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Polity and Governance

Global Liveability Index 2023

Recently, the Global Liveability Index 2023 has been released.

About:

• The Global Liveability Index assesses which locations around the world provide the best and worst living conditions.
• The Economist's Global Liveability Index for 2023 is based on data analyzed by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
• EIU’s index ranks 173 cities across five categories: stability, healthcare, education, culture and the environment, and infrastructure.
• Vienna has retained its position at the top, ahead of Copenhagen, while the Australian cities of Melbourne and Sydney have bounced back up the rankings to third and fourth place.
• Asia-Pacific cities have made some of the biggest gains, accounting for eight of the top ten movers up the rankings as economies recovered from the pandemic.

Environment

World Hydrography Day

On June 21 every year, the International Hydrographic Organisation (HO) observes ‘World Hydrography Day’.

About:

• World Hydrography Day is designed to raise awareness about hydrography and how it plays a role in improved knowledge of the seas and oceans.
• The theme this year is "Hydrography - Underpinning the Digital Twin of the Ocean".
• In India, the Indian Naval Hydrographic Department (INHD) functions under the Indian Navy as the nodal agency for hydrographic surveys and nautical charting.
• The department has the mandate to undertake hydrographic surveys and publish navigation charts and has thus far published 650 Electronic and paper navigation charts covering Indian and International waters.
• These charts are in use by merchant mariners and Navies of the world.

Science and Technology

What is OceanGate?

A small submersible vessel named ‘Titan’, carrying five people nearly 4,000 metres down the Atlantic Ocean to view the 1912 wreckage of the Titanic, lost contact with those at the surface.

• The trip was organised by the company OceanGate Inc, which mentions private “crewed submersible exploration” as part of its offerings.

About:

• OceanGate Inc is a US-based company founded in 2009.
• Its website describes itself as “an ocean exploration venture focused on providing crewed submersible services to enable researchers and explorers to access the oceans’ vast resources’.
• Apart from the use of submersibles for exploration purposes, such as scientific research, allowing people to carry out “real-time sampling, collecting and experimentation”, deep-sea testing, and for underwater filming.

Science and Technology

Regenerative medicine

Recently, an increase has been seen in ‘cord blood preservation’.

• Private cord blood banking is not a ‘biological insurance’ and its role in regenerative medicine is still hypothetical.

About:

• Regenerative Medicine refers to a group of biomedical approaches to clinical therapies that may involve the use of stem cells.
• Regenerative medicine may be defined as the process of replacing or "regenerating" human cells, tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function.
• The goal of regenerative medicine is to replace or reboot tissues or organs damaged because of disease, injury, age, or other issues instead of treating symptoms with medication and procedures.
• Regeneration in humans happens at three levels:
  • Molecular: this includes small molecules that are the building blocks of your body, like DNA, fats, and carbohydrates.
  • Cellular: This includes cell structures like neurons or axons that are responsible for cell growth and reproduction in your body.
  • Tissue: This includes blood, skin, bone, or muscle.
• Examples include cell therapies (the injection of stem cells or progenitor cells); immunomodulation therapy (regeneration by biologically active molecules administered alone or as secretions by infused cells); and tissue engineering (transplantation of laboratory grown organs and tissues).