Piprahwa Relics

• The Union Ministry of Culture is organising the “Lotus Light: Relics of the Awakened One” cultural exposition showcasing the Piprahwa Relics in New Delhi.

About Piprahwa Relics

• The Piprahwa Relics were discovered in 1898 at Piprahwa Stupa (Uttar Pradesh) by British engineer William C. Peppe; the site is widely identified with ancient Kapilavastu, Buddha’s homeland.
• The relics include bone fragments, crystal and steatite caskets, gold ornaments and gemstones; a Brahmi inscription attributes them to Buddha’s Sakya clan, dating them to the 3rd century BCE.
• Under the Indian Treasure Trove Act, 1878, the British Crown claimed the relics; Buddha’s bone relics were gifted to King Rama V of Siam, while most gems went to the Indian Museum, Kolkata.
• Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) excavations (1971-77) uncovered an additional 22 bone relics in steatite caskets, now preserved at the National Museum, New Delhi.
• In 2025, relics held by the Peppé family surfaced at a Hong Kong auction and were repatriated to India.

Nimesulide Ban

• India has banned oral immediate-release nimesulide formulations above 100 mg to protect public health, citing serious safety risks.
• Nimesulide is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used for pain and fever in adults. It has been widely sold under multiple brand names and fixed-dose combinations in India for decades.

Reasons Behind the Ban

• Hepatic Risk: High-dose nimesulide is linked to liver toxicity, which can lead to acute liver failure.
• Fatal Potential: Severe cases of hepatotoxicity have led to hospitalisation and deaths.
• Safer Alternatives: Other NSAIDs with better safety profiles are available for similar indications.
• Ecological Risk: Nimesulide was identified as a major continuing threat to vulture populations.

Regulatory And Legal Basis for the Ban

• Statutory Power: Ban issued under Section 26A of the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940, in public interest.
• Expert Review: Recommendation came from the Drugs Technical Advisory Board & expert committees.
• Scope of Ban: Applies only to oral immediate-release doses above 100 mg, not a total prohibition.

India’s First 3D Flex Aqueous Angiography for Glaucoma

• Context (PIB): An Army Hospital in New Delhi has successfully performed India’s first 3D flex aqueous angiography with iStent, marking a major advancement in glaucoma treatment.

Key Details

• 3D flex aqueous angiography allows doctors to see the eye’s fluid drainage channels in real time, helping identify exactly where fluid outflow is blocked in glaucoma patients.
• The technique was performed using a 3D operating microscope and Spectralis imaging system, enabling high-precision live imaging during the eye surgery.
• It was combined with iStent, a tiny implant used in Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery (MIGS), which helps improve fluid drainage and lower eye pressure safely.

About Glaucoma

• It is a group of eye disorders involving progressive optic nerve damage, associated with persistently raised intra-ocular pressure (IOP) and irreversible vision loss.
• It is caused by ageing, genetic predisposition, diabetes, prolonged steroid use and eye injury; symptoms appear late via gradual peripheral vision loss.
• Treatment focuses on lowering IOP through eye drops, laser procedures, or surgery, with newer methods like MIGS improving safety and outcomes.
• In India, glaucoma affects ~12 million people and causes ~12% of total blindness, with a high burden due to late diagnosis, low awareness, and limited routine screening.

 UN Chief Issues New Year Message in Hindi

• Context (DD): The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres released a New Year’s message in Hindi, a first in the history of the UN.
• He warned about misplaced global priorities in his message, urging world leaders to prioritise development spending over military expenditure.
• Global military spending has risen to $2.7 trillion (10% more than last year), about 13 times the total global development aid and roughly equal to Africa’s GDP.

UAE–Saudi Rift in Yemen

• The United Arab Emirates announced the withdrawal of its troops from Saudi Arabia following Saudi airstrikes on Mukalla port in Yemen.
• Escalation among anti-Houthi actors complicates prospects for a unified political settlement.

