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📰 Coxsackievirus strains causing HFMD outbreaks in Kerala. • The ongoing outbreaks of Hand Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) in many parts of Kerala are caused by Coxsackievirus A6 and Coxsackievirus A16, with both strains currently circulating in the State, according to virology profiling done at the Insti-tute of Advanced Virology in the capital. • Coxsackievirus A6 is said to cause more serious symptoms. While no correlating clinical data is forthcoming, there are reports that in many cases, lesions can be seen all over the body and not just hand and foot. • HFMD usually appears with fever, rashes or blisters on the skin and painful sores in the mouth. • The infection, while mild, is very contagious and can spread through person-to-person contact and through aerosol transmission of respiratory droplets containing virus particles which are released when the infected person sneezes or coughs. • With isolation and symptom management, the infection resolves within seven to 10 days. Rare complications include brain infections or meningitis, but it is not clear if such instances have been reported in the State. 📰 Lt Gen M. Subramanian appointed Force Commander of UN Mission in South Sudan. • United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday announced the appointment of Lt Gen Mohan Subramanian of India as Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). He succeeds Lt Gen Shailesh Tinaikar also from India. • Indian Army continues to play a lead role in UN Peacekeeping with presence in eight out of 14 UN missions worldwide and currently has over 5,400 military personnel deployed in challenging circumstances under the UN flag, the Army said. • Indian Army has a large presence in United Nations Missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lebanon, South Sudan, Golan Heights, Syria, Western Sahara, Abyei and Cyprus. India is also deploying an infantry Battalion Group in UNISFA (Abyei), a statement on the Army website stated. 📰 COVID precaution dose can be had 6 months after second jab. • The Health Ministry, on Wednesday, decided to reduce the gap between the second dose and precaution dose of COVID-19 vaccine to 6 months for all adults in view of the recommendation by National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI). • Earlier, the time interval between the second vaccine shot and the precaution dose was nine months. • Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that technology is now being used as an enabler and will be integrated with other ecosystems. • We had the digital CoWin global conclave last year and several countries who participated were interested in CoWIN. • Guyana with which India signed a Memorandum of Understanding is poised to use the CoWin platform for their vaccination program,’’ he said. □ About Guyana 🇬🇾: • Guyana is a South American nation. • It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north, by Suriname to the east, by Brazil to the south and southwest, and by Venezuela to the west.

Places, Species, Other names in News (June 2022) Part 3: □ Other names: ● New Development Bank (NDB) - NDB was established by the member nations of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) in 2015. Its headquarters is in Shanghai, China. ● Pokkali paddy - Pokkali paddy, an organically cultivated, is a GI tagged indigenous saltwater resistant variety in Kerala. ● Reang tribe - Reang (Bru) tribes are the second largest tribal community of Tripura. They are recognized as one of the 75 Primitive Vulnerable Tribal Groups in India. Their language is known as “Kaubru”. Reangs belongs to Indo-Mongoloid racial stock. Reang tribes are found in Tripura, Mizoram and Assam. ● Ancovax - The Ancovax Vaccine is an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 Delta (COVID-19) vaccine for animals. The immunity induced by Ancovax neutralises both Delta and Omicron Variants of SARS-CoV-2. Globally India is the third to produce SARS-CoV-2 vaccine for animals. ● Yersinia pestis - This bacterium is responsible for the Black Death pandemic in the 1300s (AD1346-1353). It has been traced back to a 14th century outbreak in what is now Kyrgyzstan. ● CAN-COV-2 ELISA - It is a diagnostic kit which is a sensitive and specific nucleocapsid protein based indirect ELISA Kit for antibody detection against SARS-COV-2 in canines. ● Zika Virus - Zika virus (ZIKV), a vector-borne flavivirus, is transmitted by the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes, mainly Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. ● Prison - State subject under State List of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. ● Education - Concurrent list. ● Salmonella Typhi - Salmonella Typhi bacteria cause Typhoid fever. ● Bonalu - Bonalu is a month long folk festival dedicated to Goddess Kali. Bonalu was declared as the official state festival of Telangana in 2014. It is celebrated every year in the Telugu month of Ashadham (falling in June/July). ● Rakthashali, Kuruva, Thavalakannan, Kunju kunju red rice, Njavara - Rice varieties.

