Prime Minister Modi attends Jahan-e-Khusrau: How 13th century poet is a flag-bearer of pluralistic Sufi tradition

·        In his address to the 25th edition of Jahan-e-Khusrau at New Delhi’s Sunder Nursery on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the annual music festival that commemorates the Sufi poet-musician Amir Khusrau as imbued with the “fragrance of the soil of Hindustan”.

·         Bestowed with the sobriquet of Tuti-yi-Hind, the ‘Parrot of India’, the 13th century mystic is seen as a father figure for North India’s syncretic Ganga-Jamuni culture.

·          Khusrau made lasting contributions to Indian classical music, Sufi qawwali, and Persian literature, and is also credited for developing Hindavi, a precursor to modern Hindi and Urdu.

Khusrau, the ‘Indian Turk’

·         Much of what is known about Khusrau comes from his own writings, which are interspersed with autobiographical information. Many facts about his life are unknown, or steeped in legend.

·         Khusrau’s father likely came to India from Central Asia in the early 13th century, as the Mongol hordes of Genghis Khan ravaged Islamic Transoxiana (corresponding to parts of modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, southern Kazakhstan,Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan).

·         He entered the service of Sultan Iltutmish (1211-36), and married the daughter of an Indian Muslim. The couple’s second child, Abu’l Hasan Yamin ud-Din Khusrau, was born in 1253.

·         A “Khusrau was proud of both sides of his lineage, and his life and writings symbolise a synthesis of the two different cultures,” Paul E Losensky and Sunil Sharma wrote in their introduction to In the Bazaar of Love (2011), a collection of Khusrau’s poems. The poet often referred to himself as an “Indian Turk”.

·         It is believed that Khusrau was born in Patiyali in present-day Etah district of Uttar Pradesh. But the poet himself never mentioned his birthplace, and it is possible he was born closer to Delhi.

A poet for the sultans

·         Khusrau became a professional poet at age 20, and served as one until his death. He started out in the service of princes and nobles, before becoming a permanent fixture in the court of the Delhi Sultan.

·         “In mediaeval Islamic culture, praise poetry was one of the principal means for a ruler to establish and propagate his cultural and political legitimacy,” Losensky and Sharma wrote.

·         The court poet depended on continued patronage of his patron and always faced ample competition. Amir Khusrau served at least five Sultans — Muiz ud din Qaiqabad, Jalaluddin Khalji, Alauddin Khalji, Qutbuddin Mubarak Shah, and Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq — and many other powerful patrons over five decades, which testifies to the quality of his poetry. He wrote in Persian, the language of the court, as well as Hindavi.

·         Sultan Jalaluddin Khalji bestowed upon Khusrau the title of ‘Amir’. Historian Ziauddin Barani wrote in Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi that Jalaluddin held Khusrau “in great esteem”, and Khusrau “served as keeper of the Qur’ān” in his court (trans. Losensky and Sharma).

Disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya

·         Khusrau was the most beloved disciple of the Chishti Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya, who once wished that his favourite pupil would be buried with him.

·         He [Khusrau] is the keeper of my secrets, and I shall not set foot in Paradise without him. If it were lawful, I should have instructed you to bury him in the same grave with me so that we two may always remain together,” the Pir is said to have said. (Quoted in Mohammad Wahid Mirza’s The Life and Works of Amir Khusrau, 1929).

·          “He [Khusrau] was equally respected in the royal court as well as the [Sufi master’s] khanqah. Neither the king nor the saint ever suspected the fidelity and loyalty of Khusrau who frequented the two opposite camps with equal respect and honour,” scholar Saifullah Saifi wrote in ‘Sufi Poet Amir Khusrau: A Link between the Court and the Khanqah’ published in Regional Sufi Centres in India (2011).

·         Master and disciple died within months of each other in 1325. When he heard of the Pir’s passing, Khusrau is said to uttered these words: “Beauty sleeps on the bed, her hair across her face. Come Khusrau, let’s go home, night has set over this place.” (trans. Losensky and Sharma)

Khusrau’s lasting legacy

·         700 years after his death, the lyrical beauty, sophisticated wordplay, and exploration of diverse themes in Khusrau’s poetry continues to enamour audiences.

