1. High-performance buildings (HPBs) prioritize
sustainable construction by enhancing energy efficiency, climate resilience,
and resource conservation. Through integrative design, sustainable materials,
and advanced technologies, they aim to reduce environmental impact while
addressing global challenges like climate change and urbanization, all while
improving operational efficiency.
2. It is important to understand that the freedom of
speech is not a laissez-faire act where anything goes, but a democratically
enabling idea that shuns censorship and the curbing of ideas being debated in
the public sphere. Recently, the British media outlet, The Guardian, took a
decision to stop posting on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter),
from its official handles.
3. In
response to the increasing chikungunya cases in Telangana, the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a 'Level 2' travel advisory for
U.S. travellers returning from Telangana. "[The] CDC has identified a
higher-than-expected. The CDC's travel advisory system categorises risks into
four levels.
4. With
air quality in Delhi plummeting to hazardous levels, despite a five-year
decline in the instances of stubble burning in Punjab, experts suggest that the
current approach to satellite-based tracking of farm fires by government
agencies may be leading to un- der-reporting the number of fires.