Scientists accidentally find a mysterious one-km-long wall in Baltic Sea

About Baltic Sea:

• It is a semi-enclosed inland sea located in Northern Europe.
• It is an arm of the North Atlantic Ocean, extending northward from the latitude of southern Denmark almost to the Arctic Circle and separating the Scandinavian Peninsula from the rest of continental Europe.
• It has a coastline of approximately 8,000 km, shared by several countries, including Sweden, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland, Estonia, Germany, Denmark, and Russia.
• It covers an area of approximately 377,000 sq.km. The sea is approximately 1,600 km long and 193 km wide.
• It is connected to the White Sea via the White Sea Canal and to the North Sea’s German Bight via the Kiel Canal.
• It connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the Danish Straits.
• The Baltic Sea contains three major gulfs: the Gulf of Bothnia to the north, the Gulf of Finland to the east, and the Gulf of Riga slightly to the south of that.
• It is often cited as the world’s largest brackish inland water body.
• Its water salinity levels are lower than that of the World Oceans due to the inflow of fresh water from the surrounding land and the sea’s shallowness.
• More than 250 rivers and streams empty their waters into the Baltic Sea. Neva is the largest river that drains into the Baltic Sea.
• Islands: It is home to over 20 islands and archipelagos. Gotland, located off the coast of Sweden, is the largest island in the Baltic Sea.

Hidden ocean beneath Saturn '' s moon Mimas discovered by NASA'' s Cassini spacecraft

About Cassini Spacecraft:

• Cassini-Huygens was a joint NASA/European Space Agency (ESA)/Italian Space Agency (ASI) space mission to Saturn.
• It was launched on October 15, 1997.
• The mission consisted of NASA’s Cassini orbiter, which was the first space probe to orbit Saturn, and the ESA’s Huygens probe, which landed on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon.
• Spacecraft:
• It was one of the largest interplanetary spacecraft.
• The Cassini orbiter weighed 2,125 kg (4,685 pounds) and was 6.7 metres (22 feet) long and 4 metres (13 feet) wide.
• The instruments on board Cassini included radar to map the cloud-covered surface of Titan and a magnetometer to study Saturn’s magnetic field. 
• The disk-shaped Huygens probe was mounted on the side of Cassini. It weighed 349 kg (769 pounds), was 2.7 metres (8.9 feet) across, and carried six instruments designed to study the atmosphere and surface of Titan.
• Highlights:
• It orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017, circling the planet 294 times and teaching us almost everything we know about Saturn.
• It measured the structure of Saturn’s atmosphere and rings, as well as how they interact with the planet’s moons.
• It also discovered six named moons and revealed Enceladus and Titan as promising locations to search for extraterrestrial life.

Key Facts about Mimas:

• It is the smallest and innermost of the major regular moons of Saturn. 
• The surface is icy and heavily cratered.
• The most striking feature of this small moon is a gigantic crater known as Herschel. This crater measures 80 miles (130 km) across. 
• A central peak in the center of the crater rises to a height of 4 miles, almost as high as Mount Everest on Earth. 
• Herschel is one of the largest impact structures, relative to the size of the body, known in the solar system.
• The low density of Mimas indicates that it is composed almost entirely of water ice.

Kotravai sculpture from Pallava period unearthed near Ulundurpet

About Pallava Dynasty:

• The Pallava Dynasty was a famous power in South India that existed between the 3rd and 9th Centuries. 
• They ruled the northern parts of Tamil Nadu, parts of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, with Kanchipuram as their capital.
• The Pallavas supported Buddhism, Jainism, and the Brahminical faith and were patrons of music, painting, and literature. 
• Origin:
• Pallava Dynasty was earlier feudatories of Andhra Satavahanas. Pallavas grew to be autonomous subsequent to their decline at Amaravati.
• They progressively moved southward and instituted their capital at Kanchipuram in the 4th century CE. 
• The rule of Mahendravarman I(571 - 630 CE) and Narasimhavarman I (630 - 668 CE) witnessed the augment in the wealth and vigour of the Pallava realm.
• Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang portrays Bodhidharma, the founder of the Chan (Zen) school of Buddhism in China, as a prince of the Pallava empire. Tsang traveled to Kanchipuram during the Pallava era and praised their benevolent decrees.
• Architecture:
• The Pallava Dynasty was typically distinguished for their benefaction of Dravidian architecture. 
• They were the most noted for temple architecture. They were instrumental in the transition from rock-cut architecture to stone temples.
• The most noted architectural accomplishments of the Pallavas are at Mahabalipuram, which, under the Pallava reign, became an important centre of art, architecture, and literature.
• The Kailasanatha Temple in Kanchipuram and the Shore Temple were built by Narasimhavarman II.
• Of all the temples, Kailasanatha and Vaikuntaperumal are best known for their architectural virtues. 
• The Vaikuntaperumal shrine is a multi-storied temple built in the 8th century A.D and is acknowledged for the sculptures illustrating the history of the Pallavas.
• Religion: They adopted the local religion Shaivism, and became Dravidians.
• Combats of the Pallava Dynasty:
• Throughout their supremacy, they were in steady conflict with both the Chalukya Dynasty in the north and the Tamil kingdoms of Chola and Pandyas in the south. 
• The Pallavas were occupied in continuous combat with the Chalukyas of Badami and lastly concealed by the Chola kings in the 8th century CE.
• Decline:
• The rise of Rashtrakutas had seen the decline of the Pallava Dynasty.
• Vijayalaya, the Chola King, completely overpowered Aparajitavarman, the last Pallava King, in 897 AD.

