📝 6th summit of BIMSTEC[1]
🚀 6th Summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC): April 4, 2025, in Bangkok (Thailand) ⇒ Theme: Prosperous, Resilient, and Open BIMSTEC.
🚀 BIMSTEC: Formed in 1997 ⇒ 7 members: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
👉🏽 India hosted 2nd summit (2008, New Delhi).
📝 Katchatheevu Island[2]
🚀 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly adopted a resolution urging the Union government to take steps to retrieve Katchatheevu from Sri Lanka.
👉🏽 Katchatheevu: Island in Sri Lanka ⇒ Located in Palk Strait ⇒ In 1974, India accepted Katchatheevu as Sri Lankan territory under the Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime agreement.
📝 ChaSTE[3]
🚀 Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE): Part of Chandrayaan-3 ⇒ to measure the thermal conductivity and temperature of the lunar surface.
👉🏽 1st instrument to measure temperatures in situ near the Moon’s south pole, and 1st to penetrate the soil of a celestial body to deploy a thermal probe.
📝 Greenhouse gases vs. aerosols[4]
🚀 Global warming is caused by greenhouse gases (GHGs), whereas aerosols counteract the impact of GHGs to some extent.
👉🏽 GHGs trap heat, whereas aerosols (e.g. sulphates, nitrates) scatter solar radiation.
👉🏽 GHGs are well mixed in the atmosphere ⇒ Effects can be felt globally, whereas aerosols’ concentration varies by location and time.
👉🏽 GHGs are long-lived (CO2 can persist for centuries), whereas aerosols are short-lived (a few days to weeks) ⇒ Consequences of aerosol load changes can be felt almost immediately.
🚀 In India, thermal power plants generate roughly 70% of electricity by burning coal ⇒ Flue gas (exhaust gas from combustion) is freed from SO2 before release to the atmosphere.
👉🏽 Sulphate aerosols: Form through the oxidation of SO2 ⇒ Highly reflective and make up 50-60% of the overall aerosol composition in India.
🚀 The Ministry of Earth Sciences estimated (2020) that India’s average temperature rose by around 0.7 °C between 1901 and 2018, mainly due to GHGs, but was partially offset by anthropogenic aerosols.
🚀 Aerosols tend to reduce rainfall ⇒ Due to the increased number of smaller cloud droplets (slows down the raindrop formation) and cooling effect (reduced evaporation and convection).
📝 Myanmar earthquake[5]
🚀 On March 28, 2025, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar near Mandalay ⇒ severe damage due to the proximity to the Sagaing Fault and thick alluvial soil (amplified seismic waves) from the Irrawaddy River.
👉🏽 Seismic seiches: Standing waves (up and down oscillation of water) in enclosed or partially enclosed water bodies due to seismic waves.
🚀 Sagaing Fault: A transform fault (tectonic plates slide past each other horizontally) between the Indian and Sunda plates in Myanmar.
📝 Chhatrapati Shivaji[6]
🚀 Muntakhabu-l Lubab: by Khafi Khan ⇒ Highlights the communal harmony promoted by Shivaji.
👉🏽 Aurangzeb imposed the ‘jizya’ (a tax to be paid by non-Muslims) in 1679.
🚀 Travels in the Mogul Empire: AD 1656-1668: By French traveller Francois Bernier ⇒ Highlights Shivaji’s conciliatory attitude towards Catholic clergymen.
🚀 Raghunath Pandit Rao: Shivaji’s chief justice.
📝 Domestically Manufactured Iron & Steel Products Policy 2025[7]
🚀 New rules mandate all government entities to prioritise locally manufactured iron and steel products ⇒ ‘Melt & Pour’ condition: Steel must be melted and solidified in India.
👉🏽 Capital goods used in the production (e.g. furnaces, rolling mills) must achieve at least 50% domestic value addition.
🚀 Foreign governments/entities not allowing Indian mills to participate in their tenders will not be permitted (There are some exceptions) to participate in Indian government tenders.
🚀 Prohibition of Global Tender Enquiries (GTE) for iron and steel products ⇒ Limit of such enquiries for capital goods is up to ₹200 crore.
📝 Miscellaneous
🚀 Euphaea wayanadensis: A new species of damselfly discovered in the Wayanad landscape of the Western Ghats, Kerala.[8]
🚀 North Sentinel Island[9]: One of the Andaman Islands ⇒ Protected area ⇒ Home to the Sentinelese (an indigenous tribe in voluntary isolation).
🚀 A recent USTR report has dubbed India as the country with the “highest average Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) applied tariff rate” (17%) of any major world economy ⇒ USA’s “Dirty 15” countries list includes India.[10]
🚀 Poonam Gupta: New Deputy Governor of RBI.[11]
🚀 Kayapo: Indigenous people in Brazil.[12]
🚀 ‘Qatargate’ scandal: Allegations that some of the people closest to Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu were recruited to promote Qatar in Israel.[13]
Citations
- 6th BIMSTEC Summit to convene in Bangkok on April 4, focusing on trade, security and regional cooperation
- TN Assembly passes resolution seeking retrieval of Katchatheevu island
- Chandrayaan’s ChaSTE scores a first after taking moon’s temperature
- India’s vital efforts to tackle air pollution could worsen warming
- How did the Myanmar earthquake occur? | Explained
- The Svarājya of Chhatrapati Shivaji: the wise king’s just rule
- ‘Only Indian steel for govt. contracts’
- New damselfly species discovered in Wayanad
- U.S. national arrested for entering restricted island in Andamans
- India braces for Trump tariffs on U.S. ‘liberation day’
- Poonam Gupta new Deputy Governor of RBI
- Brazilian indigenous chief is staving off Amazon destruction
- What is ‘Qatargate’ scandal involving Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s aides?