What Happened in Mukalla?

• Port Strike: Saudi Arabia bombed Mukalla port (Southern Yemen) after a shipment arrived from the UAE’s Fujairah, alleging it carried weapons for southern separatists.
• Denial: UAE stated the shipment contained vehicles for its own forces, rejecting claims of arms supply.

Actors and Alignments in Southern Yemen

• Southern Transitional Council (STC): UAE-backed group seeking southern Yemen’s sovereignty since 2017, recently expanding control in Hadramout and Mahra.
• Yemeni Military Bloc: Opposes STC and is aligned with the Hadramout Tribal Alliance, which is supported and backed by Saudi Arabia.

Reasons Behind UAE Withdrawal

• Operational Safety: The UAE cited concerns over the safety of its personnel amid rising airstrikes.
• Counterterror Focus: Abu Dhabi reiterated that its Yemen presence is limited to counterterrorism.
• Political Signalling: Withdrawal reinforces that Yemen’s governance must be decided internally.

United States–Venezuela Tensions over Oil Sanctions and Maritime Interdictions

• Relations between the United States and Venezuela have sharply escalated after the U.S. seized Venezuelan oil tankers and imposed a naval quarantine on oil shipments.

Why Trump Is Targeting Venezuela?

1. Strategic And Economic Factors

• Energy Security: Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves (~303 billion barrels), and control over these reserves can reduce U.S. reliance on West Asian energy.
• Sanctions Fatigue: Despite years of sanctions, the Maduro regime has survived, prompting Washington to explore harder coercive tools like Maritime Chokehold to disrupt its primary revenue source.

2. Geopolitical Rivalry

• Countering Rivals: Venezuela has deepened ties with China, Russia, Iran, and Cuba, including oil-backed loans, arms purchases, and security cooperation.
• Cold War Revival: The Caribbean is being treated again as a sphere of strategic control for the U.S.

3. Regime Change Objective

• Domestic Opposition Support: Sections of Venezuela’s opposition openly back stronger U.S. action, reinforcing Washington’s regime-change calculus.
• Official Justification: The U.S. frames its actions as counter-narcotics operations and national security enforcement, providing political and legal justification for interventionist policies

Venezuela

• Location: Venezuela is situated on the northern coast of South America.
• Borders: It borders the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to the north, Guyana to the east, Brazil to the south, and Colombia to the southwest and west.
• Geographical Features: The Andes, the expansive grassland plains (Llanos), the Guiana Highlands, and the Caribbean coast. It hosts the world’s highest waterfall, Angel Falls.
• Major Water Body: Orinoco River (drains into the Atlantic Ocean), Rio Negro (drains into the Amazon River), Lake Maracaibo (the largest lake in South America) and Lake Guri.

Small-Value Digital Payment Surge

• In the rising digital payments ecosystem in India, the share of small value payments is seen growing faster, according to a report by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Key Highlights from the RBI Report

Trends in Digital Payments

• Digital payments grew 17.9% in value and now form 97.6% of total costs, while cheques fell to 2.4%.
• Digital payment volumes expanded by 35%, far outpacing value growth due to small-ticket transactions.
• Average retail digital transaction value declined to ₹3,830 from ₹4,382, signalling daily-use adoption.
• UPI accounts for the largest share of transaction volume, while RTGS dominates high-value payments.
• Debit card usage declined, while credit card transactions continued to rise in recent periods.

ATM Usage and Infrastructure Trends

• Digital payments reduced cash withdrawals; E.g., total ATMs declined moderately in 2024–25.
• Reduction driven mainly by a fall in off-site ATMs, despite growth in on-site ATMs.
• Public sector banks hold the largest share of ATMs with a more even population-wise distribution.

Risks Posed by AI Adoption in the Financial Sector

• Model Explainability: Black-box AI models risk flawed credit decisions at scale.
• Data Drift: Changing borrower behaviour can reduce model accuracy over time.
• Ethical Risks: Data privacy breaches and algorithmic bias pose systemic concerns.

