Global Geopark is given this designation for a period of four years after which the functioning and quality of each UNESCO Global Geopark is thoroughly re-examined during a revalidation process.
• UNESCO Global Geopark status does not imply restrictions on any economic activity inside a UNESCO Global Geopark where that activity complies with indigenous, local, regional and/or national legislation.
• UNESCO Global Geoparks give local people a sense of pride in their region and strengthen their identification with the area.
• India does not have any UNESCO Global Geo Park as of now.

• The Asteroid Apophis was discovered in 2004 and since then it was revealed that the probability of a collision are almost negligible.
• It was earlier predicted to pass really close to Earth in 2068.
• But, according to the new calculations, the asteroid is drifting away from its original orbit now.

Yarkovsky Effect

• The asteroid’s orbit has been disturbed by the heat it is taking from the Sun.
• This phenomenon is called Yarkovsky effect as it celestial object’s path changes due to heat energy being radiated asymmetrically.
• Basically, the heat that an asteroid radiates gives it a very tiny push.
• The warmer hemisphere [of the asteroid] would be pushing slightly more than the cooler hemisphere, and that causes the asteroid to drift away from what a purely gravitational orbit would predict.

• A study has found that nearly 28 per cent of particles collected from the air samples from a research station in the Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau were tarballs.

Tarballs

• Tarballs are formed from brown carbon, emitted during the burning of biomass or fossil fuels.
• Black Carbon (BC) is emitted mainly by high-temperature combustion processes (diesel engines, etc.) whereas Brown Carbon (BrC), emitted mainly by biomass combustion.
• Tarballs are small light-absorbing, carbonaceous particles that deposit on snow and ice.
• The percentage of the tarballs increased on days of higher levels of pollution and could contribute to hastening of glacial melt and global warming, the study said.
• Until now, black carbon was found to be transported long distances by wind to the Himalayan atmosphere; there was not sufficient direct evidence for Primary brown carbon (BrC) in the Himalayan atmosphere.
• Primary BrC co-emitted with black carbon (BC) from biomass burning is an important light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosol.
• The black carbon from the Indo-Gangetic Plain can reach the Himalaya region and influence glacial melting and climatic change.
• They suggested future climate models to consider the long-range transport of tarballs to the Himalayas to arrest climate change developments.

• So far, the cultivation of saffron – the most expensive spice – in India has been limited to a few areas in Jammu and Kashmir such as Pampore, Budgam, Srinagar and Kishtwar districts.
• The North East Centre for Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR), an autonomous body under the Department of Science and Technology, supported a pilot project to explore the feasibility of growing saffron in the northeast region of the country with same quality and in higher quantity.
• The project has yielded successful results in Yangyang village of South Sikkim because of its matching climatic and geographical conditions between Pampore (Kashmir) and Yangyang (Sikkim).
• Kashmiri Saffron was given GI Tag recently in July 2020.

Conditions for Saffron Production

• Saffron needs to remain underground for about 45 days at sub-zero temperatures.
• It also requires adequate rain, especially once sown in August.
• The pH level of the soil was a particularly important factor.

Noctiluca Scintillans

• The bloom of Noctiluca Scintillans, known as “sea sparkle” has been witnessed in the Karnataka coast.
• The bioluminescent green dinoflagellate N. Scintillans also brightened the sea water during night.
• It has displaced microscopic algae called diatoms (basis of the marine food chain), which has deprived food for the planktivorous fish.
• The species was found to accumulate toxic levels of ammonia.
• It is then excreted into the surrounding waters, possibly acting as the killing agent in blooms.
• N. Scintillans acts as both a plant and an animal.
• It grazes on other micro-organisms such as larvae, fish eggs, and diatoms.
• The phytoplankton that live inside it can photosynthesise, turning sunlight into energy.

• The FELUDA paper strip test has been developed by CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB) and has been approved by the Drug Controller General of India for a commercial launch.
• FELUDA is an acronym for FNCAS9 Editor-Limited Uniform Detection Assay.
• It uses CRISPR-Cas technology for the detection of genes specific to SARS-CoV-2 virus.
• Feluda resembles a home pregnancy paper-strip test and delivers results in around 40 minutes.