News Summary · 3 minutes read
Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary is set to become the third home of Cheetah in India. Photo: ETV Bharat
Stay ahead in your UPSC CSE preparation with our daily News Summary. Designed to save time, it highlights key national and international events from leading newspapers and government websites.
India gets a waiver on U.S. sanctions against Chabahar port
- India signed an MoU with Iran in 2015 to jointly develop the Shahid Beheshti Port at Chabahar → later, sanctions against Iran threatened the port’s prospects, but in 2018, the US granted a waiver for Indian operations at the Chabahar port.
- Recently, the US decided to extend that waiver for six months, allowing supplies to Afghanistan to still be sent through Chabahar.
- Chabahar Port: located in southeastern Iran, on the Gulf of Oman → consists of two separate ports named Shahid Kalantari and Shahid Beheshti.
AmazonFACE project
- Launched in 2014 by Brazil → supported by UK and many organisations.
- Aims to simulate high atmospheric CO2 concentrations inevitable in the future and test how amazon rainforests respond to it.
Rare Earth Elements (REEs)
- REEs comprise 17 elements (15 Lanthanides + Scandium + Yttrium) → Silvery-white metals with similar chemical properties, crucial for modern high-tech applications.
- Key applications: smartphones, electric vehicles, F-35 fighter jets, missile guidance & radar systems, medical devices, oil refining, and renewable energy technologies such as wind-turbine magnets and solar panels.
- Global supply-chain disruptions occur rapidly when REE exports are restricted → e.g., automobile production paused after Chinese export curbs.
- Are They Really “Rare”?
- No, but occur in low-concentration deposits, making extraction expensive and environmentally taxing.
- Global Production Pattern
- China dominates REE value chain → ≈ 60 % of global mining and > 90 % of refining & magnet production.
- U.S., EU, and Australia are investing to create alternate supply chains, but commercial capacity will take years.
- Environmental Concerns
- Processing of rare earths involves solvents that produce toxic waste, polluting soil, water, and atmosphere.
- Some rare earth ores also contain radioactive materials like thorium or uranium.
- 17 Rare Earth Elements: Scandium, Yttrium, Lanthanum, Cerium, Praseodymium, Neodymium, Promethium, Samarium, Europium, Gadolinium, Terbium, Dysprosium, Holmium, Erbium, Thulium, Ytterbium, Lutetium.
Quick Picks
- Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary (Madhya Pradesh): set to become the third home of the cheetah in India, after Kuno National Park (MP) and Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary (MP).
- Tech-efforts like satellite imagery and real-time data from the Real-Time Governance Society (RTGS) Data Lake of Andhra Pradesh reduced Cyclone Montha impact → enabled officials to predict rainfall intensity, wind speeds, and potential flood zones, facilitating warnings and preventive action.
- Justice Surya Kant will become 53rd CJI on 24 November 2025, and will continue for nearly 16 months, till 9 February 2027.
- Trishul: India’s tri-Service military exercise along the western border with Pakistan across Gujarat and Rajasthan → October 30 to November 10.
- Group of 2 (G-2): refers to the informal concept of the US and China as a duo of global powers, with the idea that they could potentially co-manage or shape global affairs, especially in trade and security.
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