Microfinance Stress Signals

• Credit Contraction: Microfinance lending contracted across most lender categories by end-March 2025.
• Portfolio Stress: Rising stress observed across regulated entities, excluding NBFC-MFIs.

Reasons for the Rise in Small-Value Digital Payments

• UPI Convenience: UPI handles a major share of digital payment transactions, with UPI processing ~85% of all digital volumes in 2025, reflecting strong user preference for instant digital micro-payments.
• Merchant Acceptance: UPI’s ubiquity extends to point-of-sale and QR payments, with digital payments comprising 99.8% of total payment transactions by volume, indicating wide merchant adoption.
• Smartphone Access: In India, ~ 85 % of households possessed at least one smartphone. Approximately 86.3% of households in India have internet access. (Telecom Survey, 2025).

India’s Clean Energy Achievements in 2025

• India achieved significant gains in clean energy capacity in 2025 but requires structural reforms to secure Aatmanirbharta and long-term energy security.

Overview of the Clean Energy Capacity in India

• Global Rank: India ranks fourth in total installed renewable capacity, at 253.96 GW, with over 23% year-on-year growth.
• Capacity Expansion: In 2025, India added a record 44.51 GW by November, nearly double the 25 GW added in 2024.
• Non-Fossil Sources: Non-fossil sources accounted for 51.5% of installed power capacity, achieving the COP26 target five years early.
• Solar Growth: Solar capacity increased by 34.98 GW to 132.85 GW by November 2025, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 41%.
• Wind Growth: Wind capacity increased by 5.82 GW to 53.99 GW by November 2025, recording a 12.5% year-on-year growth.
• FDI Inflows: Clean energy attracted $3.4 billion in FDI during the first nine months of FY 2025, accounting for over 80% of power-sector inflows.

India’s Advantage for Clean Energy

• Solar Abundance: With around 300 sunny days annually and high solar insolation, India has a theoretical solar potential exceeding 750 GW.
• Cost Efficiency: Competitive auctions have driven solar and wind tariffs to record lows, making renewables in India among the cheapest globally.
• Hydrogen Market: Replacing the 5 million tonnes of grey hydrogen already consumed would create an instant domestic market for green hydrogen.
• Strategic Geography: A 7,500 km coastline has immense offshore wind potential, and Rajasthan and Gujarat’s plains are ideal for solar-wind hybrid projects.
• China Alternative: With vertical integration, India can emerge as a China-plus-one manufacturing hub for renewables.

India’s Challenges with Clean Energy

• DISCOM Stress: Delayed payments from financially weak state DISCOMs cause liquidity constraints for renewable developers.
• PPA Renegotiation: Attempts by some state governments to renegotiate Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) after the auction undermine the sanctity of contracts and investor confidence.
• Grid Bottlenecks: Nearly 60 GW of renewable projects remain stranded due to inadequate transmission infrastructure.
• High Capital Cost: The cost of renewable financing in India is about 80% higher than in developed countries, mainly due to perceived risks.
• Hydrogen Cost: Green hydrogen currently costs $4-5 per kg, far higher than grey hydrogen based on fossil fuels.

Way Forward

• Vertical Integration: Expand domestic production of polysilicon and wafers to reduce dependence on Chinese upstream components.
• Contract Sanctity: Introduce a legal framework to prevent unilateral renegotiation of Power Purchase Agreements by states.
• Grid Expansion: Build transmission infrastructure ahead of generation capacity to prevent stranded renewable assets.
• Payment Security: Strengthen payment security mechanisms to protect developers against DISCOM defaults and high financing costs.
• Energy Storage: Accelerate deployment of battery energy storage and pumped hydro to manage renewable intermittency.

White Paper on Democratising AI Infrastructure

• The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) released a white paper titled “Democratising Access to AI Infrastructure” to guide inclusive AI growth.
• It highlights the need for affordable access to foundational AI resources to prevent the concentration of power among a few global firms and urban centres.

