KARNATAKA

• In response to rising human-elephant conflicts—63% of Karnataka’s 35,580 wildlife conflict cases in FY 2024–25—the Karnataka Forest Department has issued detailed guidelines to 13 forest divisions. Key measures include rapid response teams, rescue protocols, and community-based conflict prevention. However, challenges such as pending compensation claims worth ₹23 crore, staff shortages, and ethical concerns over elephant capture persist. Long-term solutions lie in habitat restoration, scientific approaches, and improved institutional frameworks.

SCHEME

• The World Health Organization (WHO), in partnership with NGO Drishti, launched the ‘Global Specs 2030’ initiative to ensure affordable and universal eye care access by 2030. Announced at Amity University, the initiative targets rising adolescent myopia and vision impairment, especially among children aged 5–15. With five pillars—Services, Personnel, Education, Cost, and Surveillance—it aligns with SDG 3 and emphasizes youth engagement, public-private collaboration, and regional implementation for promoting eye health and reducing socioeconomic impacts.

ENVIRONMENT

• The Great Indian Bustard (GIB), a critically endangered bird found only in India’s grasslands, faces major threats from habitat loss and collisions with overhead power lines. With fewer than 150 individuals, mostly in Rajasthan, it serves as a flagship species for grassland conservation. A Supreme Court-appointed committee has proposed “power corridors” in Rajasthan and Gujarat to minimize GIB mortality while supporting renewable energy projects. Conservation efforts include breeding centres, telemetry tracking, and habitat restoration under a national recovery plan.

SCIENCE

• Researchers at Caltech have developed the world’s fastest single-shot microscope, capable of visualizing molecular motion in real-time using ultrafast optics and Brownian motion. Unlike traditional microscopes, this non-invasive technique achieves angstrom-scale resolution and wide-field imaging at hundreds of billions of frames per second. Validated through experiments with fluorescein-dextran and black carbon in flames, it has vast applications in biomedical imaging, nanotechnology, and drug development, building on Ahmed Zewail’s legacy of femtochemistry.