News In Short 15-04-2026

BRICS and Quad Groupings

Syllabus:GS2/International Relations 

In News

• India is going to host major diplomatic meetings including the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ meeting and the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting.

About BRICS 

• History : BRIC was formally launched at a Foreign Ministers’ meeting during the UN General Assembly in New York in 2006, with its first summit held in Russia in 2009.
  • In 2010, South Africa was added, expanding the group to BRICS and joining its first summit in 2011.
• It brings together eleven major emerging markets and developing countries of the world.
• Members:  Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and United Arab Emirates.
  • In 2025, several countries—including Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam—joined as BRICS partner countries.
• Purpose:  It serves as a useful platform for consultation and cooperation on contemporary issues having global as well as regional significance, and issues of global political and economic governance.
• Pillars of Cooperation :  

• The BRICS meeting will be especially significant as it will bring together officials from Iran and the UAE face-to-face for the first time since the recent Iran–U.S.–Israel conflict began. India currently chairs BRICS, and the summit of leaders is expected in September 2026.

Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad)

• It is an informal strategic grouping of India, the US, Japan, and Australia aimed at supporting a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
• Origin : It began after the 2004 tsunami as a disaster relief coordination effort and was later formalised in 2007 by Japan’s then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
  •  However, it lost momentum due to limited cohesion and concerns it was anti-China.
  • The grouping was revived in 2017 with broader goals beyond maritime security.
• Secretariat  : Unlike organisations such as NATO or the EU, the Quad has no secretariat or formal decision-making structure and does not include mutual defence commitments.

Various Developments linked to Quad

• Malabar naval exercises : Quad cooperation deepened in 2020 when Australia joined the Malabar naval exercises with the other three members, marking renewed military collaboration.
• In 2021, Quad leaders held a virtual summit and issued “The Spirit of the Quad,” outlining shared principles and objectives.
• QUAD Cancer Moonshot: The Cancer Moonshot is a joint effort to reduce cancer deaths in the Indo-Pacific, especially cervical cancer, by mobilising public and private resources.
  •  As part of this, India will supply $7.5 million worth of HPV vaccines, screening kits, and diagnostic tools to partner countries.
• QUAD critical minerals initiative:The Critical Minerals Initiative aims to strengthen and diversify global supply chains for essential minerals.
  •  It highlights concerns about overdependence on a single country for processing and refining, which could lead to economic coercion, price manipulation, and supply disruptions affecting economic and national security.

Source :TH

Cancer-Fighting Herbs of Konyak Naga Tribe

Syllabus: GS2/ Health

Context

• A recent study by Nagaland University has identified the anti-cancer potential of traditional herbal medicine used by the Konyak Naga tribe.

About

• The researchers analysed a five-plant polyherbal formulation traditionally used by Konyak tribal healers.
• The study found that bioactive compounds present in the formulation effectively target VEGFR2 (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor 2), which is a key protein responsible for tumour angiogenesis.
  • The inhibition of VEGFR2 can restrict the formation of blood vessels in tumours, thereby limiting cancer growth.

Source: DTE

Glufosinate

Syllabus: GS3/S&T

In News

• The government has imposed a six-month restriction on imports of glufosinate and its salts, a herbicide used in farming.

Glufosinate-ammonium

• It is a herbicide used to control a broad range of weeds.
• It is highly water-soluble and has low potential to leach into groundwater.
• It is considered highly hazardous, with risks including neurotoxicity, reproductive harm, cardiovascular effects, and fetal damage
• Its volatile nature exposes farmers and nearby populations through inhalation and skin contact.

Source :ET

Hubble Tension

Syllabus: GS3/ S&T

In Context

• Recently, a global astronomical collaboration achieved a 1% precision measurement of the Universe’s local expansion rate.

Hubble Tension

• The Hubble tension refers to the persistent discrepancy in measuring the expansion rate of the universe, known as the Hubble constant, which indicates how fast galaxies are moving away from each other.
• Two primary methods yield conflicting results.
  • One method is the Cosmic Microwave Background(CMB) approach, which studies the afterglow of the Big Bang. Analysis of temperature fluctuations in this radiation suggests an expansion rate of about 68 km/s per megaparsec.
  • The other method is the Cosmic Distance Ladder, which uses nearby astronomical objects such as Cepheid variable stars and supernovae to calculate how fast they are moving away from the earth. This “local” measurement gives a higher value of about 73 km/s per megaparsec.
• The difference between these values is termed the Hubble tension. It is significant because it may indicate unknown physical processes in the universe or possible systematic errors in measurement techniques, making its resolution crucial for improving our understanding of cosmology and the universe’s evolution.

Source: TH

Frailty

Syllabus: Miscellaneous

Context

• A study published in the journal Cell Stem Cell highlights the potential of stem cell therapy to treat frailty. 

What is Frailty?

• Frailty is a state of accelerated biological ageing marked by lower endurance and slower recovery.
• It is not a single disease with a single cause, rather it arises from the cumulative effects of chronic inflammation, muscle loss, vascular ageing, immune dysfunction, and long-term stress. 
• Because there is no single molecular target, most medical research has focused on managing the consequences of frailty rather than reversing the condition itself.

Do you know?

• Frailty affects up to one in four people over the age of 50 worldwide. In India, where the population aged 60 and over is projected to rise to nearly 20% by 2050, the condition is likely widespread but rarely diagnosed. 

Source: TH