Key Highlights of the White Paper

• Access Equity: Treating AI infrastructure as a Digital Public Good (DPG) to lower entry barriers for startups, researchers, and universities.
• The IndiaAI Mission has established a national GPU pool accessible through the IndiaAI Compute Portal, offering over 38,000 GPUs at subsidised rates.
• Capacity Building: Expanding AI data centres to bridge the existing capacity gap; India generates nearly 20% of global data but hosts only about 3% of data-centre capacity.
• Inclusive Innovation: Integrating AI with Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), such as Aadhaar and UPI.
• Platforms such as IndiaAIKosh can act as shared repositories for datasets and tools, aiding the development of inclusive AI solutions like Bhashini.
• Energy Sustainability: Integrating new data centres with green energy grids, as expanding data centres could consume nearly 3% of India’s electricity by 2030.
• Urban De-concentration: Reducing concentration in metro cities by incentivising AI data centres through Public–Private Partnerships (PPP) in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.

The World Weather Attribution Annual Report 2025

• The World Weather Attribution (WWA) Annual Report 2025 warns that climate change-driven extremes in 2025 pushed millions of people close to the limits of adaptation, despite La Niña conditions.

The World Weather Attribution Annual Report 2025:

• World Weather Attribution (WWA) is an international scientific collaboration that analyses how human-induced climate change influences extreme weather events such as heatwaves, floods, storms, droughts and wildfires.

Key findings (2025):

• Heatwaves intensified sharply: Heatwaves since 2015 have become significantly more intense, with some events nearly 10 times more likely, showing that even small increases in global temperature have outsized impacts.
• Crossing the 1.5°C threshold: The three-year global average temperature is projected to cross the 1.5°C limit for the first time, despite 2025 being a La Niña year, underlining the strength of long-term warming trends.
• Limits of adaptation reached: Several extreme events revealed that adaptation measures are no longer sufficient for vulnerable populations, especially in the Global South.
• Inequality in climate impacts: Marginalised communities were systematically the worst affected, while data gaps and weak climate models limited analysis of many Global South events.

Extreme event profile (2025):

1. 157 humanitarian-impact events identified
2. Heatwaves and floods (49 each) most frequent
3. Storms (38), wildfires (11), droughts (7)
4. Heatwaves emerged as the deadliest hazard, with tens of thousands of deaths in single events.

National Technology Readiness Assessment Framework (NTRAF)

• The Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India has unveiled the National Technology Readiness Assessment Framework (NTRAF) to create a uniform, evidence-based system for assessing technology maturity across India’s R&D ecosystem.

National Technology Readiness Assessment Framework (NTRAF)

• The National Technology Readiness Assessment Framework (NTRAF) is a standardised, objective framework to assess the maturity of technologies from early laboratory research to full commercial deployment using 9 Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs).

Ministry / Department:

• Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (OPSA) to the Government of India
• Developed in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)

Aim:

• Establish a common language between researchers, investors and policymakers
• Enable evidence-based funding decisions under national R&D and mission-mode programmes
• Reduce the “Valley of Death” between TRL 4 and TRL 7 by de-risking promising deep-tech innovations

Key features:

1. TRL-based assessment: Covers the full innovation cycle from Proof of Concept (TRL 1–3) to Prototype Development (TRL 4–6) and Operational Deployment (TRL 7–9).
2. Objectivity over subjectivity: Uses structured, measurable checklists instead of narrative claims of readiness.
3. Global best practices, Indian context: Adapted from international models (e.g., NASA TRLs) and customised for India’s research and industrial ecosystem.
4. Sector-specific annexures: Tailored assessment pathways for domains such as Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals and Software, recognising sectoral differences.
5. Self-assessment tool: Enables researchers and startups to identify technical gaps before applying for funding.

