News in Shorts – 19 June 2024

Bonn Climate Conference 2024

• Recently, deliberations on the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance concluded without consensus

Highlight of the Conference 2024;

• Adaptation and Carbon Markets: During the Conference, advancements were made on adaptation indicators and improving the international carbon market under Article 6 of the Paris Climate Agreement.
• New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG):The primary issues, the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance and negotiations on the Mitigation Work Programme (MWP), saw no progress.

New Collective Quantified Goal:

• Origins: At COP21, a proposal was made to establish a new climate finance goal for the post-2025 period.
• Climate Finance: In 2009, UNFCCC parties agreed to mobilize $100 billion annually by 2020, a target later extended to 2025. However, developed countries have not fully met this commitment.
• Aim: The NCQG aims to increase the climate finance target beyond the current $100 billion annually while addressing the key shortcomings of the existing climate financing mechanism.

Mitigation Work Programme:

• Programme Focus: Established at COP26, the program aims to urgently enhance mitigation ambition and implementation to achieve the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal. In 2024, the focus will be on “Cities: buildings and urban systems,” including:
  • Reducing operational emissions (heating, cooling)
  • Designing efficient building envelopes (retrofitting)
  • Reducing embodied emissions (building materials)

Streptococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome (STSS)

• Recently, health officials are concerned about the outbreak of “flesh-eating bacteria,” known as Streptococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome (STSS), in Japan, where almost 1,000 cases have been reported nationwide.

About Streptococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome (STSS)

• Causes: STSS is a rare but severe bacterial infection caused by group A Streptococcus bacteria. 
  • It occurs when these bacteria enter deep tissues and the bloodstream, releasing toxins that cause a rapid and dangerous response in the body.
• Transmission: While it is rare for someone with STSS to spread the infection to others directly, less severe infections with group A strep can progress to STSS if untreated.
• Symptoms: STSS starts with initial symptoms like fever, chills, muscle aches,
• Prevention: Preventing STSS involves practising good hygiene, like washing hands regularly and covering your mouth while you cough and sneeze. 
• Treatment: Treating STSS involves giving strong antibiotics through an IV to kill the bacteria.
  • Patients also receive fluids to stabilise their blood pressure and help their organs work properly. 
  • In severe cases, surgery might be needed to remove infected tissue and prevent further problems.

Bioluminescence

• From glowing corals to vomiting shrimp, animals have used bioluminescence to communicate for millions of years 

Bioluminescence:

• About: Bioluminescence is the generation and release of light by living organisms through a chemical reaction, making it a type of chemiluminescence.
  • Chemiluminescence is the term used for a chemical reaction that produces light, and when this occurs within a living organism, it is known as bioluminescence.
• Mechanism: Bioluminescence works through luciferin reacting with oxygen to produce light. 
  • Organisms may use different types of luciferin and often produce luciferase to speed up this reaction. 
  • They can control when and how brightly they emit light by regulating their biochemical processes, sometimes using photoproteins that activate instantly when specific ions like calcium are present.
• Functions: Although not fully understood for all animals, bioluminescence generally serves purposes such as warning or evading predators, attracting or detecting prey, and communicating among members of the same species.
• Bioluminescence Distribution: Bioluminescence is prevalent across various marine organisms, including bacteria, algae, jellyfish, worms, crustaceans, sea stars, fish, and sharks. 

Kollam port 

• Recently, Home Ministry designates Kollam port as Immigration Check Post

Kollam Port:

• About: Quilon or Kollam, is an old port town on the Arabian Coast. The town was an international emporium of trade in the olden days and now it is known as the cashew bowl of India. 
• Resources:The beach sands of the Kollam district have concentrations of heavy minerals like Ilmenite, Rutile, Monosite and Zircon, large deposits of China clay in Kundara, Mulavana and Chathannoor. 
  • There are also lime shell and Bauxite deposits which makes it a strategic mining location. 
  • There are a number of traditional industrial units engaged in processing / manufacturing Coir, Cashew, Coconut, Timber, Spices, Starch, Marine Products, Tiles in the hinterland of the port.

Seaport ICP’s in India:

• About: The MHA had earlier informed a parliamentary panel that India has 31 authorised seaport ICPs and out of those 10 are under the direct control and management of the Bureau of Immigration, MHA.
  • The remaining ICPs are controlled by State police agencies.