News in Short – 14 November, 2025

Workplace Stress & Diabetes

Syllabus: GS2/Health

Context

• India has an estimated 10.1 crore people living with diabetes according to ICMR–INDIAB, 2023, and workplace stress may be one of the factors heightening this burden. 

Diabetes Burden in India

• India is often called the diabetes capital of the world.
• According to the ICMR–INDIAB Study, the diabetic population jumped from about 32 million in 2000, to almost 90 million adults in 2024.
• Recent reports estimate as many as 1 in 9 Indian adults live with diabetes, hinting at numbers soaring beyond 100 million in the near future. 
• The burden is deepened by undiagnosed cases and a surge in needless complications.

What is Diabetes? 

• Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder in which the body either does not produce enough insulin or cannot effectively use the insulin it produces.
  • This leads to high levels of glucose (sugar) in the blood.
• Insulin: Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas.
  • It helps glucose (from food) enter cells, where it is used for energy.
  • When insulin is absent or not working properly, glucose stays in the bloodstream leading to high blood sugar.

Types of Diabetes

• Type 1 Diabetes: It is an autoimmune disease where the body’s immune system destroys insulin-producing cells. The body produces little or no insulin.
  • It usually begins in childhood or adolescence.
  • It requires lifelong insulin injections.
• Type 2 Diabetes: This is the most common type of diabetes. The body becomes insulin resistant or doesn’t produce enough insulin.
  • It is usually linked to obesity, sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy diet and family history.
  • It can be managed with diet, exercise, oral medications, and sometimes insulin.
• Gestational Diabetes: This occurs during pregnancy and usually disappears after delivery, but increases the risk of type 2 diabetes later in life.

Source: TH

Hepatitis A

Syllabus: GS2/Health

Context

• As India debates the inclusion of the typhoid conjugate vaccine in its Universal Immunisation Programme, it raises the question whether Hepatitis A deserves a priority for inclusion.

What is Hepatitis?

• Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, there are five main strains of the hepatitis virus, referred to as types A, B, C, D and E. 
  • Types B and C lead to chronic disease and together are the most common cause of liver cirrhosis, liver cancer and viral hepatitis-related deaths.
• Hepatitis A: It is caused by the Hepatitis A Virus (HAV). It does not cause chronic infection and is usually self-limiting.
  • It spread through contaminated food and water (fecal–oral route).
  • It is entirely preventable where vaccines offer protection rates exceeding 90 to 95%.
• Hepatitis B: Hepatitis B is known to cause acute infection, liver failure happens in severe cases.
  • Spread: Spread through blood and body fluids, sexual contact, mother-to-child transmission.
  • Treatment: Hepatitis B can be prevented with a vaccine, providing nearly 100% protection against the virus. The vaccine is usually given soon after birth with boosters a few weeks later. 
• Hepatitis C: The severity from a mild illness to a serious, lifelong illness including liver cirrhosis and cancer.
  • Spread: The hepatitis C virus is a bloodborne virus and most infections occur through exposure to blood from unsafe injection practices.
  • Treatment: Direct-acting antiviral medicines (DAAs) can cure more than 95% of persons, there is currently no effective vaccine against hepatitis C.
• Hepatitis D: It only affects people who are already infected with hepatitis B, as it needs the hepatitis B virus to be able to survive in the body.
  • It is usually spread through blood-to-blood contact or sexual contact.
  • There’s no vaccine specifically for hepatitis D, but the hepatitis B vaccine can prevent it.
• Hepatitis E: It is generally a mild and short-term infection that does not require any treatment, but it can be serious with a weakened immune system.
  • There’s no vaccine for hepatitis E.

Source: TH

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Syllabus: GS2/Health; GS3/Science and Tech

Context

• A new study in which researchers mapped the hidden preclinical evolution of rheumatoid arthritis at the molecular level and revealed that the immune cells are primed to become troublesome years before the first symptoms appear. 

What is Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)?

