About Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE):

• SSPE, also known as Dawson disease, is a progressive, disabling, and deadly brain disorder related to measles (rubeola) infection.
• The disease develops many years after the measles infection, even though the person seems to have fully recovered from the illness.
• SSPE has been reported in all parts of the world, but in western countries it is a rare disease.
• Males are more often affected than females. The disease generally occurs in children and adolescents.
• SSPE is a rare condition.
• Cause:
  • Normally, the measles virus does not cause brain damage.
  • However, an abnormal immune response to measles or, possibly, certain variant forms of the virus may cause severe illness and death.
  • This response leads to brain inflammation (swelling and irritation) that may last for years.
• Treatment:
  • High mortality rates are associated with SSPE, and there is no cure for SSPE.
  • Treatment is generally aimed at regulating symptoms.
  • Certain antiviral medicines and medicines that boost the immune system may be tried to slow the progression of the disease.

About Lakhwar Hydroelectric Project:

• It is a multipurpose hydroelectric project planned on the Yamuna river near Lohari Village in the Dehradun District of Uttarakhand.
• The project is being developed and currently owned by Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam.
• It provides drinking water supply to states like Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
• Associated Project: It is linked with the downstream Vyasi Hydroelectric Project (120 MW), forming part of the Yamuna river basin development.

About CAR-T Cell Therapy:

• CAR T-cell therapy, or chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, is an advanced form of immunotherapy used to treat certain types of cancer by modifying a patient’s own immune cells to fight the disease.
• This treatment is designed for specific types of blood cancer and is given to patients whose cancer has either relapsed or not responded to first-line treatment.
• How does CAR-T Cell Therapy Work?
  • For any CAR T-cell therapy, a patient’s immune T cells are collected by filtering their blood.
  • T cells, also known as T lymphocytes, are a type of white blood cell.
  • T cells are key players in the body's immune system because of their ability to identify and attack cells that don't belong in the body, such as germs and cancer cells.
  • In the lab, these T cells are modified to produce synthetic proteins called chimeric antigen receptors (CARs).
  • The modified cells are called CAR-T cells. The cells are grown to much higher numbers in the lab and then infused back into the person's bloodstream.
  • The synthetic CARs allow the T cells to bind to specific proteins called antigens on cancer cells. This binding activates the T cells to kill the cancer cells.
  • Dying cancer cells trigger further immune responses against the cancer.
  • In addition, CAR-T cells can keep multiplying in the body, producing lasting anticancer results.
• In some cases, CAR T-cell therapy can cure blood cancer. Other times, it helps people with certain blood cancers live longer.
• CAR-T cell therapy is used to treat cancers that affect blood cells. This includes
  • B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
  • Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
  • Follicular lymphoma.
  • High-grade B-cell lymphoma.
  • Mantle cell lymphoma
  • Multiple myeloma.
  • Primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma.
• Side Effects:
  • A serious immune overreaction causing hyperinflammation and organ damage, seen in 12% of participants, resulting in at least one death.
  • Low red blood cell count, reported in 61% of participants, causing fatigue and weakness.
  • Thrombocytopenia: Low platelet count, increasing the risk of bleeding, reported in 65% of patients.
  • Neutropenia: Low neutrophil count, seen in 96% of participants, raising the risk of infections.

About Hokersar Lake:

• Hokersar, also known as Hokera, is a large natural wetland near Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir.
• The wetland lies in the Jhelum River basin and receives water mainly from the Doodhganga River (a tributary of Jhelum).
• It is located in the northwest Himalayan biogeographic province of Kashmir, behind the snow-draped Pir Panchal.
• It is the largest bird sanctuary in the Kashmir Valley and a designated Ramsar site, recognized for its international ecological importance.
• It serves as a critical habitat and resting place for various migratory waterbirds from Siberia, Central Asia, and Northern Europe, hosting around 68 waterfowl species, including some endangered ones.
• Hokersar is rich in aquatic vegetation such as reedbeds and water chestnuts, which provide food and shelter for fish and birds.
• Apart from biodiversity conservation, the wetland acts as a floodwater absorption basin and supports local livelihoods.
• However, it faces threats from human encroachment, pollution, and conversion to agriculture, which have reduced its size over time.

About Water Hyacinth:

• It is a free-floating, aquatic plant in the pickerelweed family.
• Scientific Name: Eichhornia crassipes
• It is native to tropical regions of South America and is now present on all continents except Antarctica.
• It is one of the world’s most serious water weeds because of its aggressive, fast-growing nature. 
• Water hyacinth grows in tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate It grows best in still or slow-flowing fresh water with high nutrient levels.
• It can form dense mats that reduce the water quality, change water flows, and increase sediment.
• It crowds out native aquatic plants and animals, altering ecosystems, destroying habitats, and blocking irrigation systems.
• Cutting a water hyacinth plant into pieces will not kill The plants can reproduce using a process called fragmentation. Each plant also produces thousands of seeds each year.
• This plant varies in size from a few inches to over three feet tall.
• They have showy lavender flowers, and the leaves are rounded and leathery, attached to spongy and sometimes inflated stalks.
• It was introduced to India during the British colonial rule as an ornamental aquatic plant from South America.
• Uses:
  • The plant has been used as a biofertilizer in some organic agriculture practices.
  • The plant produces beautiful purple flowers that have high aesthetic value.
  • It is rich in fibrous stems that can be processed into a wide array of handbags, interior decorative material, table mats, baskets, and other products.
  • It has been reported that this plant is a good phytoremediation species, suggesting it has the ability to trap and remove toxic metabolites and harmful heavy metals from water.

Key Facts about Mula-Mutha River:

• The River Mula and Mutha are very important rivers passing through the centre of Pune
• The Mula and Mutha Rivers originate in the Sahyadri ranges.
• River Mula originates from Mulshi Dam, which forms Mulshi Lake. River Mutha originates from Panshet Dam via Khadakwasla Dam.
• They traverse across Pune city and form the Mula-Mutha River, which eventually joins the Bhima River.

About Ghaggar River:

• The Ghaggar river is an intermittent river in India and Pakistan that flows only during the monsoon season.
• Origin: It originates in the village of Dagshai in the Shivalik Hills of Himachal Pradesh.
• The river is known as Ghaggar before the Ottu barrage and as the Hakra downstream of the barrage.
• Course: 
  • After passing through the Ambala and Hissar districts of Haryana, it eventually dries up in the Great Indian (Thar) Desert.
  • The Hakra, which flows in Pakistan, is the continuation of the Ghaggar River in India, and they are together called the Ghaggar-Hakra River.
• Tributaries: The main tributaries of the Ghaggar are the Kaushalya River, Markanda, Sarsuti, Tangri, and Chautang.

About Cyrtodactylus jayadityai 

• It is a newly discovered species of bent-toed gecko from Tripura.
• Habitat: It inhabits lowland forest patches.
• Characteristics:
  • It is primarily nocturnal, emerging at night to forage and retreating into burrows and crevices during the day.

 What are Geckos?

• These are reptiles and are found on all the continents except Antarctica.
• These colorful lizards have adapted to habitats from rainforests, to deserts, to cold mountain slopes.
• These are mostly small, usually nocturnal reptiles.
• Geckos are spread across six families: Carphodactylidae, Diplodactylidae, Eublepharidae, Gekkonidae, Phyllodactylidae, and Sphaerodactylidae