Places, Species, Other names in News (June 2022) Part 2: □ Other names: ● IN-SPACE - In Ahmedabad, the Prime Minister inaugurated the headquarters of the National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACE), which has been set up to promote private investment and innovation in the space sector. ● DAVINCI Mission - NASA's Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging (DAVINCI) mission is the first mission to study Venus using both spacecraft flybys and a descent probe. It will measure critical aspects of Venus’ massive atmosphere climate system for the first time. ● Type 1 diabetes - Type-I diabetes is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin. ● Kranti Gatha - The 'Gallery of Indian Revolutionaries' called 'Kranti Gatha' has been created in the British-era bunker discovered below the Governor's residence, Raj Bhavan in 2016. ● Fortification : Fortification is the practice of increasing the content of essential micronutrient — vitamins and minerals in food. ● Fortified rice - “Rice can be fortified by adding a micronutrient powder to it that adheres to the grains or by spraying the surface of ordinary rice grains, in several layers, with a vitamin and mineral mix...,” according to WHO. ● Sir M Visvesvaraya Railway Terminal in Bengaluru became India's first centralized AC Railway Terminal. ● Yaba - Yaba is an expensive recreational drug. It is a combination of methamphetamine and caffeine which produces powerful effects. It is also called “madness drug”. The drug itself is manufactured in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and is incredibly dangerous and addictive. ● Antarctic Treaty, 1959 - The treaty was signed in 1959 to ensure that the continent remains the preserve of science, and free of arms. ● Betelgeuse - It's a red supergiant star. It is the second brightest star in the constellation Orion and the 10th brightest star in the night sky.  ● Fujian - It is China's 3rd Aircraft carrier. It is China's biggest and most modern aircraft carrier. It is the "first catapult aircraft carrier wholly designed and built by China". ● Prepaid Payment Instrument - PPIs are instruments that facilitate purchase of goods and services, financial services, and remittance facilities, against the value stored therein. ● Azooxanthellate corals - Azooxanthellate corals are a group of corals that do not contain zooxanthellae and derive nourishment not from the sun but from capturing different forms of plankton.

Places, Species, Other names in News (June 2022): Part 1: □ Places: ● Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, Kaziranga National Park - Assam. ● Kuno Palpur wildlife sanctuary - Madhya Pradesh. ● Chilika lake - Odisha. It is Asia's largest brackish water lagoon. World's first fishing cat census done in Chilika. ● Kheer Bhavani temple - Jammu and Kashmir. ● Black Sea - The countries bordering Black Sea are: Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania. ● Aegean island - Aegan island is located in the Aegean sea. Aegean Sea is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, located between the Greek peninsula on the west and Turkey on the east. Greece and Turkey have dispute on Aegean island. ● Thailand - Thailand is the first Asian country to legalise marijuana for its consumption in food and drinks but smoking pot is still banned. ● Atapaka Bird Sanctuary - Andhra Pradesh. ● Kolleru lake - Andhra Pradesh. ● Mahakali temple - The temple is said to have been destroyed by 15th century Gujarat ruler Sultan Mahmud Begda (1458 to 1511), who had set up his capital in Champaner near Pavagadh after defeating the Rajput rulers. • Begda was the most prominent ruler of Gujarat Sultanate and had earned title Begda, after conquering two main forts of Gujarat: Junagadh and Pavagadh. • The rebuilding of Mahakali temple at Pavagadh is part of the ‘Gaurav yatra’. • Champaner was briefly the capital of Gujarat Sultanate after Mahmud Begda won the hill fortress of Pavagadh. Today, Champaner Pavagadh Archeological Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site. ● Ramgarh Vishdhari Wildlife Sanctuary (India's 52nd Tiger Reserve) - Rajasthan. It is Rajasthan’s fourth, after Ranthambore, Sariska and Mukundra. ● Cox Bazar - Bangladesh. ● Negev desert - Israel. ● Strait of Hormuz - Strait of Hormuz is located between Oman and Iran. It connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. ● Kaliningrad - Kaliningrad is a part of Russia but separated from the mainland of Russia. It is located between Poland and Lithuania. ● Kahmu Wuya Lake - Arunachal Pradesh ● Keoladeo Ghana, and Sambhar Salt Lake (Both are Ramsar sites) - Rajasthan. ● Lake Issyk Kul - Kyrgyzstan. ● Jagadamba temple - Telangana. ● Golconda Fort - Telangana. □ Species: ● Jumping spider (Pseudomogrus sudhii) - This species inhabits dry grass blades of the desert. It is found in the Thar desert of Rajasthan. ● Red-headed vulture, and White-rumped vulture - Critically Endangered (IUCN Red List). ● Steppe Eagle, Banasura Chi lappan and Nilgiri Chilappan - Endangered (IUCN Red List). □ Other names: ● Astra Mk-1 - Astra Mk-1 is an indigenously developed beyond visual range (BVR), air-to-air missile (AAM). • The missile has been designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for deployment on fighter jets. ● Nordic countries – Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland. ● Abraham Accords - The Abraham Accords are the peace agreements between Israel - UAE and Israel - Bahrain, mediated by the USA. The agreements were signed on 15 September, 2020. ● Fat finger - In market parlance, a 'fat finger' trade is an erroneous action resulting from pressing a wrong key. ● Over-the-counter medicines - OTC medicines are drugs you can buy without a prescription. It is also known as Non-prescription medicine. ●  Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), Australia Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement - All these groupings are multilateral export control regimes. India is a member in all these groups. ● Yudh Abhyas - It is a bilateral Army exercise between India and USA. ● PM Shri Schools - The government is in the process of establishing model schools that will be called ‘PM Shri Schools’. “PM Shri Schools will be the laboratory of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. They will be fully equipped to prepare students for the future,”. ● Dyscalculia - It is a learning disability that makes it hard for kids to understand, learn and do math.  ● Operation Ganga - Centre launches "Operation Ganga" to bring back citizens stranded in Ukraine.