• Definition: RA is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the joints.
• Age & Gender Pattern: It commonly affects individuals between 30–60 years. Women are three times more likely to develop RA than men.
• Causes and Risk Factors: The exact cause remains unclear. Likely contributors include – genetic factors, hormones, and environmental triggers such as smoking or certain infections.
• Systemic Nature: It is a systemic disease, affecting not just joints but also lungs, heart, eyes, skin, nerves, and blood vessels.
  • Persistent inflammation increases the risk of heart disease and contributes to fatigue, fever, and depression.
• Treatment and Management: It is not curable, but early diagnosis and timely management can; reduce symptoms, slow disease progression, and prevent long-term disability. 

Source: TH

New Royalty Rates of Critical Minerals

Syllabus: GS3/Economy

In News

• The Union Cabinet has approved to specify/revise the royalty rate of four critical minerals- caesium, Graphite, Rubidium and Zirconium to promote domestic production.

What are Critical Minerals?

• They are essential for economic development and national security, and the lack of availability of these minerals or the concentration of extraction or processing in a few geographical locations could potentially lead to “supply chain vulnerabilities and even disruption of supplies”. 
• In 2023, the Centre identified 30 critical minerals, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, tin and copper, which are essential for the country’s economic development and national security.

What is Royalty Rate?

• A royalty rate is a charge imposed by the government on mining companies for extracting minerals from the earth.
• Royalty rates are governed by Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act) & Mineral Concession Rules, 1960.
• These laws empower the Central Government to fix and revise royalty rates periodically after consulting State Governments.

Significance

• Graphite, Caesium, Rubidium and Zirconium are important minerals for high-tech applications and energy transition. This would help in reducing import dependence.
• Graphite is a crucial component in electric vehicle (EV) batteries, primarily serving as the anode material, which enables high conductivity and charge capacity. However, India imports 60% of its requirement of Graphite.
• Zirconium is a versatile metal used in various industries, including nuclear energy, aerospace, healthcare and manufacturing, due to exceptional corrosion resistance and high temperature stability. 
• Caesium is mainly used in the high-tech electronic sector, particularly in atomic clocks, GPS systems, other high precision instruments, medical instruments including in cancer therapy, etc. 
• Rubidium is used in making specialty glasses used in fibre optics, telecommunication systems, night vision devices etc.

Source:TH

Saranda Forest

Syllabus: GS3/Environment 

In News

• The Supreme Court directed the Jharkhand government to declare the ecologically rich Saranda forest as a wildlife sanctuary.

About Saranda

• Saranda Forest in Jharkhand is Asia’s largest Sal (Shorea robusta) forest, spanning approximately 820-900 square kilometers. It is famously called the “land of seven hundred hills,” reflecting its hilly terrain. 
• The forest is part of the Chhotanagpur bio-geographic zone and forms a natural landscape continuum with forests of Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
• It is home to critically endangered species, including the endemic sal forest tortoise, four-horned antelope, Asian palm civet, and wild elephants. 
• It has been inhabited by the Ho, Munda, Uraon and allied Adivasi communities whose subsistence and cultural traditions are intrinsically tied to forest produce.
• It also accounts for 26% of India’s iron ore reserves.

Source: TH

Revisit NEMMP 2020 to Promote Electric Vehicles

Syllabus: GS3/Environment

In News

• Recently, the Supreme Court suggested revisiting the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 amid escalating air pollution in Delhi.

National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020

• It is a National Mission document providing the vision and the roadmap for the faster adoption of electric vehicles and their manufacturing in the country.
• Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) Scheme formulated in 2015 under NEMMP by Ministry of Heavy Industries.
  • It aims to promote adoption of electric/ hybrid vehicles (xEVs) in India.

Source :TH

Mudh-Nyoma Airbase

Syllabus: GS3/ Defence

In News

• The Chief of the Air Staff inaugurated the Mudh-Nyoma airbase in Ladakh.

About

• The airbase is situated in Nyoma, Leh district of Ladakh, at an altitude of 13,700 feet (4,200 m), making it one of the world’s highest fighter-capable airfields.
• Construction was led by the Border Roads Organisation.
• Its proximity to the LAC gives India critical tactical and logistical advantages, enabling quick response, force projection, and enhanced surveillance in sensitive sectors like Depsang Plains, Pangong Tso, and Chushul Valley.

Source: ET