Art and Culture

Mao Tribe Accepts Verdict on Traditional Land Dispute with Nagaland (The Hindu)

• The Mao Council, the apex tribal body of the Mao Nagas in Manipur, has accepted the judgment of the Tenyimia People's Organisation regarding the traditional land dispute along the Nagaland-Manipur border.

 

'Jivitputrika' Festival (The Hindu)

• A tragic incident during the 'Jivitputrika' festival resulted in at least 46 drownings, including 37 children, while taking holy dips in rivers and ponds across several districts in Bihar.

 

Geography

Philadelphi Corridor (Indian Express)

• A crucial strategic area, approximately 14 km long and 100 m wide along the Gaza-Egypt border, it has been under Israeli control following conflicts with Hamas.

 

• About: A patch of land about 14 kms in length and 100 metres wide along Gaza’s border with Egypt.
• Formation: Formed under the 1979 Israel-Egypt peace treaty as a 100-meter-wide buffer demilitarised border zone after the withdrawal of Israeli settlements and troops from Gaza in 2005 and runs from the Mediterranean to the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel.
• Expansion: The zone was later expanded beginning during the Second Intifada & covers the entire 8.7-mile-long border.
• Rafah crossing: Located between Egypt and Gaza, it is within the Philadelphi Corridor.

 

China's Three Gorges Dam (Indian Express)

• The world's largest hydroelectric dam on the Yangtze River, completed in 2012, it has dimensions of 2,335 m in length and 185 m in height, capable of producing up to 22,500 MW of electricity.

Three Gorges Dam

• Location: On the Yangtze River in China’s Hubei Province.
• About: The world’s largest hydroelectric power station completed in 2012 after nearly two decades of construction.
• Dimensions: 2,335 metres (7,660 feet) long and 185 metres (607 feet) high.
• Capacity: 40 cubic kilometres (10 trillion gallons) of water, which can produce up to 22,500 megawatts of electricity.
• Water inflow: Uses water from 3 gorges - Qutangxia, Wuxia, and Xilingxia
• Significance: Hydroelectric potential, increasing the Yangtze River's shipping capacity and reducing the potential for floods downstream by providing flood storage space. 

Yangtze River

• About: The longest river in both China and Asia and third longest river in the world, with a length of 3,915 miles (6,300 km).
• Basin area: 698,265 square miles (1,808,500 sq.km). 
• Left bank tributaries: Yalung, Min, Jialing, and Han rivers
• Right bank tributaries: Wu, Yuan, Xiang, and Gan rivers

 

World Affairs

India Elected to GlobE Steering Committee on Combating Corruption (The Hindu)

• India was elected to the 15-member GlobE Steering Committee during a plenary session held in Beijing recently after a multistage voting process.

  Global Operational Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (GloBE Network)

  

 

Pakistan's IMF Bailout: Why Needed and What it Entails (The Hindu)

Context

• Pakistan has secured a $7 billion financial assistance bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) in September 2024, aiming to stabilize the country's fragile economy plagued by external debt, inflation, and dwindling foreign reserves.

Background

• In 2019, Pakistan entered the IMF’s EFF program but was hit hard by global impacts from the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, and severe floods in 2022.
• By November 2022, the IMF paused disbursements due to Pakistan's failure to meet stringent conditions.
• The economic crisis deepened in 2023, with inflation peaking at 38% and the Pakistani rupee losing 20% of its value against the US dollar.
• In July 2023, Pakistan secured a nine-month $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) from the IMF with strict conditions for fiscal discipline and structural reforms.

IMF’s Extended Fund Facility

 

 

Economy

India Ranks 39th in Global Innovation Index 2024 (Indian Express)

• According to the Global Innovation Index released recently, India holds the 39th position in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2024.

Global Innovation Index

• Publisher: World Intellectual Property Organization.
• About: A reliable tool for assessing innovation-led social and economic changes globally.

Key Findings

• India has ranked first among ten economies in Central and Southern Asia, further emphasizing its regional dominance in innovation.
• Secured the 4th position in the WIPO Science and Technology (S&T) Cluster Ranking.
• Achieved the 7th rank globally in intangible asset intensity.