📰 Andhra Pradesh tops country in Ease of Doing Business (EoDB): • Andhra Pradesh has topped the Business Reform Action Plan 2020 Rankings in the Ease of Doing Business. • Andhra Pradesh is on top in EoDB with a 97.89% score followed by Gujarat with 97.77% score, Tamil Nadu with 96.97% and Telangana with 94.86%. • The Ease of Doing Business performance is adjudged by the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Union commerce ministry.  • The assessment of States/UTs based on the implementation of Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) 2020-2021jointly formulated by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and the World Bank. • The Centre said the broader aim is to boost investor confidence, foster business-friendly climate and augment ease of doing business by introducing an element of healthy competition by assessing states based on their performance in the implementation of Business Reforms Action Plan. • The BRAP 2020 includes 301 reform points covering 15 business regulatory areas such as Access to Information, Single Window System, Labour, Environment, Land Administration & Transfer of Land and Property, Utility Permits etc. • Sectoral reforms were introduced for the first time in BRAP 2020 wherein 72 reforms were identified across nine sectors, namely, trade licence, healthcare, legal metrology, hospitality, fire NOC, telecom, movie shooting and tourism, the Union commerce ministry said • The states/UTs were ranked under 4 categories such as Top achievers, Achievers, Aspirers and Emerging business ecosystems. • In the Top Achievers category, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Haryana, Karnataka and Punjab have been placed. • In the Achievers category, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh have been placed. • In the Aspirers category, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jharkhand, Kerala, Rajasthan and West Bengal have been placed. • In the Emerging Business Ecosystems category, Andaman & Nicobar, Bihar, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Puducherry and Tripura have been placed.

■ Balika Panchayat: • The country’s first-ever girl Panchayat, “Balika Panchayat”, which was started in several villages of Gujarat’s Kutch district. • "Balika Panchayat" is managed by people in the 11-21 age group. • Its main objective is to promote the social and political development of the girl child and to remove the evil practices from the society such as child marriage, and the dowry system. • It aims for girls to get their nominations done in decision making process in Panchayat. It seeks to make girls active in politics since childhood. • The Balika Panchayat initiative was started by the Women and Child Development Welfare department of Gujarat Government. It was launched under the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ campaign. • The concept has caught the attention of the Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani. The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development is also planning to begin the girl panchayat across the country.

■ Amrit Sarovar Mission: • It was launched on 24th April 2022. □ Purpose: • It is a water conservation mission. It is aimed at developing and rejuvenating 75 water bodies in each district of the country as a part of celebration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. • The Mission Amrit Sarovar is to be completed by 15th August 2023. At least 50,000 waterbodies are expected to be rejuvenated.