·         He wrote highly of Hindus. “The Brahmans of India have greater wealth of philosophical thought than what Rumi had revealed to the World.

·         As nobody has tried to learn from the Brahmans, their learning has not been revealed to the world,” he wrote in his masnavi Nuh Siphir. (Quoted in Indian Literary Criticism: Theory and Interpretation, ed. G N Devy).

·         Khusrau’s ghazals and qawwalis are today sung in both sacred and secular contexts, at sufi dargahs and Bollywood musicals. His most popular compositions include Chhaap Tilak, Zehal-e-Maskeen, and Sakal Ban Phool Rahi Sarson.

·         However, his musical contributions likely go farther than this. Khusrau is said to be instrumental in the development of modern Indian classical music — he is credited with crafting dozens of ragas, creating ornate khayal music, and inventing the sitar and tabla, even though evidence for this is limited.

National Science Day: What is Raman Effect, what are some of its uses

·         National Science Day 2025: February 28 is marked as National Science Day in India. Unlike many commemorative days, this day is not the birth or death anniversary of a person, but the anniversary of a scientific discovery — on this day in 1928, Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman discovered a new way light scatters. This was later known as the ‘Raman Effect’, and won him the Nobel Prize in Physics 1930. Till date, this remains the only science Nobel won by an Indian working in India.

Since when has February 28 been National Science Day?

·         According to the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), in 1986, the National Council for Science and Technology Communication asked the Government of India to designate February 28 as National Science Day.

·         The government accepted, and the first National Science Day was celebrated on February 28, 1987. “The basic objective of the observation of National Science Day is to spread the message of the importance of science and its application among the people,”

·         A The theme of this year’s National Science Day is ‘Empowering Indian Youth for Global Leadership in Science & Innovation for Viksit Bharat.’

What is Raman Effect?

·         Put simply, when light strikes a material, it interacts with the materials’ molecules and exchanges energy. Now when this light is scattered by the material, a portion of the light is of a different wavelength, and thus of a different colour. An example of this — and the phenomenon that led Raman to his discovery — is the blue colour of oceans, which is the result of the scattering of sunlight by water molecules.

·         Similarly, the blue of the sky is a result of the scattering of sunlight by air molecules.

How did Raman come about his discovery?

·         Raman was born in Trichy in 1888. He showed an early talent in science, receiving a BA degree from Presidency College in Madras at the age of 16. He eventually took up a job as an assistant accountant general in Calcutta, but continued scientific experiments.

·          When he travelled to London in 1921, he already had a reputation as a great scientific mind, thanks to his work studying the vibrations and sounds of instruments like the veena, the tabla and the mridangam

·          It was on his return trip from London to Bombay aboard the ship SS Narkunda that the striking blue colour of the Mediterranean Sea caught his attention, eventually leading to his great discovery.

·         The American Chemical Society (ACS) has described how Raman conducted his experiment, “The violet light of the solar spectrum is isolated with a violet filter and passed through the liquid sample. Most of the light emerging from the liquid sample is the same colour as the incident violet beam…

·          However, Raman and KS Krishnan [his student] were able to show that some of the scattered light was a different colour, which they could isolate by using a green filter placed between the observer and the sample.”

·         Raman’s lab the year before had acquired a refracting telescope, using which Raman managed to condense sunlight to get a beam powerful enough for his experiments.

What are the applications of the Raman Effect?

·         If we can read how light is scattered by a substance, whether solid, liquid, or gaseous, we also get an idea about the structure of the substance, without breaking it apart for examination.

·         A Once the use of lasers took off in the 1960s, the uses of the Raman Effect multiplied. As the ACS puts it, “Illegal drugs captured at a crime scene can be analysed rapidly without breaking the evidence seal on the plastic bag.

·         Chemists can watch paint dry and understand what reactions are occurring as the paint hardens. Using a fiber-optic probe, they can analyse nuclear waste material from a safe distance.”

How Chandra Shekhar remained ‘Azad’ until the very end

·         Chandra Shekhar Azad was only 24 when he died on February 27, 1931. And through his death he ensured that his resolve to never be captured alive — to be azad (free) till his very last breath — was not broken. Here’s the story.