Major Cities

• Indian cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Chennai are among the world's top 100 S&T clusters.

World Intellectual Property Organization

• About: A specialized agency of the United Nations established by the WIPO Convention in 1967.
• Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.
• Mission: To lead the development of a balanced and effective international intellectual property (IP) system that enables innovation and creativity for the benefit of all.
• Members: 193
• Functions: Provides a global policy forum, where governments, intergovernmental organizations, industry groups and civil society come together to address evolving IP issues.

 

GST Council Sets Up GoM on Compensation Cess (The Hindu)

• The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has set up a 10-member Group of Ministers, chaired by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, to decide on the taxation of luxury, sin, and demerit goods once the compensation cess ends in March 2026.

GST Compensation Cess

 

Unemployment Rate Stagnant, Reveals Government Survey (The Hindu)

Findings of the Survey

• The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for July 2023 to June 2024 reported no major change in the unemployment rate, with a minor increase in the distribution of workers in agriculture, while the manufacturing sector shows no growth in job creation.

Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR)

• For persons aged 15 years and above: 60.1%
• Male: 78.8%, Female: 41.7%

Worker Population Ratio (WPR)

• For persons aged 15 years and above: 58.2%
• Male: 76.3%, Female: 40.3%

Unemployment Rate (UR)

• 3.2% for both males and females aged 15 years and above.
• Trend: Male unemployment declined from 3.3% to 3.2%, while female unemployment increased from 2.9% to 3.2% between July 2022 - June 2024.

Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)

 

India Becomes World’s Third Largest Producer and Consumer of Ethanol

• Union Minister for Food and Public Distribution, Pralhad Joshi, announced that India has become the world’s third-largest producer and consumer of ethanol.

About Ethanol

• A renewable, clean-burning fuel derived primarily from biomass, commonly used as an alternative fuel or fuel additive in gasoline.

Ethanol-Blended Petrol (EBP)

• A mixture of ethanol and gasoline aiming to reduce fossil fuel consumption and promote renewable energy sources.

The Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Program

• Launched: January 2003.
• Aim: To blend ethanol with petrol, achieving several objectives:
  • Reduction of Pollution: Ethanol lowers emissions.
  • Conservation of Foreign Exchange: Using domestically produced ethanol.
  • Supporting the Sugar Industry: Utilizes excess sugarcane for ethanol production.

 

Environment

Cassowary: The 'Most Dangerous Bird' in the World (Indian Express)

• September 26 has been set aside as World Cassowary Day.

Manas National Park Reopening (The Hindu)

• Assam's famed Manas National Park and Tiger Reserve will reopen for tourists following the end of the monsoon closure period.

About Manas National Park

• Location: Doothills of Himalayas in Assam, contiguous with Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan.
• Significance: A Natural World Heritage Site and Tiger Reserve, named after the Manas River, which is significant for its diverse flora and fauna.
• Naming: Named after the Manas River (a major tributary of Brahmaputra River), which is named after the serpent goddess Manasa.
• Flora: Sal, scrub forests, old plantations (in buffer areas), semi-evergreen and mixed deciduous forests, grasslands and riparian vegetation (in core area).
• Fauna: Hispid Hare, Pygmy Hog, Golden Langur, Indian Rhinoceros, Asiatic Buffalo etc.

 

Region-Specific Antivenoms for Cobra Bites (PIB)

• A new study indicates that species-specific and region-specific antivenoms are necessary for improving the treatment of monocled cobra bites.

Monocled Cobra

 

Discovery of Night Parrot Population (Indian Express)

• The largest known population of one of Australia’s rarest birds has been found living in Western Australia’s Great Sandy Desert.

About Great Sandy Desert

• About: An arid wasteland of northern Western Australia.
• Australia’s second largest desert: After the Great Victoria Desert, it encompasses an area of 284,993 sq.km. 
• Extension: From Eighty Mile Beach on the Indian Ocean eastward into the Northern Territory and from Kimberley Downs southward to the Tropic of Capricorn and the Gibson Desert. 
• Climate: High daytime temperatures and overnight temperatures, along with far below average humidity levels. 
• Population: The main population is made up of Indigenous Australians & has two main tribes; Martu in the west and Pintupi to the east. 

