JN.1

Recently WHO declared JN.1, a sub-variant of COVID-19 as ‘variant of interest’.

• JN.1 is a sub-variant of COVID-19.
• It is a sub-lineage of the BA.2.86 series that has the full spectrum, from asymptomatic disease to severe disease to death, similar to Omicron variants.
• All approved COVID vaccines provide protection against severe disease and death, for all variants, including JN.1.
• In the wake of the surge, the World health Organization (WHO) has recently classified JN.1 as a variant of interest (VOI).
• Variants are broadly categorised by WHO into 3 categories:
  1. “variants of interest”
  2. “variants of concern”
  3. “variants of high consequence”
• In the recent past The World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified EG.5 or Eris as a "variant of interest".

United Earth Amazonia Prize

In a recent interview, Marcus Nobel emphasized that the winners of Green Nobel, 2023 will be awarded in June 2024 in the Opera House in Manaus, Brazil.

• United Earth Amazonia Prize is a "Green Nobel" award that recognizes environmental work in the Amazon rainforest.
• The prize is offered by Marcus Nobel, a Swedish-American businessman and great-grandnephew of Alfred Nobel.
• The prize will be awarded annually to spotlight projects that are helping preserve and sustain the rainforest and protect its biodiversity.
• It is an encouraging innovative approaches and sustainable practices that can be replicated worldwide.
• It is an independent environmental accolade that is unrelated to the Nobel Foundation.
• For the year 2023 it was awarded to 6 winners.
• The 2023 prize winners are:
  1. Alessandra Korap Munduruku from Brazil
  2. Chilekwa Mumba from Zambia
  3. Delima Silalahi from Indonesia
  4. Diane Wilson from the U.S.A
  5. Tero Mustonen from Finland
  6. Zafer K?z?lkaya from Turkey
• The prize was aimed at giving visibility to exceptional environmental contributions and was first awarded in 2022 with no prize money.
• The scope of the 2024 award will be expanded to include Brazil's neighbouring nations that share the rainforest.

UAE Consensus

The COP28 was recently concluded with the UAE Consensus, a landmark text which is agreed by 198.

• UAE Consensus is a landmark text that is agreed by 198 parties in the COP 28.
• The objectives of the UAE Consensus includes:
  • Parties to transition away from fossil fuels to reach net zero,
  • Encourages parties to submit economy-wide Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs),
  • A new specific target to triple renewables and double energy efficiency by 2030,
  • To build momentum towards a new architecture for climate finance.
• This consensus reflects the COP28 Presidency’s goal to provide the most ambitious response possible to the Global Stocktake and delivers on the central aims of the Paris Agreement.
• Throughout 2023, the COP28 Presidency has taken bold and decisive steps to deliver beyond the negotiated text through its ‘Action Agenda’ which spans 4 pillars:
  1. Fast tracking a just and orderly energy transition
  2. Fixing climate finance to make it more available, affordable, and accessible
  3. Focusing on people, nature, lives and livelihoods
  4. Fostering full inclusivity in climate action
• Under the total Action Agenda at COP28, over USD 85 billion in funding has been mobilized and 11 pledges and declarations have been launched and received historic support.
• “To achieve net-zero emissions by 2070” is one of the 5 commitments under Panchamrit.

Vipassana

The Delhi chief minister will skip an ED summons in the Delhi excise policy case, as he is currently attending a 10-day Vipasanna retreat.

• Vipassana, in Pali literally means “super-seeing” or “seeing things as they really are”.
• It is an ancient meditation technique, derived from the teachings of the Buddha and not related to Vedic Meditation.
• It is a way of self-transformation through the process of self-observation.
• The meditation is a simple, practical way to achieve real peace of mind and to lead a happy, useful life.
• It is the oldest of Buddhist meditation practices that comes directly from the Satipatthana Sutta, a discourse attributed to the Buddha himself.
• 5 centuries after the Buddha, the noble heritage of Vipassana had disappeared from India.
• In Myanmar, it was preserved by a chain of devoted teachers.
• From generation to generation, over 2000 years, this dedicated lineage transmitted the technique in its pristine purity.
• SN Goenka brought Vipassana back to India in 1969.
• He was born in Burma to an Indian business family, Goenka took recourse to Vipassana in 1955, after suffering from debilitating migraines.

Ursid

It is final the meteor shower of the year which peak at end of the December.

• The Ursids are a low-key, but reliable meteor shower that can be seen with naked eye.
• The meteors will appear to radiate from the constellation Ursa Minor, also known as the Little Bear or the Little Dipper, which is circumpolar and visible all night in the northern hemisphere.
• It can be seen in a dark and clear spot away from the city lights.
• The best time to look for the meteors is the see hours of December 22 and 23, before dawn.
• The Ursids are not as spectacular as the Geminids, which dazzle the sky at the beginning of December.