Author: Ramvilas

Eco Sensitive Areas

Environment

Context

• The Western Ghats may soon receive stronger legal protection in at least three states through the notification of Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs).

• Once notified, these areas will face stricter curbs on mining, polluting industries, and large construction projects.

Eco Sensitive Zones

• Notified by – These are notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) under the Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986.
• Definition – The land falling within 10 km of the boundaries of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries are notified as eco-fragile zones or Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs).

Activities in ESZs

• Prohibited Activities: Commercial mining, saw mills, industries causing pollution (air, water, soil, noise etc), establishment of major hydroelectric projects (HEP), commercial use of wood.
• Regulated Activities: Felling of trees, establishment of hotels and resorts, commercial use of natural water, erection of electrical cables, drastic change of agriculture system.
• Permitted Activities: Ongoing agricultural or horticultural practices, rainwater harvesting, organic farming.

Kheer Bhawani Mela

Culture

Context

• In Kashmir Valley, the annual Mela Kheer Bhawani is being celebrated with religious fervour and gaiety on the occasion of Jyeshtha Ashtami.

About

• • This is one of the most important festivals for the Kashmiri Pandit community during which devotees offer Kheer (rice pudding), milk, flowers, and aromatic leaves to Mata Ragnya Devi. 

• The mela symbolizes faith, resilience, cultural reconnection, and communal harmony.

About Kheer Bhawani Temple

• • It is dedicated to Goddess Ragnya Devi, who is considered an incarnation of Goddess Durga.
  • The original temple was built by Maharaja Pratap Singh around 1912 in Ganderbal, Jammu and Kashmir. It was later embellished and renovated by Maharaja Hari Singh.

• A distinctive feature of the temple is a hexagonal spring located at its center, revered for its sacred water.

• Both the temple and the festival derive their name from the sweet dish ‘kheer’, which is distributed as prasad (a religious offering) to devotees.

Khurasani Imli

Economy

Context

• The fruit of Mandu’s Baobab tree, known locally as Khurasani Imli, has secured a Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

About 

• • Khurasani Imli is the fruit of the Baobab tree (Adansonia digitata), a species native to Africa and Madagascar.
  • It is popularly known as the “Tree of Life” because of its multiple uses and exceptional resilience.
  • In India, baobabs occur in the semi-arid regions of central India and parts of the Western Ghats.
  • Mandu in Madhya Pradesh is one of the few places in India where Baobab trees are found in large numbers.
  • Historical accounts suggest that the seeds were brought to Mandu by Afghan rulers or Arab traders around the 14th–15th century.
  • The tree is known for its distinctive bottle-shaped trunk and its ability to store large quantities of water.
• The fruit is rich in Vitamin C, antioxidants, and has traditional medicinal uses.

12th International Day of Yoga

Culture

News – 

• The 12th International Day of Yoga (IDY) was celebrated globally on June 21, 2026, under the official theme “Yoga for Healthy Ageing”.

About – 

• Main Venue: The national celebration was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the historic Red Road in Kolkata, West Bengal.
• Nodal Ministry: The Ministry of Ayush serves as the nodal agency coordinating the celebrations and policy implementation in India.

Key 2026 Initiatives:

• Yoga Sangam Portal: A digital platform that allowed over 6 lakh organizations to synchronize and perform yoga simultaneously across the country.
• Yoga 365 Campaign: Aimed at shifting public perspective from a symbolic one-day annual celebration to daily lifestyle integration.
• Lonar Record: During the 75-day countdown event (Yoga Mahotsav-2026) at Lonar Lake, Maharashtra, a record was set in the Asia Book of Records for the largest collective performance of Trikonasana (Triangle Pose). 

Background – 

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed the idea at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in September 2014. UNGA Resolution 69/131 was adopted in December 2014 with a record 175 co-sponsoring nations.
• Why June 21?: The date marks the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. In Indian mythology, this celestial transition is historically viewed as the beginning of Yogic science (the transition of Adi Yogi to Adi Guru).
• UNESCO Recognition: In December 2016, Yoga was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
• Philosophical Roots: Yoga is one of the six orthodox (Astika) schools of Indian philosophy (Shad-Darshana). It was systematically compiled by Maharishi Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras, advocating the eight-fold path (Ashtanga Yoga).

Rakhigarhi

History and Culture

Context

• The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has sent nearly 5,000-year-old skeletons unearthed at Haryana’s Rakhigarhi, for scientific examination and facial reconstruction.

Rakhigarhi

• • The present-day Rakhigarhi is located 27 km from the Ghaggar river, in the Ghaggar-Hakra river plain in Haryana.

