Chinese Pink Dolphins

• Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin is a species of humpback dolphin inhabiting coastal waters of the eastern Indian and western Pacific Oceans.
• This species is often referred to as the Chinese white/pink dolphin in China (including Macao), Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore as a common name.
• IUCN Status of the animal is vulnerable.
• According to recent observations Chinese pink dolphins are making a comeback in the Pearl River estuary, one of the most heavily industrialized areas on Earth.
• Pink dolphins have seen a decline in their numbers in the past 15 years by 70-80 per cent.

Pearl River

• The Pearl River estuary includes Hong Kong, Macau as well as the mainland Chinese cities of Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Dongguan.
• The estuary is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.

Rhine River

• Rhine is one of the major European rivers, which has its sources in Switzerland and flows in a mostly northerly direction through Germany and the Netherlands, emptying into the North Sea.

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has recently paid tributes to the brave Baba Banda Singh Bahadur on his 350th Jayanti.

Banda Singh Bahadur (1670-1716)

• He was born in a Minhas Rajput family.
• He became a Sikh warrior known for his struggle against the Mughal Empire in the early eighteenth century after meeting with Sri Guru Gobind Singh.
• Famous for the sack of the Mughal provincial capital, Sirhind, he is revered as one of the most hallowed martyrs of the Khalsa.
• His confrontation with the Mughal administration in Northern India, though brief, was strong enough to shake its foundations.
• One of the most revolutionary acts of Banda Bahadur, after establishing his authority in Punjab, was the abolition of the zamindari system, and granting proprietary rights to the actual tillers of the land.
• He minted coins in the names of Guru Nanak Dev and Guru Gobind Singh and issued orders under his seal.
• The name of Mukhlisgarh was changed to Lohgarh (Fort of Steel), and it became the capital of the first Sikh state.
• Banda Singh Bahadur abolished the zamindari system in Punjab.

• A team of researchers led by Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize recipient in Physical Sciences (2020) category Prof. Rajesh Ganapathy from Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research has observed glass made of colloidal particles and monitored their dynamics over several days.

Devitrification

• Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent amorphous solid which is mostly formed by rapid cooling of its molten form.
• However, under certain conditions, during its formation, molten glass may rebel and transform to a crystal - the more stable state, an avoidable process called devitrification.
• However, the process of devitrification remains poorly understood as this process can be extremely slow, and this makes it difficult to study it.
• Scientists have now visualized devitrification in an experiment, thus taking a step closer to understanding it.
• This could help avoid devitrification in processes of pharma industries – a sector in which dodging this is of paramount importance.
• This is because an amorphous drug dissolves faster than after devitrification, and ensuring that it remains amorphous is therefore essential during storage.
• The experiment can also help in vitrification of liquid nuclear waste as a solid in a glass matrix to safely dispose it deep underground and prevent hazardous materials from leaking into the environment.

• Union minister of environment, forest, and climate change Prakash Javadekar has recently appealed every citizens to download the CPCB’s SAMEER App.

SAMEER App

• It was developed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and released in 2016.
• The App will gives complete information about the polluted areas in various cities across the country.
• It identifies areas having heavy pollution with a red mark.

• The Eighth Edition of annual Indian Navy (IN) – Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) bilateral maritime exercise SLINEX-20 is scheduled off Trincomalee, Sri Lanka from 19 to 21 October 2020. 
• The previous edition of SLINEX was conducted off Visakhapatnam in September 2019.

SLINEX - 20

• SLINEX-20 aims to enhance inter-operability, improve mutual understanding and exchange best practices and procedures for multi-faceted maritime operations between both navies.
• SLINEX series of exercise exemplifies the deep engagement between India and Sri Lanka which has strengthened mutual cooperation in the maritime domain.
• Interaction between the SLN and IN has also grown significantly in recent years, in consonance with India’s policy of ‘Neighbourhood First’ and Indian PM’s vision of ‘Security and Growth for all in the Region (SAGAR)’.
• Synergy developed during SLINEX exercises resulted in seamless coordination of joint SLN – IN efforts in September 2020 to render assistance to MT New Diamond, a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), which had caught fire off the East Coast of Sri Lanka.
• The exercise is being conducted in a non-contact ‘at-sea-only’ format in the backdrop of COVID-19 pandemic.