News In Short 08-01-2026

Doomsday Glacier

Syllabus: GS1/Geography; GS3/Environment

Context

• A new study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface explains recent structural changes in the Thwaites Glacier region and shows how other Antarctic ice shelves may collapse in the future.

Doomsday Glacier (Thwaites Glacier)

• It is an outflow glacier of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS), flowing into the Amundsen Sea.
  • The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is one of the 16 climate tipping elements on the planet.
• It is nicknamed ‘Doomsday Glacier’ due to its potential to cause major sea-level rise.
• According to the authors of the study, about two-thirds of the detected earthquakes, 245 out of 362, occurred near the marine end of the Thwaites Glacier. 
  • The complete destruction of the Doomsday Glacier could lead to a global sea level rise of 3 meters. 

Source: DTE

Karnataka–Kerala Tensions Over Malayalam Language Bill, 2025

Syllabus: GS2/ Governance

Context

• The Karnataka government has urged the Kerala Governor to reject the Malayalam Bhasha Bill, 2025, passed by the Kerala Legislative Assembly.

About

• The Bill mandates Malayalam as the compulsory first language in all governments and aided schools across Kerala up to Class 10.
• Karnataka has termed the Bill unconstitutional and detrimental to the rights of the Kannada-speaking linguistic minority, particularly in Kerala’s Kasaragod district.

Constitutional Provisions

• Article 29 & 30: Protection of minority interests and right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions.
• Article 347: Special provision for recognition of a language spoken by a section of the population of a State.
• Article 350A: Obligation of States to provide facilities for instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage for linguistic minorities.
• Article 350B: Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities to investigate safeguards.

Source: TH

Bureau of Indian Standards

Syllabus: GS2/Governance; GS3/Economy

In News

• On its 79th Foundation Day, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) was praised by the government for strengthening India’s quality standards and supporting growth across key sectors.

Bureau of Indian Standards

• BIS is the national standard body of India established under the BIS Act 2016 .
• BIS has its headquarters at New Delhi.
• It oversees standardization, marking, and quality certification of goods, benefiting the economy by ensuring safe, reliable products, minimizing health hazards, protecting the environment, promoting exports, and controlling product variety.
• Its standards and certification also support public policies in areas like consumer protection, product safety, food safety, environment, and construction.

Achievements 

• BIS has worked towards specifically addressing various national priorities and other government initiatives like Swacch Bharat Abhiyan, Digital India, Make in India and ease of doing business through its activities of standardization and certification. 
• The government launched several new initiatives, including the BIS Standard Portal, Standard Help Inform and Nature Empowerment Women, comic books in print and 2D animation formats, and SAKSHAM, an annual excellence recognition scheme. 

Source :Air

Turkman Gate

Syllabus: GS1/History 

In News

• The Turkman Gate area in Old Delhi saw violent clashes following a demolition drive by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

Turkman Gate

• It  is one of the gates of Shahjahanabad, the city established by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in 1683 when he moved his capital from Agra to Delhi. 
• The gate is named after Shah Turkman, a Mughal-era saint whose tomb is nearby, and a fair is held annually in the area to mark his death anniversary.
• Architecture: It is rectangular, two bays deep with a flat roof on the first bay and a domed roof on the second.
  • It has three arched openings, double arches at the outer ends, and semi-octagonal double-storey bastions on either side of the southernmost opening.

Source :IE

Dust EXperiment

Syllabus: GS3/Space

Context

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) used the first homegrown cosmic dust detector, the Dust EXperiment (DEX), to confirm that a cosmic dust particle hits Earth’s atmosphere approximately every thousand seconds (around 16 minutes). 

Dust EXperiment (DEX)

• ISRO developed the Dust EXperiment (DEX), a 3 kg instrument that was launched into space onboard the XPoSat mission. 
• It is the first-of-its-kind instrument designed to detect Interplanetary Dust Particles (IDPs).
• Interplanetary Dust Particles (IDPs): IDPs are microscopic shrapnel from comets and asteroids that form the atmosphere’s “meteor layer”, and show up as “shooting stars” at night. 

Significance

• The findings are significant as understanding cosmic dust particles helps protect satellites and spacecraft from high-speed micro-impacts.
• Data on cosmic dust particles will also aid in planning and executing India’s first manned space mission – Gaganyaan mission. 
• DEX-like instruments are crucial in planetary exploration as they can help study the atmospheres of Venus, Mars and other celestial bodies.

Source: IE

Stellar Twins

Syllabus: GS3/ Science and Technology

Context

• A study of a type of stellar twin called W Ursae Majoris–type contact binaries that orbit each other closely gives new insights into how binary stars evolve and their eventual fate.

What Are W Ursae Majoris (W UMa) Stars?

• W Ursae Majoris (W UMa) stars are short-period, dumbbell-shaped binaries in which the two stars are in contact. 
• These stars are so close that they share a single outer atmosphere and they orbit around each other. 
• Significance: These stars act as “natural laboratories” as they assist in precise determinations of fundamental stellar parameters such as masses, radii, and temperatures, crucial for testing theories about how stars evolve over time.

What Are Stellar Twins?

• Stellar twins are stars that are very similar in their fundamental physical properties, such as mass, radius, temperature, chemical composition, and age. 
• Because of these similarities, they are extremely valuable for studying stellar evolution and testing astrophysical theories.
• Types of Stellar Twins: 

• Binary Stellar Twins
• Solar Twins
• Spectroscopic Twins

Source: PIB

Madhav Gadgil

Syllabus: GS3/Environment; Personality in News

Context

• Noted ecologist Madhav Gadgil, known for his work on the conservation of Western Ghats, has passed away.

Major Contributions

• In 2010, the Ministry of Environment and Forests appointed Madhav Gadgil to chair the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), known as the Gadgil Commission.
  • His 2011 report recommended classifying 64% of the 1,40,000 sq km Ghats, spanning six states, as Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs) in three tiers: ESZ-1 (no mining, dams or large projects), ESZ-2 (restricted activities) and ESZ-3 (regulated development).
  • It led to debate and discussion on the significance of the Western Ghats as an ecological hotspot and the efforts to conserve them.
• He played a key role in declaring the Nilgiris as India’s first biosphere reserve in 1986.
• He later helped shape the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, and Forest Rights Act 2006, introducing the concept of People’s Biodiversity Registers to document and protect local ecological knowledge.
• He served on the Prime Minister’s Scientific Advisory Council and the National Tiger Authority, successfully bridging academic research with grassroots environmental activism.
• His contributions were widely recognised with major honours, including the Padma Shri (1992), Padma Bhushan (2006), the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement (2015) and the UNEP Champions of the Earth award (2024).
  • The annual Champions of the Earth award is the U.N.’s highest environmental honour awarded for his seminal work in the Western Ghats.

Source: TH