Night parrot

• About: A medium‑sized ground dwelling bird associated with mature Spinifex habitat in arid and semi-arid regions. 
• Distribution: Night Parrots are now known only in isolated populations in south-west Queensland and northern inland WA (endemic to Australia). 
• Key threats: Predation by feral cats, altered fire regimes, and habitat degradation associated with overgrazing and changing climatic conditions.
• IUCN List status: Critically endangered

 

Eturnagaram Wildlife Sanctuary Incident (Indian Express)

• The Eturnagaram Wildlife Sanctuary faced a rare and devastating event, resulting in the destruction of thousands of trees.

About Eturnagaram Wildlife Sanctuary

• Location: Near the border of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana.
• Designation: Declared as a wildlife sanctuary in 1952, it spans approximately 806 sq. km.
• Area: ~ 806 sq. km.
• River: Dayyam Vagu, which separates the sanctuary into two parts as well as river Godavari.
• Vegetation: Thick natural vegetation which falls in tropical dry deciduous.
• Flora: Teak, bamboo and other trees like madhuca and terminalia.
• Fauna: Tiger, Leopard, Panther, Wolf, Wild Dogs, Jackals, Sloth Bear, Chousingha, Black Buck, Nilgai, Sambar, Spotted Deer and Four Horned Antilope etc, Mugger crocodiles and snakes like the Cobra, Python and Krait.
• Religious significance: The famous Sammakka-Saralamma Temple is situated inside the sanctuary.

 

Science and Technology

IIA Finds Proof of Interaction Between Radio Jet and Interstellar Gas (The Hindu)

• Researchers from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) have found evidence of an interaction between a radio jet emitted from a type of galaxy called Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and the surrounding interstellar medium.

Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN)

• About: A bright central region of a galaxy dominated by light from dust and gas falling into a black hole.
• Luminosity: The central region is extremely luminous, often outshining the entire galaxy, emitting radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves to gamma rays).
• Cause of Radiation: Radiation is produced by a supermassive black hole devouring nearby material.
• Active Galaxy: A galaxy hosting an AGN is called an 'active galaxy.'
• Characteristics: AGNs are the most luminous, persistent sources of electromagnetic radiation in the Universe, useful for discovering distant objects.
• Quasars and Blazars: The most powerful AGNs are quasars, which create extremely luminous galactic centers. A blazar is an AGN with a jet pointed toward Earth.

 

Meta Introduces Llama 3.2 (The Hindu)

• As all eyes are on Meta Connect 2024, Mark Zuckerberg announced the introduction of Llama 3.2, an open-source large language model with image and text processing abilities.

Features of Llama 3.2

• About: An open-source large language model developed by Meta that has both image and text processing abilities.
• Variants: Includes both small and medium-sized variants at 11-billion and 90-billion parameters as well as more lightweight text-only models at 1-billion and 3-billion parameters that fit into select mobile and edge devices. 
• Applications: AR apps with a real-time understanding of video, visual search engines that distribute images based on content, or document analysis tools that can summarise large portions of text.

 

 

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Dedicates Three PARAM Rudra Supercomputers (PIB)

• The Prime Minister dedicated three PARAM Rudra Supercomputers worth around Rs 130 crore to the nation via video conferencing.

About PARAM Rudra Supercomputers

• A part of the National Supercomputing Mission aimed at providing advanced computing facilities to Indian researchers.

Defence

Russian Tu-22M3 Bomber Strike on Snake Island (The Hindu)

• Russian Tu-22M3 bombers targeted Snake Island in the Black Sea with Kh-22 cruise missiles in a coordinated strike against Ukrainian forces.

KH-22 Cruise Missile/ AS-4 'Kitchen'

 

• About: A Soviet-era long-range air - borne supersonic cruise missile developed in the USSR in the 1960s and specifically designed to be launched from Tupolev-22 bombers.
• Aim: To destroy large naval targets like aircraft carriers, using either conventional or nuclear warheads.
• Max speed: Up to Mach 4.6 
• Range: ~ 600 kilometers.
• Weight: 5,820 kilograms

Features: A conventional warhead, an improved rocket motor, and a new radar imaging terminal seeker. It has a longer range but a smaller warhead.