• The archaeological site, dating back to 2600-1900 BCE.

• It is the largest Harappans site in the Indian Subcontinent.
• The site was first excavated by Amarendra Nath of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Findings

• Granary: A granary belonging to the mature Harappan phase (2600 BCE to 2000 BCE) has been found here. It has 7 rectangular or square chambers.
• Culture, clothing and worship: Fire altars and apsidal structures were revealed in Rakhigarhi.
• Cemetery and burial sites: A cemetery of Mature Harappan period is discovered at Rakhigarhi, with eight graves found.

First Amendment

Polity

Context

• On June 18, 1951, the First Amendment to the Indian Constitution came into force. 

• The First Amendment to the Indian Constitution, enacted on June 18, 1951, was introduced by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to override court rulings that blocked state policies.

Key Changes

• Restricted Free Speech: Added “public order,” “friendly relations with foreign states,” and “incitement to an offence” as limits to Article 19.
• Protected Land Reforms: Created the Ninth Schedule to shield land reform laws from judicial review.
• Allowed Quotas: Added Article 15(4) to enable caste-based reservations in education and employment.
• Enabled State Monopolies: Allowed the government to nationalise trades or businesses.

Ammonia Gas

Science & technology

Context

• An ammonia gas leak at a private seafood processing and export facility in Tiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu has hospitalized many working people. 

Ammonia (NH₃)

• Ammonia (NH₃) is a colourless gas with a strong, pungent smell. 
• It is a simple inorganic compound made up of nitrogen and hydrogen. 
• Although it occurs naturally in small quantities during the decomposition of organic matter, it is also produced on a large scale because of its wide industrial and agricultural applications.
• Industrial ammonia is commercially produced through the Haber–Bosch process, in which atmospheric nitrogen reacts with hydrogen under high temperature and pressure in the presence of an iron catalyst.
• It is majorly used in fertilizers industries, chemical industries and in food processing due to its excellent cooling efficiency.

Biochar

Environment

Context

• Biochar is emerging as a sustainable solution to convert agricultural waste into a valuable resource for improving soil health and mitigating climate change.

Biochar

• Biochar is a charcoal-like substance that’s made by burning organic material from agricultural and forestry wastes (also called biomass) in a controlled process called pyrolysis.
• Unlike ordinary organic matter, biochar decomposes very slowly and can remain in the soil for hundreds of years.
• It is highly porous, enabling it to store water, nutrients, and beneficial microorganisms.

Benefits of Biochar

• Agricultural Productivity: Studies indicate that biochar can improve crop yields by 10–30%, particularly in nutrient-deficient soils.
• Carbon Credits: Biochar can generate carbon credits because it removes carbon from the atmosphere and stores it in soil.
• Water Retention: Biochar acts like a sponge and stores water within its porous structure. Research shows that it can increase the water-holding capacity of soils by 10–25%.

Abhigyan App

Polity

Context

• The Union Home Minister launched the Abhigyan app developed by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

About

• The app links to the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS) to store fingerprint scans of accused, convicts, and those in prisons on a centralized platform.
• The prints can be matched with the NAFIS database in 35 seconds.
• Significance – During routine vehicle checks on the streets, biometric scans of any suspicious individual can be conducted to identify persons wanted in connection with crimes.

Right To Walk On Footpath Is A Fundamental Right: SC

Polity

Context

• In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court has held that the right to walk on safe and demarcated footpaths is a fundamental right.

About

• The right to walk flows from Article 19(1)(d) (freedom of movement) and Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty). 

• According to the Court, the right to walk also supports freedom of expression, assembly, and association under Article 19(1)(a), 19(1)(b), and 19(1)(c).
• The judgment places a duty on municipal corporations, urban development authorities, municipalities, and even panchayats to build, maintain, and protect pedestrian infrastructure.
• The Court emphasized that pedestrian rights must be prioritized over motorised vehicles in urban planning, and citizens can seek legal remedies if safe and accessible footpaths are not provided.

Energy Transition Index (ETI) 2026

Economy

Context

• According to the Energy Transition Index (ETI) 2026, the global energy transition has effectively stalled despite total energy investments touching $3.3 trillion in 2025.

Energy Transition Index (ETI)

• Published by – It is an annual index published by the World Economic Forum.
• Objective – It measures how effectively countries are transitioning toward secure, sustainable, equitable, and affordable energy systems.
• Evaluation Criteria: The index is based on two broad dimensions:

1. System Performance: Energy security, sustainability, and equity.
2. Transition Readiness: Policies, regulations, investment, infrastructure, innovation, education, and institutional support.

