Nalanda University
Syllabus: GS1/ History and Culture
Context
- Eminent economist Sachin Chaturvedi, took charge as the Vice-Chancellor of Nalanda University in Bihar.
About
- The Parliament of India established the Nalanda University through the Nalanda University Act, 2010.
- It started functioning in 2014 from a makeshift location with 14 students, and construction work started in 2017.
- The new campus of Nalanda University is close to the site of the ancient ruins of Nalanda in Rajgir, Bihar.
Ancient Nalanda University
- The ancient Nalanda University was established in the 5th century by the Gupta ruler Kumaragupta I.
- It includes stupas, shrines, viharas (residential and educational buildings) and important art works in stucco, stone and metal.
- It was patronized by various rulers including King Harshavardhana of Kannauj (7th century CE) and the Pala rulers (8th – 12th century CE).
- It flourished for 800 years before it was burnt down by Bakhtiar Khilji in the 12th century.
- The site after its decline was first discovered by Sir Francis Buchanan and was systematically excavated and consolidated by the Archaeological Survey of India.
Significance
- Chinese scholar Xuanzang (Hsüan-tsang) visited Nalanda in 637 and 642 CE, and studied under the guidance of Shilabhadra.
- It attracted students from all over the world and stands out as the most ancient university of the Indian Subcontinent.
- In 2016 it was inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Source: TH
Amrit Bharat Station Scheme
Syllabus: GS2/Governance
Context
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated 103 redeveloped railway stations under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.
About
- The 103 stations are spread across 86 districts in 18 states and union territories and were developed at a cost of over Rs 1,100 crore.
Amrit Bharat Station Scheme
- The scheme can be traced back to 2021, when Gandhinagar became the first Railway station to undergo modernization.
- A total of 1,300 stations have been identified for redevelopment under the scheme.
- Out of these, 157 are in Uttar Pradesh, followed by 132 in Maharashtra and 101 in West Bengal.
- The goal of the scheme is to make stations cleaner, more comfortable, and easier to use.
- Local products will be sold at kiosks under the ‘One Station One Product’ scheme, and efforts will be made to make stations look greener and more attractive.
| One Station One Product – ‘One Station One Product’ concept aims to encourage indigenous and specialised products and crafts of India through providing display and sale outlets on railway stations across the country. – The products would be specific to the location, including artefacts made by indigenous tribes, handlooms by local weavers and products indigenously grown in the area. |
Source: TH
Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA)
Syllabus: GS2/Polity and Governance
Context
- The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) reviewed the storage position of all the reservoirs in the Cauvery river basin.
About
- The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) was constituted in 2018, under Section 6A of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, following the Supreme Court judgment on the Cauvery Water Dispute 2018.
- Purpose: The distribution of Cauvery waters among the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
- Parent Ministry: Ministry of Jal Shakti.
- Functions of CWMA include:
- Ensuring implementation of the Tribunal’s and Supreme Court’s award.
- Monitoring storage, release, and inflow data of major reservoirs on the Cauvery.
- Supervising reservoir operations and regulating water releases as per schedules.
- Adjudicating or managing disputes related to water releases among the basin states.
Source: TH
UK Signs Deal to Hand Over Chagos Islands to Mauritius
Syllabus: GS2/ International Relations
Context
- The United Kingdom signed an agreement handing sovereignty over the contested and strategically located Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
- Under the agreement, the United Kingdom will pay Mauritius 136 million dollars per year to lease back the US-UK military base for at least 99 years.
About Chagos Islands
- The Chagos Archipelago is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 islands, and is located in the Indian Ocean.
- The Chagos Islands, officially known as the British Indian Ocean Territory was separated from Mauritius in 1965, when Mauritius was still a British colony.
- However Mauritius has argued that it was illegally forced to give them away as part of a deal to gain independence from Britain.
- In the late 1960s, Britain invited the US to build a military base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos Islands.
Source: AIR
Nafithromycin
Syllabus: GS3/Science and Technology
Context
- Though the launch of Nafithromycin is a welcome step forward, experts warn that addressing AMR requires a multifaceted approach.
Nafithromycin
- Nafithromycin is India’s first indigenous Macrolide antibiotic developed by Wockhardt with support from the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).
- BIRAC is a Public Sector Enterprise, set up by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
- It is marketed as “Miqnaf,” targets Community-Acquired Bacterial Pneumonia (CABP) caused by drug-resistant bacteria, particularly affecting children, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems.
About Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
- Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines.
- As a result of drug resistance, antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines become ineffective and infections become difficult or impossible to treat.
- It increases the risk of disease spread, severe illness, disability and death.
- While AMR is a natural process driven by genetic changes in pathogens over time, its spread is significantly accelerated by human activities, particularly the overuse and misuse of antimicrobial drugs.
- Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become a major global health issue, with around 6 lakh lives lost in India each year due to resistant infections.
Source: TH
Algeria Joins New Development Bank
Syllabus: GS3/ Economy
In News
- The New Development Bank (NDB) has admitted Algeria as a new member, further expanding its global membership base.
About New Development Bank (NDB)
- Genesis: Founded by BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa). Established during the 6th BRICS Summit in Fortaleza, Brazil (2014) and operational since 2015.
- Objectives: To mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies.
- Membership: Initially limited to BRICS, now includes Bangladesh, Egypt, UAE, Uruguay, and Algeria.
- Capital Structure: Its initial authorized capital is USD 100 billion, with an initial subscribed capital of USD 50 billion equally distributed among the founding members.
