M Star

A team of astronomers have recently detected M star using Hobby-Eberly Telescope, which is not only the smallest star but it’s 100 times less luminous than sun.

• M Star is the smallest star in Earth’s solar system.
• It is not only smaller than the Sun in Earth’s solar system, but it’s 100 times less luminous than Sun.
• They are also known as red dwarfs.
• It is a Cool and dim star which are the most common stars in our galaxy.
• M dwarfs are the most common stars in the galaxy, making up over 70% of all stars.

Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI)

• Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) is an instrument to enable transparency in national and international climate politics.
• CCPI is an independent monitoring tool for tracking the climate protection performance of 59 countries and the European Union.
• Categories – The results are published in 4 categories that includes
  1. GHG emissions
  2. Renewable energy
  3. Energy use
  4. Climate policy
• Rating – Each country are given a rating in each category that includes Very High, High, Medium, Low, Very Low and Not included.
• No country was strong enough in all categories to achieve an overall very high rating and the top 3 places continue to remain vacant.
• Denmark remains the top-ranked country but does not perform well enough to earn an overall very high rating.
• India - India ranks 7th in CCPI, 2024 which has moved up one spot from the previous CCPI and remains among the highest performers.
• India receives a high ranking in the GHG Emissions and Energy Use categories, but a medium in Climate Policy and Renewable Energy.
• While India is the world’s most populous country, it has relatively low per capita emissions.
• Even though India is among the top performers, it needs to increase its share of renewable energy and raise its targets.
• Performance of G20 nations – India (7th), Germany (14th) and the EU (16th) are only 3 G20 countries/regions are among the high performers in CCPI 2024.
• 15 G20 countries receive an overall low or very low rating.
• Canada, Russia, the Republic of Korea, and Saudi Arabia are still the G20’s worst-performing countries.
• Performance of European Union – Overall, the EU rises three spots, to 16th, and now has a high overall ranking.
• 14 EU countries are among the high and medium performers, with Denmark (4th) and Estonia (5th) leading the overall ranking.

Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms (DRESS) Syndrome

Recently the government issued an advisory about the side effects of Meftal, a commonly consumed painkiller as it could lead to Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms (DRESS) syndrome.

• DRESS) Syndrome is a type of drug allergy that can occur as a hypersensitivity reaction to a large variety of medications.
• DRESS syndrome has 4 types of hypersensitivity reaction that includes various symptoms across body, fever, abnormalities in blood and inflammation of organs.
• It is a serious drug syndrome affecting the skin and other organs, with a mortality rate of up to 10%.
• Symptoms – It includes skin rash, fever, lymphadenopathy, haematological abnormalities and internal organ involvement, which shows between 2 and 6 or 8 weeks after taking the drug.
• Treatment – The most important step to treat DRESS Syndrome is to stop the medication involved in the reaction, and sometimes, no further treatment is needed.
• In certain cases, further treatment is needed to protect the organs from damage, such as with steroids, which can be given either intravenously or orally.
• Treatment with steroids can be needed for weeks or even months, and lab work is monitored carefully during this time.
• The average time to recovery is 6 to 9 weeks.
• Meftal-Spas is a commonly prescribed drug for a variety of conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, dysmenorrhoea, mild to moderate pain, inflammation, fever, and dental pain.

Dairy Methane Alliance

The Dairy Methane Alliance was recently at the COP 28 to reduce the methane emissions released by the diary sector.

• Dairy Methane Alliance is a global initiative to accelerate food industry action to drive down methane emissions from the diary sector.
• The initiative is led by the 6 dairy companies.
• The alliance was launched at the COP 28, UAE.
• The world's largest dairy companies will soon begin disclosing their methane emissions as part of a new global alliance.
• The 6 members of the Dairy Methane Action Alliance includes
  • Danone (DANO.PA)
  • Bel Group
  • General Mills (GIS.N)
  • Lactalis USA
  • Kraft Heinz (KHC.O)
  • Nestle (NESN.S)
• This global initiative accelerates action and accountability on methane across the dairy sector.
• By joining this ground-breaking initiative, signatory companies commit to annually account for and publicly disclose methane emissions within their dairy supply chains by end of 2024.
• The companies joining the alliance is also obliged to publish & implement a comprehensive methane action plan by the end of 2024.
• Environmental Defence Fund and the sustainability non-profit Ceres will hold these companies accountable as their plans are implemented.
• Methane emission – Livestock is responsible for about 30% of global anthropogenic methane emissions.
• A potent greenhouse gas, methane has 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide in the first twenty years after it enters the atmosphere.
• Agriculture is responsible for nearly 40% of human-caused methane emissions, the majority of which comes from livestock.
• Collective action on methane today will avoid the worst impacts of climate change in the near future.

Permakore

In recent times the Koya tribe have moved on from using traditional Indian Bison horns to palm leaves as a gesture of conservation of the Indian Bison to craft their traditional flute, Permakore.

• Permakore is traditional flute that is made from the Indian Bison horn.
• It is used by the indigenous Koya tribe inhabiting the Papikonda hill range in Andhra Pradesh.
• Another name for the Papikondalu hill range is the’ Bison hill range,’ which is derived from the fact that it is home to the Indian Bison.
• In the Koya language, ‘Permam’ stands for Indian Bison or Guar, and ‘Kore’ stands for ‘horn’ and thus, the flute made of Bison horn is called Permakore.
• Permakore is played at a designated time and place to give a call to the entire village to go hunting in the forest.
• This bond between the palm tree and Koyas can be dubbed as a new chapter in the tribe’s culture.
• The Koyas believe that a player could make the best Permakore with the palm leaf as he understands the intricacies of the craft.
• The palm-leaf instrument has a gentle curve like the Bison horn.
• The flute made of the leaf is sustainable for a few years but the one that is made of Bison horn can be used for generations if preserved.