• Significance: It helps governments identify strengths and weaknesses in their energy transition efforts and guides policy reforms.

Major Findings of Energy Transition Index (ETI) 2026

• • Sweden, Finland and Denmark retained their top three positions globally.
• India advanced two places to rank 70th.

Financial Action Task Force (FATF)

International

Context

• The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Plenary has appointed Culture Ministry Secretary Vivek Aggarwal as the next vice-president.
• This is the first time that India will hold the Vice-Presidency of the FATF.
• He will serve as vice president from July 2026 to June 2027.

Financial Action Task Force

• Established – The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 during the G7 Summit in Paris.
• Objective – To set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
• Secretariat – It is located at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) headquarters in Paris.
• Member Countries – 37 member countries where India is also a member.

FATF has two lists

• Grey List – Countries that are considered safe haven for supporting terror funding and money laundering are put in the FATF grey list. This inclusion serves as a warning to the country that it may enter the blacklist.
• Black List – Countries known as Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories (NCCTs) are put in the blacklist. These countries support terror funding and money laundering activities. The FATF revises the blacklist regularly, adding or deleting entries.

Smart Seed Coating Technology to Boost Crop Yields

Science & technology

Context

• The Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s Indian Institute of Oilseeds Research (ICAR-IIOR), Hyderabad, has developed Smart Seed Coating Technology that improves seed quality.

Smart Seed Coating Technology 

• • Developed by – ICAR-IIOR 

• It utilizes biodegradable biopolymeric materials to create a multifunctional protective layer around seeds. 

• The coating acts as a carrier system for beneficial microorganisms, nutrients, micronutrients, crop protection agents, and plant growth-promoting compounds, delivering them directly at the seed-soil interface. 
• This protective microenvironment promotes rapid germination, vigorous seedling growth, enhanced root development, and improved tolerance to environmental stresses during the critical crop establishment phase.
• The innovation is particularly valuable for rainfed agriculture, which accounts for a significant share of India’s cultivated area and remains highly vulnerable to delayed monsoons.

NPCI Unveils Drunix Platform

Economy

Context

• The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) rolled out Drunix, 

About – 

• It is an open-source blockchain platform, to help companies build and scale tokenisation platforms, digital asset ecosystems, multi-organisation networks.

Significance – 

• It helps banks and businesses build safe systems to share data and track digital assets.
• It uses Blockchain: This means data is super safe, shared fairly, and cannot be changed by tricks.
• It is Made in India: India changed a global tool called Hyperledger Fabric to make it faster and better for Indian needs.
• It is Open-Source: The code is free for anyone to see and use. This makes it easy for companies to work together.

Basic terms

• Tokenization – It Tokenization is the process of converting ownership rights or assets into digital tokens on a blockchain.
• These assets include financial securities, real estate, commodities, digital currencies and identity credentials.

• Cryptocurrency – It is a virtual currency used for financial transactions. It uses blockchain technology for various transactions.
• Blockchain – The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of transactions that can be programmed to record virtually everything of value. Each list of records in a blockchain is called a block.

SHe-Box 2.0 Portal Under Mission Shakti

Government Schemes

Context

• The government has highlighted the role of the SHe-Box 2.0 Portal under Mission Shakti in strengthening the implementation of workplace sexual harassment laws and ensuring a safer work environment for women.

SHe-Box

• It is portal that has been developed to operationalise the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
• The portal was launched by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD).

SHe-Box 2.0 

• It was launched in 2024.
• Objective – It provides a secure, confidential and user-friendly interface that enables women to report incidents without fear of stigma or retaliation.
• Significance – It provides single-window access for women across all organised, unorganised, public and private sectors to register and track complaints
• The portal is available in 22 languages, including Hindi and English.

Additional Information – Mission Shakti

• This umbrella scheme is dedicated to the safety, security, and economic empowerment of women. It is divided into two sub-schemes: 

Sambal (Safety and Security):

• One Stop Centres (OSC): Integrated support for victims of violence.
• Women Helpline (181): 24/7 emergency assistance.
• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP): Prevention of gender-biased sex selection and promotion of girls’ education.
• Nari Adalats: Community-level alternative dispute resolution forums.

Samarthya (Empowerment):

• Shakti Sadan: Rehabilitation homes (merging former Swadhar Greh and Ujjawala schemes).
• Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY): Maternity benefit scheme.
• Hub for Empowerment of Women (HEW): Facilitating access to government services.

Dark Web

Science & Technology

News

• The Union government submitted before the Delhi High Court that the messaging platform Telegram has evolved into the “new dark web”.