- It has equal shareholding among BRICS countries ensures no single country has veto power.
- Headquarters: Shanghai, China.
Source: TH
Directorate of Enforcement
Syllabus :GS3/Money laundering
In News
- The Supreme Court stayed the investigation and raid of the Enforcement Directorate against the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) & criticised the agency for violating the federal structure.
Directorate of Enforcement (ED)
- It is a multi-disciplinary agency responsible for investigating economic crimes and foreign exchange violations.
- It originated in 1956 as an Enforcement Unit under the Department of Economic Affairs to handle violations of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947 (FERA ’47), with branches in Delhi, Bombay, and Calcutta.
- While FEMA is civil in nature, empowering ED to impose penalties on forex violations, PMLA is a criminal law enabling the agency to seize properties, arrest offenders, and prosecute money laundering cases.
- It was renamed as the Enforcement Directorate in 1957 & currently falls under the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance.
- ED is mandated to attach the properties of the fugitive economic offenders who have escaped from India warranting arrest and provide for the confiscation of their properties to the Central Government.
- Under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA), this Directorate is empowered to sponsor cases of preventive detention with regard to contraventions of FEMA.
Source :TH
Konkan Railway to Merge with Indian Railways
Syllabus :GS3/Economy
In News
- Maharashtra approved the merger of Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) with Indian Railways.
About
- KRCL faced financial challenges due to low revenues and rising infrastructure costs, making expansion and upgrades difficult.
- With Goa, Karnataka, and Kerala having already agreed, this decision paves the way for the full integration of the scenic and strategically important Konkan Railway into India’s national rail network.
- The merger is expected to boost connectivity, tourism, and local economies.
Konkan Railway (KR)
- It was established in 1990 as a special purpose vehicle in the Ministry of Railways to carry out the difficult task of constructing railway lines through the rocky Western Ghats.
- The project, which officially began operations in January 1998, sought to connect Roha in Maharashtra, Goa, Mangaluru in Karnataka and coastal Kerala, and become a lifeline for both goods and passenger movement across the Konkan coast.
- Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) was formed as a joint venture with the Government of India holding 51%, Maharashtra 22%, Karnataka 15%, and Goa and Kerala 6% each.
- It was Completed in the early 1990s and has been a key route but operated separately from Indian Railways until now.
Source :IE
MoEFCC Announces Winning Ideas under ‘Ideas4LiFE’ Initiative
Syllabus: GS3/ Environment
Context
- The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change announced the 21 winning ideas under the ‘Ideas4LiFE’ initiative, which was conceptualised under the broader framework of Mission LiFE.
About
- The ‘Ideas4LiFE’ initiative was launched through a dedicated portal in association with ‘UNICEF YuWaah’, to seek innovative ideas from students, research scholars/faculties and institutions
- Eligibility: Open to students, research scholars, faculties, and academic institutions.
- Themes Covered: Save Energy, Save Water, Say No Single Use Plastic, Sustainable Food Systems adopted, Reduce Waste, Reduce e-waste, Adopt Healthy Lifestyles.
- Selection Process: The evaluation was conducted in three rigorous phases;
- Phase I: Screening for completeness and originality.
- Phase II: Assessed by evaluators empanelled with the Department of Higher Education on five parameters: Innovation Potential, Feasibility, Impact, Scalability and Sustainability.
- In Phase III , a national jury duly constituted by the Ministry selected the top 3 ideas in each of the seven themes.
| Mission LiFE – At the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP26), India announced Mission LiFE, to bring individual behaviors at the forefront of the global climate action narrative. – The mission envisions replacing the prevalent ‘use-and-dispose’ economy with a circular economy, which would be defined by mindful and deliberate utilization. – In India, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, GoI (MoEF&CC) is the nodal Ministry for national level coordination and implementation of Mission Life. Approach of Mission LiFE – Focus on Individual Behaviors: Make life a mass movement (Jan Andolan) by focusing on behaviors and attitudes of individuals and communities. – Co-create Globally: Crowdsource empirical and scalable ideas from the best minds of the world, through top universities, think tanks and international organizations. – Leverage Local Cultures: Leverage climate-friendly social norms, beliefs and daily household practices of different cultures worldwide to drive the campaign. |
Source: PIB
International Booker Prize 2025
Syllabus: Awards/ Miscellaneous
Context
- ‘Heart Lamp’ by Banu Mushtaq, translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi, has won the 2025 International Booker Prize.
About the Book
- The book comprises 12 short stories, originally published in Kannada between 1990 and 2023, that vividly capture the everyday lives of women and girls in Muslim communities in southern India.
- It is the first book translated from Kannada—a language spoken by an estimated 65 million people—and the first short story collection to win the International Booker Prize.
International Booker Prize
- This prize is awarded annually to the best works of long-form fiction or collections of short stories, translated into English and published in the United Kingdom (UK) or Ireland.
- It recognises the vital role of translators, with the £50,000 prize shared equally between the author and the translator.
- Past Winners: Kairos (2024) by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Michael Hofmann, Time Shelter (2023) by Georgi Gospodinov, translated by Angela Rodel, and Tomb of Sand (2022) — the first Hindi novel to win — by Geetanjali Shree, translated by Daisy Rockwell.
| Do you know? – The Booker Prize is a separate award given annually for the best novel written in English, published in the UK or Ireland. 1. 2024 Winner: Orbital by Samantha Harvey – Past Indian Booker Prize winners: Arundhati Roy (God of Small Things), Kiran Desai (Inheritance of Loss), and Aravind Adiga (White Tiger). |
Source: TH
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