Becoming ‘Azad’

·         Born in the princely state of Alirajpur (present-day Madhya Pradesh) in 1906, Chandra Shekhar Sitaram Tiwari grew up in poverty.

·         He left his home when only 15 years-old. After a brief while in the dockyards of Bombay, Chandra Shekhar found himself in Benares, where he was given free accommodation and clothing at a Sanskrit school.

·         But studies did not interest him. And with the Mahatma Gandhi-led Non Cooperation Movement at its apex, the politically bustling Benares gave him ample opportunity to do other things.

·         Soon, he was a part of Congress-organised youth groups, picketing liquor shops and participating in protests. He would eventually be arrested, charged with disrupting public disorder, and produced before a magistrate. It was at this point that Chandra Shekhar became Azad.

·         The judge asked the young boy his name and other family details. He replied that his name was ‘Azad’, his father’s name was ‘Swatantra’ [Independence] and his home address was a jail cell,” historian Aparna Vaidik wrote in Waiting for Swaraj: Inner Lives of Indian Revolutionaries (2021). Enraged at his insolence, the judge ordered that Chandra Shekhar be caned 15 times.

·         After being released, Chandra Shekhar dropped his Brahmin name and took on the title of Azad, making resolving to never be captured again.

From satyagraha to revolution

·         Azad was very upset when Gandhi called off the Non Cooperation Movement in February 1922. And like many of his contemporaries, his frustration pushed him down a more militant path.

·         As fellow revolutionary Manmathnath Gupta recalled, “This is is the line from where the new current started in the lives of people like Chandrashekhar Azad and myself, who later on from being staunch followers of Gandhi jumped to the other side, and were sucked in the vortex of revolutionary movement”.

·         He would soon join the Hindustan Republican Army (HRA) of Ram Prasad Bismil and Sachindranath Sanyal, where he participated in numerous political dacoities to raise funds for an eventual armed uprising.

·         The most famous of these was the Kakori train robbery of 1925. Of those involved, Azad was the only one to escape the authorities — Azad had fled to Jhansi, where he lay low till the trial ended.

·         Subsequently, he began organising again. It was at this time that he met Bhagat Singh.

HSRA’s two actions

·         The two would eventually gather a crew of revolutionaries from across United Provinces and Panjab, and establish the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) in 1928.

·         This was the successor to the HRA, but now with a far more explicit socialist bent, courtesy Bhagat Singh.

·         While Bhagat Singh was the political ideologue of the organisation, Azad was its military leader — the one who strategised, planned and helped execute ‘actions’, gave the young men training in target practice, and helped organise arms and ammunition.

·         He would, most famously, plan and execute the murder of John Saunders, a British police officer in Lahore in December 1928. Bhagat Singh and Rajguru shot Saunders, while Azad shot dead a police constable who chased the assassins.

·         The HSRA pamphlet after Saunder’s death said the following: “With the death of J P Saunders the assassinaiton of Lala Lajpat Rai has been avenged… Today the world has seen that the people of India are not lifeless; their blood has not become cold…

·         Our aim is to bring about a revolution which would end all exploitation of man by man. Inqualab Zindabad!” It was signed by ‘Balraj’, one of the many pseudonyms that Azad went by.

·         The HSRA would carry out one more “action” — the bombing of the Central Assembly in Delhi by Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt in 1929. After this, the British crackdown sent the organisation in disarray. Almost all of its leaders were eventually arrested.

·         Bhagat Singh, along with Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar would be hanged for the killing of Saunders on March 21, 1931.

Last stand in Allahabad

·         But Azad remained free, continuing to operate while underground, mostly focussed on hatching a plan to free his comrade Bhagat Singh from prison. But his luck would soon run out.

·         On February 27, 1931, Azad was on his way to meet fellow revolutionary Sukhdev Raj (no connection to Sukhdev Thapar) at Allahabad’s Alfred Park when the police got to know about his whereabouts.

·         The park was soon surrounded by a police battalion. Outmanned and outgunned, Azad nonetheless put up a brave fight.

·         He helped Sukhdev escape, and put up his final stand. He shot as many as three policemen dead, but was badly injured in the process. With only one bullet left in his pistol, Azad decided to stay true to his resolve to never be taken alive, and shot himself in the head. 