Significance:

• Improves efficiency of public R&D spending by aligning funding with actual technology maturity.
• Boosts private sector confidence by providing validated, investment-ready readiness benchmarks.

Copper

• Copper prices touched a record high of over USD 12,000 per tonne in 2025, driven by US tariff uncertainty, global supply disruptions and surging demand from AI, clean energy and EVs.

About Copper:

• Copper (Cu) is a naturally occurring metallic element (Atomic number: 29) known for its excellent electrical and thermal conductivity.
• It is among the oldest metals used by humans and is central to modern industrial, digital and green economies.

Characteristics of Copper

1. Chemical characteristics:

• Symbol: Cu and Atomic weight: 63.546 amu
• High resistance to corrosion and oxidation
• Forms important alloys such as brass (Cu+Zn) and bronze (Cu+Sn)

2. Physical characteristics:

• Excellent electrical and thermal conductivity (second only to silver)
• Ductile and malleable, enabling easy wiring and shaping
• Naturally reddish-brown; one of the few coloured metals

Unique properties:

• 100% recyclable without loss of quality
• Antimicrobial in nature, useful in healthcare settings
• Enhances energy efficiency, reducing CO₂ emissions over product life cycles

Applications of Copper

• Energy and power sector: Used extensively in power grids, transformers, renewable energy systems, and battery storage.
• Electric vehicles (EVs): EVs use over twice the copper of conventional vehicles due to motors, batteries and wiring.
• Digital and AI infrastructure: Data centres, especially hyperscale AI facilities, require massive copper volumes for cooling and power transmission.
• Construction and manufacturing: Plumbing, roofing, industrial machinery and electronics rely heavily on copper.
• Defence and healthcare: Used in defence electronics, ammunition and antimicrobial medical surfaces.

India and Copper: Current Status

• India is recognised copper as a critical mineral under its resource strategy.
• Over 90% dependence on imported copper concentrate
• Major producers across globe: Chile, Peru, DR Congo, China, USA

PathGennie Software for Fast-Tracking Drug Discovery

• The Ministry of Science and Technology has developed PathGennie, a new open-source computational software that significantly accelerates drug discovery by accurately simulating drug–protein unbinding.

PathGennie Software

• PathGennie is an open-source computational framework designed to efficiently simulate rare molecular events, especially drug unbinding from protein targets, without introducing artificial distortions.
• It helps predict drug residence time, a key factor in drug efficacy and safety.
• Developed by: Scientists at S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata

Aim:

• To overcome limitations of traditional molecular dynamics simulations in capturing slow, rare molecular transitions.
• To provide physically accurate pathways for drug–protein interactions while reducing computational cost and time.

How it works?

• Instead of forcing molecules to move, the software lets them move naturally.
• It runs many tiny, short simulations at the same time to see which ones head in the right direction.
• Only the useful paths are continued, while the rest are stopped, saving time and computing power.
• This works like natural selection — the best paths survive without artificial pressure or heat.
• It can handle complex patterns, even those identified using artificial intelligence, making it very adaptable.

Applications:

• Predicts accurate drug unbinding pathways and residence times (e.g., imatinib–Abl kinase).
• Understanding protein–ligand kinetics for better drug design.
• Applicable to chemical reactions, catalysis, phase transitions and self-assembly processes.

Justice Mission 2025

• China conducted large-scale live-fire military drills named “Justice Mission 2025” around Taiwan, including missile launches, fighter jet sorties, and naval deployments.

Justice Mission 2025:

• Justice Mission 2025 is a high-intensity, two-day PLA (People’s Liberation Army) military exercise involving live-fire missile launches, air and naval manoeuvres.
• It is designed to simulate blockade operations and precision strikes against Taiwan’s ports and maritime targets.

Location:

• Conducted around Taiwan, including waters to the north and south of the island.
• Missile launches observed from Pingtan Island, the closest Chinese territory to Taiwan.

