A Political party issues a three- line whip ahead of the upcoming Parliament session.

About Whip

• Definition: It is a directive issued by political parties to ensure members attend and vote as per the party line.
  • It is based on the conventions of the parliamentary government.
• Chief Whip: Parties appoint senior members as Chief Whip, assisted by additional whips, to issue directions and ensure compliance in the House.
• Types of Whips: It includes:
  •  One Line whip: Usually issued to inform party members of a vote, and allows them to abstain. 
  • Two Line Whip: Directs members to be present during voting. 
  •  Three line Whip:  Mandates members to strictly follow party line on important occasions, such as no-confidence motion, etc.
• Legal Ramifications of defying whip: The Anti-defection law allows the Speaker/ Chairperson to disqualify a member if he/she votes or abstains from voting in such House contrary to any direction issued by the political party.

The study by the H0 Distance Ladder Network Collaboration reports a highly precise value of the Hubble constant, offering new insight into the “Hubble tension.”

• Hubble Constant measures the current expansion rate of the universe, typically expressed in km/s/Mpc (kilometers per second per megaparsec).
• A megaparsec equals about 3.26 million light-years. 

About Hubble Tension

• It is the disagreement between the Universe’s expansion rate measured in the nearby Universe and the value predicted from observations of the early Universe.
  • The nearby Universe constitutes galaxies close to us seen in recent cosmic time.
  • The early Universe measurement constitutes the Universe in its infancy observed through the Cosmic Microwave Background (ancient light from shortly after the Big Bang).                            

UK pauses its plan to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius following the US opposition. 

• In 2019, International Court of Justice (ICJ) in its advisory opinion directed United Kingdom to unconditionally withdraw from Island.

About Chagos Islands 

• Location: Central Indian Ocean, ~1,600 km south of the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent.
• It is a group of atolls comprising 50 plus islands, including Diego Garcia island. 
• UK- USA joint military base is on Diego Garcia island. 
• History: The islands have been British territory since 1814.

Indian Army contingent departs for 7th edition of India-Uzbekistan joint military exercise Dustlik.

About Dustlik

• It is a yearly event conducted alternatively in India and Uzbekistan. 
• Aim of Exercise: To foster military cooperation and enhance combined capabilities to execute joint operations in semi-mountainous terrain.

An Indian-born female cheetah at Kuno National Park has given birth to four cubs in the wild, marking a significant milestone in India’s Project Cheetah.

About Project Cheetah

• Launched in 2022, it aims to translocate African cheetahs to India. 
• It operates under the umbrella of Project Tiger. 
• It is world’s first intercontinental large wild carnivore translocation initiative. 
  • In 2022, 8 cheetahs from Namibia were translocated to Kuno National Park, followed by 12 from South Africa in 2023, and 9  from Botswana in 2026. 
• Implementing agency: National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
  • NTCA is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change constituted under enabling provisions of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2006.
• Cheetah Project Steering Committee: Established by NTCA in 2023 to oversee, evaluate, and advise on implementation of Project Cheetah.

Centre pushes Project HIM SAROVAR to ensure year-round water security in Ladakh.

About Project Him Sarovar

• The initiative aims to conserve snowmelt and rainwater through creation of water bodies to address water scarcity in Ladakh.
• Targets: Development of 50 water bodies based on ground-level experience to ensure year-round water availability and support irrigation for farmers.

New research shows aluminium can mimic the catalytic behaviour of transition metals.

About Transition Metals

• Theay are the metallic elements that serve as a bridge, or transition, between the two sides of the periodic table.
  • They are d-block elements that can easily gain or lose electrons.
  • E.g., titanium, iron, nickel, copper.
• General Properties: Most of them are hard, strong, and lustrous, have high melting and boiling points, and are good conductors of heat and electricity
• Application: Used as catalysts (e.g., palladium, platinum, rhodium) in industrial processes like drug synthesis (Heck and Suzuki reactions)