Azad''s Shift to Revolutionary Politics

·         Frustration with Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement: In 1922, when Mahatma Gandhi called off the Non-Cooperation Movement after the Chauri Chaura incident, Azad felt betrayed. This led him to abandon Gandhian methods and embrace more radical, revolutionary politics.

·         Joining the Hindustan Republican Army (HRA): Azad became part of the HRA, led by Ram Prasad Bismil and Sachindranath Sanyal, which sought to use armed struggle to gain India’s independence. The HRA raised funds through political dacoities (robberies), one of the most famous being the Kakori train robbery in 1925.

·         Escape from Authorities: Azad was the only one to escape the authorities after the Kakori robbery. He took refuge in Jhansi until the trial was over and continued to organize revolutionary activities.

 Key Actions

·         Meeting Bhagat Singh and Formation of HSRA: In 1928, Azad met Bhagat Singh. The two revolutionaries, along with other young fighters, formed the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA), a more radical successor to the HRA.

·         While Bhagat Singh was the ideological leader, Azad was the military strategist and planner for the group.

·         He was responsible for training revolutionaries in arms and executing critical actions.

·         Assassination of J.P. Saunders: One of the most notable acts of Azad’s leadership was the planning and execution of the assassination of J.P. Saunders, a British police officer responsible for the lathi charge that led to the death of Lala Lajpat Rai. Bhagat Singh and Rajguru shot Saunders, while Azad killed a constable who chased them.

·         Bombing of the Central Assembly: In 1929, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt bombed the Central Assembly in Delhi to protest against repressive laws. Although they were arrested, the HSRA continued its efforts for the independence struggle.

What is the ''Philadelphi corridor'' and why is it a sticking point in Israel-Hamas talks?

·         It’s a small sliver of land, but it’s become a major sticking point in talks between Israel and Hamas.

·         The so-called Philadelphi corridor has emerged as a critical factor holding up a cease-fire deal that would end the monthslong war in the Gaza Strip and secure the release of hostages still held in the enclave.

·         Outcry over the killing of six hostages has intensified pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with President Joe Biden saying Monday that he was not doing enough to secure a deal. But Netanyahu signaled he had no plans to soften his stance on keeping troops in the area despite mass protests and internal disagreements.

What is the Philadelphi corridor?

·         The Philadelphi corridor, also known as the Salah al-Din axis, refers to a narrow strip of land just under 9 miles in length and around 100 yards wide that runs along the Gaza side of the coastal enclave''s border with Egypt.

·         It includes the key Rafah border crossing, long considered a lifeline for Palestinians in Gaza — allowing crucial supplies of food, medicine and other aid to get into the strip and enabling the movement of Palestinians in and out of the enclave under a 17-year blockade imposed by Israel.

·         The corridor was set up as a buffer zone in accordance with the 1978 Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel, with the aim of controlling movement in and out of Gaza and preventing arms smuggling between the Egyptian Sinai and the Palestinian enclave.

Location of key Gaza buffer zone

·         The Philadelphi Corridor runs the length of Gaza''s southern border and includes two key crossing points.

·          A The area was under Israeli control until Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, prior to which Israel and Egypt signed the Philadelphi Accord, which allowed Egypt to send hundreds of border guards to patrol the corridor''s borders.

·         In May, the Israeli military announced it had established “tactical control” over the corridor after launching a widely condemned offensive on the crowded city of Rafah in southern Gaza.

·         Israeli officials said troops had discovered some 150 tunnels along the corridor believed to have been used by Hamas to smuggle weapons and supplies into the enclave, though they said it wasn''t clear if the tunnels had been used since Oct. 7.

What''s the disagreement?

·         Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that Israel must maintain a military presence in the southern Gaza border area as part of any truce deal, in order to prevent Hamas from using the corridor.

·         But Hamas has rejected any continued Israeli presence in the corridor, with key negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya saying in an interview that unless Israeli forces withdraw from the area, "there is no agreement."

·         It''s only recently that the Philadelphi corridor has emerged as a central issue in cease-fire negotiations, which have stalled despite a renewed push from the United States.