Dark Web

• The dark web is a hidden part of the internet that you cannot find using normal search engines like Google. 
• It requires specialized software, such as the Tor browser, to access. 
• While it is famous for hiding cybercriminal activities, it is also used for privacy and free speech.
• To understand the dark web, it helps to picture the internet as having three main layers:
• The Surface Web: The everyday internet. These are the websites you can easily search for, like news outlets, social media, and online stores.
• The Deep Web: The much larger portion of the internet that is hidden but not malicious. This includes private databases, online bank accounts, and password-protected email inboxes.
• The Dark Web: A small, specific section of the deep web intentionally hidden by heavy encryption.

Key Features of the Dark Web

• Anonymity: Users and website hosts are hidden. Traffic is routed through a series of encrypted servers to prevent people from tracking identities or locations.
• Special Websites: Instead of ending in .com or .org, dark web sites typically use domains like .onion.
• Legal vs. Illegal Uses: While heavily associated with illicit marketplaces (for illegal goods or stolen data), it is legally accessed by journalists, whistleblowers, and individuals seeking privacy from surveillance in oppressive regimes.

Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rojgar Yojana (PM-VBRY)

Government Schemes

Context

• The Prime Minister will disburse ₹2,400 crore worth incentives under the Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rojgar Yojana (PM-VBRY).

About PM-VBRY

• It is a flagship government program launched in 2025
• Implementation – Ministry of Labour & Employment.
• Aim: To promote employment generation, enhance employability, and strengthen social security across all sectors with a particular focus on the manufacturing sector.

Features: 

• First-time employees are eligible for incentives of up to ₹15,000.

• For the employer’s side, the government offers a reward of up to ₹3,000 per new employee after six months of stable employment. 
• The initiative is expected to encourage greater participation in the formal workforce and contribute to sustained long-term economic growth.

QS Rankings 2027

Economy

Context

• Recently QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) World University Ranking 2027, was released ranking Higher education institutions across the world.

Major Findings

• It evaluated more than 1,500 institutions across 106 countries and territories.
• It features 52 Indian universities, making India the world’s fifth most represented higher education system.
• Global Top 5 Universities dominated by US and UK 

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US
2. Imperial College London, UK (tied)
3. Stanford University, US (tied)
4. University of Oxford, UK
5. Harvard University, US

Top 10 Indian Institutions (QS World Rankings 2027)

Additional Information – QS Rankings

• QS was founded in 1990 

• Headquartered in – London.

• It specialises in providing data, research and consulting services to the international higher education sector.
• QS Rankings, established in 2004, is the most reputed Ranking among the major global university rankings and offers an impartial assessment of institutions.
• It assesses institutions across 10 key indicators including academic reputation, employment outcomes, international faculty ratio, international research network, international student diversity, faculty-student ratio and sustainability.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban 2.0

Government Schemes

Context

• The Union Government has approved over 2.13 lakh additional houses for eligible urban poor families under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban 2.0 (PMAY-U 2.0). 

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban 2.0

• It is a flagship scheme of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), under which central assistance of up to ₹2.50 lakh crore is provided. 
• It was launched in September 2024 as an upgraded and expanded version of PMAY-U, which was launched on 25 June 2015. 
• It is open to families belonging to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), Low Income Group (LIG), and Middle Income Group (MIG) segments who do not own a pucca house anywhere in the country. 

The income criteria for eligibility are as follows:

• • EWS households: Annual income up to ₹3 lakh.
  • LIG households: Annual income from ₹3 lakh to ₹6 lakh.
  • MIG households: Annual income from ₹6 lakh to ₹9 lakh.
  • The cost of house construction is shared among the Centre, States/UTs, Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), and beneficiaries, with the cost-sharing pattern varying across regions.

• PMAY-U and PMAY-U 2.0 together have sanctioned over 1.27 crore houses across the country. 

Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana–Gramin (PMAY-G)

• Launched by: Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD).

• Background: Introduced on 1 April 2016 by restructuring the erstwhile Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) to provide pucca houses with basic amenities to rural households.

Exercise KHAAN QUEST 2026

Defence

Context

• The Exercise KHAAN QUEST is going to be conducted from 20 June to 3 July at the Five Hills Training Area in Ulaanbaatar.

About

• The exercise first started as a bilateral event between USA and Mongolian Armed Forces in the year 2003. 
• Subsequently, from the year 2006 onwards the exercise graduated to a Multinational Peacekeeping Exercise with the current year being the 23rd iteration.
• The exercise aims to enhance interoperability and cooperation among participating militaries in peace support operations under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.