NCB has busted a pan-India darknet drug network called ‘Team Kalki’.

About Darknet (Deep web)

• The internet depends on three types of web: the surface, the deep, and the dark web.
• Surface web is a part that we can access through a normal browser. 
• Deep web and the dark web, are not accessible through search engines like Google.
  • It operates on overlay networks, requiring specific software or configurations to access. Ex.Tor (The Onion Router).
• Only about 10% of the internet is  the surface web, while the remaining 90% of it constitutes the deep web and the dark web.

Lok Sabha to take up resolution seeking removal of speaker today.

Removal of Speaker

Constitutional Provision:

• Article 94: It deals with vacation, resignation, and removal of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
• Article 94(c): The Speaker/Deputy Speaker can be removed by a resolution passed by a majority of all the then members of the Lok Sabha.

Procedure for removal

• Notice: Written notice to Secretary-General of Lok Sabha, supported by at least 50 members.
  • Minimum 14 days’ notice is required before the resolution can be moved.
• Discussion stage: Speaker cannot preside, but can participate and vote in the first instance (no casting vote).

Spring festival (Basant Utsav) was recently celebrated in Bengal, a tradition first started by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore at Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan. 

About Santiniketan

• Established in 1901 by Rabindranath Tagore located in West Bengal.
  • The site was established as an ashram and given its name in 1863 by Tagore’s father, Debendranath Tagore.
• It was a residential school and centre for art based on ancient Indian traditions.
• In 1921, a ‘world university’ was established at Santiniketan, later recognised as ‘Visva Bharati’.
• It was recognized by UNESCO as India's 41st World Heritage Site in 2023.
  • Recent World Heritage Sites in India: Moidams – Mound-Burial System of the Ahom Dynasty (2024); Maratha Military Landscapes (2025).

The U.S.-developed Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defence system is being operationally used during the ongoing U.S.–Israel conflict with Iran.

About THAAD

• Advanced missile defence system designed to intercept short, medium and intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
• Developer: Lockheed Martin Corporation (USA).
• Technology: Uses “hit-to-kill” kinetic interception, destroying targets inside and outside the Earth’s atmosphere.
• Components: A THAAD battery includes ~95 personnel, truck-mounted launchers, interceptor missiles, AN/TPY-2 radar and fire-control system.

Note: India operates the S-400 Triumf air defence missile system procured from Russia.

India to participate in the 70th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW-70) at the United Nations Headquarters.

About CSW:

• Established in 1946 and functions under the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
• Function: It is the principal global intergovernmental body dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.
  • It also monitors implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
• Membership: 45 UN Member States elected for 4 year period by ECOSOC on the basis of equitable geographical distribution:
  • 13 members from Africa
  • 11 from Asia (India is a current member)
  • 9 from Latin America and Caribbean
  • 8 from Western Europe and other States
  • 4 from Eastern Europe

Escalating tensions between the U.S., Israel and Iran are increasingly being described as a war of attrition.

War of Attrition

• A military strategy aimed at gradually exhausting the enemy’s resources, manpower, and morale until its capacity to fight collapses.
• Method: Involves sustained attacks and prolonged conflict, relying on superior resources and endurance.
• Example: Prominent during World War I trench warfare, where opposing sides sought to outlast each other.

Scientists have reported the discovery of “dark oxygen” production nearly 4,000 m deep in the Pacific Ocean.

About Dark Oxygen

• Oxygen produced in the deep ocean without sunlight, unlike photosynthesis-based oxygen production.
• Source: Linked to electrochemical reactions involving polymetallic nodules on the ocean floor.
• Significance: Challenges the belief that photosynthesis is the only major natural source of oxygen on Earth.