·         Washington has publicly blamed Hamas, but U.S. and foreign officials that new conditions introduced by Netanyahu have also held up progress, including the insistence on control of Gaza’s southern border with Egypt.

·         Still, despite mounting diplomatic pressure and domestic unrest, Netanyahu has remained defiant.

·         Calling the Philadelphi corridor a Hamas'' "lifeline," the Israeli leader said during a news conference in Jerusalem on Monday that the strip was "central and determines our entire future."

·         "The axis of evil needs the Philadelphi corridor — we need to hold it," he said, at one point pointing to a map that appeared to erase the existence of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

·         Netanyahu argued that if Israel were to pull troops out of the corridor, international pressure would make it difficult to return.

Cape Vultures spotted after 30 years in South Africa’s Eastern Cape

·         The Cape Vulture (Gyps coprotheres), an Old World vulture species that is resides exclusively in Southern Africa and is threatened due to dwindling numbers, has returned to South Africa’s Eastern Cape province after three decades,

·         The sighting comes as a huge relief to conservationists.

·         “Since the 1980s, Cape Vulture numbers have been steadily declining. Between 1992 and 2007, populations in South Africa reduced by 60-70% and were first categorised as ‘threatened’. By 2021, the total population size was estimated at 9,600 to 12,800 mature individuals, which raised their status to ‘vulnerable’ showing their numbers were improving,

·         However, vulture numbers overall are dramatically declining with some species experiencing reductions of up to 80 per cent in recent decades, leading to what is termed the ‘African Vulture Crisis’, it added.

·         There are 23 species of vulture globally. These are divided into two families: Accipitridae or Old World vultures, of which there are 16 species, are found across Africa, Europe, and Asia. Cathartidae or New World vultures, with seven species, are native to the Americas and the Caribbean.

·         “The 16 species of Old World vultures are spread across nine genera. Of these, nine species are either resident in Africa or migrate to and from the continent.

·         Only three species — the White-headed Vulture, Hooded Vulture, and Cape Vulture — are exclusive to Africa with the Cape Vulture only resident to southern Africa alone,” the statement pointed out.

·         Vultures play a major role in the ecosystem. They dispose of carcasses quickly, thus preventing the spread of diseases like anthrax, botulism, and rabies among wildlife and humans.

·         Their absence would also lead to an increase in other scavengers, such as feral dogs and rats, which are less efficient at disposing of carcasses and can carry diseases harmful to humans and livestock.

Cape Vulture (Gyps coprotheres)

·        The Cape Vulture (Gyps coprotheres) is an Old World vulture species that is threatened due to dwindling numbers.

·        It is an Old World vulture in the family Accipitridae.

·        It is endemic to southern Africa, and lives mainly in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, and in some parts of northern Namibia.

·        There are 23 species of vulture globally. These are divided into two families: 

·         Accipitridaeor Old World vultures, of which there are 16 species, are found across Africa, Europe, and Asia. 

·         Cathartidaeor New World vultures, with seven species, are native to the Americas and the Caribbean.

·        Vultures play a major role in the ecosystem. They dispose of carcasses quickly, thus preventing the spread of diseases like anthrax, botulism, and rabies among wildlife and humans.

·        Their absence would also lead to an increase in other scavengers, such as feral dogs and rats, which are less efficient at disposing of carcasses and can carry diseases harmful to humans and livestock.

·        IUCN Status: Vulnerable

Why are wholesale soyabean prices so low, and why hasn’t procurement by the government helped?

·         The central government has so far procured 20 lakh tonnes (lt) of soyabean, but this has not had a significant impact on wholesale prices across markets.

·         The bulk of the crop, grown over 129.35 lakh hectares, remains to be marketed. Why have prices not risen despite intervention by the government?

What is the big picture on the soyabean crop currently?

·         Soyabean is a major kharif crop that is harvested in September. The oilseed marketing year runs from September to October.

·         In the current season, even before farmers had harvested their produce (in September 2024), soyabean was trading below the government’s Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 4,892/quintal.

·         The National Cooperative Agricultural Marketing Federation (NAFED) and the National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF) had set a target of procuring 30 lt across the country. However, NAFED has so far procured only 14.71 lt – and as of February 24, operations in six of the seven states, (barring Chhattisgarh) have ended.

