Beyond Holi and bhang, the many uses of cannabis – from medicine to rope-making

About Cannabis:

• It is found mainly in the Indo-Gangetic plains – in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal – along with the Deccan region. It is termed Ganzai in Telugu, Ganja in Tamil, and Bangi in Kannada. Three products can be obtained from the plant – fibre, oil, and narcotics.
• Bhang is obtained from the seeds and leaves of the plant, which are reduced to powder. Then, the powder is filtered and prepared for drinking, mixed often with cold, flavoured milk or thandai on Holi.
• Other uses of Cannabis
• Hemp-seed oil is used in varnish industries as a substitute for linseed oil and in the manufacturing of soft soap. It has many medicinal uses, too.
• As per ICAR, the ash of cannabis is applied on animals’ skin in cases of haematoma, a condition in which blood clots outside of the blood vessels. 
• It is cultivated in the Chhota/Bada Bhangal of Kangra and the Karsog area of Mandi district in Himachal Pradesh.
• While cultivation for extraction of addictive narcotics is illegal, States allow controlled and regulated cultivation of cannabis for obtaining its fibre and seed for industrial or horticultural purposes.
• Treating paddy seed with bhang is effective in paddy seed germination and this treatment is common in temperate areas of Jammu and Kashmir, where temperature during nursery raising is low. They are also used for controlling threadworms in paddy nurseries by the farmers.
• Cannabis leaves are heated and crushed to make a paste for treating honey bee or wasp sting.

Forest fires singe Telangana wildlife sanctuaries

About Eturnagaram Wildlife Sanctuary:

• It is located near the border of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. River Vagu separates the wildlife sanctuary into two parts. River Godavari also passes through it.
• The sanctuary is also famous for the Sammakkka Sarakka Jathra, one of the Asia’s largest tribal jahtra, taking place here every two years.
• Vegetation: The region falls in the tropical dry deciduous type of vegetation.
• Flora: It is rich in the growth of teak, bamboo and other trees like madhuca and terminalia.
• Fauna: The keystone species in the sanctuary are Indian gour and giant squirrel. 

What is the district election management plan?

About District election management plan:

• It is a comprehensive document that uses statistics and analysis to ensure the smooth conduct of elections.
• When is the DEMP prepared?
• As per the Election Commission of India, the DEMP is to be prepared at least six months before the tentative poll day.
• Executing the DEMP requires a collaborative effort involving election officials, administrative authorities, law enforcement agencies etc.
• Elements of DEMP
• The plan starts with a district profile that serves as the foundation of the electoral strategy. It includes a political map outlining constituencies, key demographic and infrastructure statistics, a brief on the district’s administrative setup and socio-economic features.
• The plan encompasses detailed strategies for improving the availability and accessibility of polling stations, ensuring that all stations have essential facilities like ramps, electricity, lighting, drinking water, toilets and internet connectivity.
• Special attention is given to voters with disabilities (PwD) and senior citizens through help desks, 24/7 control rooms, home voting options and advanced postal ballot voting for essential service personnel.
• Another critical component of the DEMP is the Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) plan, which focuses on increasing electoral participation.
• It outlines a comprehensive strategy for the planning, training, welfare and deployment of election personnel.
• It also includes training district-level teams to enforce the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and providing a training program for all election personnel to ensure they have the necessary skills and knowledge.

Bima Sugam approved: Insurance policies set to be more affordable; buying policies, claim-settlement to be easier

About Bima Sugam:

• It is like an e-commerce platform where insurance companies can sell their products. It onboards all the companies that offer life and non-life insurance products under one roof.
• It aims to provide an ''end-to-end'' digital journey to all policyholders like from buying insurance policies to renewals to claim settlement to portability to grievance redressal.
• It serves as a one-stop solution for all insurance stakeholders, including customers, insurers, intermediaries and agents, thereby, promoting transparency, efficiency and collaboration across the entire insurance value chain.
• It will be a unified platform, which will be integrated with various govt databases, insurers, intermediaries, insurance repositories, etc., for fetching customer details, providing product information, and buying and servicing Insurance policies.
• Bima Sugam aims to eliminate the paperwork as you can simply have your policy in an electronic format. Customers can view all their policies — life, health and non-life insurance — in one single application or window under Bima Sugam.

Why do so many contemporary vaccines have low durability?

About Post-vaccination immunity:

• Process
• In the fundamental immunological mechanism, our lymph nodes first produce the memory B cells that confer long-term protection against a disease.
• These cells ‘memorise’ the antigen the vaccine has delivered. When a foreign object like a virus enters the body bearing the same antigen, the B cells will trigger the production of a large number of potent antibodies to destroy it, removing the infection.
• These memory B cells require T cell support, and only vaccines that stimulate T cells can also induce the body to produce them. Further, not all vaccines – including the polysaccharide typhoid and the pneumococcal vaccines – prompt the body to make B cells.
• In some cases, frequent boosters are required to enhance the duration of immunity the cells confer, ranging from six months to a few years.
• Also, vaccines trigger the production of memory B cells to different degrees, plus having memory B cells alone does not guarantee protection.
• Another essential immune cell, called long-lasting plasma cell (LLPC), migrates from the lymph node to the bone marrow and may endure for decades.
• LLPCs are the main immunological factor in vaccine-induced immunity. Every vaccine tries to create long-lasting plasma cells for lifelong protection.
• The measles and rubella vaccines produce these cells in the bone marrow. However, some potent vaccines, such as the mRNA COVID-19 shots, fail to activate these cells in the bone marrow. 
• To provide long-term protection, then, vaccines must generate memory B cells and LLPCs in the bone marrow. Different vaccines differ in their ability to produce these cells, explaining the disparity in their durabilities.