India’s BEL and France’s Safran to Manufacture HAMMER Precision-Guided Weapon in India. 

About Hammer 

• Purpose: Combat-proven, all-weather smart air-to-surface weapon designed for close air support and deep-strike missions. 
• Key Features:
  • Range: 70+ km. 
  • Fire-and-forget with high accuracy even in GNSS-denied or jammed environments.
  • Simultaneous multi-target attack capability.
  • Compatible with 125, 250, 500 and 1000 kg standard bomb bodies.
  • Can be launched from low altitude and over rough terrain.
  • Autonomous and highly resistant to jamming.

The Bastar region is witnessing growing participation of Abhujmadia youth in events like Bastar Olympics.

About Abhujmadia Tribe

• Belong to Primitive Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG)  residing in Narayanpur, Dantewada, and Abujhmad areas of Bijapur district. 
• They are ancestral and patriarchal tribe, divided into several dynasties, speaking the Abujhbadia Gondi dialect.
• Abujhmaria women consider (Godana) tattoo a permanent jewel. 

Criteria for PVTG Recognition (Dhebar Commission (1960-61))

• Pre-agricultural level of technology,
• Low level of literacy,
• Economic backwardness,
• A declining or stagnant population.

Recently a Supreme Court appointed panel recommended notifying tiger reserve in Goa. 

• It recommended Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary and Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary (contiguous to Kali tiger reserve of Karnataka) as the core and  Bhagwan Mahavir National Park (home to Dudhsagar waterfall) as the buffer zone. 

About Tiger Reserves

• Notification: By State Governments as per Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 on advise of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
  • NTCA is a statutory body under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 with Minister of Ministry of Environment and Forests as Chairperson. 
• India has 58 tiger reserves (latest being Madhav in Madhya Pradesh). 

Gavi and UNICEF have announced a new agreement to increase global accessibility of the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine.

About GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation)

• Established in 2000 as a global public-private partnership to improve vaccine access in low-income countries.
  • India is a member. (USA has pulled out  from funding Gavi (since June, 2025).
• Mission: Aims to immunise children against deadly diseases and strengthen national vaccination systems.
• Impact: Has protected over 1.2 billion children and averted more than 20 million deaths.
• Market-Shaping: Negotiates prices & uses innovative financing tools such as IFFIm (International Finance Facility for Immunisation).
• Challenges: Faces funding gaps and coordination issues.

A recent study revealed the presence of Uranium-238 in the breastmilk of lactating mothers in Bihar.

About U-238 Concentration and Toxicity

• Nature: Uranium-238 (U-238) is the most abundant uranium isotope in nature, forming about 99.3% of natural uranium.
• Occurrence: Found in soil, rocks and groundwater and in drinking water under natural conditions.
• Toxicity Basis: U-238 poses greater risk from chemical toxicity (as a heavy metal affecting kidneys) than from radioactivity.
• Safe Limits:The World Health Organisation sets a provisional limit of 30 micrograms per litre for uranium in drinking water.

As countries like Russia in the Ukraine war and Israel in the Gaza conflict invoke 'self-defence' to justify aggression, Article 51 of the UN Charter risks being used to legitimize war rather than prevent it.

About Article 51 

• Following World War II, the UN Charter legally obliged states to refrain from the threat or use of force (Article 2). 
  • Article 51, which recognizes the right to self-defence, was originally intended as a narrow exception to this rule. Over time, however, its scope has been reinterpreted more expansively.
• Two interpretations of Article 51:
  • Restrictive: The right to self-defence arises only after an armed attack has occurred.
  • Expansive: Self-defence can arise in response to an imminent threat of armed attack and may extend even against non-state actors, as seen in the US-led Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003).

Iran has attempted cloud-seeding over the Lake Urmia basin to induce rainfall amid the country’s worst drought in decades.

About Lake Urmia

• Location & Size: Located in northwestern Iran, fed by rivers like the Zarīneh and Sīmīneh.
• Decline: It has lost >90% of its original water volume due to damming, agricultural diversion and climate stress. 
• Environmental Impact: Exposed lake-bed salts create wind-blown saline dust, damaging soil, health and livelihoods across the region. 
• Protection Status: Ramsar Site, UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

Recently the Union Minister for New & Renewable Energy, inaugurated state-of-the-art Biomass Pellet Plant in Rewari, Haryana.

About Biomass pellets 

• Definition: Small, cylindrical, condensed forms of organic material derived from renewable sources.
• Raw Materials: Agro-residues such as paddy, soya, cotton, gram, jowar stubble/straw/stalk/husk; as well as groundnut shell, coconut shell, bamboo, dry leaves, and similar biomass.
• Applications: Used for heat and electricity generation in power plants, and as bedding material for livestock.
• Benefits: Helps reduce pollution, cut carbon emissions, and generate new livelihood opportunities for rural communities.
• Policy Mandate:
  • The National Biomass Policy mandates co-firing of 5% biomass pellets or torrefied municipal solid waste (MSW) charcoal in all coal-based thermal power plants while units in the Delhi-NCR region are required to achieve a 7% blend.
  • Incentives: Biomass pellet manufacturing is recognized as an eligible activity under Priority Sector Lending (PSL).