·         Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has put the total procurement of the oilseed up to February 9 at 19.91 lt, benefitting 8.46 lakh farmers.

·         Government procurement of the crop was done through sub-agents who procured from farmers, and payments were made directly into the accounts of farmers.

·         It was expected that once the government weighed in to start procurement, wholesale markets would respond, and there would be an upward correction in prices.

So did the markets respond in the anticipated way?

·         On the contrary, wholesale prices at the soyabean market in Latur, Maharashtra, one of the largest wholesale markets for the crop in the country, went in the opposite direction.

·         For most of November and December, the price of soybean per quintal remained around Rs 4,200, lower than the average price of Rs 4,380/ quintal earlier. Prices are currently in the range of Rs 4,100-4,150/ quintal.

·         At the national level, the average price that farmers got for their produce fell from Rs 5,220 in September to Rs 4,706 in October, and to Rs 4,511 in November

·         Average prices per quintal recovered to Rs 4,872, very close to the MSP, in December, but fell to Rs 4,867 in January, according to Agmarknet data.

·         The Indore-based Soyabean Processors Association (SOPA) has estimated that as of February 1, about 57.40 lt of the total 134.76 lt of produce still remained with farmers or traders.

·         The window for procurement is now closed, and traders are not hopeful of any appreciation of prices in the days ahead. According to SOPA, about 20 lt of soyabean stocks are lying with the government.

Why are prices low, and when can the situation improve?

·         For Indian traders, exports of soyameal, the protein-rich solid left after oil has been extracted from the seeds, is important. Soyameal is used as feed for poultry and other animals.

·         Indian exports are currently commanding a price of $ 380/tonne (ex Kandla port), while those from Argentina, the world’s largest exporter of soyameal, are shipping at $360/ tonne.

·         Traders say prices may not rise significantly even if exports increase. A section of traders have asked for subsidy support to push exports, but others say prices could move southward again once the government begins to offload its stocks.

·         Pune-based agri commodities analyst said a sharp correction in prices in the wholesale market would not be possible until the government’s stock of 20 lt is exhausted. According to Chavan, the government should try to offload some of this stock as a protein additive in the public distribution system (PDS) along with rice and wheat.

Connecting people from the moon? Behind NASA’s bid to put a lunar Nokia cellular network

A year after Intuitive Machines became the first private company to land on the moon, it launched its second mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday (February 26) evening.

·         The Athena moon lander, built by Intuitive Machines, has since detached from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket it was attached to, and is expected to reach the moon on March 6.

·         While the ten-day IM-2 mission is primarily focused on mining for precious resources on the far side of the moon, it will also attempt to deploy the first lunar surface cellular network.

·         The mobile network was developed as a partnership between NASA and Finnish telecom company Nokia. 

Lunar cellular connectivity

·         Until now, the mode of communication from the moon has been via radio waves, with a clear line of sight needed between transmitting antennas on the lunar surface and the receiving antennas on Earth. This is not feasible on the far side of the moon, the lunar surface which never faces Earth.

·         Building a lunar communications network that allows for real-time viewing of high-resolution video and science data is critical to NASA’s Artemis programme, which aims to return astronauts to the moon before 2030.

·         Cellular technology was thus mooted as an alternative, and Nokia Bell Labs was awarded a contract by NASA in 2020 to create an “ultra-compact, low-power, space-hardened, end-to-end LTE solution”,

·          Nokia announced that it had fully integrated its Lunar Surface Communication System (LSCS) into the Athena lander.

·          The LSCS will reportedly use the 4G/LTE technology widely used on Earth. The network was favoured by Nokia for being “well-established in terrestrial networks”, its “excellent performance and economies of scale”, and for offering a “well-defined path to 5G.”

·         The LSCS comprises two device modules – a lunar rover and a hopper. Once Athena makes its landing, these devices will attempt to connect to its cellular network while exploring the lunar surface. Athena will also be connected to the Earth, enabling high-definition video streaming and command and control operations,

·         The LSCS is designed to fit all the components in a single “network in a box” except for the antenna and a power source. “We have the antenna on the lander, so together with the box that’s essentially your base station and your tower”, Thierry Klein, president of Nokia Bell Labs Solutions Research, told MIT Technology Review. The box will be powered by the lander’s solar panels.

