1) Light mantled albatross: Asia’s first sighting of Light-mantled Albatross (Phoebetria palpebrate), a species native to the Antarctic seas, was recorded in Rameswaram and adjoining islets of the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park
- The Light-mantled Albatross, with broad pelagic habits, maintains a circumpolar distribution in the Southern Ocean.
- Listed as a ‘Near Threatened’ species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature
2) DOLUTEGRAVIR (DTG): The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recommended the use of the HIV drug dolutegravir (DTG) as the preferred first-line and second-line treatment for all populations, including pregnant women and those of childbearing potential.
- Dolutegravir (DTG), sold under the brand name Tivicay, is an antiretroviral medication used, together with other medication, to treat HIV/AIDS.
3) Johar’ greeting: Johar’, which essentially means ‘salutation and welcome’, is used within the tribal communities of Jharkhand, and in parts of Chhattisgarh and Odisha. According to several tribal leaders from Jharkhand, the word ‘Johar’ also means ‘paying respect’.
- Tribal communities are nature worshippers and follow Sarna religion code, although it is not an official religion.
4) International Space Station: The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station, or a habitable artificial satellite, in low Earth orbit.
- Its first component launched into orbit in 1998, and the ISS is now the largest human-made body in low Earth orbit.
- It circles the Earth in roughly 92 minutes and completes 15.5 orbits per day.
- The ISS serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which crew members conduct experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology, and other fields.
- The ISS programme is a joint project between five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada)
5) New Ramsar sites: India has designated five new wetlands of international importance, taking the total number of Ramsar sites in the country to 54.
- The new sites are Karikili Bird Sanctuary, Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest & Pichavaram Mangrove in Tamil Nadu, Pala wetland in Mizoram and Sakhya Sagar in Madhya Pradesh.
- The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, an international treaty, aims at the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. Named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, the convention was signed in 1971.
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