India won a record 22 medals including 6 Gold, marking its best-ever performance at World Para-Athletics Championships 2025.

• India (fourth Asian nation) hosted the World Para Athletics Championships for the first time in 2025.

About World Para Athletics 

• Para athletics is the biggest sport within the Paralympic Movement. 
• The first Para athletics competition was held in 1952.
• Governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), it includes a wide range of competitions:
  • Paralympic Games: Held every four years.
  • World Para Athletics Championships: Held biennially.
  • World Para Athletics Grand Prix held annually in different cities since 2013.

The Supreme Court has agreed to examine the constitutional validity of the Securities Transaction Tax.

About Securities Transaction Tax

• It is a direct tax levied on transactions of securities conducted through a recognized stock exchange in India.
• Introduced under the Finance Act, 2004.
• Aim: to curb tax evasion in the securities market.

Recently Russia launched massive strikes on Ukrainian gas sites in the Kharkiv and Poltava regions.

• Other regions such as Donetsk,Luhansk, Sumy, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Dnipro Zaporizhzhia
  Chernihiv etc were also affected.
  • Zaporizhzhia is of particular concern as it is the site of a nuclear power plant

Recently a sudden blizzard trapped many trekkers and climbers in remote campsites in Tibet.

About Blizzard

• Blizzards are dangerous winter storms that are a combination of blowing snow and wind resulting in very low visibilities. 
• Development: They often develop on the northwest side of an intense storm system.
  • The difference between the lower pressure in the storm and the higher pressure to the west creates a tight pressure gradient, which results in very strong winds
• Impact: They can cause car accidents(due to low visibility conditions), frostbite, hypothermia etc

China’s Yunnan and Guangdong province has recently been affected by Typhoon Matmo. 

About Typhoon 

• A typhoon is a tropical cyclone occurring in western Pacific Ocean.
  • Tropical cyclones are rapidly rotating storms that are non-frontal low-pressure system originating over tropical oceans.
• They are known as Cyclones (Indian Ocean), Hurricanes (Atlantic), and Willy-willies (Western Australia).
• Favourable Conditions: Sea surface with temperature higher than 27° C; Presence of Coriolis force; Small variations in vertical wind speed & a pre-existing weak low-pressure area.

UNESCO nominates the first Arab leader as Director-General.

About UNESCO (Estd:1946, HQ: Paris)

• Member States: 194
• Objective : It is a specialized agency dedicated to strengthening shared humanity through the promotion of education, science, culture, and communication.
• Governance structure: The General Conference, the Secretariat and the Executive Board.
• Appointment: The Director-General  is  nominated by  the  Executive  Board and  appointed by the General Conference.
  • Appointed initially for four years, and may be re-appointed for a further four-year term.
• Key Publications of UNESCO : Global Education Monitoring Report, United Nations World Water Development Report, Global Ocean Science Report.

According to the study by Climate Analytics, the Asian push for carbon capture, storage could add 25 billion tonnes of emissions by 2050.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS)

• It refers to technologies that capture the carbon dioxide (CO₂) with the aim of storing it safely underground (sequestration) for permanent isolation.
• Working
  • Capture Phase: CO₂ is separated and purified from industrial emissions or the atmosphere.
  • Transport Phase: Purified CO₂ is compressed, dehydrated, and moved via pipelines, ships, or tanks.
  • Storage Phase: CO₂ is injected into deep underground rock formations for permanent storage.
• Benefits: Significant potential for reducing CO₂ emissions, reduce global warming.

Recently, the High-Level International Conference on the Repatriation of Persons from Al Hol was organised by the government of Iraq  with the technical support of the United Nations Office of Counter Terrorism (UNOCT).

About Al Hol

• Al Hol  is a refugee camp located in Northeast Syria.
• It houses Syrians, Iraqi refugees and other individuals of different nationalities from the third countries.