What to know about the IM-2 Mission

·         The Texas-based Intuitive Machines became the first private company to complete a successful moon landing last February, carrying six NASA payloads, including one at the moon’s south pole.

·         Its second mission, IM-2, is part of the NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services Programme, designed to support private sector-led moon landings. IM-2 intends to build on its 2024 success and land on Mons Mouton, a mountain at the moon’s south pole.

·         The moon’s south pole has been of interest to space agencies worldwide as it is believed to contain ice and rare minerals, seen as crucial for further space exploration.

·         The IM-2 will explore this in part, deploying a pair of NASA instruments which will drill three feet into the lunar surface to specifically look for water and carbon dioxide. The presence of water could help to establish a permanent lunar base, or at least assist manned missions to the moon.

Why gharials are endangered, how MP has emerged the leader in their conservation

·         Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav last week released 10 gharials, a critically endangered species, into the Chambal river at the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary in Morena.

·         Madhya Pradesh’s decades-long conservation efforts have earned it the title of a “gharial state,” hosting over 80 per cent of India’s gharials.

What are gharials?

·         The gharial is a species of Gavialis gangeticus—long-snouted, fish-eating crocodilians. The name ‘gharial’ comes from the Hindi word ghara, meaning pot or vessel, referring to the bulbous snout tip of adult males, which resembles an inverted pot.

·         In Indian mythology, gharials hold sacred significance, often depicted as the divine mount of the goddess Ganga.

·         Their slender snouts, lined with numerous sharp, interlocking teeth, are adapted to trap fish, the mainstay of their diet.

·         Males grow from 3-6 meters, and females 2.6–4.5 meters. Gharials mate during November, December, and January.

·          Sandbanks, sandbars, and islands are critical to their ecology, serving as preferred sites for basking and nesting.

·         From March to May, as river levels recede, female gharials climb onto exposed sandbanks and islands to nest communally, with many laying eggs in the same area. Females provide parental care for the first few days after hatching.

·         Gharials are important for a river’s ecosystem, as they clean up carrion.

·         Globally, Gharial populations saw a steady recovery until 1997, but between 1997 and 2006, numbers plummeted by 58%, dropping from 436 adults to 182, according to a 2007 research paper.

·         Wildlife researchers have said the species is likely extinct in Myanmar and Bhutan, with only small, uncertain populations remaining in Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh’s upper Brahmaputra.

 What threats do gharials face?

·         Historical threats included overhunting for skins, trophies, eggs, and traditional medicine. Modern challenges—dam construction, irrigation canals, siltation, river course changes, embankments, sand-mining, pollution, and fishing—continue to devastate populations. Gill nets, in particular, kill gharials of all sizes, even in protected areas.

What are the conservation efforts?

·         Between 1975 and 1982, India established 16 captive breeding and release centers and five gharial sanctuaries. Today, the species survives primarily in five refuges: National Chambal Sanctuary (NCS), Katerniaghat Sanctuary, Chitwan National Park, Son River Sanctuary, and Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary.

·         Conservation efforts include captive breeding programmes to rear and release hatchlings back into the river, monitoring populations, actively managing threats like sand mining, and engaging local communities in habitat preservation and awareness campaigns

·         An MP wildlife officer said the biggest measures are “stronger river protection, better environmental management, sandbank restoration and community involvement.”

Why is the Chambal sanctuary crucial?

·         A Spanning three states, the Chambal sanctuary protects a 435-km stretch of one of India’s cleanest rivers.

·         Apart from gharials, the stretch hosts over 290 bird species, including rare Indian Skimmers (80% of the national population).

·         The sanctuary has also been helpful in reviving gharial populations elsewhere. Gharials had disappeared from the rivers of Punjab around 1960-70. Gharials were sent to Punjab from the Deori Gharial Center of Chambal in 2017. In 2018, 25 gharials were sent to the Sutlej River, and in 2020, 25 gharials were sent to the Beas River.