📰 Kerala to have its own regional red list of birds. • Kerala will soon have its own red list of birds. The Kerala Bird Monitoring Collective led by Kerala Agricultural University and the Bird Count India will conduct the regional red list assessment. • Once it gets ready, Kerala will be the first State to have a region-specific red list of birds. Assessment will be done on the basis of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines, says P.O. Nameer, Head of the Centre for Wildlife Studies, College of Forestry, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur. • "What we have now is the global IUCN red list. But there are limitations for the global assessment as it is a process prepared in a global context. A species seen common at the global level may be a threatened species at the regional level. The regional red list assessment also will be conducted according to the IUCN guidelines,” says Mr. Nameer. • The IUCN guidelines for preparing the red list have five main criteria. They are: 1) The population size reduction measured over 10 years or three generations. 2) Geographic range on the basis of extent of occurrence or area of occupancy. 3) Small population size and decline. 4) Very small or restricted population. 5) Quantitative analysis indicating the probability of extinction in the wild. • According to the global IUCN red list, Kerala has 64 threatened species of birds. In that, Red-headed vulture and White-rumped vulture are critically endangered. Steppe Eagle, Banasura Chilappan and Nilgirl Chilappan are endangered and 11 species are vulnerable. • The Kerala Bird Monitoring Collective is planning to prepare the red list for the State in a year. It will be a decentralised process like how the Kerala Bird Atlas was prepared. • According to the atlas, most of the endemics are concentrated in the Western Ghats while the threatened species are cited mostly along the coast. 📰 Countdown to Durga Puja begins. • The countdown for Durga Puja, West bengal's largest festival, began. • Durga Puja got UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage tag in December 2021. 📰 Udaipur’s ‘bird village’ to be declared Wetland. • Recognised as the “bird village” following community-driven conservation efforts, Menar in Udaipur district is set to be notified as Rajasthan's new wetland. This will pave the way for getting the Ramsar site status for this rural heartland of the Mewar region. • The two lakes in the village – the Brahma and Dhandh – play host to a large number of migratory birds in the winter season every year. • The State government's Forest Department has initiated the process for notification of Menar as a wetland, which will recognise its role in the storage of sediment and nutrients and enable the local authorities to maintain the Brahma and Dhandh lakes. • With the status of wetland, the two lakes will be strengthened for increasing vegetation of aquatic plants and protecting biodiversity. • Environmental activists in the region have high expectations of the declaration of Menar as a Ramsar site under the 1971 Ramsar convention on wetlands of international importance. At present, Rajasthan has two wetlands recognised as Ramsar sites – Keoladeo Ghana in Bharatpur district and Sambhar Salt Lake in Jaipur.

📰 Ban online gaming with stakes, recommends Justice Chandru Panel. • A committee headed by a retired Justice K Chandru constituted by the TN Government has provided its report to the TN Government on the need for regulating online games. • The Justice K. Chandru Committee, which looked into the adverse effects of online gaming with stakes, has recommended that the Tamil Nadu government ban it as well as advertisements that encourage people to play such games, by promulgating an ordinance. • In its report, which was submitted to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Monday, the panel also recommended that the State government insist on the Union government enacting a national-level law against online gaming with stakes under Article 252 of the Constitution. • The report contended that there was no skill involved in any of the online games, and they invariably made the players increasingly addicted and, eventually, indebted to the company. • Article 252 - Power of Parliament to legislate for two or more States by consent and adoption of such legislation by any other State. 📰 World Bank approves $250 mn loan for road safety. • The World Bank has approved a $250 million loan to support the Government of India's road safety programme for seven States under which a single accident reporting number will be set up to better manage post-crash events. • The India State Support Program for Road Safety, financed by the World Bank, will be implemented in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. • The $250 million variable spread loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a maturity of 18 years including a grace period of 5.5 years. • The project will also establish a national harmonised crash database system in order to analyse accidents and use that to construct better and safer roads. • It will also fund network expansion of basic and advanced life support ambulances and training of first responder caregivers to road crash victims on the spot. • The project will also provide incentives to the States to leverage private funding through Public Private Partnership (PPP) concessions and pilot initiatives. • According to a World Bank study, road crashes are estimated to cost the Indian economy between 5% to 7% of GDP a year. □ About International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD): • IBRD is the largest development bank in the world. It was created in 1944. • It supports the World Bank Group’s mission by providing loans, guarantees, risk management products, and advisory services to middle-income and creditworthy low-income countries, as well as by coordinating responses to regional and global challenges. 📰 India’s Gig workforce will grow to 2.35 crore by 2029-30: Niti Aayog study. • The government’s policy think tank Niti Aayog has recommended that measures should be taken to provide for social security, including paid leave, occupational disease and work accident insurance, support during irregularity of work and pension plans, for the gig workforce in the country, which is expected to grow to 2.35 crore by 2029-30. • According to the study released by Niti Aayog on Monday, the number of workers engaged in the gig economy is estimated to be 77 lakh in 2020-21. • India requires a framework that balances the flexibility offered by platforms while also ensuring social security of workers. • The think tank has also recommended introducing a ‘Platform India initiative’, on the lines of the ‘Startup India initiative’, built on the pillars of accelerating platformisation by simplification and handholding, funding support and incentives, skill development, and social financial inclusion. • It has suggested that self-employed individuals engaged in the business of selling regional and rural cuisine, street food, etc., may also be linked to platforms so that they can sell their produce to wider markets in towns and cities.