1) Blastomycosis: It is an infection caused by a fungus of the genus Blastomyces.
- It is found in moist soil and decomposing wood and leaves in US and can get dispersed in the air and travel freely. Human beings can contract blastomycosis by inhaling the spores.
- It is not contagious between animals and people through the air.
- The symptoms of blastomycosis in animals are similar to the symptoms in humans.
2) Supreme Court verdicts on LGBTQ rights:
- ‘Suresh Koushal v Union of India’ (2013) upheld the constitutional validity of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code
- NALSA v Union of India (2014): the court affirmed the constitutional rights of transgender persons under Articles 14, 15, 19 and 21 of the Constitution.
- KS Puttaswamy v Union of India (2017): a nine-judge Bench of the Supreme Court unanimously recognised the right to privacy as a fundamental right under the Constitution. Sexual orientation is an essential component of identity.
- Shafin Jahan v Union of India (2018): The ruling recognised the right to choose one’s partner as a facet of the fundamental right to liberty and dignity.
- Shakti Vahini v Union of India (2018): In the ruling, the Court recognised the right to choose a life partner as a fundamental right.
- Navtej Johar v Union of India (2018): A five-judge Constitution Bench struck down IPC Section 377 to the extent that it criminalised homosexuality.
- Deepika Singh vs Central Administrative Tribunal (2022): The ruling recognised “atypical” families, including queer marriages, which could not be confined in the traditional parenting roles.
3) Deadnaming: A deadname is essentially the name that a trans, non-binary, and/or gender-expansive person was called before they adopted a more self-affirming name.
- The act of, intentionally or not, calling a trans, non-binary, and/or gender-expansive person by the deadname is known as deadnaming, which can lead to adverse consequences.
- Deadnaming is harmful because refusing to use a person’s chosen name or pronouns is a form of transphobia or cissexism.
- Twitter has removed a policy that prohibited misgendering or deadnaming of transgender people on the social media platform.
4) Tangsa Naga: The Tangshang people, also known as the Tangsa Naga, are a Tibeto-Burmese ethnic group inhabiting the Northeast Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, and across the border in Sagaing Region and parts of Kachin State of Myanmar. They are a scheduled group under the Indian Constitution (where they are listed under ‘other Naga tribes’) and there are many sub-groups within Tangsa on both sides of the border.
5) TeLEOS-2: It is a Singaporean Earth Observation satellite built by ST Electronics (Satellite Systems).
- It is designed to capture satellite imagery in all-weather and round-the-clock conditions.
- The 750 kg satellite will be launched into a Low Earth Orbit.
- It carries a made-in-Singapore Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) capable of providing 1 m resolution data.
- Applications: It will provide high-resolution imagery for various applications such as disaster management, resource monitoring, and environmental monitoring.
- ISRO will soon launch Singapore’s TeLEOS-2 satellite from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