Nations involved:

• China: People’s Liberation Army (ground forces, navy, air force, missile units).
• Taiwan: Target of the drills; responded with heightened military readiness.

Aim:

• To send a deterrent signal against Taiwan’s independence assertions.
• To warn the US and its allies against military support and arms sales to Taiwan.
• To demonstrate China’s capability to blockade and isolate Taiwan during a conflict.

Key features:

• Live-fire missile launches targeting surrounding waters.
• Naval deployments simulating maritime blockades and anti-submarine warfare.
• Joint operations integrating air, sea, missile, and ground forces.
• One of the largest drills near Taiwan in recent years, indicating escalation.

Implications:

• Heightened regional tension: Raises the risk of miscalculation in the Taiwan Strait.
• US-China rivalry: Reinforces strategic competition over Taiwan’s security.
• East Asian security impact: Concerns for Japan, ASEAN, and global trade routes.

The drug-resistant fungal species Candida auris

• An Indian-led study has warned that Candida auris, a drug-resistant fungal pathogen, is becoming more virulent and spreading globally, with high mortality even after treatment.

The drug-resistant fungal species Candida auris:

• Candida auris is a multidrug-resistant fungal pathogen that causes severe invasive infections, especially in hospitalised and immunocompromised patients.
• First identified in 2009, it is now classified as an emerging global health threat due to high fatality rates and treatment failure.

Vector / Reservoir:

• Primarily healthcare settings such as hospitals and long-term care facilities.
• Persists on human skin, medical devices, and inanimate surfaces for prolonged periods.

Symptoms:

• Symptoms vary by site of infection and often resemble bacterial sepsis, making detection difficult.
• Common signs include fever, chills, low blood pressure, tachycardia, and in severe cases, bloodstream infections (candidemia).

Key features:

• Multidrug resistance: Resistant to multiple antifungal classes, limiting treatment options.
• High virulence: Mortality often exceeds 50%, even with therapy.
• Morphological flexibility: Can switch from yeast form to filamentous growth, aiding invasion.
• Immune evasion: Adapts rapidly to host immune responses and environmental stress.

Transmission:

• Spreads through direct contact with infected or colonised individuals (even asymptomatic).
• Transmitted via contaminated surfaces, medical equipment, and invasive devices like catheters or ventilators.

Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary

• The Bihar government has approved a revised proposal to notify Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary as a Tiger Reserve, which will now be sent to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) for final clearance.

Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary:

• Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary is the largest wildlife sanctuary in Bihar, known for its rich biodiversity, forested plateaus and historical–archaeological heritage.
• Located in: Kaimur and Rohtas districts of Bihar
• Situated in the Kaimur Range, covering parts of the Kaimur Plateau and Rohtas Plateau.

History:

• Established in 1979 as a wildlife sanctuary.
• Historically significant region with prehistoric cave paintings, megaliths, fossil sites, and forts such as Rohtasgarh Fort and Shergarh Fort.
• Long recognised for its ecological potential, with recent evidence of tiger movement prompting the tiger reserve proposal.

Key geological and physical features:

• Plateaued landscape of the Kaimur hills with steep escarpments and forested valleys
• Numerous waterfalls: Karkat, Telhar, Dhua Kund, Tutla Bhawani, Manjhar Kund, Kashish
• Lakes and water bodies: Anupam Lake, Karamchat Dam, Kohira Dam.
• Forest types: Tropical Dry Mixed Deciduous forests, Dry Sal forests, Boswellia forests, Dry Bamboo brakes

Significance:

• Biodiversity hotspot: Home to Bengal tiger, leopard, sloth bear, pangolin, sambar, chital, four-horned antelope, nilgai and over 70 resident bird species, with migratory birds from Central Asia in winter
• Tiger conservation potential: Large, contiguous forest landscape suitable for a viable tiger population and ecological corridors in eastern India
• Ecological balance: Helps maintain forest–river–plateau ecosystems of southwestern Bihar