Push for monolithic Hindi identity’: Stresses the Language Diversity

·         Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin accused the Centre of imposing Hindi on those states where Hindi is not the mother tongue and alleged the forced adoption of the language swallowed several Indian languages.

·         Several north Indian languages, including Maithili, Brajbhasha, Bundelkhandi, and Awadhi, have been "destroyed by the hegemonic Hindi." This statement touches upon several key issues concerning language politics in India, especially in relation to linguistic diversity and the dominance of Hindi in the country.

India’s Linguistic Diversity

·        India is renowned for its remarkable linguistic diversity, having diverse languages and dialects with its distribution influenced by historical, geographical, and cultural factors.

·         Inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent spoke proto-Dravidian languages in the 4th century BCE. These languages started to become more distinct from one another about 1,000 years later.

·         The native languages of India fall into the following language families: Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic, Tai-Kadai, and Sino-Tibetan.

·         Indo-Aryan and Dravidian language families constitute the majority of native tongues spoken in India.

·         According to the Census of India of 2001, India has 122 major languages and 1599 other languages.

·         As of 2024, India has about 453 living languages; the Constitution of India recognises 22 official languages, known as “scheduled languages,” listed in the Eighth Schedule.

Constitutional Provisions Related to Languages in India

·        Article 29 protects the rights of minorities to preserve their language, script, or culture.

·        Article 350A mandates that states provide primary education in the mother tongue of children.

·        Article 350B provides for the appointment of a "Special Officer" for linguistic minorities to safeguard their language rights.

·        Article 351 empowers the Union government to promote the development of Hindi as a national language.

·        Eighth Schedule recognizes 22 official languages of India, including eleven with ‘Classical’ status, highlighting linguistic diversity.

·         Schedule Languages: The eighth schedule includes the recognition of the following 22 languages:

·         Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bodo, Santhali, Maithili and Dogri are the 22 languages presently in the eighth schedule to the Constitution.

·         Of these languages, 14 were initially included in the Constitution. Subsequently, Sindhi was added in 1967; Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali were added in 1992; and Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santali were added by the 92nd Amendment Act of 2003.

·         Classical Languages: Currently, evelevn languages (previously it was 6) enjoy the ‘Classical’ status: Tamil (declared in 2004), Sanskrit (2005), Kannada (2008), Telugu (2008), Malayalam (2013), Odia (2014), Marathi (2024), Pali (2024), Prakrit (2024), Assamese (2024), and Bengali (2024).

·        Under the Constitution provision is made for appointment of Special Officer for linguistic minority with the sole responsibilities of safeguarding the interest of language spoken by the minority groups.

·        The language policy of India has been pluralistic, giving priority to the use of mother tongue in administration, education and other fields of mass communication.

·        The Language Bureau of Ministry of Human Resource Development is set up to implement and monitor the language policy.

Scientists predict major quake in Chile''s mineral-rich north

·        Fifteen years ago on February 27, a devastating 8.8 magnitude quake struck southern Chile off the coast of Concepcion, shaking the ground for four minutes and unleashing a tsunami that left 550 dead.

·        It was the deadliest natural disaster in the country since the 1960 9.5 magnitude quake, the strongest ever recorded in the world. Now scientists are expecting a big earthquake in the country''s mineral-rich north

·        Chile is the world''s largest copper producer and second-largest lithium producer. The country''s largest copper mines are located in the north as well as all of its lithium production.

·        "Every 10 years there''s a big event," said Felipe Leyton, a seismologist at the University of Chile, adding that there are areas of the country that build up a lot of geological stress through fault lines.

·        "This lets you see the potential for a big earthquake that lets us say in the short term, in seismic and geological terms, we''re expecting a big earthquake in the northern part of the country."

·        Chile, a long and skinny country spanning 4,300 km (2,672 miles) in length with an average width of 180 km (112 miles), has the Andes mountain range running all along its western border.

·        Chile is located on the seismically active Ring of Fire that surrounds the Pacific Ocean. Its mountains and earthquakes are the product of the Nazca and South American tectonic plates crashing into each other all along the length of Chile.

·        Dr. Mohama Ayaz, a geologist ,says GPS technology lets scientists monitor plate movement for any variation and anticipate possible seismic events.