Author: Yash Dagar

News: A recent study by Australia’s University of New South Wales, published in the journal Elsevier, has found that dedicated freight corridors are improving India’s GDP and contributing significantly to the Indian Railway’s revenue. 1. Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) are high speed and high-capacity railway corridors that are specially built and designed to accommodate freight… Continue reading How Dedicated Freight Corridor are adding to GDP growth, boosting Rail revenues

News: The World Health Organsiation’s recent report on global tuberculosis burden shows that India has made progress in closing the gap between detected and undiagnosed cases in the past eight years. 1. Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria. It mostly affects the lungs (pulmonary TB) but can also spread to other… Continue reading Checking a Contagion

News: India and France have been re-elected as president and co-president respectively of the International Solar Alliance (ISA). India would hold the presidency till 2026. 1. International Solar Alliance is an intergovernmental organisation that brings together countries with high solar potential to collaborate on harnessing solar power as a clean, affordable and sustainable energy source.… Continue reading India re-elected to head solar alliance

News: The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) is considering representations sent to it against a June advisory of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which asked state forest departments to submit action plans on the relocation of villages from tiger reserve. 1. National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST): It is a constitutional body that… Continue reading ST Commission to seek report from NTCA on villages’ relocation from tiger reserves

News: Financial aspects of the upgrade to the first batch of 84 SU-30 MKIs are being considered. The comprehensive upgrade would start once the government approves the proposal. 1. Sukhoi Su-30MKI is a two-seater, twinjet multirole combat fighter aircraft. 2. It has been developed by Sukhoi (Russian aircraft manufacturer) and built under license by India’s… Continue reading AI big focus of SU-30MKI upgrade; IAF taking up pilot projects with IIT-Mumbai, says officer

News: The first science result from the Aditya-L1 mission is out. Scientists successfully predicted the onset of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) that occurred on July 16. 1. Aditya-L1 mission is India’s first scientific mission dedicated to studying the sun. It was launched by ISRO in September 2023. 2. It was launched using a PSLV… Continue reading First science result from Aditya L1, ISRO’s sun mission, is out

News: Villagers of Assam and Meghalaya have come together against illegal sand mining in the rivers along the border between the states. Indiscriminate sand mining has affected the area’s ecosystem, including the habitats of the Gangetic Dolphins. 1. Sand mining is defined as the removal of primary natural sand and sand resources from the natural… Continue reading Villagers join hands against illegal sand mining along Assam-Meghalaya border

News: World Cities Day is observed every year on October 31. This has brought focus on India’s urbanisation story. 1. Urbanisation refers to increasing population shift from rural to urban areas, leading to the growth and expansion of cities. 2. Census 2011 estimates India’s urban population to be 31.16% of the total population. While World… Continue reading What are major challenges faced by Indian cities?

News: India and China have started the process of disengagement at Depsang Plains and Demchok, two of seven friction points in Eastern Ladakh. This development comes after a military standoff at the LAC that lasted for more than four and a half years. 1. Demchok is a disputed area where India and China have varying… Continue reading Disengagement starts at two points along LAC in Ladakh, likely to be completed month-end

News: A study by the Natural History Museum (NHM) has found that biodiversity decline is faster inside key protected areas than outside them, raising serious questions about the ongoing conservation practices. 1. Researchers analysed the Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII), which registered a decline of 1.88 percentage points globally between 2000 and 2020. 2. Biodiversity Intactness… Continue reading Why protected areas are seeing faster biodiversity decline