How have Historical Ties been?

• Armenia and India maintain active political ties. Effective cooperation exists between the two nations within international bodies.

• After Armenia's independence in 1991, Armenian-Indian relations were reestablished.

• Diplomatic relations were established between the Republic of Armenia and India in 1992.

• In 1999, the Indian Embassy in Yerevan began operations.

• If the Armenian-Indian political relations can be evaluated as "excellent", Armenia is the only Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) country with which India had diplomatic relations in 1995 (other than Russia).

• The CIS was founded in 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

• At present the CIS unites: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine.

• India and Armenia signed a Treaty on Friendship and Cooperation in 1995.

Areas of Cooperation Between the Two Countries

Defence Relations:

• Armenia had already shown interest in Indian military hardware before the 2020 war.
• In 2020, Armenia signed a USD 40 million arms deal with India for the supply of four SWATHI radars to detect the location of weapons.
• In October 2022, India signed an agreement with Armenia to export missiles, rockets & ammunition.
• The missiles will also include Indigenous Pinaka Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher.
• India may also export its Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM) to Armenia.

Dal Lake

 Location:

• It is a lake in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.

• It is surrounded by the Pir Panjal mountains.

• It is integral to tourism and recreation in Kashmir and is named the "Jewel in the crown of Kashmir" or "Srinagar's Jewel". 

• Edi Spread across an area of around 26 square kilometers, it is the second-largest lake in Jammu & Kashmir.

• During the winter season, the temperature sometimes reaches -11 °C (12 °F), freezing the lake.

• The lake is part of a natural wetland which covers 21.1 square kilometers (8.1 sq mi), including its floating gardens. The floating gardens, known as "Raad” in Kashmiri, blossom with lotus flowers during July and August.

• The wetland is divided by causeways into four basins; Gagribal, Lokut Dal, Bod Dal and Nagin (although Nagin is also considered as an independent lake).

Islands:

• Dal Lake includes 3 islands, 2 of which are marked with beautiful Chinar trees.
• The island located on the Lakut Dal is known as Roph Lank (Silver Island), is marked with the presence of majestic Chinar trees at the four corners, thus known as Char-Chinari (Four Chinars).
• The second Chinar Island, known as Sone Lank (Gold Island), is located on the Bod Dal (Big Dal) and overlooks the holy shrine of Hazratbal.
• Dal Lake is also popular for the floating market (known as Raad) where vendors have their own Shikaras and approach tourists.

E-Cigarettes

In News

• E-cigarettes don't help smokers quit cigarettes according to a new longitudinal study of smokers in the United States.

What are E-cigarettes?

• E-cigarettes are sometimes called "e-cigs," "vapes," "e-hookahs," “vape pens,” and “Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS)."

• Some e-cigarettes look like regular cigarettes, cigars, or pipes. Some look like USB flash drives, pens, and other everyday items.

• Using an e-cigarette is sometimes called “vaping.”

• What are the harmful effects?

• E-cigarettes are not safe for youth, young adults, and pregnant women, as well as adults who do not currently use tobacco products.

• In 2016, the U.S. Surgeon General had concluded that “e-cigarette use among youths and young adults is a public health concern; exposure to nicotine during adolescence can cause addiction and can harm the developing adolescent brain."

• Study of 2018: 2018: It found the use of e-cigarette daily was associated with a 79% increase in heart attack risk after other variables were taken into account.

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR):

• According to a white paper on e-cigarettes by e Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), depending on the battery output voltage used, nicotine solvents can release in varying amounts potential carcinogens such as acetaldehyde, formaldehyde and acetone.

• The liquid-vaporizing solutions also contain "toxic chemicals and metals that can cause several adverse health effects including cancers and diseases of the heart, lungs and brain".

• Defective e-cigarette batteries have caused fires and explosions, some of which have resulted in serious injuries. Most explosions happened when the e- cigarette batteries were being charged.

• The e-cigarette aerosol that users breathe from the device and exhale can contain harmful and potentially harmful substances, including: Nicotine

• Ultrafine particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs Flavouring such as diacetyl, a chemical linked to a serious lung disease

• Volatile organic compounds day

• Cancer-causing chemicalson

• Heavy metals such as nickel, tin, and lead1

What is Nicotine?

• Nicotine is a highly addictive chemical compound present in a tobacco plant.

• All tobacco products contain nicotine, including cigarettes, non-combusted cigarettes (commonly referred to as "heat-not-burn tobacco products" or "heated tobacco products"), cigars, smokeless tobacco, hookah tobacco, and most e-cigarettes.

• Nicotine chemical symbol over a woman holding her head

• Using any tobacco product can lead to nicotine addiction. This is because nicotine can change the way the brain works, causing cravings for more of it.

Steps of Indian Government

• Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Bill, 2019: It prohibits production, manufacture, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertisement of e-cigarettes.

• Combating the menace of e-Cigarettes through a Statute on Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes and like devices, regulation of display and use of tobacco products in films and television programs.

• Cigarettes Act, 1975:

• Tobacco control legislation in India dates back to the Cigarettes Act, 1975 which mandates the display of statutory health warnings in advertisements and on cartons and cigarette packages

Delhi Prohibition of Smoking and Non-Smokers Health Protection Act:

• It was passed in the Delhi assembly in 1997 and became the model for Central Legislation banning smoking in public places in 2002, on the directions of the Supreme Court.

• Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade, Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act (COTPA) 2003:

• The comprehensive tobacco control legislation aims to provide smoke-free public places and also places restrictions on tobacco advertising and promotion.