Supreme Court calls electoral bonds ''quid pro quo'', asks SBI to stop issuing them ‘immediately’

About Electoral Bonds (EBs):

• Electoral bonds are interest-free bearer bonds or money instruments that can be purchased by companies and individuals in India from authorised branches of the State Bank of India (SBI).
• The bonds are similar to bank notes that are payable to the bearer on demand and are free of interest.
• These bonds are sold in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10 lakh, and Rs 1 crore.
• They can be purchased through a KYC-compliant account to make donations to a political party.
• EBs have a life of only 15 days during which it can be used for making donations to political parties.
• The name and other information of the donor are not entered on the instrument and thus electoral bonds are said to be anonymous.
• There is no cap on the number of electoral bonds that a person or company can purchase.
• Under the Income Tax act, one’s electoral bond donations are considered tax-exempt under Section 80 GG and Section 80 GGB.
• Who can receive funding via electoral bonds?
• Only political parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and which secured not less than 1% of votes polledin the last general election to the House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of the State, are eligible to receive electoral bonds.
• The political parties have to encash them within a stipulated time.
• The bond can be encashed by an eligible political party only through a designated bank account with the authorized bank.
• The political parties have to disclose the amount to the Election Commission.

From restoring forests to river basins, seven conservation initiatives across continents recognised by UN

About UN World Restoration Flagships:

• The World Restoration Flagship are part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration – led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization.
• It aims to prevent, halt, and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean. 
• The award conferred by the UNEP and FAO of the UN makes the initiatives eligible for technical and financial support from the organisation.  
• The awards track notable initiatives that provide support to global commitments in order to restore one billion hectares.
• The seven initiatives are
• The Restoring Mediterranean Forests Initiative: It involves the countries of Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Türkiye.
• It consists of a novel approach said to have protected and restored natural habitats and vulnerable ecosystems. It is also said to have led to around two million hectares of forests restored across the region since 2017.
• The Living Indus initiative received approval from the Pakistan parliament in the wake of the devastating 2022 climate change-induced floods.
• Its official launch took place at the 27th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Sharm el-Sheikh.
• It designates the Indus River as a living entity with rights — a measure taken to protect rivers elsewhere as well.
• The Acción Andina social movement led by Peruvian conservation non-profit ECOAN aims to protect and restore a forest area of one million hectares.
• The Sri Lanka Mangrove Regeneration initiative: It is a science-driven programme co-led by local communities. It focuses on the restoration of natural balance in the ecosystem
• The Terai Arc Landscape initiative: It is aimed to restore the forests of critical corridors of the Terai Arc Landscape in collaboration with local communities working as citizen scientists, community-based anti-poaching units, forest guards, among others.
• “It also supported the tiger population in the landscape shared by India and Nepal, which increased today to 1,174.
• Regreening Africa’s agriculture: It is expected to benefit over 6,00,000 households.
• Growing forests in Africa''s drylands initiative: It aims to expand from 41,000 restored hectares today to 229,000 hectares by 2030.

What is micellar water and how does it work?

About Micellar water:

• Micellar water products contain something called micelles – clusters of molecules that are very effective at removing oily substances. 
• The micelles in micellar water are formed by special molecules known as surfactants.
• These micelles have a hydrophilic exterior, meaning that they are very happy to remain mixed throughout water.
• It is a commonly used skin care product that helps remove impurities and makeup from your skin.
• It’s a very gentle solution that contains a very mild detergent.
• Working
• When you apply some micellar water to a cotton pad, another convenient interaction occurs.
• The wet cotton is hydrophilic (loves water). Consequently, some of the micelles will unravel, with the hydrophilic heads being attracted to the wet cotton pad.
• Now, sticking out from the surface will be a layer of hydrophobic tail groups.
• These hydrophobic tails cannot wait to attract themselves to makeup, sunscreen, oils, dirt, grease and other contaminants on your face.
• As you sweep the cotton pad across your skin, these contaminants bind to the hydrophobic tails and are removed from the skin.
• Some contaminants will also find themselves encapsulated in the hydrophobic centres of the micelle.
• Either way, a cleaner surface is left behind.