• Tobacco Quit line Services:

• These toll-free quit line services (1800-112-356) were initiated in 2016 and were expanded in September 2018.

Tobacco Consumption in India

• In India, over 1.3 million deaths are attributable to tobacco use every year amounting to 3500 deaths per day, imposing a lot of avoidable socio-economic burden.

• In addition to the death and diseases, tobacco also impacts the economic development of the country.

• As per the WHO study titled "Economic Costs of Diseases and Deaths Attributable to Tobacco Use in India" it has been estimated that the economic burden of diseases and deaths attributable to tobacco use of tobacco in India was as high as Rs. 1.77 lakh crores, amounting to approx 1 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Indira Gandhi Peace Prize

• The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament, and Development was instituted in the memory of the former prime minister by a trust in her name in 1986.
• It consists of a monetary award of 25 lakh rupees along with a citation.
• The award is given to individuals or organisations that work towards ensuring international peace and development, ensuring that scientific discoveries are used to further the scope of freedom and better humanity, and creating a new international economic order.

Past recipients of this award include:

• Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of the Soviet Union (1987);

• UNICEF (1989)

• Jimmy Carter, former president of the US (1997) 0

• UN and its secretary-general Kofi Annan (2003)

• Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany (2013)

• Indian Space Research Organisation (2014)

• Former Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh (2017)

• Sir David Attenborough (2019)

• Pratham NGO (2021)

Context:-

Archaeologists have recently used radiocarbon dating to analyse the oldest true wooden frame saddle in East Asia, revealing how the rise of Mongolian steppe cultures was likely aided by advances in equestrian technology.

Radiocarbon Dating:

• Radiocarbon dating, or carbon-14 dating, is a scientific method that can accurately determine the age of organic materials as old as approximately 60,000 years.

• First developed in the late 1940s at the University of Chicago by Willard Libby, the technique is based on the decay of the carbon-14 isotope (Carbon-14 is a radioactive isotope of carbon).

• It has been used for historical studies and atmospheric science.

• It can be used on any object that used to be alive. That includes pieces of animals, people, and plants, but also paper that was made from reeds, leather made from animal hides, logs that were used to build houses, and so forth.

How does it work?

• Carbon 14 is continually being formed in the upper atmosphere by the effect of cosmic ray neutrons on nitrogen 14 atoms. It is rapidly oxidized in air to form carbon dioxide and enters the global carbon cycle.

• Plants and animals assimilate carbon 14from carbon dioxide throughout their lifetimes into their tissues.

• When they die, the carbon-14 starts to change into other atoms over time.

• Scientists can estimate how long the organism has been dead by counting the remaining carbon-14 atoms.

• Carbon-14 has a half-life of about 5,730 years. That means half the atoms in a sample will change into other atoms, a process known as "decay," in that amount of time.

Half Life:

• Plants get their carbon through photosynthesis; animals get it mainly through food. Because plants and animals get their carbon from the atmosphere, they too acquire C-12 and C-14 in roughly the same proportion as is available in the atmosphere.

• When they die, their interactions with the atmosphere stop. While C-12 is stable, the radioactive C-14 reduces to one half of itself in about 5,730 years - known as its 'half-life'.

• The changing ratio of C-12 to C-14 in the remains of a plant or animal after it dies can be measured and can be used to deduce the approximate time when the organism died.

Age Determination of Inanimate Things:

• Carbon dating cannot be applied in all circumstances. It cannot be used to determine the age of non-living things like rocks, for example.

• Also, the age of things that are more than 40,000-50,000 years old cannot be arrived at through carbon dating.

• This is because after 8-10 cycles of half-lives, the amount of C-14 becomes almost very small and is almost undetectable.

Context:-

Recently, marine biologists at the University of Southampton have developed a technique to decode the chemistry of otoliths.

About Otolith rings:

• The otolith is a stony lump in the fish ear.

• These are much like tree rings which reveal fish's age.

• Different forms or isotopes of oxygen in the otolith indicate the temperature the fish experienced when it was alive. Carbon isotopes reveal how quickly food was converted into energy.

• Fish carry their fitness trackers in their ears. They are commonly known as "earstones," are hard, calcium carbonate structures located directly behind the brain of bony fishes.

• There are three types of otoliths, all of which aid fish in balance and hearing:

• Sagitta: The largest of the 3 pairs of otoliths, sagitta is involved in the detection of sound and the process of hearing, or converting sound waves into electrical signals.

• Asteriscus: This type of otolith is involved in the detection of sound and the process of hearing.

• Lapillus: This type of otolith is involved in the detection of gravitational force and sound.

• Different species have otoliths of different shapes and sizes; and cartilaginous fishes, such as sharks, skates, and rays, have none.

Significance:

• Features of otoliths can be used to identify the species, size, age, growth rate, and season of death of an individual fish.

• Analysis of the oxygen isotope values of fish otoliths can provide information on the temperature of the water in which the fish lived.

• While studying concentrations of trace elements such as barium can indicate the salinity levels of the water.

Context:-

As part of an animal exchange programme recently executed by the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park (IGZP) with Kakatiya Zoological Park in Warangal, IGZP has received two new species, Mouse Deer and Chousingha.

Key Facts about Indian Mouse Deer:

• The Indian Mouse Deer or Spotted Chevrotain is the smallest deer in India and is highly nocturnal.

• Scientific Name: Moschiola indica

Distribution:

• It is endemic to the Indian Subcontinent.

• It is mainly found in peninsular India, with some old records from Nepal.